Vulnerability plus Trust in God equals Unstoppable

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But blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him. They will be like a tree planted by the water that sends out its roots by the stream. It does not fear when heat comes; its leaves are always green. It has no worries in a year of drought and never fails to bear fruit. Jeremiah 17:7-8 NIV

Vulnerability comes in all shapes and forms. The Thai guide meticulously tightened my harness, checked my safety hat, then attached my trolley to a cable that was suspended several hundred feet in the air across the jungle and pushed me off the platform. Questions of sanity quickly rose to my mind. I had wanted to experience the Flight of the Gibbon when working in Chiang Mai, Thailand, but now, suspended over the lush, emerald jungles, I will admit to a slight feeling of vulnerability. I am not sure why I should have been concerned, since I had been through their safety briefing and instructed on how to brake before I crashed into the other pole going 40-50 mph. The vulnerability quickly gave way to excitement, and I lived to tell the story and get my t-shirt.

Vulnerability and suspicion seem to be natural companions. People feel vulnerable when getting up in front of an audience to speak. Will they like me? Do I have anything worth sharing? People feel vulnerable when trying something new. What if I do it wrong? Can I really do it? Do I know how to do it? People feel vulnerable when they find themselves out of control. What am I going to do? How do I get control?

Marian Anderson understood vulnerability. She chose to face her vulnerability by using her God-given talents to change the cultural norms of her day. Anderson was born in 1897 in Philadelphia to hardworking, committed Christian parents. It did not take long for her amazing singing voice to be recognized; she joined the junior choir at age six. She was affectionately nicknamed “The Baby Contralto.” She would have quickly become a household name, except that she was the wrong color, according to certain segments of society.

Anderson found new pathways when society blocked her because of her race. Having been turned away from a music school in Philadelphia, she was encouraged to go to Europe for training, where she could become a success. When she was denied the opportunity to sing at Washington, D.C.’s Constitutional Hall, the public was outraged. Famous musicians protested, and First Lady Eleanor Roosevelt worked to arrange a free open-air concert on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial. She sang “My Country, ‘Tis of Thee” before 75,000 people and millions of radio listeners on Easter Sunday, 1939. Her incredible voice was heard by millions instead of a few hundred in the concert hall.

Over the next decades, she received invitations to perform at the White House; before Presidents and European royalty; at Presidents Eisenhower’s and Kennedy’s inaugurations; and to be honored with awards by Presidents Johnson and Reagan; and was adored for her character and courage. When reflecting on the racism she endured despite her enormous popularity, she simply said, “If I were inclined to be combative, I suppose I might insist on making an issue of these things. But that is not my nature, and I always bear in mind that my mission is to leave behind me the kind of impression that will make it easier for those who follow.” (National Marian Anderson Museum)

Vulnerability and suspicion may be natural dance partners, but vulnerability and trust in God form a far more powerful partnership. If suspicion breeds fear and doubt, trust in God fosters empowerment and purpose. Just ask Jonathan, King Saul’s son and David’s best friend.

Saul’s new kingship was not off to a roaring start. The army was now stuck, waiting for the other side to act. Then Jonathan had a great idea: climb a mountain and take on the enemy. Jonathan told his young assistant, “Let’s go over… Perhaps the LORD will act on our behalf. Nothing can hinder the LORD from saving, whether by many or by few.” (1 Samuel 14:6). Jonathan discovered a powerful principle: two plus God equals overwhelming results!

What a powerful picture of total vulnerability. “Jonathan climbed up, using his hands and feet, with his armor-bearer right behind him.” (I Sam 14:13). I have never served in the military, but I have climbed a few mountains in my life. When you climb using your hands and feet, you are very exposed. This is not the best fighting position. Jonathan put his vulnerability into the capable hands of God. He did not know the possible outcome, but that was not important. He had put his trust in God. The outcome was a total victory on top of the mountain, and “Then panic struck the whole army—those in the camp and field, and those in the outposts and raiding parties—and the ground shook. It was a panic sent by God…So on that day the LORD saved Israel, and the battle moved on beyond Beth Aven.” (I Sam 14:15,21)

You can only imagine the vulnerability David must have felt when he went to fight Goliath with only his sling and the five stones he had picked up. You can only imagine the vulnerability Andrew must have felt when he brought a little boy with a few little fishes and some bread to feed a few thousand. You can only imagine the vulnerability Mary must have felt as she walked in front of a bunch of men and then knelt to pour expensive perfume onto Jesus’ feet. You can only imagine the vulnerability a little nine-year-old boy must have felt as he walked down a church aisle to give his life to Jesus.

We all have our stories of vulnerability. Those stories become life-changing and life-giving when they are told because we lived out our vulnerability by putting our trust in God. “When I am afraid, I put my trust in you…In God I trust and am not afraid. What can mere mortals do to me?” (Psalm 56:3-4)

God is great!

