Get Up and Go

Then Jesus came from Galilee to the Jordan to John, to be baptized by him. John would have prevented him, saying, “I need to be baptized by you, and do you come to me?” But Jesus answered him, “Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.” Then he consented. And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.” Matthew 3:13-17 (ESV)

Jesus "went up from the water" after his baptism and "behold, the heavens were opened" and he saw the Holy Spirit. Is it important that there is action following the act of baptism and the appearance of the Spirit is tied in with the action? The Holy Spirit empowers us to do the ministry God has called us to and sends us out to do. One of my favorite prayers in the Book of Common Prayer ends with these words: "send us out into the world in peace and grant us strength and courage to love and serve you with gladness and singleness of heart". 

We are sent and our strength and courage are granted to us by our God through the power of the Holy Spirit. The strength and courage have a purpose - enabling us to serve our Lord with a glad heart. We're not serving as a burden or duty but rather in response to the gift of our salvation, the gift of our forgiveness and reconciliation, and in response to the love that was and is poured out on us from the cross and in our hearts. How can we respond any differently? 

God's strength and courage also enable us to serve with singleness of heart. Service in the Spirit's power is focused. We don't have to battle with conflicting emotions, questions and doubts about what we should be doing. In effect, we've been given our marching orders and we're following the steps of our Lord as he leads the way. When we find ourselves with divided hearts, it's time to step back, to do some self-examination. Have our priorities shifted? Has our focus moved from our Lord to our selves? Who's getting the glory for my efforts; is it all about me or am I seeking to glorify God? 

After a very busy work season, I was enjoying some down-time. Instead of getting ready to go to church, I wanted to stay in my comfy chair with my book. I sensed a "holy nudge" urging me to get up and worship the God that had given me the strength to get through all this. I needed that reminder that it was God's strength, not my own, that enabled me to go the extra miles and do what needed to be done. Church was sweet that morning, my heart was touched and renewed and I did worship the God who is my strength. But action on my part was required. I had to make the choice to get up from my comfy spot and get moving. God met me in that moment of action - my moment of decision - and I experienced his presence in a sweet and powerful way as I worshiped with my church family. 

We are faced with countless decisions every day: do we choose our own comfort and convenience or do we accept the way God is offering? Jesus - fully man and fully God - had a choice as well. He "went up from the water", was filled and equipped for the road that lay ahead. The heavens were opened to him, the Holy Spirit's power and presence were evident and the voice of the Father was heard speaking his pleasure over the Son. These were the visible and audible signs of the truth of what we, as followers of Jesus, have inherited. When we say "yes" to God we are given the grace to carry out the work he is giving us to do. We are empowered to love and serve our God and equipped to serve him with gladness and singleness of heart. 

A Life Well Lived

For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.  (Psalm 39:12 ESV)

I’m going to a funeral today. I wish I wasn’t. It’s raining and dreary today; dreary and sad like the weeks preceding this day. I went into my study early this morning and sat down with my tea and my Bible, picked up my little devotional and was directed to Psalm 39. 

This verse on this day - only God. For I am a sojourner with you, a guest, like all my fathers.  

My stepson has gone home. His sojourn on this earth has ended and he’s seeing sights that our wildest imaginings couldn’t begin to describe. 

I love the song, “I Am a Poor, Wayfaring Stranger”. While the tune and the words have a sad, haunting quality, they speak to the hope and the promise that we, as believers, hold on to. As Christians, we face death and loss with a whirlwind of emotions: grief, tears, anger, along with joy, hope, peace and a sense of celebration. They are normal and should be walked through and, I think, embraced. It’s how we honor our loved ones.

I believe the Lord honors our grief. He understands it, experiences it with us and is our comfort through it. Grief is normal and a gift. We celebrate the life that was lived on this earth, we celebrate the fact that our loved one is healed, whole and with the Lord. We celebrate; we grieve. We recall the wonderful memories, laughter and fun times – and we grieve. What a contradiction! 

Without the hope we have because of Jesus, we would be lost:

Christ in you, the hope of glory. (Col. 1:27)

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)

And he [Jesus] said to him, “Truly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.” (Luke 23:43)

The verse from Psalm 39 reminds us that while we are a sojourner, a guest in this world, we are not alone. We journey with our Savior. We are his guest. We are also his gift.

The life we will celebrate today was a gift – to his family, friends, co-workers and church family. A life well lived. A gift that will keep on giving. A gift that brought glory to the Giver.

