The Miracle We Already Got - Frederick Buechner

For what we need to know, of course, is not just that God exists, not just that beyond the steely brightness of the stars there is a cosmic intelligence of some kind that keeps the whole show going,

but that there is a God right here in the thick of our day-by-day lives who may not be writing messages about Himself in the stars

but in one way or another is trying to get messages through our blindness as we move around down here knee-deep in the fragrant muck and misery and marvel of the world.

It is not objective proof of God's existence that we want but the experience of God's Presence.

That is the miracle we are really after, and that is also, I think, the miracle that we really get.

                          -- From The Magnificent Defeat,
                                              by Frederick Buechner

For this reason I kneel before the Father, from whom His whole family in heaven and on earth derives its name.  

I pray that out of His glorious riches He may strengthen you with power through His Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith.  

And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep in the love of Christ, and to know this love that surpasses knowledge

-- that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

                                    Ephesians 3:14-19 

                 

But does He really like me?

I know God loves us all.

               I know He loves me.

In spite of all these years of trusting God for my forgiveness and thanking Him for making me a part of His family, I still sometimes wonder, "But does He really like me?"

I remember my mother saying to me, "Yes, you know I love you...but I just don't like you right now!"

As I recall her words, they were certainly justified!
I was not displaying lovable conduct at the time.

Now I think I have brought that idea into my adult life.

Sometimes I wonder, "But God, how can You like me today? I have not behaved in a godly way. I know I disappointed You several times. I keep pestering you with selfish requests.  You must be displeased with me. I keep worrying about things I know You said You would take care of....I am anxious and difficult to reason with...how can You stand it?

This is about sin - not someone else's sin against me and not about my sin against another. It is about my own sin against God, against my Father.

That sin, daily, I am afraid, brings a sense of guilt and deep regret.

I think I know the answer. It's about the gospel -

Too often we are short-sighted when it comes to the good news - we think of it gratefully as bringing us into God's family, as the door that brings the unsaved into His kingdom, but fail to realize the gospel is what we need every day.

We need to preach the gospel - the good news of God's forgiveness - to ourselves - every day!

It's not a once-in-a-lifetime experience. It's not for the unbelievers only.

This is what I forget:

     Not only has God forgiven us our sins, He also
     credited us with the perfect righteousness of
     His Son. This is what we call the "Great
     Exchange" - He took away our sins and gave us
     righteousness. This forgiveness includes all sins --
     past, present and future - ALL OF THEM!

PAST - We have been saved (freed) from sin's guilt

PRESENT - We are being saved (freed) from sin's power

FUTURE - We will someday be saved (freed) from sin's very presence.

HAVE BEEN - ARE BEING - WILL BE

Past -  Present - Future

     There is nothing I can do to make Him love me
     less and nothing I can do to make Him love me
     more.


His love is not only eternal, but day to day - He is always waiting for me to return to Him, to run into His arms and seek His love and compassion for our frail, misguided attempts to lead the life He wants for us.

An old popular pioneer hymn, written about the time of the American Revolution, proclaims it:

I will arise and go to Jesus,

He will embrace me in His arms.

In the arms of my dear Savior,

O, there are ten thousand charms.

Why would our loving Savior, who brought us into His family, foreseeing our earthly journey before us, knowing we would constantly fail, not also keep loving us day to day? Yes, loving us, and liking us....day in and day out...always waiting for us to return to His arms.

Every morning when we awake, every evening when we fall asleep, and throughout the day.....let's preach the gospel to ourselves!


Remember 1 John 1:9 was written, not to unbelievers, but to Christians:

           If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just
           and will forgive us our sins and purify us from
           all unrighteousness.

That's really good news!

      

How to Get Ready for Church

I get my hair done on Saturday and make certain my clothes are ready, preparing to go to church Sunday. But I don't seem to be  as concerned about preparing spiritually to join my church family in worship of our Creator God of the Universe! 

I fix my hair, but not my heart! I clean my clothes, but not my soul! How silly is that! 

Before there can be honest, true worship, there must be honest, true hearts.

Max Lucado talks about preparing our hearts for worship through cleansing our hearts of sin as we prepare to come before our holy, sinless God, and it begins with confession:

"Confession does for the soul what preparing the land does for the field.

