A lot of people know about God. Therein lies a huge problem.

People from every walk of life have an opinion about God. Just ask them. Everybody is a theologian and quite ready to debate all comers as to the truth about God.

Having opinions about God does not equate to knowing God, however. Knowing about God (or at least one’s idea of God) can have knowledge, street savvy, old wives tales, a little bit of upbringing thrown in, and who knows what else and, suddenly, we have a walking profundity called, “God According To Me."

Knowing God is a far different matter than having thoughts about God. Knowing God leads to worship not debate, celebration not one-up-man-ship. Knowing God evokes prayer not argument, praise not elitism, and hunger for more of God not an attitude of “That’s my opinion; conversation over."

Interestingly the Bible does not call us to know about God. Once we know Him we want to learn as much about Him as we can, but only because His love has captivated our imagination and satisfied the hunger in our souls. Maybe that is why when Jesus teaches us to pray He does not call us to pray, “O Thou high and omnipotent One. Instead, He calls us to pray, “Our Father.

Until we know the Father we do not know what we most need to know about God.

Do you know the Father today?

OVERCOME EVIL WITH GOOD

The tragic event of January 8 in Tucson, Arizona reminds us that we live in a dangerous world, and that horrific events can unfold before us in the blinking of an eye. Innocent people were injured or killed by an unthinkable act of evil. Hundreds of family members, friends, as well as an entire nation has been shaken again by an act of man’s inhumanity to man.

How shall we as the church of Jesus respond to such pain? My concern is that followers of Jesus everywhere will stand as a symbol of hope in the midst of uncertainty, love in the midst of hate, peace in the midst of accusations and criticisms, forgiveness in the midst of anger, balance in the midst of extremes, and a beacon of truth in the midst of half-truths, rumors, innuendo, and sound-bytes.

Once again we see that our world is, indeed, a dangerous world, a world that needs God and his grace. It is a time for those who know how to pray to come before the Father’s throne and to plead for grace and mercy. Pray for those who grieve, for those who are recovering from physical wounds, and pray for the perpetrator of the tragedy.

As Gandhi suggested, in a different time and place, it is time to be the change we want to see in the world. May God draw near and make us all more sensitive and loving toward each other in a world where anger and hostility and insensitivity so freely find a place to express themselves.

For those who follow Jesus, let us be the Church in this time of finding a way to go on as a people. As the Good Book says, “Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good” (Romans 12:21). The fact is Jesus is still Lord, God is still Love, and “the surpassing greatness of His power toward us who believe” (Ephesians 1:19) is still in place, and operating at full capacity.

In the midst of bad new there is Good News. Our lives and times are not forgotten or overlooked by God. The words of Mr. Wesley still ring loud and clear concerning Jesus,

He left His Father’s throne above,

so free, so infinite His grace!

Emptied Himself of all but love,

and bled for Adam’s helpless race.”

Having just come through Advent it is fresh on our minds that in Jesus God is with us. We do not face our days alone and even in the midst of horrific tragedies, God is here in grace and mercy and love. Life may not make sense to many people today, and there are questions that have come crashing in on us. Yet, we are not abandoned. God has not turned His back and walked away. Rather, He is up-close-and-personal in everyone who calls Jesus “Savior and Lord.”

Let the church be the church, Ambassadors of Christ, a fragrant aroma in a world gone wrong. Let the church be the church, engaged in the human situation, living grace filled lives, making God look good because He is good, He is present, and He does care. As Eddie Carswell’s and Babbie Mason’s song says,When you don't understand

When you don't see His plan

When you can't trace His hand

Trust His heart.

You can, you know; trust His heart.

God bless you and may the peace of Christ be with you.

ENTANGLED, AND SICK OF IT

Let's just say, for the sake of discussion, that you've got a problem. Give it a name of some kind. Anger. Lust. Pride. Greed. Self-centeredness. Gossip. Slothfulness. Pick a name. Any name. Now, let's say you really wanted to be set free from this troubling "sin which so easily entangles" (Heb. 12:1). How would you go about dealing with this matter in such a way that you could begin to "honestly" say, "I have victory over this malady."

As you ponder these things, let me suggest some scattered thoughts. For instance, in this matter simple will-power doesn't cut it, so don't even go down that road. Positive thinking doesn't make the grade so don't even bring it up. Therapy won't do it. Self-help books won't do it. Jam sessions with those of like weakness won't do it. All these may be, or at least can be, a part of the process but they are not cure-alls for the "sin which so easily entangles"

The Bible says that matters such as these must be brought to the place of death. They must be brought to Jesus Christ and crucified with Him. The Bible says, "Don't you know that all of us who were baptized into Christ Jesus were baptized into His death"(Rom. 6:3)?

The fact is that God did not send a therapist; He sent a lamb--"the lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world" (John 1:29). He sent a sacrificial lamb who revealed to us the incomprehensible love of God by dying for us while we were yet sinners (Rom. 5:8). He sent a lamb who took our sins upon Himself and died that we might be forgiven and made whole.

The answer to unchristlikeness in us is to come to the cross of the lamb and become crucified with Him. The only thing that can deal a death blow to "the sin which so easily entangles" (Heb.12:1) is the nails that secured the lamb of God to the cross.

Is there some thing in your life that needs to die? Come to Jesus praying, "Lord, this is my sin. You died for it. I trust your death. Save me from this thing." As you pray remember, "We were therefore buried with him through baptism into death in order that, as Christ was raised from the dead through the glory of the Father, so we too might walk in newness of life" (Rom. 6:4).

Paul asked the foolish Galatians, "After beginning in the Spirit, are you now trying to attain your goal by human effort" (Gal. 3:3)? He knew it could not be done this way so he asked them, "Who has bewitched you" (Gal. 3:1)?

There is only one way to be free in Christ. We've got to die to that which is not of Christ and come alive to that which is of Him. So, do you really want to live? Really? Welcome to the cross of the lamb.

“I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live,

but Christ lives in me;

and the life which I now live in the flesh

I live by faith in the Son of God,

who loved me, and delivered Himself up for me."

-- Galatians 2:20

A lot of people these days don’t have much room in their heart for the church. They just don’t like church. Dan Kimball reminds us that they like Jesus okay, but they just can’t stand the church. There are days when I think I understand these folks. Sometimes the church shoots itself in the foot and becomes its own worst enemy. When that happens, it’s not a very good day.

My problem with this, though, is that this kind of thinking puts the individual ahead of Jesus and communicates that Jesus may be building a church somewhere, but the one in my town He certainly isn’t it. With this kind of thinking Jesus, therefore, must bow to our demands about what “the church” should be like. In our intellectual and spiritual brilliance we trump God and insist that church be done our way or we are out the door and off to greener pastures.

Granted, some local congregations may have baggage, a lot of baggage, but this does not release a Believer from loving what Jesus loves and living in light of the fact that God the Father, put all things in subjection under the feet of Jesus and gave Him as Head over all things to the church, which is His body, the fullness of Him who fills all in all (See Eph. 1:22-23).