Going Against the Grain

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Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. Romans 12:2 NIV

“Most people do not have a problem with you thinking for yourself, as long as your conclusions are the same as or at least compatible with their beliefs.” The late South African author and philosopher Mokokoma Mokhonoana put it well about conformity. Our world is where we live our daily lives, whether rural or urban, young or old, male or female, conservative or liberal, or any other grouping we choose. Our world has certain expectations that we call norms, traditions, or cultural identity. If you happen to wander outside the perceived lines, you quickly get tagged. You are identified as “one of them” instead of “one of us.”

“The simplistic way of not conforming is to see what is in style in our culture and then do the opposite. If short hair is in vogue, the nonconformist wears long hair. If going to the movies is popular, then Christians avoid movies as “worldly.” The extreme case of this may be seen in groups that refuse to wear buttons or use electricity because such things, too, are worldly.” (R.C. Sproul)

Paul cared more about the church than about external matters, unless those matters brought disrepute on the church or caused unbelievers to walk away from Jesus because of lifestyle issues. Paul wrote his letter to Christians who would definitely be considered non-conformists. Rome, the world’s political and economic powerhouse at the time, had definite ideas about how people should live, worship, believe, and act. Everyone had their place in society and culture, with the not-so-subtle requirement that they not deviate from the expected patterns. These early followers of Jesus quickly challenged the expectations for how people were supposed to live, introducing a whole new paradigm of faith.

Theologian R. C. Sproul wrote about nonconformity in his book, The Holiness of God, where he said, “A superficial style of nonconformity is the classical pharisaical trap. The kingdom of God is not about buttons, movies, or dancing. The concern of God is not focused on what we eat or what we drink. The call of nonconformity is a call to a deeper level of righteousness that goes beyond externals. When piety is defined exclusively in terms of externals, the whole point of the apostle’s teaching has been lost. Somehow, we have failed to hear Jesus’ words that it is not what goes into a person’s mouth that defiles a person, but what comes out of that mouth. We still want to make the kingdom a matter of eating and drinking.” (R. C. Sproul, The Holiness of God)

Living with your life focused on Jesus often puts you at odds with current cultural trends, political views, and lifestyle choices. Jesus fully understood that those who would follow Him would be forced into challenging positions. Yet He did not sugarcoat the requirements for His followers. “Then Jesus said to his disciples, Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross and follow me.” (Matthew 16:24 NIV).

William Tyndale became a nonconformist when he challenged the established religious authority by translating the Bible into English. His work ultimately led to his being burned at the stake. Yet in death, his final words were, “Lord, open the king of England’s eyes.”

Rev. Bernard Randall became a nonconformist after preaching a sermon advocating freedom of belief over gender identity. His commitment to upholding Biblical truth cost him his job as a chaplain and his standing as a priest in the Church of England. A settlement was finally reached, clearing him of wrongdoing. Randall wrote, “Seven years have been taken from me for doing my duty as a C of E chaplain in a school with a C of E ethos. I encouraged pupils to think, to debate, and to love their neighbors whatever they believed. No minister, teacher, or chaplain should be punished for upholding Christian teaching in a Christian setting.”

Paivi Rasanen, former Finnish Minister of the Interior, found herself a nonconformist when she upheld biblical beliefs about marriage and sexual ethics over current cultural trends. “I stand by the teachings of my Christian faith and will continue to defend my and every person’s right to share their convictions in the public square.” In a letter to the U.S. House Judiciary Committee, she wrote, “Without the criminal charges imposed on me, I would not have had the exceptional chance to share my Christian faith in police stations, courtrooms, and through live broadcasts and press conferences heard around the world.”

“The call to nonconformity is choosing faith over fear, truth over trends, and compassion over canceling. It’s rejecting popular opinion, peer pressure, and political correctness when those are at odds with the will of God. The fear of man is epidemic, but there is a cure – the fear of God that sets us free from every other fear.” (Mark Batterson, from pre-release of his new book, Not My Circus).

These early believers in Rome practiced nonconformity until they had redefined the surrounding pagan culture. They offered their “bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God” (Romans 12:1). They met in homes as a community rather than allowing social status to define who they were. They fellowshipped together, learned together, and worshipped together (Acts 2:42). They were nonconformists in how they ministered to each other’s needs, pooling resources to help one another. “They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need” (Acts 2:45).

These believers’ houses became places of worship and centers of hospitality, welcoming anyone who wanted to learn more about Jesus. These nonconformists lived differently from the world. They did not conform to the world, but by living transformed lives, they changed their world.

Today, we face new challenges in living out our faith, yet we must still choose not to conform to the world’s pattern and be transformed by the renewing of our minds. Jesus is worth the cost of refusing to conform to the world’s patterns!

God is great!

A weekly devotional post offering encouragement, hope, and purpose found only in Jesus

 

Jesus Touch of Healing

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Aware of this, Jesus withdrew from that place. A large crowd followed him, and he healed all who were ill. He warned them not to tell others about him. Matthew 12;15-16

Jesus, you are as much a Healer today as you were 2,000 years ago. I take hope in your love and power to heal both the loved ones I entrust to your care and me. God is greater than any of my circumstances, whether physical, spiritual, financial, or end-of-life. This is such an important truth to remember whenever we are feeling defeated.

