Has anybody ever called you a name? In Isaiah 62 God calls His people a couple of names: “A crown of beauty,” and “a royal diadem.” He must have thought a lot of them to call them by such beautiful names.

The name change was so meaningful to Isaiah that as he spoke about it he said, “I will not keep silent” (Is. 62:1). He knew God was up to something great in His people, and that their story needed to be told. It was a story of grace, a story of God entering into the narrative so profoundly that the future would be different than what the past seem to indicate it would be.

Can God really enter into our stories and so change them that we must be given new names in order to reflect the new storyline? God said that His people use to be called, “Forsaken” and “Desolate.” Not any more. Now they are called “a crown of beauty in the hand of the Lord,” “a royal diadem,” “My delight is in her.” He said they would be called by the name “oaks of righteousness.”

Grace is a wonderful reality. It sees beyond the immediate, beyond the “forsaken” and “desolate,” and declares that God is doing a new and different thing. God will so change the mind and spirit of His people that it is said of His, “The Lord delights in you,” and “Your God will rejoice over you” (Is. 62:5).

Aren’t these remarkable thoughts to think? God rejoicing over people? God delighting in people.? I can understand people rejoicing and delighting over God, but God rejoicing and delighting over people. Wow.

Could it be that changing names is an ongoing event with God? What is your old name? What might God call you if He were to change your name? “Your name was ____________ but now it is ________________.”

There is a way of living that accompanies one who has come to faith in God through Jesus Christ. Christians pray often the prayer Jesus taught, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven” (Matt. 6:10). Why do we pray that prayer? We pray it because the ways and means of God are fundamentally in opposition to the ways and means of the world. Followers of Christ do life differently than does the world.

In the words of John the Baptist we “bear fruit in keeping with repentance” (Luke 3:8). That is to say, we live in a way that reflects the life of God in us. We are truthful. We live in a spirit of giving and sharing. We are honest, and live with integrity. We don’t push and shove our way through life; instead, we reach out to people and love them in the name of the One who loves us.

Thomas Chisholm says in well in a hymn, “O to be like Thee, blessed Redeemer, pure as Thou art!” When we “bear fruit in keeping with repentance,” we find ourselves hungry to be like the One who has redeemed us and made us whole.

Truth be known the world needs followers of Jesus to step up and live redeemed lives. Someone needs to speak truthfully and live authentically and do works of mercy and love. If not Christians, who? If not today, when? There is no better time than the present to let the life of Jesus fill us and energize us to be like Him in our world. Is it possible that through us Jesus loves and serves and touches and restores? Could we be a voice of hope and forgiveness in His name?

May God help us to bear fruit in keeping with repentance and the life we live in Jesus.

Here is a wonderful word to consider. It appears in Luke 3:2, “The word of God came to John…” Isn’t that just like God? The world was going about its business, caught up in its distracted ways, and, unbeknown to it, God shows up in some-body, catching everybody off guard.

John heard the word and began to preach about how people could turn away from the numbing and deadening ways of life outside of God and find a place of forgiveness, hope and new beginnings. God was afoot and something new was underway, something that would change the storyline in peoples’ lives and give them new hope and new beginnings, a future under the influence of God.

John called people to repentance. Sounds like a very theological thing but really it is a very simple thing. Repentance means to turn around. That’s all. The difficulty comes with a person deciding if they want God in their lives. Some say NO to God, and meander along through life, as if they have forever. Others say YES to God, and turn around into the loving arms of God who loves the world so much that He gave His only Son for it.

John came to prepare the way for Jesus. John wasn’t the message. Jesus was the message. John wasn’t the hope. Jesus was the hope. John breaks into metaphor as he explains what the presence of God in a human life will mean: Every ravine will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be brought low; the crooked will become straight, and the rough roads smooth (Luke 3:5). This is a poetic way of describing how grace changes how we look at life.

When God is present in a person’s life he or she sees differently than before. Not the scenery or the conditions but God sets the tone for life. God’s presence brings healing and hope and a sense of renewal and future.

In Advent we hear the invitation to turn around and come home -- home to God

We come into Advent with a sense of joyful anticipation and also a sense that all is not right in the world. In the church we recognize that God is at work in the world but that the world has not yet opened it's heart to the possibilities of God. The world fights for recognition, money, power, and control but it is a fight that, in the end, will bow before the Creator and confess that He is, indeed, the Creator and Redeemer of all that has been created.