The revival the North American Church so desperately needs will not come while God’s people tell God what to do and how to do it. Instead of writing off fellow believers because they don’t give me what I need, Jesus tells me to plant the cross right down in the middle of my heart and right down in the middle of that congregation that is, in my opinion, missing the mark when it comes to being the church. Then, let the power flow, let Jesus be Lord, let our times be in God’s hand.

Gandhi suggested, in another context, that we should be the change we want to see. Instead of walking away from a perceived problem, maybe we ought to charge right into that problem and give Jesus His opportunity to resurrect that church by the power that raised Him from the dead.

I would go out of my way to be a part of that kind of church

A Note to my wonderful Church family at
Pasadena Bresee Church of the Nazarene

I have been thinking about why the local church matters as a force for God.

It matters, first of all, because it is right down in the stuff of life Jesus wants his church to be planted. In Jesus God left heaven and began to dwell among people. So it is the church enters into the life of the community and believers live their faith right there in the daily stuff of life.

The church matters because it is the only movement in the world teaching the truth that Jesus is the Messiah.

The church matters because there are no Lone Ranger Christians, no isolationists. Christians are in this thing called life together. We are so close to each other that we feel like brothers and sisters in Christ.

The church matters because her life revolves around the life of Jesus, and through Him it models what new life in Christ is like.

Together Christians form a community of faith that lifts up Christ as the hope of the world.

We are a small church in a big city and we are seeking to live here so as to make God look good. How are we doing? Whatever the answer to that question is let’s remember that we are on a mission to show people in our sphere of influence that “God so loved the world He gave His only begotten Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life” (John 3:16).

We are a small church but we are serving a big God “who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or think, according to the power that works within us” (Eph. 3:20).

May we, together,
offer a ministry
that brings a smile
to the face of God.

The call of God captivated Abram, who became the father of the faithful, and he became consumed by one reality. Hebrews 11:10 says, "he was looking forward to the city with foundations, whose architect and builder is God." All of life for Abram was redefined by the magnitude of the call and the promise of God, and his destiny was changed forever.

We Christians say we are people of God. We have placed our faith in Jesus and we are staking our lives on the fact that He is who He says He is. We live on a premise which says, "without faith it is impossible to please God" (Heb. 11:6). We built an altar somewhere in our lives and said that for the rest of our lives we would live for God and God alone, and that we would seek to please Him by the exercising of our faith in Him.

At some point in our lives we trusted in Jesus Christ alone for salvation, and we stepped over into a realm of living where God and His ways became profoundly important to us.

At some point in our lives we "obeyed a noble impulse" and took "one step" of faith (John Henry Jowett, My Daily Meditation: January 1 reading), and that step has led to an incredible and wonderful life of relationship with God.

I've walked with Jesus for a while now, and I'm still growing in what it means to live by faith. When I came to be pastor here at Bresee, I began by praying, "God, what are you going to do here?" Through the days and months and years, now, I’ve discovered that God would most likely not answer that prayer. Rather, step-by-step along the way He would show us WHO HE IS. He would place His hands on us and guide us. And, as John Jowett says, "That is enough, just to feel the pressure of the guiding hand."

THAT IS ENOUGH, ISN’T IT, JUST TO FEEL THE PRESSURE OF THE GUIDING HAND. AMEN!

Having celebrated the birth of God into human history, we now have the privilege of living out the meaning of the celebration. This is a celebration like no other. It is daily, what some would call 24/7 celebration, it is personal, and it is of the essence in the community of God.

There are five psalms in the great book, Psalms 146-150, that are called the “hallelujah” psalms. They are praise psalms that reflect the fact that God is at work in the world. He is not off in the distance preoccupied with other, more important, things. God is up-close-and-personal, working in the midst of His creation. Psalm 147 captures this in powerful ways.

We see in this Hallelujah psalm that God “heals the brokenhearted and binds up their wounds” (vs. 3). “The Lord supports the afflicted” (vs. 6). He is at work in nature and in the human situation (vs. 8-10). His blessings are directed toward those who revere Him and who “wait for His lovingkindness” (vs. 11).

The fingerprints of God are all over this world; they are all over your life. You can’t get away from Him no matter where you go. He is sovereign and He is at work, patiently and persistently sharing His glory with all His creation.

No wonder Psalm 147 beings and ends with the little phrase, “Praise the Lord,” or “Hallelujah!” This makes perfect sense to those of us who have called upon the name of Jesus. He is God’s greatest manifestation. God didn’t just decree things from a distance. He arranged to be born into His creation to impact it all from within. On Christmas we celebrated His birth into history. Now, we will follow His life and see where it all leads.

Wherever it leads we can count on one thing. The influence of His presence will cause us to break forth in Hallelujahs and Praise the Lord.

Isaiah chapter 35 is a remarkable text to turn to for the third Sunday of Advent. I am fascinated with it because it shows us the very wonder that is God. It gives us a picture of His goodness and His grace and how He comes into His creation with life and health, with meaning and fulfillment.

What a terrific word for the times in which we live. It reminds me, in a way, of Ezekiel's vision of the river that flows from the altar out through the blistering desert and into the lifeless waters of the Dead Sea (see Ezekiel 47:1-12). In his vision Ezekiel tells us, "Everything will live where the river goes" (vs. 9). Isaiah, on the other hand, seems to speak about the emotional and psychological results of the presence of God. Everything will live where God's river flows and the way they will live is in joy and gladness.

Oswald Chambers said in the December one devotional from My Utmost For His Highest that “there is only one way by which I can get right with God, and that is through the death of Jesus Christ. I must get rid of the underlying idea that I can ever be right with God because of my obedience."

Isn’t that a remarkable thought to think. Jesus must do it all. In Ezekiel’s vision “everything will live where the river goes.” In Isaiah’s thought, dry and barren places become places of life and vitality. In both cases it is God who does the mighty deed. We can’t create them. We can work with them but we can’t create them.

Let’s pray together:

Father, lead us to the place of grace and draw us to yourself. We need you; we do desperately need you. Apart from you we are empty and broken. In you we are made whole. In you the desert and wilderness places come alive with life and meaning and vitality. Draw us to yourself and make us to be the people you have called us to be. Amen.

Down through Israel's history the people were to be vessels of truth, carriers of the Word of God. In them the Word of God would live. Through them the Word of God would come into the lives of others. So, in Isaiah 2:5 the word goes out, "Come, house of Jacob, and let us walk in the light of the Lord." Another way of saying that is, “let us really be the people of God. Let us really live for God. Let us really, truly, worship God.” In so doing, the people would in essence be prophets of God, tellers of the story, conveyors of the truth, living witnesses of the living God.

In Numbers 11:29 there is a remarkable verse. A couple of men had begun to prophesy in the camp of Israel, and there were some who felt these men were out of order and that only Moses should prophesy. Finally, in verse 28 "Joshua the son of Nun, the attendant of Moses from his youth, said, "Moses, my lord, restrain them." The response of Moses is intriguing. He said, "Are you jealous for my sake? Would that all the Lord's people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them!"