 We now live in an age when our modern treatment of medical issues takes place behind closed doors in sterilized surroundings. In the United States, HIPAA protects patients’ medical privacy. Unless you are the patient, you will seldom be exposed to the graphic reality of sickness. Now, I am not advocating going back to a time of non-sterilized environments; I am grateful for the advances in medical care. However, I am more thankful that Jesus is still the ultimate healer.

The sick, hurting, and destitute people Jesus encountered did not have the luxury of medical care, privacy, or hope. They endured the frustrations of their broken bodies daily, in full view of every passerby. The blind were forced to beg, those with leprosy lived as outcasts, the deaf lived in isolation, and the broken were robbed of all dignity. Yet Jesus saw them for who they were. They were beloved, created in the image of God, and loved by him.

“What sickening ulcers and putrefying sores! Yet He was ready for every new shape of the monster of evil and was victor over it in every form…It is still the case today. Whatever my own condition may be, the beloved Physician can heal me; and whatever may be the state of others whom I may remember at this moment in prayer, I may hope in Jesus that He will be able to heal them or their sins…I can hope for each and for all, when I remember the healing power of my Lord…He who on earth walked the hospitals still dispenses His grace and works wonders among the songs of men: Let me go to Him immediately and earnestly.” (Charles Spurgeon)

Jesus did not worry about social norms or traditions when it came to his beloved. We read the tender story of a man with leprosy who walked bravely out of the shadows and endured the scorn of the crowd so that he could come to Jesus. He had been condemned all his life to the realm of the outcasts until he learned about the one who could bring healing. Jesus could have stood at a distance and spoken the word for the man to be cured, but not Jesus. “Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man…Be clean! Immediately he was cleansed of his leprosy.” (complete story: Matthew 8:1-4). The man was healed, but maybe for the first time in years, the man felt the touch of another human, and that touch was Jesus.

Jesus was not hindered by distance or racial barriers when it came to his beloved.  We read the humbling story of a Roman military officer who set aside his rank and power for his paralyzed servant and asked Jesus to heal him. The centurion bowed before Jesus, saying he was not worthy for Jesus to come to his home, but trusted that Jesus could “say the word, and my servant will be healed”. Jesus was amazed and told him, “Go! Let it be done just as you believed it would. And his servant was healed at that moment” (Matthew 8:5-13).

Jesus did not worry about religious sensitivities when it came to restoring his beloved, who were broken. We read of the determination of friends to get their hands dirty and make a spectacle of themselves, if necessary, to bring their friend to Jesus. The noise must have stopped Jesus’ teaching as the friends worked hard to pull off the roof tiles until they could lower the man to Jesus. “So he said to the man, I tell you, get up, take your mat and go home. He got up, took his mat and walked out in full view of them all.” (Mark 2: 1-12 complete story).

Jesus understands the challenges of his beloved and gives us the strength, courage, and fortitude to face each day. Joni Eareckson Tada, who has been paralyzed and in a wheelchair since she was 17, tells the story of hoping to take her wheelchair to heaven with her. “Now I know that is not biblically correct, but if I were able, I would have my wheelchair up in heaven right next to me when God gives me my brand-new, glorified body. And I will then turn to Jesus and say, “Lord, do you see that wheelchair right there? Well, you were right when you said that in this world we would have trouble, because that wheelchair was a lot of trouble! But Jesus, the weaker I was in that thing, the harder I leaned on you. And the harder I leaned on you, the stronger I discovered you to be. So thank you for what you did in my life through that wheelchair. And now, “I always say jokingly, “you can send that wheelchair to hell, if you want.” (Joni Eareckson Tada, Joni & Friends website)

Lord, you are my healer and comforter. I bring all my cares to you and lay them at your feet. I am learning to listen to you when you say, “Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.” (Philippians 4:6-7 NLT)

God is great!

Prayer Safari: A weekly devotional post to offer encouragement, hope, and purpose found in Jesus.

Real Wealth

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Do not wear yourself out to get rich; do not trust your own cleverness. Cast but a glance at riches, and they are gone, for they will surely sprout wings and fly off to the sky like an eagle. Proverbs 23:4-5 NIV

What do you do with a trillion dollars? I don’t have the foggiest idea, but Elon Musk will know soon. Musk, already one of the richest men in the world, is set to become the first official Trillionaire when SpaceX goes public. A trillion dollars is 1 followed by 12 zeros! I have the first one, just not the rest. Musk’s current net worth exceeds Taiwan’s annual economic output, according to Barron’s.

Reaching the trillion-dollar mark in 2026 seems fitting, given that John D. Rockefeller became the world’s first billionaire on September 29, 1916. Now there are over 3,000 billionaires globally and 60 million millionaires, with 24 million in the United States (Visual Capitalist). “Modern entrepreneurs have accumulated the highest recorded absolute net worths in history” (Oxfam’s Global Wealth Analysis).