Often times a key question that is asked is, "Who's in charge around here?" Advent gives us the answer. God is in charge around here. He has patiently and graciously worked in history until a moment in time when He actually came into His creation in Jesus Christ, and brought full and free salvation into the world. Today He lives among us as Savior and Lord. At some future date He will come again and take to heaven those who have received His grace. It will be a great day of consummation when every knee will bow and every tongue confess that Jesus Christ is Lord.

Between now and that future event, there will be a lot of uncertainty and violence where nations will rise up against nations. There will be unrest in every place throughout the world. We already know this, don't we; we experience it everyday. Yet, Jesus calls His people not to be discouraged. Though the times and seasons will bring dismay and perplexity Jesus says, "straighten up and lift up your heads, because your redemption is drawing near" (Luke 21:28).

So, in Advent we wait and listen and pray and hope. We worship, knowing that God is in our midst and that history is unfolding under His sovereign authority.

I am thinking that the most joyous people on the earth ought to be Christians, and that thanksgiving should fill our lives. Praise should be our unrehearsed and spontaneous response to life in this world because we know that our lives comes to us as a gift from God the Father Almighty, Maker of heaven and earth.

This is not to call us to naivete and it does not denied the fact that life is hard. Life is hard, sometimes miserably hard and there are many things we do not understand. Thankfully, God knows that we are dust and that our days are numbered on the earth. What we know is that God has spoken to our lives in the person of His Son, Jesus Christ and that "from everlasting to everlasting the Lord's love is with those who fear him." (Psalm 103:17).

The counsel of Scripture stands: "Be anxious for nothing, but in everything by prayer and supplication with thanksgiving let your requests be made known to God. And the peace of God, which surpasses all comprehension, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus" (Phil. 4:6-7)

In this thanksgiving season let's join together in the giving of thanks to God for all that His grace brings into our world and into our lives.

God bless you all, and HAPPY THANKSGIVING.

There is a wonderful picture in Daniel 7:9-14 where the God of the Universe called, The Ancient of Days, takes his seat among kingdoms and powers and authorities that have arisen in history; kingdoms that sought to undermine the reality of the living God. Once He is seated an interesting thing takes place: all the other authorities begin to lose their power, place, and prominence. Their fifteen minutes were up, and the true and Living God takes center stage.

Shortly someone comes before the Ancient of Days and is received by Him. This someone is referred as being “One like a Son of Man.” As the Son of Man stands before the Ancient of Days He was given dominion, glory and a kingdom, and He was given these things so “that all the peoples, nations and men of every language might serve Him.” Apparently this Son found favor with the Ancient of Days because not only did He receive dominion, glory and a kingdom, but also these would comprise an “everlasting” dominion. His rule would never pass away and His kingdom is one that cannot be destroyed.

The New Testament makes it clear that this Son of Man is no one less than Jesus Christ. In Him, the writer of the book of Hebrews says, “We receive a kingdom which cannot be shaken.” Before Jesus all kingdoms and authorities bow. They can push and shove, and do, but they cannot take down the “everlasting” kingdom of the Son who takes His authority from the Ancient of Days.

And, this is the kingdom in which we live. We say, “Your kingdom come. Your will be done, on earth as it is in heaven.”

I sometimes wonder where God is. How is He present? Why He often chooses silence? What is His will? And, sometimes I get bewildered and come face to face with my powerlessness. Thank God I'm not alone, though. The psalmist is my companion for he too experienced those questions. Out of the context of his own life situation he wrote,

Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never be favorable again? Has his lovingkindness ceased forever? Has his promise come to an end forever? Has God forgotten to be gracious or has he in anger withdrawn his compassion? (Ps. 77:7-9)

