INSIGHT

 In the Church we speak of being totally committed to Jesus.  We talk about taking up our cross and following Him, and about jettisoning anything in our lives that stands in the way of Jesus being Lord in us.  It is a very serious issue for us, and we take it to heart, seeking to live in light of the grace and mercy of God that have come to us. 

           

I have been thinking about what all this means in the day-in and day-out matters of living our lives.  Where is it exactly the rubber meets the road, so to speak? Its got to be more than simply words and spiritual duty.  This is a life matter.  It should consume all it means for followers of Jesus to be followers of Jesus. 

           

In my thinking and praying and seeking I developed what I call an "Insight." INSIGHT is an acrostic standing for, I Now Surrender Into God's Hand."  When I got to the T, I drew a blank not knowing what word to choose.  I got to thinking about words that begin with the letter T.  Tomorrow.  Today. Things.  Thoughts.  Temptations. Time.  Talents.  Treasure. Tests.  Trials. Troubles. Tribulations.  Living in Southern California I couldn't resist listing Traffic. 

           

What is it you might need to surrender into God's hand now?  What's on your list?  Colossians 3:24 reminds us, "It is the Lord Christ whom you serve." What might Jesus want you to put on your list?  Give it to Him, and let Him work liberation into your soul and joy to your heart.

THERE WAS THIS ONE PRIEST

 Death is no respecter of persons.  It comes to everyone regardless of race, creed, or color.  It comes to theists, atheists, Christians, Jews, Muslims, and every other religion in the world.  Death speaks to the poor, the middle class, and the wealthy.

           

The writer of the New Testament letter of Hebrews tells us that death inflected even the priesthood of Judaism.  Good men came into the priesthood, offered powerful ministries for God but, in time, death spoke and these men passed away, ending their service.

           

There was one priest, however, who stunned the world by dying but then was raised from the dead.  Because He lives His priesthood lives forever.  In fact, He "has a permanent priesthood" and because of it, "He is able to save completely those who come to God through Him, because He always lives to intercede for them" (Heb. 7:24-25, NIV).

           

This priest, Jesus, is "holy, blameless, pure, set apart from sinners, exalted above the heavens (Heb. 7:26, NIV).  This Jesus "sacrificed for sins once for all when He offered Himself" (Heb. 7:27, NIV).  He didn't present a sacrifice for sins; He became the very sacrifice.  He is the Son of God who went the distance for sin and came out on the other side of death, revealing to the world that His ministry is forever, of God, and applicable to all people everywhere.

           

What a mighty God we serve.

Don't Just Settle

 C.S. Lewis says this in his book, Mere Christianity, “Christ says, ‘Give me All.  I don’t want so much of your time and so much of your money and so much of your work: I want You.  I have not come to torment your natural self, but to kill it.  No half-measures are any good.  I don’t want to cut off a branch here and a branch there, I want to have the whole tree down.  I don’t want to drill the tooth, or crown it, or stop it, but to have it out.  Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires which you think innocent as well as the ones you think wicked.  I will give you a new self instead.  In fact, I will give you Myself: my own will shall become yours.’”[1]

The writer of Hebrews tells us that as followers of Jesus we must eat what he calls, "solid food."  This food is "for the mature, who because of practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil" (Heb. 5:14). We must not settle for anything less than all that God has for us.  Therefore we are called to "press on to maturity" (Heb. 6:1). 

What Lewis speaks about in the above paragraph reflects the words in Hebrews, indicating that following Jesus is for those who are serious about Him, about faith, about the kingdom of God.   The love of God is so real and powerful Issac Watts said, back in 1707, it "demands my soul, my life, my all!"[2]

Now is the time, it seems to me, (maybe way past time), that the people of God step up and radically give themselves do whatever it takes to have their senses trained to discern good and evil.  It is time for "solid food."  It is time to "press on to maturity."  Some are well on their way. 

Let's make it unanimous. 

---

[1] C.S. Lewis, Mere Christianity, (New York : Collier Books, 1960) , p. 167.

[2] "When I Survey the Wondrous Cross, " by  Issac Watts, 1707

THE WORD THAT LIVES

 We hold a Bible in our hands and say about it, "This is the Word of God."  It is, but there is so much more involved than black words on white paper.  "The Word of God is living and active and sharper than any two edged sword" (Heb. 4:12).