We may not rank among the wealthiest, like Warren Buffett, but how do we compare with Rockefeller? Buffett would say that the vast majority of us are better off than Rockefeller. “So how could the poorest 2% possibly ‘live better’ than that? Today you can get better medicine, better education, better entertainment, better transportation—you can do everything better than he could…It’s astounding.” (Jeannine Mancini)

I think we can all agree that there have been many changes in the 100 years since the world crowned its first billionaire. We can get anywhere in the world within a day’s travel, communicate with someone on the other side of the planet in a microsecond, and even have our food delivered to our front door. Yet in all these changes, Dr. Balaji Viswanathan makes a poignant observation, “Every generation believes they are the greatest, with the past too outdated and the future too confused. Three hundred years ago, historians said we had arrived in the “modern” era and were different from all the ‘barbarians’ and ‘medieval’ people. We make the same mistakes and believe in the same myths.”

“There has never been a human in history who had so much gold and silver at his fingertips that it was as common as pebbles!” Who would you guess was the richest man in the world: Rockefeller, Buffett, Gates, Bezos, Zuckerberg, the Walton family, or Musk? How about Solomon! Scholars and economic historians estimate Solomon’s wealth at well over two trillion dollars in today’s dollars.

“The daily food requirements for Solomon’s palace were 150 bushels of choice flour and 300 bushels of meal; also 10 oxen from the fattening pens, 20 pasture-fed cattle, 100 sheep or goats, as well as deer, gazelles, roe deer, and choice poultry… Solomon had 4,000 stalls for his chariot horses, and he had 12,000 horses.” I Kings 4:22-23,26

Solomon definitely had a nice lifestyle. However, even better than his wealth was his wisdom. “God gave Solomon wisdom and very great insight, and a breadth of understanding as measureless as the sand on the seashore.” (I Kings 4:29)

Solomon made some critical mistakes in life that affected his legacy and generations to come. Perhaps it was from these mistakes that he had important words to pass on to us, especially to the millionaires and billionaires of this world. Solomon reminds us that, “Whoever loves money never has enough; whoever loves wealth is never satisfied with their income. This too is meaningless. As goods increase, so do those who consume them. And what benefit are they to the owners except to feast their eyes on them? The sleep of a laborer is sweet, whether they eat little or much, but as for the rich, their abundance permits them no sleep.” (Ecclesiastes 5:10-12)

Warren Buffett observed that wealth isn’t the key to fulfillment. It’s about passion, purpose, and perspective. Millard Fuller came to that understanding. By 29, he had it all, including a sprawling house, a second home, land, and bank accounts, but not purpose. In the early 1960s, the world considered him a success story, but what they couldn’t see was the inside story. Consumed with making another dollar and closing the next deal, he was on the verge of losing the love of his life, Linda. When he asked her what it would take to save their marriage, she said “all of it”. The wealth wasn’t a reward; it was a wall between them.

They decided to get rid of everything. They would make themselves poor by choice, moving to Koinonia Farm, a Christian community near Americus, Georgia, where people were seeking practical ways to apply Christ’s teachings. This sparked a vision to help others secure decent, affordable housing, and from that dream grew Habitat for Humanity. Today, the organization is active in all 50 states and across 70 countries. “He wasn’t selling a product anymore. He was selling the radical idea that the dignity of a dry, safe home was not a luxury; it was something owed to every human being who was willing to work for it alongside their neighbor.”

“The money you have in your wallet has no intrinsic value; it is worth what the Government says it is worth. It is essentially morally neutral and powerless. The Devil uses money to seduce us, and that is when it can become powerfully negative. He wants you to fall in love with it so that you will become a slave to money rather than its master. The flip side is that when we use money as a tool to invest in God’s kingdom, money becomes a powerful instrument of good. (Wealth with Purpose)”

The challenge of wealth, money, and possessions is addressed in more than 2,300 verses in the Bible. Jesus taught that money is ultimately a heart issue that affects everything you do. “For where your treasure is, there your heart will be also. No one can serve two masters. Either you will hate the one and love the other, or you will be devoted to the one and despise the other. You cannot serve both God and money.”—Matthew 6:21,24

Letting God control everything is worth more than all the riches in the world. A dollar in God’s hand will do more than a million in a fool’s hand. “I have learned to be content whatever the circumstances.” Phil 4:11

God is great!

In Our Worst Moments, Jesus Is There

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I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. For the creation waits in eager expectation for the children of God to be revealed. Romans 8:18-19 NIV

What do you do when life doesn’t seem on track? Do you look to Jesus for clarity? What if he doesn’t seem to respond? It is hard to stay focused when our minds are pulled in multiple directions and how we respond makes all the difference. Dave Veerman reminds us, “Remember, Jesus is never late. In his infinite understanding, perfect timing, and deep concern, he will hear your cry, answer your prayer, and bring life. In the meantime, keep resting in his sovereignty and trusting in his love.”

In the beautiful Blue Ridge Mountains of Virginia, a small, neat row of 20 simple stones dots the countryside. No names are carved on the stones, and without the story, their purpose is unclear. Undisturbed for more than 100 years, these simple stones mark the final resting place of Orelena and John Puckett’s babies. Married at 16, they moved to the rugged Appalachian wilderness to start a new life together. In 1862, she gave birth to Julia Ann, their first baby, who died a few months later of diphtheria.