It is true that sometimes the ways of God are "in the mighty waters." (Psalm 77:19). . Sometimes in life the clouds pour down water and the skies resound with the sounds of thunder (Ps. 77:17). Sometimes lightning lights up the world and the earth trembles and shakes (Ps. 77:18). Sometimes the way of God is deep mystery and his footprints are not seen (Ps. 77:19). What then? How do we proceed? What do we do? What do we say to each other? How do we conduct ourselves? John Henry Jowett says that "Mystery is part of our appointed discipline. Uncertainty is to prepare us for a deeper assurance. The spirit of questioning is one of the ordained means of growth” (My Daily Meditation, (El Camino Press: La Verne, CA., pg. 167) I find great peace in that fact. I think it is wonderful to know when one is "too troubled to speak" (Ps. 77:4) that God is present, maybe in mystery, but still present. As Jowett says,

God's way moves here and there across this trackless wild. God is never lost among our mysteries. He knows his way about. When we are bewildered He sees the road, and He sees the end even from the beginning. Even the sea, in every part of it, is the Lord's highway....And so the bewildering sea is our friend, as some day we shall understand... We need the mysterious sea, the overwhelming experience, the floods of sorrows which we cannot explain. If we had no sea we should never become robust. We should remain weaklings to the end of our days....God take us out into the deeps. But His way is in the sea. He knows the haven, He knows the track, and we shall arrive! (My Daily Meditation)

In his own questioning the psalmist came to a beautiful moment of personal decision that models for us the way of faith, when he said, I shall remember the deeds of the Lord; surely I will remember Your wonders of old. I will meditate on all Your work and muse on Your deeds. Your way, O God, is holy; what god is great like our God? You are the God who works wonders; You have made known Your strength among the peoples. You have by your power redeemed Your people, the sons of Jacob and Joseph (Ps. 77:11-15).

Even in my wondering, God is here. Even when I cannot see his footprints, He is here. When the storm is raging, He is here. When the questions outnumber the answers, He is here. When the pain is greater than the peace, He is here. When the bewilderment elevates the mystery, He is here. When life doesn't make sense, He is here. When the blessings are flowing like a river, He is here. When the path takes us through the fire, He is here. When uncertainty is the order of the day despair is not, for we are on the road redeemed by the God who works wonders (PS. 77:14).

I have a suspicion that until I get to heaven I will wonder about things but one thing I will not wonder about is the fact that God is holy and leads his people like a flock. He did it once by the hand of Moses and Aaron, and his deeds of long ago remind me that what he did once He is continuing to do today. I do not wonder about that at all.

The unnamed multitudes of the Gospels intrigue me. In fact, they haunt me a bit because they so beautifully model things in me I wish would go away. They irritate me, too, because I realize that as much as I want to criticize them ultimately I am just pointing my finger at myself.

Take those folks who were a part of the miracle of the feeding of the five thousand in the sixth chapter of the Gospel of John, for instance. There is no doubt about it, they were present the day of the miracle because they had seen Jesus work some pretty wonderful miracles on some very sick people. His actions captured their imaginations and they found themselves following Him. They weren't following Him because they really believed that He was God among them but just because they wanted to be where the action was. After the miracle, they were hooked, sort of. They saw some awesome possibilities of some wonderful things for their own lives and they were very intrigued. However, if the truth be known, they were there because the spectacular always draws a crowd and because of the fact that people want to have their needs and wants and pleasures met.

And, Jesus saw through it all. He saw the phony, the misdirected, the selfish, the ladder-climber, the up-and-coming, the "I have an agenda and I want what I want" crowd -- and He didn't buy it. He rejected it. And as He told them the truth one by one they just whimpered away and faded into the background.

I wonder if their actions startled Jesus or caught Him off guard in some way, because the very next thing He does is to turn to His twelve men and ask them if they wanted to go away also. They said they didn't but I'm not sure He really believed them.

I wonder how Jesus feels when the actions and thoughts and lifestyles and priorities and goals and attitudes of those who say they love Him cause Him in quiet, unguarded, unplanned moments of honesty to feel He must turn to them to see if they are still with Him. That must hurt a little bit, don't you think?

I don't want to be near Jesus because He does spectacular things. I want to be near Him because of who He is. He is Lord and He has called me to Himself, just to be with Him because I love Him. I don't want Him ever to look at me and feel impressed to ask, "You don't want to go away also, do you?"

Solitude is to purposefully withdraw from the noisy world in order to be with God. It is not to be alone. It is to be alone with God. It is to be with Him in such a way that His presence envelopes your very life and exposes you for who you really are. It is the place of honesty, the place of truth, the place where denial is not allowed. It is the place where we confront in ourselves all that is not of God, and come to the act of unconditional surrender to the Lordship of Jesus Christ.