Before the farmer sows the seed he works the acreage, removing the rocks and pulling the stumps. He knows that seed grows better if the land is prepared.

Confession is the act of inviting God to walk the acreage of our hearts. 'There is a rock of greed over here, Father, and I can't budge it. And that tree of guilt near the fence - its roots are long and deep. And may I show You some dry soil, too crusty for seed?'

God's seed grows better if the soil of the heart is cleansed.

Confession invites the Father to work the soil of the soul, digging and pulling, preparing the heart to produce fruit."

                          So now we can get ready for church!

What does 'inspired' mean? James Montgomery Boice

All scripture is God-breathed and useful for teaching, rebuking, correction, and training in righteousness.

   -- 2 Timothy 3:16 


The first thing 2 Timothy  tells us about Scripture is why it is useful -- because Scripture comes from God.

Old translations of the verse use the word inspired, reading "All scripture is inspired by God."

The Latin Vulgate translated the Greek as divinitus inspirata, and inspirita passed into  English as "inspired" through the translation of Wycliffe.

The interesting thing about the Greek word is that, strictly speaking, it does not refer to inspiration at all.

That is not to say that inspiration is not a valid theological term. It is.

When we think of inspiration we think of the power of God guiding the writers of the Bible so that what they wrote, even though they wrote in their own language and with their own vocabulary and on the basis of their own experience, was nevertheless exactly what God wanted written.

The word inspiration refers to this. Inspiration means "breathed into," from in meaning "in" or "into" and spiro meaning "breathe."  It describes the process of God's revelation of Himself in Scripture from a human point of view. However, this is not the meaning behind the underlying Greek word in 2 Timothy 3:16.

Theopneustos, the Greek word used, combines the word for "God" (theos) and the word for "breath" or "spirit" (pneustos). It means "God-breathed," and

is the translation used by the New International Version.

It teaches that Scripture is the result of this breathing out of God. Much as God created man by breathing into him and making him "a living soul," God also breathed out the Scriptures so they became a living revelation.

Paul is not talking about how human authors of  Scriptures received God's revelation. He is talking about Scripture itself, saying that the words of Scripture are the words of God, and this is what makes Scripture so useful.

A book containing merely human words might be true and useful to a point.

An instruction manual for your new dishwasher helps you run the appliance. The operator's book on your new car is useful.

If you want to learn Latin, a book teaching you Latin will be useful.

But there is no comparison between human books, useful in limited ways, and the Word of God useful in the ways Paul spells out in 2 Timothy 3:16.


   -- James Montgomery Boice, Standing on the Rock,

        Chapter 6, The Most Useful Thing in the World

The LORD God formed the man from the dust of the ground

and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life,

and the man became a living being....

  Genesis 2:7

Enemy-Occupied Territory

From C S Lewis --

   "One of the things that surprised me when I first read the New Testament seriously was that it talked about  a Dark Power in the universe -- a mighty evil spirit who was held to be the Power behind death and disease and sin. 

The difference is that Christianity thinks this Dark Power was created by God, and was good when he was created, and then he went wrong.  

Christianity agrees with Dualism that this universe is at war. But it does not think  this is a war between independent powers. It thinks it is a civil war, a rebellion, and that we are living in a part of the universe occupied by the rebel. 

Enemy-occupied territory - that's what this world is. Christianity is the story of how the rightful King has landed, you might say in disguise, and is calling us to take part in a great campaign of sabotage. When you go to church, you are really listening in on the secret wireless from our comrades, that is why the enemy is so anxious to prevent us from going."

(Note: When the rightful King returns, He will not be in disguise this time -- 'every knee shall bow and every tongue confess' that He is the rightful King!  Come quickly, Lord Jesus!)

Days of Awe - A Life of Awe

Days of Awe

The "Ten Days of Awe," or "High Holy Days," are celebrated by Jews each year in the fall, usually September and early October.

They begin with Rosh Hashanah (New Years, Feast of Tabernacles) and conclude with Yom Kippur (Day of Atonement), the holiest day on the Jewish calendar.

(This year Rosh Hashanah begins at sundown on Friday, September 11, and ends at nightfall on Sunday, September 13).

These ten days are celebrated to remember God's powerful holiness,  to worship Him with reverent awe, and to repent of sin and seek and bestow forgiveness. They recognize the incredible truth of God's reconciliation with man -- ten days to focus on bowing down before Him in humility, meditating on Him and celebrating their special relationship with Him, always with great joy.