Orelena became pregnant 24 times, but not one baby lived past infancy, and no baby ever called her mama. Baby after baby was laid to rest in the neat row, marked by a stone. The woman who would never know the love of her own baby would go on to deliver over 1,000 babies. In her mid-forties, she found her calling as a midwife and, over the next 49 years, traveled the mountains of Virginia, helping deliver babies. Orlena had no formal training or modern equipment, but she had an unwavering determination that no baby would die if she could prevent it. She delivered her last baby at 94, never losing a single baby or mother. Aunt Orlena left a legacy of compassion and care. (sources: National Park Service, Library of Virginia, and NC History Center)

What a great comfort Orelena would have had if she had been able to read the book of Job. Unfortunately, Orelena did not know how to read, but she would have found encouragement and hope in Job’s life as he faced adversity that did not make sense to him. Job redefined tragedy for all of us. Job’s morning began as usual until one messenger after another arrived. First, he heard that his oxen and donkeys had all been stolen. Then another reported that all his sheep and the servants had died in a natural disaster. Then another reported that all his camels had been stolen and his workers murdered. Then the last messenger brought the worst news, that all of his sons and daughters were dead, killed in a storm.

One horrible event after another left Job with nothing. His wealth, family, and health were gone. What did Job have left? Integrity, righteousness, and an unwavering faith in God. Job’s story shows how to respond to overwhelming catastrophe: “At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship.” (Job 2:20). Job modeled lament mixed with worship, devastation with faith, and loss with trust.

What can you do when faced with a Job-sized dilemma? You reach a place where you can hear God’s voice rather than the naysayers, even if they are friends or family members. Job’s three friends kept telling him that if only he would repent, God would restore his fortune. His wife came to him and said, “Are you still maintaining your integrity? Curse God and die!” (Job 2:9)

Job desperately needed to hear God’s voice, so God captured Job’s attention with a powerful rebuke. “The LORD said to Job: “Will the one who contends with the Almighty correct him? Let him who accuses God answer him!’” (Job 40:1-2) Then came question after question until Job finally reached the point where he could hear God and say, “I know that you can do all things; no purpose of yours can be thwarted… My ears had heard of you, but now my eyes have seen you.” (42:2,5)

Where do you turn when faced with a Job-sized dilemma? Joni Eareckson Tada was an energetic, full-of-life 17-year-old until a tragic diving accident left her a quadriplegic. She came to embrace her limitations and, for nearly 60 years, has lived by God’s love and strength. “Heartache forces us to embrace God out of desperate, urgent need. God is never closer than when your heart is aching. True wisdom is found in trusting God when you can’t figure things out.”

Who are you when a crisis seems ready to overwhelm you? If your identity is bound up in the problem, you will begin to look like the problem. If your identity is bound up in Jesus, you will be transformed and become a transformer. “For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” (Ephesians 2:10 NIV)

Orelena could have found her identity as a woman who lost 24 babies, but she chose to define herself by bringing life to hundreds of babies in a time when infant mortality was estimated to be 30-50%. Job could have found his identity in his devastating losses, but he chose to define himself by being righteous and faithful. Joni could have found her identity in being a quadriplegic, but she chose to define herself by helping others. She founded Joni and Friends, an organization devoted to providing “practical hope and Gospel hope to people with disabilities around the world.”

“The resurrection means that our grief and sorrow and pain have an expiration date. The world as it is now is under the curse, but God will lift it once and for all. (Rev 22:3) No more sin. No more cancer. No more dementia. No more suffering. No more death. God “will swallow up death forever” (Isaiah 25:8) –Randy Alcorn

I am so thankful that God meets us in our worst moments. He is with us through it all, giving us the encouragement, strength, and hope to face another day. In Christ, God is at work to restore, redeem, and rebuild what has been destroyed.

God is great!

A weekly devotional post to offer encouragement, hope, and purpose found in Jesus.

 

Walking In Faith

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Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see. This is what the ancients were commended for…These were all commended for their faith, yet none of them received what had been promised, since God had planned something better for us so that only together with us would they be made perfect. Hebrews 11:1-2,39-40

What is your earliest memory that helped shape your childhood? Depending on how many years or decades have passed since that event, it may take a little longer to remember.  I attended Sunday School, but for the most part, my life was centered on the farm where I grew up. There were no preschool or kindergarten options, so that first day, as a first grader, walking into the classroom was a new experience. My mother’s hand was my security until it wasn’t. What gave me hope and confidence was knowing she would be at the driveway at the end of the school day, waiting for me to get off the bus. My certainty rested on knowing, without a doubt, that she was always there for me.

For me, that confidence never wavered, but for many, that mother’s hand of security or a father’s strong arm wasn’t there. Over time, other things began to fill that vacuum and took that person’s hand, leading them down dark roads of doubt, fear, and hopelessness. All of us need a hand to hold onto. For some, that hand is addiction, money, sex, or religion. The good news is that God reaches out his hand for those who will take it and hold on.

