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)

Peace in the Storm

Immediately he made the disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, while he dismissed the crowds. And after he had dismissed the crowds, he went up on the mountain by himself to pray. When evening came, he was there alone, but the boat by this time was a long way from the land, beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them. And in the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking on the sea. But when the disciples saw him walking on the sea, they were terrified, and said, “It is a ghost!” and they cried out in fear. But immediately Jesus spoke to them, saying, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.”

And Peter answered him, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” He said, “Come.” So Peter got out of the boat and walked on the water and came to Jesus. But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” And when they got into the boat, the wind ceased. And those in the boat worshiped him, saying, “Truly you are the Son of God.” (Matthew 14:22-33 ESV)

As I’ve been praying for two special people who are going through a lot of difficult struggles right now, the Lord led me to this story in Matthew. The part that seemed to be grabbing my attention was when Jesus called to Peter to come to him on the water. What did that have to do with my prayers? So I re-read the passage and waited for the Spirit to open my mind to what he was trying to tell me.

Jesus calls Peter to come, he gets out of the boat and walks on the water until he lets his fear of the wind take over. The text says the he didn’t see the wind while he was looking at Jesus. How did Peter not see the wind? Why mention he didn’t see the wind, anyway? You can’t see wind, only the effects of it and the waves were fierce! How could he not notice that? He must have been so completely focused on Jesus that he didn’t even notice that storm. It was still raging when he climbed out of that boat because Jesus didn’t calm the storm until later. (He had already demonstrated his authority over creation by walking on the water; calming the storm was secondary.) The men were afraid – terrified – of the storm. They’d battled it for 9 long hours with all their strength. In an instant Jesus did what they were incapable of doing. While the storm was raging, Peter looked on Jesus and wasn’t afraid. He “mastered” the storm by focusing completely – single-mindedly – on Peace in the person of Jesus.

What must it have been like for Peter to climb out of that boat that was being tossed around by those waves? Who in their right mind would do that? Look at the choices Peter was faced with: stay in the boat and keep on fighting the storm for another 9 hours; or, look at Jesus who wasn’t the least bit bothered by the storm. He was in complete control. Jesus was safe, the boat wasn’t.

How often we stay in our storm-tossed boat struggling with every ounce of our strength. We think we have no other choice but to put our heads down and keep fighting. All the disciples, with all their combined strength couldn’t make any headway. Do you ever feel that way? Keep striving. Keep fighting. You’re exhausted. The storm is winning. Then, you look up and there is Jesus, inviting you to “come”. Get out of that boat. Look upon your Savior.

In this instance the storm wasn’t calmed until after the men responded to Jesus. Is it because it sometimes takes a lot to get our attention? Do we have to wear ourselves out before we recognize the better way? The Way?

Sometimes Jesus calms us in the midst of a raging storm with his peace that truly passes all understanding. Other times he speaks to the storms in our lives and says, “Peace. Be still.” In his infinite and perfect wisdom, the Lord works out his purposes in our life. He teaches us what faith is, what trust is and what salvation is.

When Peter returned to his fearful place, back in that poor storm-beaten boat, Jesus was with him. With Jesus in the boat, the winds ceased.

Allow Jesus to walk with you in the dark places, the frightening, stressful places that are draining your strength. Look into the eyes of your Savior. Keep looking. Don’t look at the storm. Keep your eyes on Jesus. Hear his words: “Have courage. I AM. Fear not.”

Not by might, nor by power, but by my Spirit, says the LORD of hosts.  (Zechariah 4:6 ESV)

Believing and Knowing

Reading a commentary on Psalm 86, the author pointed out that David understood and experienced justification by faith even though he lived so long before Jesus' death and resurrection. He knew and experienced God's love, his mercy and forgiveness and that he was the recipient of underserved forgiveness and mercy based on his faith in God (from Nicky Gumbel's Bible in One Year commentary). 

As I thought about that this morning, I recalled the many times the Bible recounts those instances in David's life: God saved him in times of war and betrayal, forgave him when he sinned so greatly in the story of Bathsheba, blessed him as king and in the promise of the Messiah, and so many more stories. He knew God's presence in his life. He knew God's love and mercy and forgiveness. As flawed as he was, he was a man after God's own heart. His life experiences drew him closer to the Lord and gave him a deep knowing about the nature of God's mercy.