Solitude is the place both of struggle and of release. That is to say, in the solitude, where the struggles of our lives are faced, Jesus comes to us and we discover that in reality we are not fighting ourselves. We are fighting God. Yet, in the discovery we find that God is not fighting us. He is present to reveal to us that if we will let go, He will dismantle destructive forces which fight within and without us, and give us a healed and whole, new self.

Solitude is the place where we learn to say, "for to me to live is Christ" (Philippians 1:21). So, the solitude becomes what Henri Nouwen calls the "Furnace of transformation," where we are set free from the entanglements of "The seductive compulsions of the world."

Solitude is the place where we choose to run away no more, but to stand and fight the enemy within. It is the place we go to die to things which are destroying us, and from which we emerge saying "…the life I now live, I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself up for me? (Galatians 2:20).

My invitation is to find a way to get alone with God. He is your Creator. He is your best Friend. He is your Confidant. He is your Savior. He is your Counselor. He loves you with an everlasting love. Come within His wonderful embrace and find healing and laughter and joy and peace. Find in Him, purpose and meaning and value.

Here is a wonderful and marvelous thought to think. It comes from Hebrews 9:24: "For Christ did not enter a holy place made with hands." We know He entered a holy place and that He is there as a great high priest on behalf of his people. This text, however, places that reality into its greatest and highest context, and it informs us about how unique and special Jesus is.

This text tells us that the life of Christ in the world is a God-thing; it's not a man thing. This is a God thing. Jesus is God's response to the human situation -- and what a response it is. God is with us is history in the person of Jesus. God is with us in redemptive love. His love is revealed in His sacrificial self-giving on the cross. His love is made real to us in the resurrection of Jesus Christ.

God is with us. He is present with us according to the power of Jesus indestructible life (See Heb. 7:16). Isn't that amazing? Whatever it means for you to live, the indestructible life of Jesus is with you. You may, in fact, be destructible; Jesus isn't. The indestructible life of Jesus has taken the blow, and today He is speaking to the Father on your behalf. This is a God-thing.

Under the influence of His indestructible life Jesus has made purification of sins and, He has set down in heaven beside the Father, indicating that His work is complete and that now He is free to be in the presence of the Father on behalf of the world and on behalf of those who have come to trust their lives to Him.

Let the Church know that it is being prayed for by Her Lord Jesus. Let the church know that Jesus' indestructible life sets the atmosphere in the church. Let the Church know that Jesus lives to address the destructive influences that seek to destroy people. Let the church know that it comes into the place of ministry not in its own strength but in the strength of the indestructible life of the risen Lord.

He took what was his, left his roots and went to where life was a constant party. Leaving the stifling lifestyle of farm life he entered into a great new world, and what a wonderful time he had; Lots of wine, lots of women, lots of laughter and lots of friends. Then the money ran out and so did the wine, women, laughter and friends. What started out as the time of his life turned out to be the vacation from hell.

In desperation he took to the streets for survival. He lived from hand to mouth and often times went without. Finally, he landed a job on a pig farm just outside of town. He hated the pigs and he hated the job but it was living. Or was it?

One desperate day of soul searching, as he tried to please the pigs' owners he got to thinking about things and decided that he'd really had about enough. His father was pretty wealthy. He had lots of hired hands around the ranch. Maybe he would hire back his son. He probably wouldn't want him as a son anymore, but he was always looking for good workers. Here was his chance, and off the young partygoer went.

When he got in sight of the place that had once been his home, he noticed that way off in the distance someone was running toward him. It looked like his father. He looked closer. It was his father. As his father drew near he heard him giving orders that sort of stunned him. "Kill the calf and prepare a feast... Go get the family ring....Get a beautiful robe and place it on the shoulders of my boy....I can't believe it! He's come home. He's come home."

Suddenly the young man found himself enveloped in the bear hugs of his father whom through tears kissed him and held him and ran his fingers through his hair. Choked-up and almost unable to speak, the boy's father struggled but suddenly forced out the words, "I love you so much. I'm so glad you're home. I've missed you. You're home. You're home. I love you so much."