We all like a hand we can touch, feel, grip, and see, but God offers a different hand, a hand of faith. “For we live by faith, not by sight” (2 Corinthians 5:7). The grasp we have on addiction, money, sex, or religion seems real until it unwinds like a magician’s empty box. What seemed real turns out to be only an illusion. What God offers may seem invisible, but in reality, it is the only real thing to hold on to.

Faith is often hard to grasp when we need to see something tangible. Yet in those moments, God offers us more than enough to keep moving forward. He offers himself. Thomas had been with Jesus from the beginning and had walked the same roads with him. Yet when he missed the first appearance of the resurrected Jesus, his faith wavered. “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe.” (John 20:25)

I am so glad John included Thomas’ story of doubt. I have known many amazing followers of Jesus, and most of them have shared similar stories of confusion, frustration, and challenges. Faith doesn’t keep us from doubt, but it carries us through the doubt. In his great love for Thomas, Jesus walked through another locked door for him. “A week later, his disciples were in the house again, and Thomas was with them. Though the doors were locked, Jesus came and stood among them and said, “Peace be with you!” Then he said to Thomas, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.” (20:26-27)

Thomas came face-to-face with his doubts. However, he also came face-to-face with faith and made a bold statement about it. “My Lord and my God!” Jesus used the moment as a powerful teaching opportunity and gently reprimanded him, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed.” Others will always follow in Thomas’s footsteps of doubt, yet we can take our doubts, like Thomas, and use his example as a powerful confession of faith in Jesus. Thomas accepted the reprimand and went on to live out a life of faith. Early church tradition records that Thomas was a missionary to India, where he preached the gospel and established a lasting legacy of Christian communities. Thomas was eventually martyred for his faith. His was a journey from questioning to unwavering belief.

We want everything laid out in plain sight, with no uncertainty in our plans. Yet it is amazing faith that creates an unbelievable landscape of life. Oswald Chambers writes, “Certainty is the mark of the common-sense life: gracious uncertainty is the mark of the spiritual life. To be certain of God means that we are uncertain in all our ways; we do not know what a day may bring forth.” However, instead of being discouraged, it is in those moments of doubt that we feel we hear the words, “Put your finger here; see my hands. Reach out your hand and put it into my side. Stop doubting and believe.”

Chambers went on to write about uncertainty, “it should be rather an expression of breathless expectation. We are uncertain of the next step, but we are certain of God…He packs our life with surprises all the time…We are not uncertain of God, but uncertain of what He is going to do next…When we are rightly related to God, life is full of spontaneous, joyful uncertainty and expectancy.”

Faith is a gift that God delights to give. “God knows what we lack and what we need. He made each of us as we are, and in our character is the raw material he will use to make us who we can become.” (Claire Cloninger)

We are invited to ask for faith. When the father was confronted with his doubts and lack of faith, he cried out, “I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!” (Mark 9:24). This is a prayer that God delights to answer.

There are days when we may not be sure of the uncertainty and long for a little more certainty, but what we can do is trust God. We can be certain that he knows the plans he has for us. We take one step amid uncertainty and find ourselves in step with the certainty of God.

Lord, let me live a life of amazing uncertainty because I live a life that is certain of you.

God is great!

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Gift of Worship

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Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts.” Colossians 3:16 NIV

Have you ever listened to a song as goosebumps covered your arms? You are not alone. Psychologists call this frisson, a phenomenon linked to heightened emotional sensitivity and a stronger connection between music and the brain’s reward system. Music has been a beautiful part of worship long before the word frisson was coined. God placed a deep desire to worship within our souls, and through the songs and prayers of the Psalms, our souls need the music of worship.

The Psalmist must have felt goosebumps as he wrote Psalm 96, “Sing to the LORD a new song; sing to the LORD, all the earth. Sing to the LORD, praise his name; proclaim his salvation day after day. Declare his glory among the nations, his marvelous deeds among all peoples.”

  Tradition holds that Queen Victoria was so overwhelmed by the powerful “Hallelujah Chorus” from George Frideric Handel’s Messiah that she stood during the performance out of reverence for Christ. Whether she was thinking of verse 9 as she stood, the impact was there. “Worship the LORD in the splendor of his holiness; tremble before him, all the earth.”

God has opened the gates of worship for us. Augustine understood this beautifully, as he wrote in his book, Confessions, “O my God, let me remember with gratitude and confess to you your mercies toward me. Let my bones be bathed in your love and let them say, ‘Lord, who is like unto thee? You have broken my bonds apart; I will offer to you the sacrifice of thanksgiving.’ And how you broke them I will declare, and all who worship you will say when they hear these things: ‘Blessed be the Lord in heaven and earth, great and wonderful is his name.’”