           

God's Word is eternal and all-powerful.  It holds authority for all of us.  Even to one who is illiterate and can't read black words on white paper, the Word of God is so powerful it is capable of "piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit, of both joints and marrow."  It is so powerful and authoritative that it is "able to judge the thoughts and intentions of the heart" (Heb. 4:12).

           

God's Word calls us to life.  It sees everything for what it truly is.  "All things are open and laid bare to the eyes of Him with whom we have to do" (Heb. 4:13).  At first glance this might shake the foundation of our lives because, as difficult as it might be to accept, God sees the real us at all times.  We can't hide anything from Him, and we know our lives can't stand up under the scrutiny of that kind of insight and knowledge.

           

Yet, God in His amazing grace does not use His knowledge of us against us, just the opposite.  He knows us through and through; nothing is hidden from Him, and still He brings Jesus into our lives.  "We have a great high priest" (Heb. 4:14).  When He could have written us off because of what He knows about us, He, instead, called us to Himself where we are invited to "receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need" (Heb. 4:16).

           

What an awesome God we serve!

TOGETHER IN CHRIST

 It is an awesome privilege to be a part of Jesus' Church.  In Him we are a holy community, the very house of God (Heb. 3:1,6).  Think of it.  In Christ, His followers become the very dwelling of God.  There are no lone ranger Christians.  We are in this thing together.  We are Jesus' brothers and sisters, as it were, a community comprised of people of whom Jesus "is not ashamed to call them brethren" (Heb. 2:11).

           

In Christ, followers of Jesus are "partakers of a heavenly calling" (Heb. 3:1).  This is no ordinary thing of which we are a part, not man made or rooted in man's wisdom or imagination.  This community is born of God, called into existence by His grace and brought to life by the blood of Christ that shapes and forms the community.

           

Jesus is the center of our life together.  He is in charge of His house, and all it means for us to be who we are comes because of who He is.  He is God's Son who was faithful to the Father fully and totally.  Now in Him we are brought into that faithfulness.  We live faithfully to the confidence and hope we have in Him.

           

Together in Christ we encourage one another.  We watch out for each other so that none of us will be drawn away.  With Jesus as our Lord and each other as brothers and sisters we journey together.  We are the family of God.  What a great life we share together.

God, Up-close and Personal

 When we look around us and seek to observe the current situation of the world it is a challenge.  Some times it looks like the world is running out of control and that even God can't keep up with the unfolding mess.  It is an illusion, however, because in Jesus God has irrevocably involved Himself in the human situation.

Because we are flesh and blood human beings, Jesus took upon Himself "flesh and blood" (Heb. 2:14), and experienced the reality of being human all the way to death.  We don't have a savior who sends salvation from a distance.  We have a Savior who strategically places Himself into our story, suffers what we suffer, is tempted the way we are tempted, bleeds the way we bleed, and who dies just like we die.

The world is a mess, experiencing what a world experiences when it rejects her Creator and turns instead to her own ways and means.  Sin is a dangerous game and it produces devastation of a thousand kinds.  But the world isn't alone.  The Creator has come among us in Jesus, and ushers in His grace within the story.  Because He is one of us and suffered just like we do, "he is able to help those who are being tempted" (Heb. 2:18).  He is up-close and personal. 

Jesus is "a merciful and faithful high priest in service to God" (Heb. 2:17), and, the Bible says, He is not ashamed to refer to us as His brothers and sisters (see Heb. 2:11).  Isn't that amazing?  Jesus is honored to call you and me His family.  Who would have thought it? 

BEING THE HOUSEHOLD OF GOD

 In Ephesians 2:19-22 the church is told, "[Y]ou are fellow citizens with the saints, and are of God’s household, having been built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus Himself being the corner stone, in whom the whole building, being fitted together, is growing into a holy temple in the Lord, in whom you also are being built together into a dwelling of God in the Spirit."

           

The Church is "God's household," on a mission for God in the world. Jesus is the corner stone and the whole building is being fitted together around Him.  The mission is not static but very active, "growing into a holy temple in the Lord."  This temple, this living temple, is the dwelling of God in the Spirit.  As God dwells in His household His Word and works are spread throughout the world.