Fast-forward ahead to the New Testament. In Acts chapter two the people of Jesus are filled with Holy Spirit. The apostle Peter steps up and preaches a great sermon, a part of which explains what is happening. He quotes the Old Testament prophet Joel, "And it shall be in the last days," says God, "That I will pour fourth of My Spirit on all mankind; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy" (Acts. 2:17).

In that act, Moses got his wish. The Word of Joel came to pass. The Spirit came upon the sons and daughters. “Would that all the Lords people were prophets.” Today the mantle of the prophet has fallen on the Church of Jesus Christ. His people bring the prophetic voice of God into the affairs of men and, as the church lives scattered through out the world, the message of God is proclaimed.

In my heart of hearts I am praying that the Holy Spirit will enable us to tell the story of God well. Tell it clearly. Tell it unambiguously. Tell it with clarity. More than this, however, may the church live a clear and unambiguous witness before a world that is unaware of just how needy for God it is.

I have a feeling that long before an unbelieving people will embrace a Christian’s thinking they must first see a Christian in action. Before we go on record as being followers of Jesus our lives should already be reflecting His life in us. We ought to be a people who by our very actions and attitudes reflect the fact that God is good. Once we are doing this, then our words can be a great clarifying instrument.

Jesus said to all His followers, “You are the light of the world.” Now, the ball is in our court. We need to go out, in the power of the Holy Spirit and do what a light does ~~~ SHINE. “Would that all the Lord’s people were prophets, that the Lord would put His Spirit upon them.” Well, He has done just that. Now, let’s go out and make God look good.

It is a humbling and yet exhilarating thought to think that our lives are covered by the God we see revealed in Jesus. At minimum this means we are never without hope, that God's grace is always sufficient. Take from us all that can be taken and there is still God in Jesus. Do to us what you will and there is still God in Jesus. Bless us, curse us, or snub us, Jesus is Lord not the blessings or the curses or the snubbing. Kill us, and the last word isn't death but life, Eternal life in the One who is Lord, even over death.

In Jesus is life and His life is the light of God to us and in us (See John 1:4). To embrace Him is to take His hand, as it were, and to live both now and when life here is over.

Did you know there is no place we can go to hide from God’s grace. Isaac Watts reminds us in a hymn we sing at Christmas time,

No more let sin and sorrow grow…

He comes to make His blessings flow

Far as the curse is found.

So it was that Eliza Hewitt wrote

My faith has found a resting place,
not in device or creed;
I trust the ever-living One,
His wounds for me shall plead.

Enough for me that Jesus saves,
this ends my fear and doubt;
a sinful soul I come to Him,
He’ll never cast me out.

He comes to make His blessings flow ….

This ends my fear and doubt.

Amen.

The dangerous world we live in is filled with forces that can hurt us deeply and seemingly undermine any good work that God might be doing. When we walk with God, however, we can’t simply assume that what appears to be the facts are, indeed, the facts.

At the heart of our faith is this insatiable belief that no matter what comes our way, God is in the midst of our story. And, make no mistake about it, our stories can get rather messy because life is messy. However, into the “Messy-ness” comes the wonder of God. A voice calls out to us and captivates our attention, “Come, behold the works of the Lord” (Ps. 46:8). And, our eyes are opened to realities of grace we never saw before.

In the messy-ness of life we have some promises. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Ps 46:1). “There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God” (Ps. 46:4). “God is in the midst of her, she will not be moved” (Ps. 46: 5). The Lord of hosts is with us” (Psalm 46:7,11).

And, how shall we respond to this wonderful news? “Though the earth should change and though the mountains slip into the heart of the sea … WE WILL NOT FEAR” (Ps. 46:2).

The dangerous world has been embraced and confronted by a Sovereign God. The river of God is flowing, bringing the life of God into the midst of all we have in this world. And, another call comes loud and clear, “Cease striving and know that I am God” (Ps. 46:10).

In Zechariah 4:6 there is the very familiar text that has God telling His people that His work in the world was done not by might nor by power but by His Spirit. This means that we must be filled, shaped and formed by God’s Spirit if we are to be a people through whom God can work.

We must be a people filled with the power of God because “our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places” (Eph. 6:12).

None of us can see into the future so it is crucial that we pray our way into the future. Jesus is the Beginning and the End even in the present. He “is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Heb 13:8). What Jesus did then He can do now. Let’s pray that we may be a people in whom He can do whatever He desires to do.

Pastor Jim Cymbala, of Brooklyn Tabernacle, offers a prayer that drives all this home for me. He prays, “Dear Father…Reveal your will and purpose concerning us, and then give us the grace to pursue it with all our hearts.”

Jesus said, “Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be open to you” (Matt. 7:7). Let’s pray our way into the future. Keep on asking, keep on seeking, and keep on knocking. Remember the counsel of John Bunyan, “You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed”

There is a safe place in God that is remarkable and wonderful. David speaks of it in Psalm 31, and he does so in the painful context of certain people who took counsel together against him and were scheming to take away his life.

What do you do when life comes against you this way? Interestingly, David turned to the One person he could trust. He turned to His God. “As for me, I trust in You, O Lord, I say ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand.”

The schemers still schemed, the adversaries still plotted, the enemies still sought to persecute him, but David sensed that he was safe in the arms of God. Hidden in the secret place of God’s presence where “shelter” takes on a new meaning, David lived awed by God’s marvelous lovingkindness. The enemies of his soul had their opinions but David had his God.

David’s times were not in the hands of his enemies; his times were in the hand of God. Truth is that we can’t do much about the agendas of those who strive against God and His people but we can draw near to God because He has invited us to do so, and in His presence we see His heart and find ourselves saying things like, “How great is Your goodness,” “Blessed be the Lord,” “You are my God.”

When the enemy would seek your demise, come into the secret place of God’s presence. Call upon your God. Trust Him. He is your God. Do you love Him? Then your times are in His hand. The enemy cannot enter into the secret place of God’s presence, so come and pray and seek God’s face, and call upon His name, and live in that one, true, safe place, the presence of God.

Beloved, in these days I’ve had a lot of time to pray and reflect upon Scripture and I wanted to tell you that time after time the Spirit of the Lord has moved on my life over the past month and has ministered to my questioning and processing soul. There have been some dark moments where I have had to cling to Jesus and there have been some moments when I was too perplexed and tired to cling, only to discover that He was already clinging to me, inviting me to let go and to fall into his embrace.

Today I want to testify to the faithfulness of God. This cancer has shaken me up a bit, but you know what, I’m still here, I’m alive and I have hope. A hundred times over the past month I have borrowed David’s prayer and made it mine, “But as for me, I trust in you, O Lord. I say, ‘You are my God.’ My times are in Your hand” (Psalm 31:14-15).

And, I want to testify to the Father in your behalf telling Him how faithful you have been, how committed to pray, and how driven to stay the course. I want Him to know that you all have touched my life. Your prayers, your cards, your words of encouragement have been a dynamic part of God entering my story and building hope in me. Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.