There are seasons in our lives when we will pull aside for solitary times of worship. However, for the most part, worship was never intended to be a solitary act of devotion but rather a powerful, communal experience. We need each other to strengthen our faith, and worship connects us at the deepest levels. Our times of communal worship uplift, inspire, and transform us into what it is to be a follower of Jesus. “Glorify the LORD with me; let us exalt his name together.” (Psalm 34:3 NIV)

The early church never doubted the need for worship or the oneness of being together in worship. The early church didn’t have the luxury of not being in worship and fellowship together. They were under intense pressure and being persecuted by the religious leaders, government officials, and the traditions of their culture. When Peter and John were released from jail, the church did what came naturally to them: “When they heard this, they raised their voices together in prayer to God. “Sovereign Lord,” they said, “you made the heavens and the earth and the sea, and everything in them.” Acts 4:24

Somewhere along this journey of faith, many have forgotten the very heart of worship, which is God alone and the gathering of people together as one. The early church expected and longed for this gathering together to “Praise the LORD. Sing to the LORD a new song, his praise in the assembly of his faithful people.” Psalm 149:1. According to Pew Research, data estimates that only 1 out of 4 Americans will be in worship weekly; numbers may be worse in Europe and better in Africa.

What do the 3 out of 4 miss out on? Everything that gives life. Everything we are called to do is to worship God alone (Exodus 20). Everything that provides us with the strength, hope, and encouragement we need to live. “And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another—and all the more as you see the Day approaching.” Hebrews 10:24-25 NIV

The measure of worship is found in the community of faith gathered together. Douglas Steele writes, “When we come to a service of worship, we should come to participate, to bring our praise, honor, and thanks, as well as our needs, and lay them at God’s feet in the midst of this great mixed community of the present and the past. In this act, we are lifted out of our private world into a public one, out of our personal situations into a social situation…The humbling, enlarging, encompassing fellowship into which the church’s corporate exercise seeps us is a part of the Christian experience that we dare not forgo if we are able to attend.” (Dimensions of Prayer)

God is not surprised that our lives are busy, schedules overflow, and conflicts abound. He anticipated your objections to setting aside time to worship from the very beginning. God gave us the gift of the Sabbath to live life.   “Remember the Sabbath day by keeping it holy. Six days you shall labor and do all your work, but the seventh day is a sabbath to the LORD your God…For in six days the LORD made the heavens and the earth, the sea, and all that is in them, but he rested on the seventh day. Therefore, the LORD blessed the Sabbath day and made it holy.” Exodus 20:8-11).

“The Sabbath is a weekly reminder that we don’t keep the planets in orbit. We can’t manufacture miracles, and we don’t have to. All we have to do is let God love us, let God grace us, let God heal us, let God empower us, let God repurpose us.” (Mark Batterson)

Together in worship, worshipping God. What you sound like as you sing is not important, but what you sing is incredibly important. “I will praise the name of God with a song and will magnify him with thanksgiving.” Psalm 69:30 KJV

God is great!

God’s Questions Changes Everything

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As Jesus approached Jericho, a blind man was sitting by the roadside begging…Jesus stopped and ordered the man to be brought to him. When he came near, Jesus asked him, “What do you want me to do for you?” “Lord, I want to see,” he replied. Luke 18:35,40-41 NIV

What kind of cheese is the moon made of? How did the man get in the moon? Why can’t grass be blue and the sky green? If you have or have had toddlers, you know the routine. According to Harvard child psychologist Paul Harris, children between the ages of 2 and 5 will ask roughly 40,000 questions. Research suggests an average of 100-300 questions per day, with the peak volume usually coming from four-year-olds. (data from A More Beautiful Question, Warren Berger)

When our son was in that age range, I would come home in the evening, and Connie would hand him to me and tell me she needed a quiet break. If you have children, grandchildren, or are around little ones, just know that the endless why, when, where, who, and how questions are normal. God wired these little brains to be inquisitive, information-gathering creatures. On the downside, adults find themselves unable to answer their questions 35% of the time.

As we grow older, we may not ask 300 questions every day, but questions remain an important part of our lives. We live in a world where questions shape our daily lives. We ask questions to get opinions, directions, information, or for a thousand other reasons. What do you want for dinner? Can you tell me how to get to Walmart? How long will the sermon last? Now the world of questions has expanded to asking Google, Siri, Alexa, and Bixby, among others, life’s poignant questions. Hey Google, how long does it take to boil an egg?

Scripture gives us the first recorded question. It is not a question seeking information or directions but one meant to deceive. “Did God really say, ‘You must not eat from any tree in the garden?” (Gen 3:1) God had finished an unblemished creation, and mankind was given free range of the most incredible home. It was a perfect paradise until a question was asked to sow doubt, create envy, and stir longing for something they couldn’t be, namely God himself. The Bible tells us that “the serpent was more crafty than any of the wild animals the LORD God had made.” The great deceiver disguised himself as a serpent to sow doubt.

It was one question that sowed doubt and one response that changed the course of human history. “When the woman saw that the fruit of the tree was good for food and pleasing to the eye, and also desirable for gaining wisdom, she took some and ate it. She also gave some to her husband, who was with her, and he ate it.” Deception was planted like a fragile seed until it gave root to the bitter fruit of sin.

The deception hung over the Garden of Eden like a heavy blanket. “Then the man and his wife heard the sound of the LORD God as he was walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and they hid from the LORD God among the trees of the garden.”