The Word of Life

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon and have touched with our hands, concerning the word of life—the life was made manifest, and we have seen it, and testify to it and proclaim to you the eternal life, which was with the Father and was made manifest to us—that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. (1 John 1:1-5 ESV)

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it. (John 1:1-5 ESV)

As I read the passages from 1 John this morning, I had to flip back in my Bible to John's Gospel. Based on the notes in my Bible it's hard to tell how close together these two books of the Bible were written but regardless of the time span, John's awe and wonder never left him - awe for who this man, Jesus, is and was. He is keenly aware of the fact that he encountered, lived with and was taught by the Living Word who was and is and will be forever:

we heard

we have seen

we looked upon

we have touched with our hands

we have seen it and testify to it

we have seen and heard

we have heard from him

Seven times in five verses John expresses his excitement - his amazement! - at this truth. John is testifying and proclaiming - not just the Gospel that he knows about, but the very words from the Word of God. The words he heard with his own ears, straight from the source. We heard! We have seen! We have touched with our hands! Brotherhood, fellowship, journey mates who laughed together, grieved together, prayed, ate, slept - lived life - day in and day out.

What a powerful witness, an irrefutable testimony! Maybe we need to read this passage with a fresh perspective. Can we try to capture some of John's excitement and awe? Can we really begin to grasp what happened when Jesus came to live among us?

May we pray to live more fully into the significance of God leaving the glories of heaven, the eternal, to dwell on earth as a human, a man in the dust and muck of humanity, giving us the gift of hope, of salvation, of reconciliation with our Heavenly Father and the promise and reality of eternal life.


In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That which was from the beginning . . . we have seen . . . we have heard . . . we have touched . . . we proclaim . . . we testify . . . . And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

And we know that the Son of God has come and has given us understanding so that we may know him who is true; and we are in him who is true, in his son Jesus Christ. He is the true God and eternal life. (1 John 5:20 ESV)

On the Other Hand

Pslam 46:  God is our refuge and strength,

a very present help in trouble.

Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way,

though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea,

though its waters roar and foam,

though the mountains tremble at its swelling. Selah

There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God,

the holy habitation of the Most High.

God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved;

God will help her when morning dawns.

The nations rage, the kingdoms totter;

he utters his voice, the earth melts.

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Come, behold the works of the Lord,

how he has brought desolations on the earth.

He makes wars cease to the end of the earth;

he breaks the bow and shatters the spear;

he burns the chariots with fire.

“Be still, and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations,

I will be exalted in the earth!”

The Lord of hosts is with us;

the God of Jacob is our fortress. Selah

Remember Tevye in "The Fiddler on the Roof"? When he was having his discussions with God and struggling with decisions, he would weigh his arguments on one hand and then on the other hand. That's what this psalm seems like. On one hand are the warm, fuzzy attributes, descriptions and statements about God:

He is our refuge and strength
a very present help in trouble
a river whose streams make glad the city of God
God is in the midst of her, she shall not be moved.
God will help her when morning dawns.
Be still and know that I am God.

On the other hand, there are descriptions and images of terrible destruction, nations raging, kingdoms tottering, desolations of war -- you can get dizzy just reading this psalm! 

But what power in the words, what truth! Most of it is underlined in my Bible with different pens from the many times something has spoken to me. There's a "thank you Lord" with a date written in the margin. Psalm 46 has been a psalm of comfort, refreshing and strength because this is the reality of authentic faith in a difficult, troubled world. In the midst of fear, chaos, the bombardment of "BREAKING NEWS" bulletins that could keep us in a constant state of anxiety, we are to be still and know that I am God. No matter what happens in our world, we are in the hands of a mighty God! 

We need the difficult verses of this psalm to remind us of the power of our awesome God. We tend to forget; we like our image of God as a comfortable, manageable god. We need to remember his awesomeness, his power and sovereignty over all his creation. We need to be still in the presence of a holy God. In spite of the condition of this world, the hopelessness that can creep in when we hear devastating news, our God says "I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!" 

Keeping our eyes on the One who holds all of eternity in his hands is the answer, the remedy, to our fears and anxieties. We can stand in the midst of chaos, stand in the power and strength of God who is our refuge and strength, our very present help in trouble. 

Be still and know that I am God.

I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!

Lift Your Eyes

Then they seized him and led him away, bringing him into the high priest's house, and Peter was following at a distance. And when they had kindled a fire in the middle of the courtyard and sat down together, Peter sat down among them. Then a servant girl, seeing him as he sat in the light and looking closely at him, said, “This man also was with him.” But he denied it, saying, “Woman, I do not know him.” And a little later someone else saw him and said, “You also are one of them.” But Peter said, “Man, I am not.” And after an interval of about an hour still another insisted, saying, “Certainly this man also was with him, for he too is a Galilean.” But Peter said, “Man, I do not know what you are talking about.” And immediately, while he was still speaking, the rooster crowed. And the Lord turned and looked at Peter. And Peter remembered the saying of the Lord, how he had said to him, “Before the rooster crows today, you will deny me three times.” And he went out and wept bitterly.  (Luke 22:54-62 ESV)

"He went out and wept bitterly." I cannot imagine how distraught Peter must have been; talk about a dark night of the soul! It's hard to believe anything good can come out of such a dark and difficult place. Peter had heard everything Jesus promised - as have we! - but in that terrible place of despair and loss, I doubt Peter could think about those promises, much less believe them.