So, with all my heart my word to you today is “Nothing to the left; Nothing to the right; Jesus only.” May God bless you and keep you, and may His grace shine down upon you.

The words in this article come from
the old Prayer Warrior, E. M. Bounds,

in his book, Power Through Prayer.

May they wet an appetite in our spirits

to be men and women of prayer.

People of Prayer

We are constantly on a stretch, if not on a strain, to devise new methods, new plans, new organizations to advance the Church and secure enlargement and efficiency for the gospel. This trend of the day has a tendency to lose sight of the person or sink the person in the plan or organization. God's plan is to make much of the person, far more of the person than of anything else. People are God's method. The Church is looking for better methods; God is looking for better people.

"There was a man sent from God whose name was John." The dispensation that heralded and prepared the way for Christ was bound up in that person, John. "Unto us a child is born, unto us a son is given." The world's salvation comes out of that cradled Son. When Paul appeals to the personal character of the men who rooted the gospel in the world, he solves the mystery of their success. The glory and efficiency of the gospel is staked on the people who proclaim it.

When God declares that "the eyes of the Lord run to and fro throughout the whole earth, to show himself strong in the behalf of them whose heart is perfect toward him," he declares the necessity of a person and of His dependence on that person as a channel through which to exert His power upon the world. This vital, urgent truth is one that this age of machinery is apt to forget. The forgetting of it is as baneful on the work of God as would be the striking of the sun from his sphere. Darkness, confusion, and death would ensue.

What the Church needs today is not more machinery or better, not new organizations or more and novel methods, but people whom the Holy Spirit can use -- People of prayer, people mighty in prayer. The Holy Spirit does not flow through methods, but through people. He does not come on machinery, but on people. He does not anoint plans, but people -- people of prayer.

I have been thinking about the place of prayer in the life of a follower of Jesus Christ. The apostle Paul declared, “With all prayer and petition pray at all times in the Spirit, and with this in view, be on the alert with all perseverance and petition for all the saints” (Eph. 6:18). In Romans 8:26 Paul indicated that there are times when “we do not know how to pray as we should,” and that in those time “The Spirit intercedes for us with groanings too deep for words.” In Romans 8:34 Paul declares that “Christ Jesus…who died, yes, rather who was raised, who is at the right hand of God….also intercedes for us.” And, bless his heart, Augustine says, "Man is a beggar before God.”

It was John Bunyon who said, “You can do more than pray, after you have prayed, but you cannot do more than pray until you have prayed.” In other words, for those of us who believe in Jesus, prayer is the heart of who we are as a people. Getting before the Father and calling upon His name in prayer is a fundamental issue with those who have trusted in Christ for salvation.

To pray is to come alongside Jesus, responding to the fact that God’s will is “Good, acceptable and perfect” (Rom. 12;2). In Christ we are able to pray, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:1). We are free to pray like this because we know that always and forever God’s will is good, acceptable and perfect. It can’t be improved on.

I’ve been prayed for a lot recently, and, quite frankly, I have found great peace and comfort in knowing that God’s people are praying for me. Ironically, what I haven’t needed to know is the specifics as to what God’s answers to those prayers might be. I have the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit, I am a part of the eternal Church of God, and I know that God’s will is good, acceptable and perfect. Here I stand. I choose to stand at no other place. God has spoken into our world and HE is enough.

May we draw near to God and pour out our hearts before Him in intercessory prayer.

How many times have you said it to yourself or to someone close to you, “I’m at my wits’ end”? You feel like you’ve reached your limit. It’s like the fellow who said to a friend of his, “I’m down to my last nerve and you’re on it.”

Did you know the Bible speaks about being at wits’ end? It’s that moment when there seems to be no answers, no solutions, and no way out. Everywhere you turn it is as if you hit a brick wall.

Psalm 107 speaks about men who go down to the sea in ships and do business on great waters (vs. 23). While at sea a raging storm develops that rips into the ship as if it were a toy. The men on board the ship are fearful, tired, and weary. They try everything they know to do to survive, but the raging storm pays no attention. Then at this point the Bible says in verse 27, “Thy reeled and staggered like a drunken man, and were at their wits’ end.” They’ve run out of options and they know they’ve had it.

However, at this point the men did something that turned out to be the smartest thing they ever did: “They cried to the Lord in their trouble.” And, guess what? “He brought them out of their distresses” (Ps. 107:28).

What shall we do at wits’ end? Crash and burn or rise and conquer? Wits’ end may be a real place but it isn’t Lord and, unless we allow it to, it will not have the last word. Remember, this awful place in which to find oneself becomes a means of grace.

There isn’t a storm big enough to shut down God, so rise and conquer.

In these busy times It is a good practice to find ways to slow down a bit, to refresh one’s soul, and to re-energize one’s life. This call isn’t about self-help or self-realization, or positive thinking. This call is about drawing near to God, so near that it might be called spiritual intimacy or closeness.

Psalm 37:34 is a clear and unambiguous word about this kind of intimacy with God. King David says, ‘Wait for the Lord and keep His way, and He will exalt you to inherit the land; when the wicked are cut off, you will see it.” Here we see that God is at work and that at the right time, when the wicked are cut off, God will show us just how present He has been in the life of His people.

Until that “right time” we are called to wait for the Lord and to Keep His way.” This requires faith on our part and a releasing of our life story into the faithfulness of God. In my spirit can I slow down and wait for God? Can I give myself to be so familiar with His way that I can give myself to living in His way?

Can’t you almost hear the the Holy Spirit saying, “Don’t be rushed and prodded, treated like you are just a number, a face in the crowd. I certainly don’t look at you that way. The world will because it seems to be the only way to conduct business in the busyness of life; but, remember God is present in you, setting the tempo of life. Life may demand busyness of you, but never forget that God is in the midst of His people.”

We are invited to rest in the provisions of God. In your spirit “wait,” in your daily life “Keep His way,” In this place you’ll be okay because God is faithful and He will never forsake you.

Life is filled with challenges, isn’t it? One minute things are fine and then next chaos abounds. Even being a Christian doesn’t protect us from the realities of life. In fact, sometimes following Jesus takes us right into storms. Just ask the disciples. One of their stories is told in Matthew 8:23-27.

Jesus got into a boat one day, the disciples followed Him, and the next thing they know is that they are fighting for their lives in the midst of a storm at sea. They followed Jesus right into chaos.

Does your belief system allow for the fact that sometimes when you follow Jesus it will take you right into a storm? Does your belief system allow for obedience to God not always to be smooth sailing? Does your belief system allow for Jesus to be asleep on the boat in the midst of a storm?

I’m not sure we have Jesus all figured out and I am quite sure that His ways are very different from our ways. Take that storm, for instance. The disciples are panicked in the storm while Jesus naps in the same storm.

