Joy Does Come in the Mourning

 

                              Joy Does Come in the Mourning

"You turned my wailing into dancing; You removed my sackcloth and clothed me with joy, that my heart may sing to you and not be silent" (Psalm 30:11-12).

Remember Paul and Silas in prison, after they had been beaten  almost senseless?

Around midnight they began singing praises to the Lord -- 

                                      --  and then the miracle happened!

Not only were their chains removed, but also the jailer and his household were saved!

Praising God in difficult times just might lead to a miracle for you, too!

Remember, God arranges even our tough times, and when we sing praises to Him in the darkness, He is pleased --  and morning comes!

Our Loving Parent

 

                                     Our Loving Parent

Here's a great way to start the day: "The LORD your God in your midst, the Mighty One, will save. He will rejoice over you with gladness;  He will quiet you with His love. He will rejoice over you with singing (Zephaniah 3:17).

Ever notice how often, in Scripture, God compares Himself to us as our parent, or spouse -- the two most intimate of human relationships -- that's how He describes Himself to us!

In this verse He is a Parent, holding His beloved child, comforting and soothing us with His love! Imagine God holding us and comforting, singing His love song to us.

The world's greatest lullaby!

Seems to me we talk a lot about loving God -- as we certainly should -- but maybe sometime we should just sit quietly and let Him love us! Just let His love surround us, wash  over us, fill us to overflowing. Apparently that gives Him great pleasure, just as it does us.

Let's do it right now. Listen for that  voice. Just stop and listen!

"I have loved you with an everlasting love," He told Jeremiah.

The Fuel that Keeps us Going - C S Lewis

 

                           What Fuel Keeps our Motor Running?

"God made us: He invented us as a man invents a machine.  A car is made to run on petrol, and it will not run properly on anything else. 

Now God designed the human machine to run on Himself. He Himself is the fuel our spirits were designed to burn, or the food our spirits were designed to feed on. There is no other. 

That is why it is just no good asking God to make us happy or give us peace in our own way. God cannot give us happiness and peace apart from Himself, because that is not the way He designed us." -- from Mere Christianity

[I guess we need to fill up every day and top it off to keep the tank full!]

Imputed - A reminder

                        

                                   Imputed - A Reminder

This needs to be repeated, over and over again, because we need to be reminded, over and over again!

"God made Christ, who knew no sin, to be sin for us, that we might become the righteousness of God in Him" (2 Corinthians 5:21).

Our sin was imputed to Christ, and He bore the awful price for our sin as our substitute. He took the penalty for us -  in our place!

"Impute" is a legal term that means to "officially and legally transfer ownership of something to someone else."

And Christ's righteousness is then imputed to all who believe, and they stand before God clothed in the pure, white garments  of His perfect righteousness.

That is the fundamental meaning of what happened at the cross: God treated Christ as if He had lived our wretched, sinful life, so that He could then treat us as if we had lived Christ's spotless, perfect life.

And that's the gospel of His amazing grace!

 "I will greatly rejoice in the LORD, my soul shall exult in my God, for He has clothed me with the garments of salvation, He has covered me with the robe of righteousness" (Isaiah 61:10).

God Gets the Blame!

 

                         God Gets the Blame!

Ever notice how often this is true?

"A  person's own folly leads to their ruin, yet their heart rages against the LORD" (Proverbs 19:3)?

Paraphrase: "People ruin their own lives by their own stupidity, so why does the LORD always get blamed?"

I've seen it - even felt it - hardly seems fair, does it?

Everyone is Exceptional

 Father, Every one I will see today is remarkable.

Each one is made in  Your image and precious in Your sight.

Each of my brothers and sister has Christ in their heart and is filled with Your Glory.

How can I ever be cold, indifferent, irritable or disdainful of anyone?

I need the fountain  of Your love surging through me and  into their lives.

I know I don't have that fountain -- only You can fill me so that Your love can flow through me continuously into the lives of everyone I have contact with today.

Please give me enough love to live my life today in a way that will please You.

Amen.

Sometimes It Is About Me - C S Lewis

 

Yes, Sometimes It Is About Me....

Words from C S Lewis:

"For it is not humanity in the abstract that is to be saved, but you -- you the individual reader, John Stubbs or Janet Smith. Blessed and fortunate creature, our eyes shall behold Him, and not another's. All that you are, sins apart, is destined, if you let God have His good way, to utter satisfaction. 

Your place in heaven will seem to have been made for you and you alone, because you were made for it -- made for it, stitch by stich, as a glove is made for a hand."  

-- Mere Christianity

Let's Get Over It - God Has!

 

                                    Let's Just Get Over It!

Most of us carry around a load of guilt. It is heavy and keeps us from running joyfully in our daily service for our Lord and Savior. It is a grievous burden.