As believers on "this side" of the cross, we are taught about God's mercies - about justification by faith. We hear the words preached, we read the words in the scriptures, we study the words in Bible studies. But do we really know what they mean? Have we, like David, taken the step beyond head knowledge and allowed our life's experiences to show us the truth of the Word? 

Have we experienced forgiveness? Don't answer that question too quickly - stop and think for a moment. What does it feel like to know - really know - that the guilt you've held on to for so long is literally gone? You feel the difference, the lightness, the freedom. You know you are loved beyond all measure because you've experienced that love in a profound and life-changing way. David knew God was trustworthy because he had seen his salvation and deliverance from danger, experienced his forgiveness, and understood the mercies of God because he saw it in his own life. Can we say the same thing?

If not, don't feel that you've somehow been overlooked by God. Spend some quiet time alone with the Lord. If you have doubts or questions, offer them to the Lord. He already knows about them anyway. It's amazing how freeing this can be. Tell him your fears or sins or doubts and ask him to speak his forgiveness, his love and his promises to your heart. Ask him to open your heart to receive and know his presence. Then wait and watch. God is faithful and trustworthy. Those are not just lofty words and promises - they're the reality of who he is. I know he will answer your prayer.

Psalm 86:1-7 Amplified Bible (AMP)

A Prayer of David.

Incline Your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and distressed, needy and desiring. Preserve my life, for I am godly and dedicated; O my God, save Your servant, for I trust in You [leaning and believing on You, committing all and confidently looking to You, without fear or doubt]. Be merciful and gracious to me, O Lord, for to You do I cry all the day. Make me, Your servant, to rejoice, O Lord, for to You do I lift myself up. For You, O Lord, are good, and ready to forgive [our trespasses, sending them away, letting them go completely and forever]; and You are abundant in mercy and loving-kindness to all those who call upon You. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; and listen to the cry of my supplications. In the day of my trouble I will call on You, for You will answer me.

Joy

Now to him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen. (Jude 1:24-25 ESV)

Reading that passage in one of my devotionals this morning, I had to stop and re-read it several times. The part that grabbed my attention was this:  present you blameless before the presence of his glory with great joy. What a blessing to be reminded of that beautiful truth! Nothing can prepare us for the joy of being welcomed into God's presence but how often do we think about the joy our Lord has in bringing us into the presence of the Father? GREAT joy! Isn't that amazing? 

We too easily get caught up in what we need to do to earn God's favor, to be approved of, accepted - to be good enough. We have it backwards. Jesus has done all that needs to be done for us to be brought before his Father, fully approved, totally loved and accepted, without fault. There is nothing more for us to do but accept the gift he is offering and walk in the love and light of Jesus. 

As I've thought about God's love for us, I had a mental picture of my son when he was just born. My heart was so full of love for this precious gift, this sweet baby that I never expected to have. What a miracle the whole experience seemed to be. For the past 34 years, I've known a love unlike any other love for the life that came from my body. Through many trials and struggles over the course of his life - things that could have robbed me of that love - I only knew God's unconditional love flowing through me. In his hardest times, my son knew I loved him. He kept that truth as an anchor when he felt totally lost. Only God's love can accomplish that. The power of God's love for my child eventually led him to accept that love for himself - to know the saving grace, love, acceptance and freedom that is in Jesus. 

The love I felt 34 years ago and feel today is only a hint of the love our Father has for us and the joy the Lord feels for his children. We will, one day, be presented blameless and with great joy to the Father. We will know life in the presence of the one who is LOVE. 

Good Friday

And taking the twelve, he said to them, “See, we are going up to Jerusalem, and everything that is written about the Son of Man by the prophets will be accomplished. For he will be delivered over to the Gentiles and will be mocked and shamefully treated and spit upon. And after flogging him, they will kill him, and on the third day he will rise.” But they understood none of these things. This saying was hidden from them, and they did not grasp what was said. (Luke 18:31-34 ESV)