Storms come, don’t they; big storms, life threatening storms, unexpected storms. Isn’t it exciting to know that our Lord is so powerful that storms don’t disturb Him. Don’t you find some kind of peace in that scenario? Makes you want to sing, “Be still, my soul, the waves and winds still know His voice who ruled them while He dwelt below.”

In Luke 13:22-30 Jesus shares a parable and talks to the listeners about what the parable means. The teaching event began with someone getting Jesus’ attention and asking Him, “Lord, are there just a few who are being saved”” (vs. 23).

This question probably arose in the person's heart because of the hard sayings Jesus had be giving to the people. In chapter twelve Jesus had spoken of the cost of being a disciple. The commitment required an act of obedience that could potentially lead to division in some relationships. Some people would not understand why a friend or family member would turn to Jesus, and the act of doing so would lead to hostility and conflict on their part.

To follow Jesus was a call to give one’s whole life into the hands of God, not holding back anything, and knowing some people would not understand. So, in the eyes of someone witnessing it all, to follow Jesus was demanding, so demanding that he thought that maybe there would just be a few people who would dare take up their cross and follow Jesus!

Jesus didn’t directly answer his question. Instead he got the person thinking about the kingdom of God. He spoke of the fact that some people would just never get it but that others from all over the world, “east and west and north and south” would come into the kingdom and “recline at the table in the kingdom of God” (vs. 29).

The question the man asked was too narrow. The kingdom is huge, and the invitation is to all. “whosoever will, let him take of the water of life freely” (Rev. 17b KJV).

“Whosoever.” What a mighty, wonderful, and awesome God we serve.

WITH GOD’S HELP

Because our faith in God means so very much to us if God is not at the center of our story, by default, we become the center of the story, dependent upon the mortal and finite capacity of our own little worldview. And, truthfully, this way of life leaves a lot to be desired.

In Jesus we are stretched to think outside our worldview, to think the thoughts of God as revealed in His awesome deeds in Jesus.

In Jesus we are brought into the Kingdom of God where the ways and means of God permeate all things.

In Jesus we become “I can” people. Life doesn’t have to do us in. We can face life and live in the power of God.

All these things being said, I am thinking that we ought to begin and end every dream, every work, every event, every process, and every aspiration with a prayer that says, “WITH GOD’S HELP.”

With God’s help I will undertake this thing.

With God’s help I will pursue this dream.

With God’s help I will undertake this work.

With God’s help I shall be faithful to His work in the church.

Remember what the angel said to the virgin Mary as he was explaining to here what was going to happen in her womb? He said to her, “Nothing will be impossible with God” (Luke 1:37). And, Mary believed him, and off to the home of Elizabeth she ran to tell her the remarkable story (Luke 1:3945).

The incarnate ministry of God in history began with the promise, “Nothing will be impossible with God.” There might be a lot impossible with us, but with our God nothing is impossible.

So, with God’s help I will do what I must do.

With God’s help I will be what He has called me to be.

With God’s help I will be faithful.

With God’s help I will follow Jesus wherever He leads me.

With God’s help I shall ______________________.

In Colossians chapter three the apostle Paul shares twelve quality characteristics that are present when Jesus lives in a human heart. It’s quite a list: Compassion (12), Kindness (12), Humility (12), Gentleness (12), Patience (12), Bearing with one another (13), Forgiving each other (13), Love, which is the perfect bond of unity (14), The Peace of Christ (15), Thankfulness (15), The Word of God (16), Do all in the name of the Lord Jesus (17).

As I read this list I can’t help but pray, ”Give me Jesus.” If these are the kinds of things He brings to a life, then I give Him my life. I’m in hook, line, and sinker. It’s no turning back for me.

By way of contrast look at some of the ways and characteristics that fill the world: It’s quite a list: immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, greed, anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech (5, 8).

When I read this list I can’t help but pray, ‘give me Jesus.” If He wants to lift me out of that kind of stuff, I give Him my life, no turning back.

In a sense this is how the church finds itself in the world. In Christ, we are brought into a new and living community where everybody is somebody and Jesus is Lord; or, as Paul says in verse 11, “Christ is all, and in all.” This community is one where barriers are broken down and people really do live with each other in peace.

Paul says it doesn’t matter what our background is because in Christ we blend into each other and become brothers and sisters. We become a community defined by twelve quality characteristics that define us as a people and enable us as witnesses of Jesus.

Church. What a great idea! What a great miracle! Welcome home.

Handling Criticism of Your Faith


In Psalm 42:3 there is a poignant moment where the writer is taking heat because of his faith in God. He is going through a very difficult time when his critics and detractors mock him, saying, “Where is your God?”

A part of being a believer in God, particularly those who follow Jesus, is to recognize that many people just don’t get it. Some of these detractors will come even from within the ranks of what we call “the Church.” They will seek to undermine your view and beliefs all in the name of their view and beliefs. Others, who have no room for God, will play the role of judge, jury and executioner. They have their beliefs and won’t rest until they see you writhing in pain on the floor, your beliefs having been ripped out of you by their arguments. These folks might be your work associates, a professor, a neighbor, or from a thousand other sources set on the demise of your faith.

What do you do when your faith is attacked? Some say we must have equally strong intellectual arguments to rebuff the assaults. This is probably true. The apostle Paul told Timothy that he needed to be diligent to present himself approved to God…accurately handling the word of truth (2 Tim. 2:16). In I Peter 3:15 believers are counseled, “Sanctify Christ as Lord in your hearts, always being ready to make a defense to everyone who asks you to give an account for the hope that is in you…”

There is another part of the story, however, that needs to be affirmed. You know what Christ has done for you. You know the difference He has made and is making in your life. The apostle Paul witnessed to Timothy by saying, “I know whom I have believed and I am convinced that He is able to guard what I have entrusted to Him” (2 Tim. 1:12).

Some people in your world will fuss and fume about your faith connection with Jesus. Let them. That’s their issue, not yours. Don’t give them unwarranted access to your mind, your faith or your will. You know what Jesus has done for you. And, as Paul said to the Corinthian Christians, don’t “be led astray from the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ” (2 Cor. 11:3).

The love Jesus has for you and the love you have for him calls you to trust His integrity to keep His word. He said, “I am with you always…Come to Me…Learn from Me…You will find rest for your souls” (Matt. 28:20, 11:28-30). When the heat is on, and it will be at times, trust the One who died for you as opposed to the one who would destroy what has been so profoundly important to you, simply because they have a different view. Jesus said, “The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy” (John 10:10). What does that say about your critics and detractors? Not much except that they are on the wrong side of God’s grace and mercy. Jesus said, “I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly” (John 10:10).

Jesus says to us today, as He said it to His first disciples, that in Him we have peace. He said, “in the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Don’t try to win every argument because some people cannot hear the truth. Just take courage, trust in Jesus, tell the truth, and leave the results to God. Fix your eyes on Jesus Christ and remember there is nothing in all creation that is able to separate you from the love of God, which is in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:37-39).