           

Red, yellow, black, brown, or white, it makes no difference.  We are all precious in the sight of God.  Whoever will turn to Christ will be received by Him.  He will not force Himself on anybody but there is room for all kinds of folks at the table of Jesus.

           

The Good News the Church brings into the world is, "We believe that we are saved through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ" (Acts 15:11).  God's grace is greater than race, creed or color.  All the ground is level at the foot of the cross and the atoning sacrifice of Jesus is for everyone.

           

May the Church ever remember the counsel of the apostle Paul, "We are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand so that we would walk in them" (Eph. 2:10).  "Walk in them."  Walk in the ways and means of God.  Living and moving and having our being in Jesus, that's how to touch a community for Christ.

Shaped and Formed By Messiah

 Faith in Jesus calls for honesty and truthfulness.  It calls for authenticity and purity and mercy.  Jealousy and selfish ambition have no place in the life of one who is being shaped and formed by the Messiah who emptied Himself of all but love and bled for Adam's helpless race.

                       

The letter of James tells us "God is opposed to the proud, but gives grace to the humble" (James. 4:6).  Humility doesn't go over very well with many people.  Humility, to them, is for the weak.  To Jesus, however, humility brings a smile to the face of God.  It brings grace into the human situation and spreads love to folks who really do need to know they are loved. 

                       

The Christian presence in the cultures of the world is extremely important.  We followers of Jesus are compelled to show by our good behavior the deeds of our lives, carried out with the dignity and clarity of Christ-centered wisdom (See James 3:13).  How we live matters.  We are witnesses of the Good News that is Jesus, and it is important that we live in the spirit of a wisdom that is "from above," a wisdom that is pure and peaceable and gentle and reasonable, full of mercy and good fruits, unwavering, without hypocrisy (James 3:17).  In short, it is a way of being that is centered in Jesus and reveals that it is in Him we live and move and have our being.

                       

Many people have written Jesus off, saying that He is anything but a Savior.  We Christians humbly disagree.  We believe Jesus is God's response to the deepest needs of the human heart.  Never will we write Him off.  Always we will bow our lives before Him and seek to live so that His will might be done on earth as it is in heaven.

                       

We believe Jesus is the Christ, the Savior of the world, the Holy One of God who loves us with an everlasting love.

ONE PEOPLE UNDER GOD

 One of the founders of the Church of the Nazarene was Dr. Phineas F. Bresee.  He was committed to his church being a people committed to a Christ-centered, Christ-driven, Christ-exalting presence in the world.  Bresee understood this to mean that the Church would minister to whoever came across her path.  He said, ”Let the Church of the Nazarene be true to its commission; not great and elegant buildings; but to feed the hungry and clothe the naked and wipe away the tears of sorrowing, and gather jewels for His diadem.”

           

The New Testament letter of James tells us that we are not to be respecter of persons.  The wealthy are not honored above the poor, and the poor have as much right to the table of grace as everyone else.  In fact there is no "everyone else" in the kingdom of God.  All the ground is level at the foot of the cross.  Each of us stands in need of God's Amazing Grace, and each of us is called to live out our lives together in the Mind and Spirit of Jesus.

           

Isn't it great to be a follower of Jesus?  John Oxenham wrote, "In Christ there is no East or West, In Him no South or North; But one great fellowship of love throughout the whole wide earth."  Richard Gillard wrote, "We are pilgrims on a journey; we are brothers on the road.  We are here to help each other walk the mile and bear the load."

           

Jesus said, "In everything treat people the same way you want them to treat you" (Matt. 7:12).  This is the way everyday life in the church ought to be.  To the degree it isn't, we fall short.  To the degree it is, we live as a fragrant aroma of Christ in the World.

           

May God help us to take what has been given us by His Amazing Grace and pass it on.

REMEMBER WHO YOU ARE

I've heard it all my life, even as a child, "Practice what you preach."  Good advice isn't it?  Be what you say.  Do what you say you believe.  Let your life reflect your words.

In the New Testament, James tells the Church, "Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves" (Jam. 1:22).  His reason?  "For if anyone is a hearer of the word and not a doer, he is like a man who looks at his natural face in a mirror; for once he has looked at himself and gone away, he has immediately forgotten what kind of person he was" (Jam. 1:23-24).