Reminds me of our childhood catechism -- Q: What is the chief end of man? A: The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever!

I love the name of these days: Days of Awe. I can't think of a more perfect title for them.

We Christians can celebrate these days, too -- especially the reconciliation of God and man, accomplished through Jesus -- and bringing us all our Days of Awe! Forever and forever. Amen.

Let's have a  Day of Awe today - and the first day of a Life of Awe!

An Almost Lost (and Last) Song - From Daniel

                                                

                         Almost Lost Song - From Daniel

I ran across this beautiful hymn recently. Legends say that this was the hymn sung by the three young Hebrew boys -- Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego -- while they were in the firey furnace in Babylon during the reign of Nebuchadnezzar. Scholars date it as over 2000 years for certain (except for the last two lines which were added by early Christians).

Glory to you, Lord God of our fathers;

Glory to you for the radiance of your holy Name;

We will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.

Glory to you in the splendor of your temple,

On the throne of your majesty, glory to you.

Glory to you, seated between the Cherubim.

We will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.

Glory to you, beholding the depths;

In the high vault of heaven, glory to you.

Glory to you, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit,

We will praise you and highly exalt you for ever.

Remember the story (Daniel 3)?
So Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego came out of the fire, and the satraps, prefects, governors and royal advisors crowded around them. They saw that the fire had not harmed their bodies, nor was a hair of their heads singed; their robes were not scorched, and there was no smell of fire on them.

Then Nebuchadnezzar said, "Praise be to the God of Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego, who has sent his angel and rescued his servants! They trusted in him and defied the king's command and were willing to give up their lives rather than serve or worship any god except their own god....no other god can save in this way...".

The King's letter "To the peoples, nations and men of every language, who live in all the world: It is my pleasure to tell you about the miraculous signs and wonders that the Most High God has performed for me.

How great are his signs,
How mighty his wonders!
His kingdom is an eternal kingdom;
His dominion endures from generation to generation

No other God can save this way.......words from Nebuchadnezzar....and he didn't even know the half of it!

What Makes Us Different?

 

                                                     What Makes Us Different?

Other religions tell their adherents to practice righteousness, to try to be good, and then maybe God will then allow you to approach Him. Our God tells us to come as we are, sinful and needy.  Now.  And He will make us good. 

We  don't try to make ourselves good to come to God. We come to Him and He makes us good!

And He is reaching out to us, drawing us to Him. Coming to rescue us.

What a contrast! What an offer!

There is an old hymn, written almost 300 years ago, a favorite among our pioneer  ancestors, that described in detail that message. It was a favorite of Daniel Boone and his people.

It is titled, "Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy" -- here are some of my favorite lines - -- "Come, ye sinners, poor and needy, weak and wounded, sick and sore. Jesus ready stands to save you, full of pity, love, and power. Come, ye weary, heavy-laden, lost and ruined by the fall. If you tarry till you're better, you will never come a all! Let not conscience make you linger, nor of fitness fondly dream. All the fitness He requireth, is to feel your need of Him!"

Chorus: "I will arise and go to Jesus -- He will embrace me in His arms..."

I love this old hymn . Wish I could hear it sung today just as generations did in the past.

We need to remind each other of what it reminds us of.......Now is the day of salvation....don't wait. Come just as we are.

(We would never be good enough! And we can never be too bad!)

As a Father Disciplines His Son

 As a Father Disciplines His Son

"Know then in your heart that as a man disciplines his son, so the LORD your God disciplines you" (Deuteronomy 8:5).

The Bible teaches that God disciplines those He loves -- His precious children. When we suffer hardships and afflictions in this life He uses it to conform us to the likeness of Jesus who suffered indescribably.

God's fatherly discipline never seems pleasant at the time, but when we understand it is for our own good we can submit to it and say with Hezekiah, "Surely it was for my benefit that I suffered such anguish" (Isaiah 38:17).

But often we see that only when we look back. In the present, though, we can, if we choose, "Glory in our sufferings, because we know that suffering produces perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not put us  to shame, because God's love has been poured out into our hearts through the Holy Spirit, who has been given to us" (Romans 5:3-5).

It's About Noah!