BROKEN CHORDS WILL VIBRATE ONCE MORE
Rick Savage

A man who has greatly influenced my Christian journey was a Roman Catholic Priest from Belgium by the name of Henri Nouwen. He had reached the summit of academic excellence and held teaching positions at Notre Dame, Yale and Harvard. (The following quotes by Nouwen are found in, In the Name of Jesus (Crossroads: New York, 1989), Yet, his academic success and his twenty-five years of priesthood left him, he said,

Praying poorly, living somewhat isolated from other people, and very much preoccupied with burning issues. Everyone was saying that I was doing really well, but something inside was telling me that my success was putting my own soul in danger.

Isn't that an intriguing thought? Putting my own soul in danger. Nouwen began to struggle with these issues. He said,

I began to ask myself whether my lack of contemplative prayer, my loneliness, and my constantly changing involvement in what seemed most urgent were signs that the Spirit was gradually being suppressed. It was very hard for me to see clearly, and though I never spoke about hell or only jokingly so, I woke up one day with the realization that I was living in a very dark place and that the term 'burnout' was a convenient psychological translation for a spiritual death.

In the midst of all these things Nouwen was invited by a man named Jean Vanier, the founder of the L'Arche communities for mentally handicapped people to, as he said, "Go and live among the poor in spirit, and they will heal you." And so it was that Nouwen left the elitist world of Ivy league education and, moved from Harvard to L'Arche, from people he said, "wanting to rule the world, to men and women who had few or no words and were considered, at best, marginal to the needs of our society." Nouwen says this about his move to L'Arche.

The first things that struck me when I came to live in a house with mentally handicapped people was that their liking or disliking me had absolutely nothing to do with any of the many useful things I had done until them. Since no body could read my books, they could not impress anyone, and since most of them never went to school, my twenty years at Notre Dame, Yale, and Harvard did not provide a significant introduction. My considerable ecumenical experience proved even less valuable. When I offered some meat to one of the assistants during dinner, one of the handicapped men said to me, "Don't give him meat, he doesn't eat meat, he's a Presbyterian."

Henri Nouwen passed away a few years ago and I still grieve the loss, but I will always read his books and I will always remember this one paragraph. Speaking again of the move to L'Arche Nouwen says,

This experience was...the most important experience of my new life, because it forced me to rediscover my true identity. These broken, wounded, and completely unpretentious people forced me to let go of my relevant self--the self that can do things, show things, prove things, build things--and forced me to reclaim that unadorned self in which I am completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments.


I believe this is what Jesus wants to do in His Church. He wants His people to lay aside, in their inner most being, the paraphernalia of success and greatness and reclaim the unadorned self in which we are completely vulnerable, open to receive and give love regardless of any accomplishments.

In the Church of Jesus Christ everybody is somebody and the love of Jesus is the very air we breathe. The love He pours into our lives is the love we pour into each other's lives. The love of God in us is a healing, restoring, reinvigorating love. It's the love people most need. It is the love of which the Good News of the Gospel is made. It is the only love that has a real chance of making a different in the human heart.

Back in 1869 Fanny Crosby wrote a song that is still in our hymnbook today. I hope they never stop including it in the updating process of the hymnal just because of verse three of the song. It says,

Down in the human heart,
Crushed by the tempter,
Feelings lie buried that grace can restore.
Touched by a loving heart,
Wakened by kindness,
Chords that are broken will vibrate once more.
Rescue the perishing;
Care for the dying.
Jesus is merciful;
Jesus will save.
(Rescue the Perishing" by Fanny J. Crosby, 1869)

This Jesus is the very air we breathe. May the fellowship we share together in Him be the kind in which "chords that are broken will vibrate once more.

The apostle Paul never asked this question directly but he could have, “What are you doing with your life?” Good question isn’t it? Am I giving my life to things that are destructive or am I giving my life to doing good (see (Gal. 6:8). It seems the choice is mine when it comes to me and yours when it comes to you.

Paul calls us to sow to the Spirit of God knowing that in the end to do so means to reap “eternal life” (vs. 8). The journey of being of the Spirit can be long and hard sometimes, however. We can get tempted to be discouraged, tempted to grow weary. Not everybody who really matters to us will be as excited about God as we are, and sometimes they can apply pressure that bears down on us and tempts us to “lose heart” (vs. 9). It can get very lonely out there when something like this happens.

Still, when we walk with God we walk with a certainty and a confidence that continually affirms us in our relationship with God. We know what God has done for us. We know how much Jesus means to us. Pressure may come but pressure is not lord of our lives. Jesus is Lord. So, Paul’s counsel to us is “Let us not lose heart in doing good, for in due time we will reap if we do not grow weary” (vs. 9).

Remember, too, that we are people of the cross. What Jesus provides for us because of His atoning sacrifice is greater than any pressure that may come. In Him, we’ve let the old things of our lives go and we have taken upon ourselves a new life, a life bought and paid for on the cross of Calvary. Now we participate in something no less than “a new creation” (vs. 15).

My brothers and sisters in Christ stay encouraged. Don’t grow weary. Keep your eyes fixed on Jesus. Let God be God in your life. Be blessed by Amazing Grace.

Hebrews 10:23 says, "let us hold unswervingly to the hope we profess, for he who promised is faithful." I understand this "hope" to be the relationship we have in Christ which will lead us finally to that time when we "will receive what he has promised" (Heb. 10:36), "a kingdom that cannot be shaken" (Heb. 12:28). Jesus said he was going to the Father's house, in which there were many rooms and that while there, He was going to prepare a place for his people (John 14:1-3). The hope to which we are to "hold unswervingly" is taking us to that place, heaven, the place of promise, the unshakable kingdom, where we will be with Jesus Christ forever.

However, is the Christian life only about tomorrow, and what will be? I think not. Hebrews 13:5 reminds us of the commitment of our God who said, "Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you." The fact is "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever" (Heb. 13:8), and as He will be with us on that final day to take us to the heaven He has prepared, He is with us now.

There is a good word in Hebrews 7:25. It says that Jesus "is able to save completely those who come to God through him, because he always lives to intercede for them." Did you know that Jesus is talking to God about you and that He talks to God as your advocate. Right now, today, in this very world, Jesus stands with you as your saving and interceding Companion. You have no better friend in your life situation than Jesus. He is so powerfully present that who He is in you, you have as "an anchor for the soul, firm and secure" (Heb. 6:19).

Did you catch it? An anchor for the soul! Right now, in your life, in your work, in your relationships, in your home, in your pain, in your frustrations, in your successes and victories, in your personal world -- an ANCHOR of the soul. Right now! Today! This very moment. Jesus, the HOPE.

There is a wonderful phrase used by the apostle Paul in Galatians 3:28 that is awesome. He speaks there to the church and says, "You are all one in Christ Jesus." The story of every believer is unique because people come from all sorts of backgrounds. In Galatians Paul speaks of the backgrounds of Jewish faith and of Gentiles ~~ You can't get much different than this. Jews came out of a very defined religious structure while many gentiles came out of no faith at all. Now, in the church they connect up as brothers and sisters.