Sometimes I wish God were like that but maybe that would be asking a little too much. It would be, wouldn't it?

Goliath was a well-trained, killing machine. David was a teen-age shepherd boy on his father's farm just outside Bethlehem. Goliath was mean, aggressive and powerful. David was gentle, reserved and quiet. The odds were all in Goliath's corner and the possibilities of success for David were pretty slim.

And so it was, in the floor of the valley two warriors met face to face, one a warrior of all that is wrong in the world and one a warrior of all that is right. One came to the battle with a spear, a javelin and a sword, the other with a sling shot, five smooth stones and God. The Philistines were confident that their champion would have it wrapped up in a few moments. The Israelites were sort of numb, not really knowing what to do with all the commotion.

When it was all over the giant of a man, Goliath, lay headless on the floor of the valley. David stood boldly in the posture of victory. The Philistines were running for their lives and the Israelites were re-energized with courage, confidence and belief.

A young teenage boy wrote a chapter in history that day which would never be erased. He revealed to a watching world that God is present, at work and in charge. To everybody who looked on that day it was fairly evident that it was little David verses huge Goliath. But everybody who looked on that day was wrong. Reality is not as it often appears to be and the fact of the matter is, it was not Goliath verse David at all. That was just the appearance. The fact was that it was Goliath verses God. Maybe that's why at a crucial moment in the hostile conversation between Goliath and David that David slipped in a little profound truth that shatters our fears and questions and inabilities and weaknesses, and reminds us of one overwhelming, unchanging, life-transforming, situation- revolutionizing fact of life -- THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S!

I wonder what God could do in our lives if we, His children, really operated on the premise that we are not alone but that He is profoundly present with such authority that the only accurate way to explain the battles, the confrontations with the enemy, the assaults of the thief from hell, the harassing of the evil one is to say THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S. Wouldn't it change us just a bit if we knew that today was ultimately and finally in His hands and that everything destructive, seeking our demise comes not against us but against HIM? I wonder! I have to admit the thought energizes me. I wonder what Goliath would say about it, or David's brothers or selected members of the Philistine army. Actually, it doesn't matter what anybody else says about it, I suppose. It all comes down to what you and I say about it?

Wouldn't it be great to wake up tomorrow morning or to go to sleep tonight knowing that THE BATTLE IS THE LORD'S? Doesn't that have a great ring about it? What Goliath do you face today? It's not your fight. It really isn't. It's God's. Let Him have it. Take your little resources and let them get lost in the immensity of God. Then come to floor of the valley and watch Goliath’s demise.

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 abundantly" (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.

It is a strange thing to hear but it has a wonderful ring about it, too. Hebrews 7:25, in speaking about people who draw near to God through Jesus Christ, says that Jesus lives to make intercession for them. The writer says this in light of the fact that Jesus is able to save forever those who draw near to Him.

God talking to God about us; God interceding to God on our behalf; God in the life of the resurrected Jesus saving forever those folks, like you and me, who come to Him. This is deep for me, and wonderful. Let’s process some of these things together.

Into a system where weak men were appointed as high priests who offered up sacrifices for their own sins and then for the sins of the people, Jesus comes to be a priest who is not weak but whom, in fact, is perfect forever (Heb. 7:28). This perfect one enters into our story so that He might be the one who stands before the Father with us and on our behalf.

It is a marvelous madness to think that Jesus stands with us in all the issues of life and death. We are never alone. Life comes at us as it comes at everyone, and sometimes it gets very messy; but, Jesus is in the mess with us. Can you believe that? In this dangerous world we have a perfect high priest who, just like us, has experienced the realities of life in a broken world. Unlike us, however, He has not succumbed to the brokenness. In His resurrection He is victorious, and He lives as Lord of lords and King of kings. And, He is always praying for us.

You and I are being prayed for by One who really does know how to pray. This fact takes hold of us and energizes us to remember who we are and whose we are. If ever there were a moment when we are compelled to say, "Amazing! Absolutely amazing!" this is that moment.

In the mess Jesus is the Lord who prays for us, and He is with us now. Amazing! Absolutely Amazing!

Have you noticed that being a Christian isn’t all that easy; especially if you’re really taking it seriously? There’s always something working against you and the nature of things in the world requires that you had really better stay on top of things or you might just find yourself buried under lots and lots of things.