So why do we call Him "Savior"? Didn't He die on that cross to 'save' us from sin and its guilt?

YES! Remember 1 John 1:9: "If we confess our sin, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sin and cleanse us from all unrighteousness."

Has He ever lied to you? Me either! Psalm 103:12 reminds us that He has removed our sins from us "as far as the east is from the west" -  further than can even be measured.

Isaiah 38:11 says He has put our sins "behind His back" -- where He can't even see them anymore.

Other verses tell us He doesn't even remember our sins - they are all forgiven and He doesn't even keep a list of our wrong-doing!

Satan wants us to forget that. He encourages us to live in the past and dwell on our past guilt. Maybe we should should just tell him where to go - literally!

Let's get over the guilt thing - God has!

Do Not Be Anxious

 "Do not be anxious about anything, but by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus." (Philippians 4:6-7)

Paul is telling us we can take everything -  yes, everything, to God.

Jesus' death brought us back to our Abba Father. Like a loving Dad, He wants us to talk to Him about everything bothering us. Even those things that are obviously the result of our own folly and stupidity.

And we always approach Him "with thanksgiving"! After all, how could anyone approach Him in any other way?

He is with us now and He is coming back soon to make all things right again. 

That kind of peace frees us to love and serve Him wholeheartedly today!

God's Purpose - Thoughts from Oswald Chambers

 

                 GOD'S PURPOSE   

                                           - Thoughts from Oswald Chambers

God's purpose is to make us one with Himself. What shines forth and reveals God in our lives is our genuine, living relationship with Jesus Christ and our unrestrained devotion to Him at all times, in all circumstances.

We are called to live in such a prefect relationship with God that our lives produce a yearning for God in the lives of others, not admiration for ourselves.

Thoughts of myself hinder my usefulness to God.

God's purpose is not to perfect me to make me a trophy in His showcase; He is getting me to a place where He can use me.

Let Him do what He wants .

To Gaze upon the Beauty of the LORD

 

One thing I ask from the LORD, this only do I seek: that I may dwell in the house of the LORD all the days of my life, to gaze upon the beauty of the LORD and to seek Him in His temple. (Psalm 27:4)

David's supreme priority is to "gaze upon the beauty of the LORD."

"Gazing" is not a short, one-time glimpse, but a steady, sustained focus.

It is not a prayer of repentance, but praising and admiring, and enjoying God for who He is; to find his greatest pleasure in just being in God's presence.

To sense God's beauty in the heart is to have such pleasure in Him that we rest content and fully satisfied.

My Prayer this morning: LORD, it is no exaggeration  to say that there is only one thing I need in life. And I ask for it now. It is not merely to believe in You, but in prayer and experience to see and sense Your supreme beauty. Help me to love You for Yourself alone, not just for your gifts. And I thank You for the knowledge that one day I shall find the greatest pleasure I have ever known by just being  in Your presence forever. That's my "strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow."  Amen.

Don't Stay Weak and Pitiful!- Oswald Chambers

 

                                     Don't Stay Weak and Pitiful                                

                                                        -- Oswald Chambers

"Come to Me and I will give you rest" (Matthew 11:28).

That is, He is saying, 'I will sustain you, causing you to stand firm.'

He is not saying, 'I will put you to bed, hold your hand, and tell you a bedtime story.'

But He is, in essence, saying, 'I will get  you out of bed - out of your listlessness and exhaustion, and out of your condition of being halfdead while you are still alive. I will penetrate you with the spirit of life, and you will be sustained by the perfection of vital activity.'

Yet we become so weak and pitiful and talk about '"suffering" the will of the Lord!

Where is the majestic vitality and power of the Son of God in that?

Embrace the One Who Proved His Claims! Norman Geisler

 

                                  

                       Embrace the One Who Proved His Claims!

I love these words from Norman Geisler, Ph.D, an important scholar, who left us a profound literary legacy in apologetics and philosophy. He died in 2019 at age 87.

He has often been described as a cross between Thomas Aquinas and Billy Graham. He was one of our great thinkers of the 20th and 21st centuries.

When interviewed about his absolute faith in Jesus Christ, he said,

"At the midnight of human ignorance, there are many lights in the sky. Noontime there is only one. And that's Jesus Christ, the Light of the world. Based on the evidence of who He was, there really aren't any competitors.

"So I cast my lot with Him --  not the one who claimed wisdom, Confucius; or the one who claimed enlightenment, Buddha; or the one who claimed to be a prophet, Mohammed -- but the One who claimed to be God in human flesh. The One who declared 'Before  Abraham was born, I am' -- and proved it!"

[ I too cast my lot with Him -  do you?]

Don't Think Less of Yourself!

 

                                        Don't Think Less of  Yourself!