Aren't we the same way? When things are so hard, feel so hopeless and our faith is at its lowest point, it can be so hard to believe God's promises of new life - of resurrection glory. We, like Peter, can't see what God sees; we can't see 3 days in the future, much less 3 minutes! All we know is the darkness of the now, of this moment, and it doesn't feel like it's ever going to get any better. Have you ever felt like this: "I'm stuck in this miserable situation and how can anything get better?" "Where is God when I need him the most?" "Why me?"

Why NOT me? Look at Jesus' sufferings; are we better than the Son of God? Are we exempt from the hardships that life in this fallen world brings? So, what about God's promises?

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.  (Isaiah 43:2 ESV)

The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy. I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.  (John 10:10 ESV)

I have said these things to you, that in me you may have peace. In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”  (John 16:33 ESV)

The LORD is my shepherd; I shall not want. He makes me lie down in green pastures. He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul. He leads me in paths of righteousness for his name's sake. 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. You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies; you anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the LORD forever.  (Psalm 23 ESV)

We are not promised a life free of suffering. What we ARE promised is the presence of a loving, compassionate Savior who will never leave us or forsake us, who is working in us and through us to transform, mold, heal, save and deliver us, providing us with his strength when he have none, his joy when ours is lost, his peace in the midst of our worries and anxieties, and his promise that his death and resurrection weren't wasted. We have his resurrection power at work in our lives and in this world bringing the great Light of the world into the darkest places - we are not alone! We are not forgotten. Jesus asks us to lift our eyes, to look at him and watch him work - watch him bring glory to his Father - even in our circumstances, even when we've given up hope.

God IS good. God IS love and he is merciful and he knows his children, each one of us, by name - every hair of our precious heads, every tear that has been shed, every "Why?" that has been cried out; and he says, "I love you. Watch me. I'm here and will not let you go. You are mine."

Look at Peter. From his deep despair he was restored to the Rock that Jesus called and created him to be. That terrible night didn't ruin the plans of our Almighty God.

Lift your eyes.

 I look up to the mountains;
    does my strength come from mountains?
No, my strength comes from God,
    who made heaven, and earth, and mountains.
He won’t let you stumble,
    your Guardian God won’t fall asleep.
Not on your life! Israel’s
    Guardian will never doze or sleep.
God’s your Guardian,
    right at your side to protect you—
Shielding you from sunstroke,
    sheltering you from moonstroke.
God guards you from every evil,
    he guards your very life.
He guards you when you leave and when you return,

    he guards you now, he guards you always. Psalm 121 (The Message)

Disobedience

Now King Solomon loved many foreign women, along with the daughter of Pharaoh: Moabite, Ammonite, Edomite, Sidonian, and Hittite women, from the nations concerning which the LORD had said to the people of Israel, “You shall not enter into marriage with them, neither shall they with you, for surely they will turn away your heart after their gods.” Solomon clung to these in love. He had 700 wives, who were princesses, and 300 concubines. And his wives turned away his heart. For when Solomon was old his wives turned away his heart after other gods, and his heart was not wholly true to the LORD his God, as was the heart of David his father. (1 Kings 11:1-4 ESV)

What happened when Solomon said "yes" to something to which God has said "no"? It's seems fairly obvious that just that act in itself was disobedient but I'm not sure I had really grasped the depth of the consequences to the extent I did as I read the passage this morning. 

Solomon's heart was turned away from God as he turned his heart toward the very thing God had forbidden. Jesus spoke of this in his parable about the dishonest manager in Luke 16, when he said in verse 13: "No servant can serve two masters, for either he will hate the one and love the other, or he will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve God and money.” Whatever or whoever it is that we place before God, we are serving a new master. The passage above states that Solomon "clung to these in love" and his heart was turned away from God - "not wholly true to the LORD his God."

It's really insidious, isn't it? Whatever the choice is - it may seem very harmless or insignificant at the time - that choice we make has the power to turn a piece of our heart away from God. 

How? The 1 Kings passage goes on to describe how Solomon built an altar, a high place, for the gods of his wives. Surely in the 21st century, we don't literally build an altar to worship those things our heart has turned to. Or do we? We worship our Lord by offering our heart, our time, our talents and our treasures. Have we, in our hearts, erected an altar to something that God has said "no" to by offering our time, our finances, our thoughts? How have we become invested in this "other god"?