 

A friend just came back from touring the Ark Encounter in Kentucky. He loved it!

Other popular replicas of the ark are in Hong Kong and the Netherlands -- they appeal to millions of people who are entranced with the account of Noah and the ark that that saved him and his family from the flood!

Great research goes into these replicas: exact wood, measurements, proportions, windows, door, food supply and storage, endless details to present the  models as perfect as possible.

And think about toy stores --they have models children can put together themselves! Games, puzzles, coloring books -- people for years have been fascinated with the ark.

Favorite topics for VBS and Sunday School!

But maybe we should change our focus -- maybe we need to focus on Noah himself. The ark saved Noah's family, but more Noahs could save more of the world! 

Scripture tells us "Noah was a righteous man, the only blameless person living on earth at the time, and he walked in fellowship with God"(Genesis 6). NLT

Then in Hebrews 11 we read "By faith Noah when warned of things not yet seen, in holy fear, built an ark to save his family. By his faith he condemned the world and became heir of the righteousness that is in keeping with faith."

We live in a corrupt world, too! Evil is valued as good and good is called evil. Yet in that dark world Noah lived for God and exhibited righteousness.

 So can we -- In our corrupt world we can still have fellowship with God -- we can exhibit righteousness and glorify God ....and condemn the world. 

Let's concentrate on replicating Noah, not the ark!

We, too,  have been warned of 'things not yet seen'. We know what is ahead.

We can help spread God's kingdom right here, right now!

"Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven!"

PS Genesis 6:22 -- "Noah did all that God commanded him to do." Obedience! That will likely not appear on my grave marker!

[If there had been a lot of Noahs, there would not have been a flood!]

The Guilty Woman

She was 'caught in the act.' 

She couldn't claim innocence. 

She was alone! Not even the guilty man was with her! 

She didn't come to Jesus to beg forgiveness -- she was dragged there by her accusers for ridicule and punishment -- and especially to accuse and discredit Jesus. Surely He wouldn't forgive her -- after all, she was caught in the act!  They demanded she be stoned. She had no hope. After all, she was caught in the act!

Jesus didn't pick up a stone. He issued His famous challenge: "Whoever of you is without sin, you cast the first stone." 

They began to walk away.  Finally she and Jesus were alone. "Neither do I condemn you," Jesus said. 

Did she look at Him? I imagine she did lift her downcast eyes to meet His. I imagine she gazed at Him in wonder and amazement. The only one qualified to condemn her didn't. 

He gave her mercy when she was too hopeless to even ask for it! 

"Turn your eyes upon Jesus. Look full in His wonderful face. And the things of earth will grow strangely dim, in the light of His glory and grace." 

She could have spoken those words. I do...almost every day! And I, too, have been caught in the act!  But all my sin grows 'strangely dim....in the light of His glory and grace'!

 

What Do We Worship?

Who do we worship?


The gods we worship write their names on our faces; be sure of that.

A person will worship something, have no doubt about that.

We may think our tribute is paid in secret in the dark recesses of our heart, but it will out.

That which dominates our imaginations and our thoughts will determine our lives, and our character.

Therefore it behooves us to be careful of what we worship, for what we are worshiping we are becoming.  

                                  -- Ralph Waldo Emerson



And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit. 

                               -- 2 Corinthians 3:18

Just Fix It! C S Lewis

Words from C S Lewis:

"Christianity is a fighting religion. It believes and teaches that God made the world. But it also thinks that a great many things have gone wrong with the world that God made and that God insists, and insists very loudly, on our putting them right again."

Sometimes people tell me that they can't believe in our God of love because the world is such a cruel and hateful place. So we need to tell them to join us and help us fix it! 

It is only logical that we put things right, since we are the ones who messed up the good and perfect world He created.

What's first on your list?

It's Beginning Already!

 

                                         Looking for Jesus

As children, we memorized Romans 12.  Verse 2 is still stuck in my mind like a sticky note: "Be not conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind..."

I remember reading that verse in the J.B. Phillip's paraphrase: "Don't let the world around you squeeze you into its mold."

It's still a battle. The world is so anxious to squeeze us into its mold!

I remember being taught that "conforming" comes from outside pressure, but "transforming" comes from activity - the Holy Spirit - within.

The Greek word translated "transform" is the same word we translate "metamorphosis."