Paul goes further. He says in verse 28, "There is neither Jew nor Greek, there is neither slave nor free man, there is neither male nor female…" In Christ Jesus we "are all one."

In the church every one is invited into the place of equality, equality rooted in the life of Jesus. No one is superior and no one is inferior. We are ONE. Wealth doesn't buy power in the church and poverty does not keep one away from the place of authority and influence. We are ONE. Healthy or ill, we are ONE. Red, yellow, black or white, we are ONE. Jesus died for the world and when people step out of the world into the community of Jesus they become "Abraham's descendants, heirs according to promise" (vs. 29).

In Christ strangers become friends and enemies become colleagues. Differences become blurred in the church as the life of Jesus blends into and permeates everything. In Christ we become sons and daughter of God. So it is that we become brothers and sisters; we become family. In a grace that will most likely never be fully understood Jesus stepped into our story one day and invited us into a new way of doing and being. He lifted us out of the ways of the world that seem to be so divisive and tribal and hurtful, and cleared a place at His table so that with the family we could draw near to God and find a fellowship that is awesome.

Sound too good to be true? Probably; but it is true. Welcome home.

One of the challenges the early church faced two thousand years ago was what to do with all the gentiles coming to faith. Should they undergo some sort of ceremonial acceptance into Judaism first because the Messiah came through Israel, or did knowing Christ stand on its own merits. There were strong opinions on both sides of the issue.

In the end the church came to agree that knowing Jesus Christ stood on its own merits. He was enough. God had brought forth a new movement, a Church, where all stood equal and all were one in Christ, not Jew and not Gentile, just brothers and sister in the common faith.

Some folks had a more difficult time adjusting than did others. Some believers, when they were in the presence of Jews, acted Jewish. The same people, when they were in the presence of Gentiles, acted in a fashion consistent with being a Gentile. The apostle Paul did not like this arrangement at all, and said so. He was very concerned that some people "were not straightforward about the truth of the Gospel" (Gal. 2:14).

I am intrigued that Paul called the early church to a clear and unambiguous commitment to Jesus as Savior and Lord. No vacillating allowed. Straightforward was the word. He knew that the law could not save but only Jesus could save. He believed God was doing a new thing in history and that what God was doing was realized in Jesus. It wasn't keeping laws that saved. It was knowing Jesus that saved, and so Paul told the folks by way of personal testimony, "I have been crucified with Christ; and it is no longer I who live, but Christ lives in me; and the life which I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me" (Gal. 2:20).

It's not rules and regulations we need. It is a personal relationship with God we need. Just be Christian. Nothing to the left and nothing to the right; Jesus only.

In many ways Saul of Tarsus was a terrorist. He hated Christians, He hated Jesus, and He hated the Church. Because of this he engaged himself in a one-man extermination project, a mission to rid the world of Christians. And, he was good at what he did. Christians feared him, and knew that should their paths cross, Saul would do whatever was necessary to rid the world of that pesky Christian sect. Prison or death, it mattered not to Saul. As long as Christians were silenced the work was worth it.

On the road to Damascus one day to do his work there, Saul made a huge mistake. He stumbled onto Jesus Christ, and Jesus shook the foundation of Saul’s world, lifted him out of his sin and rebellion, transformed him within, and called him to become one of those pesky Christians, whom he used to hate.

One of the next things on Saul’s agenda was to convince the Christian community that his conversion was really real. I mean, can a man really change? Really? Can grace work that kind of miracle? Understandably it took some time for the Church to assess and evaluate and to conclude that something profound and divine, even supernatural, had transpired in Saul’s life. But, God’s grace is amazing and they began to say of Saul, “He who once persecuted us is now preaching the faith which he once tried to destroy.” Then Saul, who had been given a new name, Paul, said, “They were glorifying God because of me” (Gal. 1:23-24).

Isn’t that a wonderful story; from a hater of Christ to a disciple, a follower of Christ. And, in it all we see that God can break into a life that is hardened and make it soft, tender, and open. This gives me hope. God is all-powerful, and He is at work in the human situation.

How is your story going?

What captivates your imagination? Is there something that has just taken hold of your heart and won't let go? Something deeper and more profound than you ever expected to experience?

In Isaiah chapter six we learn about something that captured the imagination of Isaiah, a prophet of God. It radically altered his world and set his heart on fire with a love and passion for God that rocked his world. What was it that captured his imagination? It was a sense of the presence of God he experienced in a moment when he said, "I saw the Lord" (Is. 6:1).

Isaiah got a glimpse of God in His glory and infinite sovereignty. In the spirit of worship he saw God "sitting on a throne, lofty and exalted" (Is. 6:1). What He saw began a conversation with God that led to a conversion, a God-initiated conversion where Isaiah reaches deep down inside his heart and finds the courage to say to God, "I will live for You. I will do what You want me to do. I will go where You call me to go, and I will be Your prophet."

I have wondered if God doesn't want to give His church today that kind of earth shattering moment where decisions are made and lives are changed and futures are rewritten. I have wondered if in some way in worship the people of God ought to become so aware of the presence of God that it shakes the foundation of their world and changes their outlook and draws them into the very presence of God, setting their hearts on fire with a love and passion for God that rocks their world.

Is this asking too much? Taking into consideration the fact that Jesus Christ has been raised from the dead, I think not.

One of my favorite devotional writers is John Henry Jowett. His book, My Daily Meditation has touched my heart numerous times over the years. May I share his May 16 reading. I hope it touches you as deeply as it touched me. He calls it, THE DETAILS OF PROVIDENCE and bases it on Matthew 10:30. “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.”
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“PROVIDENCE goes into details. Sometimes, in our human intercourse, we cannot see the trees for the wood. We cannot see the individual sheep for the flock. We cannot see the personal soul for the masses. We are blinded by the bigness of things; we cannot see the individual blades of grass because of the field.

“Now God’s vision is not general, it is particular. There are no “masses” to the Infinite. “He calls His own sheep by name.” The single one is seen as though he alone possessed the earth. When God looks at the wood He sees every tree. When He looks at the race He sees every man.

“And, therefore, I need not fear that “my way is overlooked by my God.” He knows every turning. He knows just where the strain begins at the hill. He knows the perils of every descent. He knows every happening along the road. He knows every letter that came to me by this morning’s post. He knows every visitor who knocks at the door of my life, whether the visitor come at the high noon or at the midnight. “There is nothing hid.” “The very hairs of your head are all numbered.”

Israel desperately wanted a king like the other nations around them. They had God as their king, but they wanted a flesh and blood king to lead them. God wasn’t enough. Interestingly, God gave them over to their deep desire to have a king. When He relented and gave them their desire they realized they had acted inappropriately. They went to their prophet, Samuel, and said to him, “Pray for your servants to the Lord your God, so that we may not die, for we have added to all our sins this evil by asking for ourselves a king” (I Samuel 12:19).”