I love to play those silly computer games. When I think about how much time those things can suck up before I even realize it, I'm really convicted! That is time that could have been spent so much more meaningfully. We need downtime, it's important to unwind; but can't my downtime be better spent with my Lord? isn't that relationship worth more of my time than a game? How has that seemingly insignificant choice pulled me away from things of God? I'm a multi-tasker; there are lots of things I can be doing and be aware of the Lord's presence with me. 

“That we should establish ourselves in a sense of GOD’s Presence, by continually conversing with Him. That it was a shameful thing to quit His conversation, to think of trifles and fooleries.” (from Brother Lawrence, The Practice of the Presence of God)

Due to Solomon's repeated disobedient choices, more and more of his heart was being turned away from God. It really is a slippery slope; we can so quickly go from having a heart wholly true to the Lord, as Solomon's once was, to having a divided heart, a heart more easily led further and further astray.

I've been thinking lately of the way the Holy Spirit moves and works in my daily life, how I experience his presence, hear that still, small voice and respond to his voice. If the Lord is calling me to re-prioritize my time, he certainly has my attention. Reading this passage this morning, I couldn't move from those verses. No choice in God's kingdom is insignificant. There are so many things seeking our attention and our time that may or may not be good for our souls. How critical it is to seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness. (Matthew 6:33 ESV)

Thirsty?

Jeremiah 2:13  for my people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water. 

The first sin was forsaking God. The second sin was trying to get for themselves what God gives freely, abundantly, and continuously. The image of a fountain of living water compared to a broken cistern incapable of holding any water is a striking one. It's like comparing Niagara Falls to a mud puddle. It's amazing to me how easy it is for human beings to reject their creator, to turn from his abundance and try so hard to replace the very thing we leave behind. Consider all the ways mankind tries to fulfill the needs that can only be fulfilled by God: false notions of love, truth, beauty, service, worship, relationships and so many others. Consider the movies, television shows, even commercials, that bombard our senses. I wonder if we even realize the degree that we're affected and shaped by these things. It's so subtle. 

I grew up in the fifties with the TV shows of that era. In the span of my lifetime, I'm astounded by the changes in what we see and bring into our homes through various media. How is it that we have allowed these things to shape our understanding of beauty and love, truth and justice? They are such a pitiful replacement for all that God offers us and blesses us with. I'm not trying to single out television as the source of all negativity but it's a good example of how we have turned from the things of God to the things that are man-made and allowed those things to become our standard. We have replaced a fountain of living waters for a broken, leaky, useless cistern. We're thirsty and wandering in dry places looking for water.

The longer I walk with the Lord, the more I am astounded by his love and his provision - his intimate, attentive involvement in every aspect of my life. I've learned to trust him more and more, to lean on him for the strength I can't find anywhere else. I've experienced what the transforming power of his love can do in my own life and how I see myself and others in my world. I've seen that love reach people who had given up on themselves and on God; watched him turn their lives upside down and fill them with the knowledge of his love and forgiveness - his very presence and nearness. 

What a mighty God we serve! What an injustice we do in limiting and diminishing his love and power and how much we miss out on because of those limits. I have seen how much God loves to bless us - to pour on us his living water, to allow us to splash in that fountain and receive his blessings, his healings, his love. When we turn away from God or try to fit him in some convenient mold that diminishes him, we are removing ourselves from the place of blessing. We are turning away from unlimited, unconditional love that is that fountain of living water and, instead, finding ourselves settling for so very much less - a pitiful substitute than can't begin to fill the holes in our souls, the thirst for all God has for us. We are trying to find water in a leaky, empty well.

No wonder God calls that a sin. We put ourselves in place of God. We rely on our supposed know-how and ability, turning our backs on God. If sin is anything that separates us from God, certainly our self-sufficiency and pridefulness separate us more than anything else. 

“You have made us for yourself, and our hearts are restless, until they can find rest in you.” This well-known quote from St. Augustine states the point of this posting so beautifully. God created us, loves us and is always calling us to return to his fountain of living waters, to know what it means to find true rest. He invites us to cease striving, to come to him and receive his love and peace.

"Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.” (Matthew 11:28-30)

The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” The woman said to him, “Sir, you have nothing to draw water with, and the well is deep. Where do you get that living water? Are you greater than our father Jacob? He gave us the well and drank from it himself, as did his sons and his livestock.” Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The woman said to him, “Sir, give me this water, so that I will not be thirsty or have to come here to draw water....Many Samaritans from that town believed in him because of the woman's testimony, “He told me all that I ever did.” So when the Samaritans came to him, they asked him to stay with them, and he stayed there two days. And many more believed because of his word. They said to the woman, “It is no longer because of what you said that we believe, for we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this is indeed the Savior of the world.”
(John 4:9-16, 39-42 ESV)