What's the word here?  Remember who you are!  Integrity might just be the word.  Being is as important as saying, maybe, more so.  Words can be a dime a dozen, as they say; Truth be known we live in a words-are-a-dime-a-dozen age. 

As Christians, being is profoundly important to us.  Words are important, too, and they ought to be spoken with great carefulness, clarity, and truthfulness.  In the end, however, people look at our lives -- how we live, move and have our being.  What they observe when they look at us needs to be the real thing.  Hypocrisy has done more damage to the image of Jesus than any other thing.

When Jesus really is the dominating influence in a person's life, it will be seen.  People may or may not appreciate it, but they will see it.  Our role is to live authentic lives, in both our words and our actions.  We adhere not to a system of belief but to a person, Jesus Christ, who empowers us to live as He lived.  We really out to be Christian in all that it means for us to be who we are.                                                                                                           

Dress Properly

 When I was young I learned that certain sports required certain uniforms. Basketball uniforms wouldn't work on a football player, and visa versa.  Baseball uniforms wouldn't work on a swimmer and visa versa. The given sport had its own requirements for that game specific uniform.

And so it is with those of us who follow Jesus.  We need to be dressed properly for the journey.  In Ephesians 6:10-18, the apostle Paul gives us the proper equipment.  He says there are seven discipleship specific issues required in following Jesus.  They are: Truth, Righteousness, Peace, Faith, Salvation, God's Word, and Prayer.  Enter into the spiritual arena where the battle for your life is fought, without the proper clothing, is to assure yourself of failure.

The battle facing followers of Jesus, says Paul, "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).  Don't take this spiritual war seriously and you make a grave mistake.

We are called to "be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might" so that we "will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil" (Eph. 6:10-11).  The way to "stand firm" is to live in Truth and Righteousness and Peace and Faith and Salvation and God's Word and Prayer. 

A good dose of humility wouldn't hurt either.  James says, "Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you" (Jam. 4:10).  This is a God-thing in which we are involved and we do well to live in such a way that God is allowed to be God in us.  Jesus has won the victory for us at the cross; now it is up to us to take that victory, cover our lives in it, and stand firm.

When Others Walk Away

 

­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­­Other would be disciples were walking away because of a hard teaching about commitment Jesus had just given them.  Jesus then asked His twelve men if they wanted to go away also.  Peter spoke for them when he said to Jesus, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have words of eternal life. We have believed and have come to know that You are the Holy One of God" (John 6:68).

           

Peter and the others had a lot of things still to learn, but Peter got it right on this one.  We Christians believe that Jesus is "the Holy One of God."  We believe that He has "words of eternal life."  We don't follow Him because He is nice and charismatic and has a wonderful leadership demeanor about Him.  We follow Him because we truly believe He has words of eternal life and that He is the Holy One of God.  

           

In His redemptive love we have come to have abundant life.  We have come to know the reality of sins forgiven and guilt removed.  We have come to know what it means to be embraced by God's grace and to live with an inner peace that stays with us through the good and bad times, and through the highs and lows.

           

Words of eternal life guide us and lead us and direct us.  The Holy One of God lives in us and makes us adequate to face reality, whatever reality may be in a given moment or situation.  Jesus is with us for the long haul, and He is with us as Savior and Lord. 

           

That leaves us, doesn't it?  Will we be with Him for the long haul?  On the highest mountaintop or the lowest valley will we stay with Him? When everything that can go wrong is going wrong, will we stay with Him?  When to follow Him is difficult, will we stay with Him?  Do we really believe He is the Holy One of God? 

CATCH THE GLORY

 Jesus has a way of getting right to heart of a matter with an upfront honesty that leaves no doubts as to what is in His mind.  Case in point, John chapter six.  He had fed thousands of people that day in a situation where if He had not worked a miracle they wouldn't have eaten at all.  They were impressed.

           

Then Jesus started speaking about following Him and discipleship and the selfless living of those who might call Him LORD.  He used graphic terms that were very taxing to the brain.  He said, "Unless you eat the flesh of the Son of Man and drink His blood, you have no life in yourselves" (John 6:53).  Eat His flesh and drinking His blood, what's that about?  He said, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood has eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day" (John 6:54).  Then He adds, "He who eats My flesh and drinks My blood abides in Me, and I in him" (John 6:56).  Hard words to take, aren't they? Go ahead; admit it.