In his response Samuel reminded the people that even though they had rejected God as their king, He had not rejected them as His people. He challenged them to remain faithful to God in this new arrangement, to “serve the Lord with all your heart” (vs. 20). They were still God’s people and He still loved them. Their sin would not separate them from His love.

The counsel of Samuel to the people who would get their king was, “Only fear the Lord and serve Him in truth with all your heart” (vs. 24). He challenged them to ever “consider what great things He has done for you” (vs. 24). Of himself Samuel told them, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by ceasing to pray for you” (vs. 23). In this new arrangement Samuel told the people, “I will instruct you in the good and right way” (vs. 23).

We are the people of God regardless as to who our earthly leaders may be. God is still our God regardless of the powers at work in the world. Our allegiance is to the living God. We lift Him up in our lives regardless of the arrangement in which we find ourselves. Leaders come and leaders go but “we must obey God rather than men” (Acts 5:29)

Jesus said, “Peace I leave with you; My peace I give to you” (John 14:27). In saying this He speaks right into the heart of lives. Shortly before His crucifixion Jesus spoke to His disciples about the coming event. He concluded by saying to them, “These things I have spoken to you, so that in Me you may have peace. In the world you have tribulation, but take courage; I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). Some time later, after the birth of Jesus’ Church the apostle Paul called the people to “Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts.” (Col. 3:15).

I am thinking that inner peace might just be the most important condition for which the human heart searches. We talk about peace and we pray about peace and we read books about how to have peace. Perhaps peace doesn’t come through a book. Is it possible that peace comes in a person, and that to know this person is to experience the peace that is unique to Him?

In Luke 2:79 we are told that Jesus would “guide our feet into the way of peace.” Of all the things Jesus came to do in the human situation peace seems to lie at the center of it all. He loves us and in this we discover peace. He forgives us of our sins, and in this we discover peace. He lavishes us with grace and in this we discover peace. He speaks truth to us and in His words we discover peace. He treats us with the respect and dignity of the Creator and in this we discover peace.

Let the peace of Christ rules in your hearts.

I may be more of a mystic than I have allowed myself to admit to, but as a Christian who truly believes in the resurrection of Jesus Christ, I really do believe in dreaming and hoping and visualizing possibilities." It is a mysticism rooted and grounded in Jesus, so much so that if I had a personal creedal statement it would read, "Jesus is Lord, and He is enough."

Jesus said where two or three were gathered in His name that He would be in their midst. This one Biblical truth alone sets my heart to singing, energizes my passion to be faithful to God, and ignites a fire in my soul that ever reminds me that where people gather in the name of Jesus, all the possibilities of God are in that people because Jesus is with that people.

As we seek to be faithful in this place at this time, we have valid reasons to be encouraged for Jesus, the Lord of Lords, is with us.

We have valid reasons to dream dreams beyond ourselves because Jesus, the Lord of Lords, is with us.

We have valid reasons to be optimistic in a pessimistic world because Jesus, the Lord of Lords, is with us.

Second star to the right and
straight on until morning.

He Is Risen

"How long will you keep us in suspense? If You are the Christ, tell us plainly," so questioned some Jews during Hanukkah as Jesus strolled through the temple in the Portico of Solomon (John 10:22). Sounds simple enough. Just tell us plainly and we’ll get it; we’ll catch on.

Jesus knew better. Jesus knows our hearts, and our words do not deter or impress Him. So, as was His custom, He got to the heart of the matter. Their problem, He said, had nothing to do with Him speaking “plainly” or keeping them in “suspense.” Their problem had to do with the fact that their hearts were not one with His. “You are not of My sheep,” Jesus told them (John 10:26). He could have spoken plainly all day but if their hearts were not of His heart, it would have been an exercise in futility.

"My sheep hear My voice, and I know them, and they follow Me," Jesus told the folks (John 10:27). Something was going on that had nothing to do with explanations or intellectual clarity. God was among us, giving eternal life to those who heard His voice (John 10:28).

Some heard and forever their lives were changed. Some would not hear, and they missed the very presence of God as Jesus mingled among them sharing the word, “I and the Father are one” (John 10:30).

Is it really possible to miss the very presence of God in our midst? Indeed, it is. It is not necessary, but it is possible. Can you hear His voice? Does His heart resonate in you? Look at Jesus and watch Him for a while. What do you see? Who do you see? Could it be that the Father is drawing you to Himself? Could Jesus be the greatest gift any of us could ever receive?

Walking with God through His Son, Jesus, and filled daily by the empowering presence of His Holy Spirit is surely grace at its highest possible level of expression. This is truly amazing when compared with the fact that the Bible says we've all sinned against God and fallen short of his glory (Rom. 3:23).

Why would an offended God respond to the offenders in grace and love, when the natural response to them is an "eye for eye, tooth for tooth, hand for hand, foot for foot, burn for burn, wound for wound, bruise for bruise" (Exodus 21:24). At least on the human level this seems to be a natural response. Revenge. Retaliation. Vengeance. Retribution. Reprisal. These seem to be the natural, unrehearsed response of persons to persons. Legal systems are set up to see to it that these are not the context in which judgment is handed down, yet, they still seem to be the spirit and attitude of so many people around the world.

But God does not come in revenge. Retaliation is far from Him. Vengeance is not the issue with God. Retribution is not a part of His way of doing things. Reprisal is unthinkable to Him. The way of God is the way of grace, so much so that the Bible reveals this amazing thought: "The free gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord" (Rom. 6:23).

God is about life. God is about love. God is about hope. God is about renewal and new beginnings. Jesus said it was "the thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy" [and how acquainted with his ways we are] but He also said, "I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full" (John 10:10). That is grace --- Life to the full when your sins say you deserve death.

What is grace? It is God including us in when He could have written us off.

EASTER REFLECTION

We Christians believe in the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It is central to all we believe and it stands as the defining event in all history. We live in a world where Jesus has been raised from the dead. The world has a Redeemer, a Savior, a Friend. You have a Redeemer, a Savior, a Friend. None of us can say, “Nobody cares.” In fact, Somebody does care, and gave His life as an expression of the depth of His concern.

In the living Christ God brings His life into our lives and fills us with what it means for God to be God ~ Love, Forgiveness, Truth, Joy, Peace, Patience, Kindness, Goodness, Faithfulness, Gentleness, Self-control, just to name a few realities of His life in us.

Jesus takes out of us things like “anger, wrath, malice, slander, abusive speech, greed, falsehood, bitterness.” He fills us with the capacity to “be kind to one another,” to be “tenderhearted,” and to be able to “forgive each other, just as,” Paul says, “God in Christ also has forgiven you.”

In the living Christ, our lives are made whole; that’s the pragmatic issue before us. In Jesus God lavishes His grace on people. He does not force Himself on people but to those who come to Christ and who believe in Him, they are lavished with His grace, awestruck by His kindness, and awed by His goodness.

Because Jesus lives, we live free and forgiven and whole. We live within the embrace of God whose very life pulsates through our lives.

He is risen! He is risen, indeed.