Thinking about humility this morning. Praying about it, to be more accurate.

Paul tells us in Romans 12:3 -- "Do not think of yourself more highly than you ought to think."

And we have Christ's supreme example of taking a servant's role continually.

So are we supposed to sit around counting our faults, listing our failures, considering how we don't (ever) measure up to what Christ wants?

I turn to C.S. Lewis who says the key is "not to think less of yourself, but to think of yourself less"!

Pretty smart, right?

We should stop thinking of ourselves so much! Keep our focus on Jesus. His beautiful holiness, His humility, concentrate on Him. Just stop thinking so much about ourselves, good or bad.

I think this is good advice! Just think of ourselves less and Him more!

For Shame!

SHAME

is an awful feeling. It makes me -- us -- feel dirty and embarrassed, guilty and unworthy...makes us want to hide somewhere away from everyone.

But God wants us, and promises to, cover our shame. Remember He covered (clothed) Adam and Eve's sin, giving us a picture that points straight to Jesus.

And when we believe the gospel, we are clothed in Christ. All of His honor and righteousness are His gifts to us. No room for shame there!

No matter how ashamed we may feel at any time, we are clothed in the finest royal garments.

We can come out of hiding -- we have nothing to be ashamed of!

When God looks at us, He sees His beloved Son!

Satan wants us to forget that -- let's tell him where to go -- literally!

What God said to the Church at Ephesus

 

                          

                   What God Said to the Church at Ephesus

"You have persevered and have endured hardships for My Name, and have not grown weary. Yet I hold this against  you: you have forsaken the love you had at first. Consider how far you have fallen. Repent and do the things you did at first." Revelation 2:4-5

I think about these strong Christians - and they were strong and courageous. But they had lost their "first love" -- that love that sparkled and energized their walk with God when they had first professed faith!

They still acted like Christians, but something vibrant and joyous was missing.

Maybe they had grown stale.

Maybe we all have to focus on that -- retaining that 'first love' day by day as we live and work for Jesus.

Think how far we could fall, too.

But how could we ever lose our eagerness to show our love and devotion to Him who loves us so supremely?

How could we grow cold and stale to the One who has the most loving and beautiful  face in the universe?

Please, Father, I adore You so much. Please don't let this happen to  me. Revive  my soul and reopen my heart to see Your glory and grace just as I did that first moment when I walked into Your embrace and You welcomed into Your arms.

I remember that moment, and help me to never lose that joy and 'first love.' 

You matter more to me than anything or anyone else!

Amen

 

It's About the Cross!

 

                                          It's About the Cross!

A reminder - No matter how beautiful and glorious Easter morning is - how joyous and how hopeful - how beautiful and sparkling - it was not that day that brought us back to God.

It was the bloody, gruesome, ugly events  of Friday that did that miracle!

The early Christians understood this. Read through the gospels and see how much space they give to the suffering of our Lord - His beatings, His humiliations, and finally His crucifixion: may pages and great detail.

But only a chapter or two about His resurrection.

Many of my non-believer friends are bothered by this. They want to know why we focus so much on the blood and horrifying gore.

That's easy to answer. All sin is such an act of disobedience and rebellion against our holy God - the penalty required to remove those sins is high indeed. In fact, only a perfect substitute could take our place and bear that guilt and penalty for us. By taking our place and paying the cost to clear us, Christ was able to bring us back into a relationship  with God. - that is, achieve our salvation and giving us access again to our Father - restoring us to the position God intended for us all along.

And Christ came to do this! He came to die! It was His blood that saved us. It was His sufferings that brought us peace with God. "By His stripes we are healed the prophet Isaiah, predicted.

So it's not about Christmas. It's not about Easter Sunday. 

It's about the cross!

Remember Pig Pen?

Lots of us remember "Pig Pen." His name, when it appeared in Peanuts, was always in quotation marks. (I don't know why. Is there a secret, hidden message there that is over my head?)

Maybe it was because, when he was first introduced into the comic strip (in 1954)  he declares, "I haven't got a name...People just call me things...Real insulting things..."

"Pig Pen" always wore filthy overalls and moved in a bubble of dust and dirt that followed him everywhere he went. Sometimes the dust rose around him. Sometimes it formed a dense cloud that crowned his head like a dingy halo.

It was amusing to hear how he justified his filthy appearance. Once he called himself a "dust magnet."

Another time he glamorized his dirty cloud as the "dust of ancient civilizations."

Only Charlie Brown could unconditionally accept "Pig Pen" and cleverly defended him:

Don't think of it as dust. Just think of it as the dust and dirt of far-off lands blowing over here and settling on "Pig Pen." It staggers the imagination! He may be carrying the soil that was trod upon by Solomon or Nebuchadnezzar or Genghis Khan.