           

When the people heard the words that day they "withdrew and were not walking with Him anymore" (John 6:66).  They knew Jesus was talking about total commitment, about a way of life where they emptied themselves of themselves and committed to Jesus everything it meant for them to be who they were. 

           

They loved Him when He worked miracles that fed them good food.  They didn't like it so much when He called them to live in Him so closely, so fully, that He became the very source and nutrition of their lives.  Let the miracles flow and the people were there, but when they ceased flowing the folks were no where to be seen. 

           

Why do we follow Jesus?  Because He works miracles that make us feel good or because He is who He is?  Jesus calls us to follow Him because of who He is.  Miracles may or may not happen.  Everyday, without exception, Jesus is LORD.  May God help us to be so captivated by who Jesus is that if miracles don't happen we still live, caught up in the glory of this One who is LORD.  Catch the glory and LIVE!

Walking The Walk

 We Christians are not super human beings but we are human beings whose lives have been graced by a Sovereign and Almighty God.  God has done a profound thing by transferring us from the dominion of darkness into the dominion of light, something He will do for anybody who will give him opportunity. 

This is where the Church comes in.  Followers of Jesus have been given the awesome privilege of letting people know that God is not removed from their lives but longs to be front and center in them.  How do we share a message like this?  We share it by living it. 

Ephesians 5:1 tells us to "be imitators of God, as beloved children."  As children of our heavenly Father we look like Him, as a child might look like his or her father.  It might be our eyes, our smile, our mouth, an expression of some kind that leads people to say, "Man you look like your dad." (I get this all the time from people who knew my dad). 

As a child of our heavenly Father we are gifted to reflect the image of God by the way we live and move and have our being.  Paul takes it a step further and says that how we live is like being "a fragrant aroma," an aroma of Christ (Eph. 5:2). 

Go out and smell good for the Christ you serve.  Make God look good.  Show by the way you live that His grace and mercy are real and valid and at work in the world.  Be the light and salt of the lavished grace of God.  Be contagious.  May the character of our lives be a problem for those who don't believe in God, a positive problem that God can use to touch others by His Amazing Grace.  

A New Self

 The Bible calls followers of Jesus to "Lay aside the old self" and to "be renewed in the spirit of your mind" (Eph. 4:22-23).  There is a "new self" to which God calls us and it is a new self that is rooted and grounded in the life of Jesus.

God works His very life into our lives and calls us to live in excellence, an excellence we first see in Jesus.  This miracle of redemption is an awesome act of God's grace and mercy, and lifts one out of the junk and stuff of life and up into the righteousness and holiness of God. 

It is a miracle when a person is enabled to no longer give themselves to the stealing, killing and destroying ways of the one Jesus calls, "The thief" (John 10:10).  The apostle Paul said that what God does in the human life is so dramatic that "if anyone is in Christ, he or she is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come" (2 Cor. 5:17).

Isn't it a wonderful reality to know that the past doesn't have to control the present or the future, that the grace and mercy of God can bring into us a new way of being?   I've watched the old ways long enough now to know they are not working out well.  This old world needs a dose of something new.  This something new is Jesus who loves us so much He died upon the cross of Calvary to set us free from the thief and to bring us to life in the glory of God.

An Aromatic Presence

 To those of us who are followers of Jesus how we live profoundly matters.  It is so important that it led the apostle Paul to say to the church, "I…implore you to walk in a manner worthy of the calling with which you have been called" (Eph. 4:1).  Then he calls for certain actions and attitudes: humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, peace (Eph. 4:2-3).

           

We followers of Jesus have a high calling to live out the meaning of our faith in a way that reflects the honor and dignity and love of God.  Is there a way to be Christian in this world?  There is.  Paul says it is to live a life reflecting what we see in Jesus -- humility, gentleness, patience, tolerance, peace.

           

I am wondering how well the Christian community has lived out the miracle of redemption, a redemption that has been worked into their lives.  It is easy to talk the talk but a far different reality to walk the walk.  The Bible calls us to walk the walk. 

           

When Jesus called us to follow Him I'm quite sure He meant living in His mind and spirit.  The apostle Paul said it this way, "Therefore be imitators of God, as beloved children, and walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a fragrant aroma" (Eph. 5:1-2).