It's used here in Romans 12:2 and also in the accounts of Jesus when He was "transfigured" when He took Peter, James, and John to witness that special miracle.

We call the place it happened "The Mount of the Transfiguration."

Same word.  Metamorphosis. Same miracle.

Just as the lowly worm  is transformed into a butterfly, we are transformed into the image of Christ.

Same word, Same miracle.

The word is used only one other place -- 2 Corinthians 3:18: "We who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord's glory, are being transformed into His likeness..."

Sounds like it's beginning to happen already! Let's look for Jesus in each other today!

Love Hurts

  "There is no safe investment.

   To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken.

   If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your  heart to no one, not even an animal.

   Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness.

   But in that casket -- safe, dark, motionless, airless  -- it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

   The alternative to the risk of tragedy is damnation. The only place outside Heaven where you can be perfectly safe from all the dangers of love is Hell."

                                      -- C. S. Lewis, The Four Loves

{1 John 4:19 -- "We love Him because He first loved us"}

Give Him All - C S Lewis

From C S Lewis...

"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. 

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 cut down. I don't want to drill the tooth or crown it, but to have it out. Hand over the whole natural self, all the desires you think are innocent, as well as the ones you think are wicked -- the whole outfit. I will give you a new self instead. 

In fact, I will give you Myself! My own will shall become yours.'"

                                   **********

"Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; all things have passed away; behold all things have become new" (2 Corinthians 5:17).

I remember once reading that someone asked William Booth, the famous evangelist and founder of The Salvation Army, what was the secret of his great successful international ministry that so exalted God's glory. He answered, "God has all of me."

A Perfect Prayer

                                         

                                              A Perfect Prayer

The Book of Daniel (in the Old Testament) has some profound prayers.

I am thinking especially of His prayer in chapter 2. 

Daniel had been given the king's malicious command to not only interpret the king's dream but also to remind the king what the dream was about! A humanly- impossible task!

If Daniel failed then he and the others would be killed.

So Daniel prays for God to reveal the dream and its meaning to him. 

He begins his prayer of thanks for God's answer with grand proclamations of worship and praise: "Praise be to the Name of God forever and ever, wisdom and power are His..." he starts.

It is a short prayer.

As he ends he thanks God for answering: "You have made known to me what we asked of You. You have made known to us the dream of the king."

We learn from this that we should be specific in our requests, and then specific in what we are thanking Him for!

Asking Him to bless generally ('bless everybody in the world' we might say) is sometimes appropriate but maybe just a lazy approach when communicating with our loving Father!

Let's be like Daniel and tell our Father exactly what we want from Him and what we are thanking Him for! 

Wouldn't our earthly father prefer that?

What's To Come?

An observation from Eric Metaxas --

"Conversion to faith in God is one of the great mysteries.

The signs of conversion are difficult to pinpoint, but one of them is this:

Many of those who have experienced it seems, now and again, to have a curious, distracted look, as though they have glimpsed something so beautiful they can never forget it, as though they've glimpsed the 'thing behind all things.'

And they have, and now they are turned toward it forever, toward that glorious faraway country that is their true home."

    -- From Everything You Always wanted to Know About God

[Part of that distracted look we display, for most of us, includes a longing, a yearning, a deep eagerness to get all "this" behind us and see Jesus face to face, and be with Him forever! YES, the best is truly yet to come and we know that! How can we help but display that?]

 

For This I Have Jesus!

 I have a new wrist band. I can wear it 24/7! The message works all of the time: "For This I Have Jesus".

If I win the lottery -- if I get cancer -- good news -- bad news -- For This I Have Jesus!

This wrist band is a reminder to me that God is with me no matter what. The question is: Do I let God shine through me in my most difficult times?

Do you?

That's the time people see that He is truly Lord of your life, not just in the good times, but also in the hard and difficult times.

As God works in us through our hardships, we display His perseverance and His character developing in us.

Charles Stanley wrote, "Adversity is not simply a tool. It is God's most effective tool for the advancement of our spiritual lives."

Sometimes we don't see, or understand, how He is working. But we can always trust that He is working for our good.

As the song says:

"God is too wise to be mistaken. God is too good to be unkind. So when you don't understand, when you don't see His plan, when you can't trace His hand, trust His heart."

We can always trust His heart! Always! 

For this we have Jesus!

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!