It's not that "Pig Pen" never tried to clean himself up. He seemed to yearn sometimes to be clean.

But  even when he did try to clean himself up, he just couldn't stay clean!

On a rare occasion he did appear clean in the comic strip, but then he was unrecognizable.

 Someone described him as "the only person who could get dirty while walking in a snowstorm."

Once when he wanted to impress Patty, he managed to keep one side of his body clean and presented this clean side to her, causing her to believe that he was completely clean. Until he turned around.

We all loved "Pig Pen." His career was ended in 1999, on September 8, when he showed embarrassment, for the first time, of his dirtiness.  That was sort of his "farewell address" I guess. Because I don't think we heard from him anymore.

I don't miss "Pig Pen." He remains in my memory, always there like a little yellow sticky note, reminding me of the eternal truth of my own appearance and condition when I stand before God.

It's all there  --"Pig Pen" is me.Yes, I do aspire to be clean, but I can't clean myself up.

Sometimes I can clean some parts, and try to show these scrubbed up, neat and tidy, areas to those around me. But then when I turn around they all see the truth!

 I am a "sin magnet." And I carry the sins of past civilizations, as well as my own sins of my own choice.

I can't diminish my own responsibility for my condition by blaming my parents, my education, society in general....it's just the way I am....the "human condition."

But that's not the end of the story.

All our righteousnesses are like filthy rags...(Isaiah 64:6)

We do not present our supplications before You because of our righteous deeds, but because of Your great mercies. (Daniel 9:18)

Not having my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God by faith. (Philippians 3:9)

Not by works of righteousness which we have done, but according to His mercy He saved us, through the washing of regeneration and renewing of the Holy Spirit. (Titus 3:5)

Jesus answered, "If I do not wash you, you have no part with Me." (John 13:8)

You are already clean because of the word which I have spoken to you. (John 15:3)

  When He shall come with

  trumpet sound

Oh may I then in Him be found

Dressed in His righteousness alone

Faultless to stand before the throne.

It's the great exchange -- I give Him my life and all its pride, selfishness, greed, anger -- all my sins -- and He gives me His righteousness and welcomes me into His family! Debt free! Paid in full! Forever!

It's the best deal in the universe. How foolish would a person be who turned it down?

The Good Shepherd - The Shadow of the Valley

Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.  Psalm 23:4


We often hear these verses at deathbeds and funerals, to comfort the dying and the living. It is appropriately used this way.

But the main meaning is that the shepherd has the ability to protect the sheep in any kind of danger.

The phrase valley of the shadow of death refers specifically to the passage the shepherd uses to move the sheep from the lowlands where the sheep spend the winter, through the valleys to the high pastures where they go in summer.

The high pastures have the richest grazing land and abundant water. That's where they will spend late spring and summer.

But there is also great danger. Wild animals lurk in the hidden caves and crevices of the broken canyon walls, waiting for helpless prey.

Sudden storms sweep down the valleys, maybe even causing floods in the narrow passageways and blocking escape routes.

The sun does not shine as brightly into the canyons, so there really is a shadow that might at any moment become a shadow of death. They might fall from a precipice and suffer death or grave injury.

No other type of animal requires more perfect handling and controlled direction than do the helpless sheep. 

A good shepherd is essential for their survival. He will lead them through all the harrowing experiences as they journey from the lowlands to the high verdant pastures.

I am the good Shepherd, Jesus said. He will lead us safely through life's difficult times.

Why I believe in Christianity - C S Lewis

This is one of my favorite quotes from C S Lewis -- 

"I believe in Christianity as I believe the sun has risen; not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else."

It took a long time for Lewis to make the decision to accept the claims of Christ. He was 30 years old and a well-known  academic, atheistic in his worldview.  His colleagues, also atheists and agnostics, were shocked at his conversion to Christianity.

But this quote says it all.

And for me, too. Everything in my life -- my purpose, my destiny, the whole story of the world -- makes sense when we see it through the eyes and mind of God.

There is a reason for it all. 

Do I still have questions?  Yes, but small ones that He gradually reveals to me day-by-day, leading me further into His eternal truth.

All the big stuff fits into a glorious picture of His love and grace -- all the big things are accounted for.

Praise God that He is not a God who hides Himself, but  a sovereign, omniscient  God who lovingly reveals Himself to His creatures!

DOXOLOGY!!!

 

Helping Someone - Surprise Ending

 

The other day I was hanging out with a friend.

This friend is a Christian but doesn't always act like one. Some days she's in line with God's Word, and some days life's struggles get the best of her.

As our eyes met, I really wanted to say something about it, but decided to let the Lord speak to her heart, knowing nothing I could say would have the same impact as her Father's Words.

So I prayed with her.

And after some tine passed, I winked at her...

And walked away from the mirror.