The writer of Hebrews speaks of these things in very pragmatic terms. He speaks of how followers of Jesus, “through practice have their senses trained to discern good and evil” (Heb. 5:14). He speaks of how they must “press on to maturity” (Heb. 5:1). He calls the Believers to “diligence… so that [they] will not be sluggish, but imitators of those who through faith and patience inherit the promises” (Heb. 6:12).

Faith is not passive. Faith is a uniting of our lives with Jesus and then living out what it means to live in His life. The world is not a friend of Jesus or His Church. The world is not a friend to grace. So, when one changes worlds and comes to live in the kingdom of God, it can get messy.

Thank God for honest people, like the writer of Hebrews, who dare to speak the truth into our lives even if that truth is something we might not really want to hear. Because of the nature of spiritual warfare in the world, we don’t have the luxury of denial.

Thankfully, we have a high priest who knows more about all these things than we can know. Thankfully, we have a throne room into which we are invited to come close to the Father and find grace and mercy. Thankfully, we have a community in which we can practice our faith and train our senses to discern good and evil. Thankfully, we can grow up in Christ and live in the victory that He, our great high priest, brings into our lives. We don’t have to be sluggish Christians. Jesus is the “anchor of our soul, a hope both sure and steadfast” (Heb.6:19).

There is a Word at work in the world, according to Hebrews chapter four, which brings the very life and power of God into the lives of people. This Word is called “Living,” and “Active” (vs. 12). It is described as being “sharper than any two-edged sword, and capable of “piercing as far as the division of soul and spirit of both joints and marrow.” This Word, we are told, is capable of judging the thoughts and intentions of the heart.

This is a Word the likes of which most people have never heard before. It speaks into the physical realm but it can also speak into thoughts and intentions of the heart. It cuts so closely that it can divide marrow from joints but also soul from spirit. Talk about Lazer cutting perfection. Lazer cuts pale in comparison to the precise cutting capacity of this two-edged-sword Word of God.

Knowing all these things about the Word of God could scare one to death; just the opposite actually happens. This Word is a constant reminder to God’s people that they have “a great high priest…Jesus the Son of God (vs. 14). This Word is never spoken so as to wipe us out; it is spoken to make us whole. Jesus uses this two-edged-sword Word so as to know us through and through for the purpose of enabling us to “draw near with confidence to the throne of grace, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (vs. 16).

The truth is we can’t hide anything from God, and that is a good thing. He always operates in the context of the whole truth, and with the whole truth in mind, He comes to us in Jesus to remind us there is a place for us at the throne of grace.

Who would have thought it?

Somebody once said, “What you see is what you get.” I suppose that is true in a way but more truthfully is the statement, “what you see depends upon what is in your heart and how you choose to see things.” Is the cup half full or half empty? Both answers are correct but how we process what we see is another thing all together.

The book of Hebrews calls our vision into question. The world is running wild, it seems. It’s dangerous and a lot of times it doesn’t look like God is in control of much of anything. So the writer says, “We do not yet see all things subjected to him’ (Heb. 2:8). And that is a true statement if ever there were a true statement. However, it is not the only expression of what is. Following the negative statement the writer says, “But we do see Him…Jesus…crowned with glory and honor” (Heb. 2:9).

Putting these two statements together we read, “We do not yet see all things subjected to him. But we do see Him.” To which outlook shall we give ourselves? Both of them are true. Shall we get lost in the dangerous world where things can go so very wrong sometimes? Or shall we get lost in the grace of God who is at work in a crucified and resurrected Lord in the dangerous and seemingly out of control world? What you see depends upon what is in your heart and how you choose to see things.

We see Jesus. He has taken the brokenness of the world upon Himself and of this it is said of Him that He is “crowned with glory and honor, so that by the grace of God He might taste death for everyone” (Heb. 2:9). Jesus has drawn near to us so closely that “He Himself was tempted in that which He has suffered” and through this “He is able to come to the aid of those who are tempted” (Heb. 2:18).

God is with us in Jesus Christ. What more could we ask? He has spoken grace and mercy into us, and His presence redefines all of life for us.