           

A fragrant aroma -- what a wonderful way to say it.  We are called to be an aromatic presence emanating a distinctive and pleasant smell, as it were, -- the fragrant aroma of Jesus Christ.

           

We can handle that, can't we?  By the power of the Holy Spirit in us, we can reflect outwardly what has happened to us inwardly. Surely we must.  The reputation of God is on the line.  Let's go out and make God look good.  He is, you know.

Plunged Into The Arms of God

 In her book, My Story, My Song, (Upper Room: Nashville, 2012), Lucimarian Roberts speaks of the difficulties she faced during and after the hurricane Katrina catastrophe. It was a most difficult time.  Her life was upset, she lost many of her possessions, and the pain of it all was almost unbearable.  Yet, the result of it all wasn't anger or bitterness or utter frustration on her part.  Instead, Lucimarian Roberts wrote, "Katrina plunged me into the arms of God" (109)

                       

King David wrote, "Even though I walk through the valley of the deep darkness, I will fear no evil, for You are with me.  Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me" (Ps. 23:4).  Lucimarian Roberts, a solid rock disciple of Jesus, had bumped into God early on in her life and when the deep darkness of Katrina hit she found herself safe in the arms of God.

                       

Life is filled with pain  born of a thousand sources but there is safety in the arms of our God.  He is the Shepherd and He comforts His people with the divine rod and staff.

                       

What is your Katrina?  Are you safe in the arms of God?  Remember that God is present and as Mrs. Roberts says, "Wherever we stand is holy ground if God is revealed and revered there (99)"

                       

May God embrace you today.  Let your Katrinas plunge you into the arms of God.

Grace And Mercy Have Faces

 

I don't recommend cancer to anybody, but if you have to go through it, it is a gift the greatness of which is beyond description, to go through it in the grace and mercy of God. 

                       

In my journey grace and mercy have faces. They are the faces of the people of my little flock who love me and care about me, and who daily pray for me.  Their hugs and notes and gifts reflecting their hearts of love and prayer have touched me over and over in ways I am incapable of expressing.  I just don't have the words.  Bresee Church you may be small but you are great.  You remind me of another church who was praised by a missionary once for her "work of faith and labor of love and steadfastness of hope in our Lord Jesus" (I Thess. 1:3).  Paul's letter made it into the New Testament canon.  I'm quite sure this missive won't have that impact but I am also sure, that out of your lives flow grace and mercy.  Thank you, thank you, thank you.

                       

God's grace and mercy have another face, too. Her name is Vonnie.  On December 7, 1968 she said, "I do," and married me for better or worse; Over 43 years later I am quite convinced she really meant it.  Now, in this daunting health journey she has again incarnated God's grace and mercy to me. 

                       

On December 7, 1968 Vonnie didn't really know what she was getting into.  Forty-three years later, she knows it fully; and, get this, she still loves me.  Who would have thought it? I don't think I am missing the mark when I say she loves me even more.  And, as much as I know how to love, I love her with all my heart.

                       

Grace and mercy have faces, don't they.    

The Valley Of Deep Darkness

 

Psalm 23 came alive for me one day when I was getting ready to speak to a group of recovering alcoholics.   I wanted to speak about the shepherd heart of God but I was lost in how to communicate that to a group of men who had hit the bottom, and who were trying to recover and embrace life again with hope and meaning.

           

In my prayers that early morning my eyes fell on an alternate translation of the words, “Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death.”  I would have had no problem using this historic translation, but for this assignment the alternate reading crashed into me at light speed and became the theme of the day.”  The alternate reading?  “Even though I walk through the valley of deep darkness.”

           

The valley of deep darkness is all around us. Deep darkness.  I suspect that if you took a moment right now to think about it you would name some people in your life who are going through that valley right now.  Maybe you are one of the people you would name. 

           

My friends with whom I shared the message sure got it.  It became a more powerful image even than death.  We set around for two hours after the message and just talked about light and darkness.  Many of them had lived on the streets of L.A. in a drunken stupor for years.  One day they bumped in to God.  Their darkness was embraced by God’s light, they were adopted into God’s family, and now they were recovering from the darkness, seeking to live in the light of Jesus.

                       

No valley is too deep, no darkness so dark, no person so lost that Jesus can’t shake the foundations and take broken lives and turn them into something beautiful for God.