Over my office door I have a sign that reads, PERSPECTIVE. It is a simple reminder that all of life is a gift to me, that I do not have forever on this planet, that some things don’t matter as much as other things, and that in the end my life is being shaped and formed by the Word I believe is the Word of God.

PERSPECTIVE was driven home again to me recently in my reading of the letter of James. In James 4:14 we are told, “You are just a vapor that appears for a little while and then vanishes away.” The first time I read that I thought, “Well, that stinks. I’m just a vapor and that’s it?” But I read further and realized that James was telling us that our days are numbered and that we have no guarantee of longevity, and that even if we live a long life, it pales in comparison to all of history and eternity. James tells us, “You do not know what your life will be like tomorrow” (vs. 14), and we don’t.

So, here’s the deal it seems. We can live in denial concerning our status in the world or we can “draw near to God” knowing that as we do so “he will draw near to [us]. A lot of people choose to leave God out of the loop, and there are people in cemeteries all around the country who didn’t plan on arriving there the day they arrived.

Through James God says to us, Wise up. Gain perspective. Broaden your horizons. Enlarge your outlook. More precisely He says, “Humble yourselves in the presence of the Lord, and He will exalt you” (vs. 10). God size reality awaits us if we will slow down, see the big picture, let God be God in our stories, and live with His Sovereign PERSPECTIVE in mind.

“God…gives grace to the humble,” (vs. 6) so submit to Him, draw near to Him, live for Him, and let Him work His works of grace in you. It will be the ride of your life.

It is amazing how the Psalms of the Old Testament so clearly speak to the issues of our lives today. They seem to pray for us, don’t they? They speak for us and moan for us, and complain for us, and cry out to God for us. They give us permission to work out our humanity in the relationship we have with God. They let us be human, in fact, and show us how to be real and honest and transparent before God. In the psalms the human meets up with the Divine, and we see that God is with us in the very stuff of our lives.

Psalm 116 is an example in this. Verse three tells us that the writer had faced many serious issues of life. “The cords of death encompassed and the terrors of Sheol came upon me; I found distress and sorrow.” Rather than abandoned God in his suffering and questions, the psalmist “called upon the name of the Lord” (vs. 4). Instead of using his pain as a reason to stand against the reality of God, he took his pain into the very heart of God and proclaimed there, “Gracious is the Lord, and righteous; yes, our God is compassionate” (vs. 5).

In this, we see that who the Lord is to the psalmist saturates the very heart of what it means for him to live in this world. His testimony is, “I love the Lord, because He hears my voice and my supplications” (vs. 1). Life was just as hard for him as it is for everybody, but he lived is life within the life of God.

Where do we live our lives? How influential is God in the very real stuff of our daily living? May God help us to live and move and have our being within His very life. The reality of life in this world may or may not change, but being in a personal and vital relation with God through faith defines life in a fresh new ways for us. It caused the psalmist to say, “Return to your rest, o my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you” (vs. 7).

The world giggles, if not outright laughs, at the thought of there really being a devil; the apostle Paul didn’t. As a matter of fact, neither did Jesus. After being harassed and “tempted by the devil” (Matt. 4:1), Jesus finally said to him, “Go Satan!” (Matt. 4:10). Not much giggling in that command.

For Paul the word is clear, “put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil” (Eh. 6:11). The staggering word in that statement is “schemes.” The enemy is at work and his strategy is based on schemes designed to take down those who believe Jesus Christ is Lord.

Never take your Christian life for granted, and never underestimate the capacity of the enemy to implement cunning plans designed to distract you from God. And, remember, the enemy never works from the position of integrity. He could care less about a fair fight. His intent is to win, how he cares not. He will “steal…kill and destroy” (John 10:10), and if need be he will do it from within the costume of a gentle lamb or in the appearance of an angel of light.

In all this remember one thing, however; the devil isn’t lord. Jesus is Lord. Satan is a defeated foe, and the resurrection of Jesus Christ proves it. The enemy can still work his works and will do so until Jesus comes back for His Church in such a powerful way that every knee will bow and ever tongue confess that He is Lord (See Phil. 2).

So, the word of the Lord to us is “be strong in the Lord and in the strength of His might.” Jesus is the conquering King, and in Him we find that we also conquer. The next time the enemy shows up to take you down remind Him that you live in the One who has already taken him down. Remind him that Jesus is Lord; he hates that.