A question of deception had been asked, but now God uses a question to begin the process of healing and confrontation. A simple question, yet it would require a difficult answer: “Where are you?” I have no doubt that God, who had just finished creating the world, knew the surface-level answer to where they were physically. What God wanted to know, and what he still wants to know, is not where we are physically but where we are with Him. It was a question that stirred the soul, forced self-reflection, and opened the door to repentance, and it still does.

Fast-forward through the pages of history, and the same deceptive questions have been asked of people. They are the questions that arouse envy, lust, anger, revenge, and greed. The questions that leave us doubting God’s goodness and love.

It doesn’t take much of life space to get asked a question that plants seeds of doubt in our souls.  Were you really the most qualified to get that promotion? Are you really entitled to that award? Did you really—you fill in the blank. At one time or another, most of us have had questions asked that belittled us, made us doubt our abilities, and cast suspicion on us.

 The Great Deceiver has had lots of practice at planting these questions. A question of envy caused Cain to murder his brother. A question of lust caused David to commit adultery and eventually murder. A question of greed caused Judas to betray Jesus for a few coins. A question of fear caused Peter to deny his friend and mentor.

God has a way of asking questions that bring healing, life, and redemption, questions that prompt us to say, “Yes, God, I blew it; I need you.” When God asked Cain where Abel was, it wasn’t for information. God asked Jacob, “What is your name?” not for His knowledge, but to force Jacob to confront who he was and had been, and to surrender to Him what he could be. “Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel.” (Gen 32:27,28)

God’s questions force us to look beyond the obvious answer to what lies deep within ourselves to the place only God can touch and restore. God used questions to compel Moses to look beyond his limitations, “Who gave human beings their mouths?” When Job was on the brink of despair, God asked questions to help him look beyond himself: “Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?” When Peter thought he was beyond grace, Jesus used questions to begin his healing: “Simon, son of John, do you love me?”

God’s questions are never superficial, nor are answers always obvious. There is an obvious answer to a blind man: Do you want to see? Though Jesus cared that Bartimaeus could physically see, he was even more concerned that he could see spiritually. Today, how will you respond to Jesus when he asks you, “What do you want me to do for you?”

God is great!

Together

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Now, in the morning, having risen a long while before daylight, He went out and departed to a solitary place; and there He prayed. Mark 1:35 NKJV

“This world is tricky and getting trickier every day. Man, sometimes it confuses me. Sometimes I lose my way in this world. Can ya’ll relate to that?”  I, for one, can relate to this statement by Grammy Award-winning Christian artist TobyMac (Toby McKeehan). During his concert in Colorado Springs last month, McKeehan shared about the challenges that he faced following the death of his son in 2019, and what he learned about God being there for him.

“What I’ve been hanging on to with everything in me for the last six-and-a-half years is this: God promises that if you have a relationship with him, he will never leave you or forsake you. It gets confusing when your heart gets broken, for all of us…You see, God didn’t promise us that we wouldn’t be hurt on this earth. He didn’t promise us that our hearts would not be broken. He didn’t promise us that we wouldn’t lose the ones that we love. What he promised is that he would never leave. And I can only tell you this from my own personal experience: He was there in the deepest of valleys.”  (Jessical Mouser, ChurchLeaders.com)

McKeehan, in the midst of his pain and sorrow, used his music as an avenue to express his deepest feelings as he journeyed through his loss. In his valley, he wrote the song “Help Is On the Way,” in which he expressed that the only way to survive was through Jesus.

I heard your heart
I see your pain
Out in the dark
Out in the rain
Feel so alone
Feel so afraid
I heard you pray in Jesus’ name

It may be midnight or midday
It’s never early, never late
He gon’ stand by what He claim
I’ve lived enough life to say (words from Help Is On The Way by TobyMac)

God is/will always be faithful in his promises to be with us, through days of bright light and most critical during the nights of deepest darkness. On this side of eternity, we will be faced with chapters of unexplainable events in our lives. We can trust that God will be there, even as we face unbearable pain. We find that there is only one place that will keep us sheltered: in God. We may still hurt, but He is there to prevent us from falling completely apart. James encourages us to “Come near to God and he will come near to you.” (James 4:8a). “One of the best ways to prevent your heart from growing cold is to regularly talk with God.” (Henry Blackaby)

“The reason many of us leave off praying and become hard towards God is because we have only a sentimental interest in prayer…We hurl our own petitions at God’s throne and dictate to Him as to what we wish Him to do. It is when a crisis arises that we instantly reveal upon whom we rely. If we have been learning to worship God and to place our trust in Him, the crisis will reveal that we can go to the point of breaking, yet without breaking our confidence in Him.” (Oswald Chambers)

“May the Lord make your love increase and overflow for each other and for everyone else, just as ours does for you. May he strengthen your hearts so that you will be blameless and holy in the presence of our God and Father when our Lord Jesus comes with all his holy ones.” I Thessalonians 3:12-13)

Hopefully, we realize quickly that we need others to walk with us as an engaged prayer community. Trusting our deepest needs with those who will become “rope holders” to keep us from falling off the edge. A community of prayerful pilgrims who stand with us. I witnessed a powerful prayer community surrounding a little 16-month-old facing a life-threatening incident this past week. A community calling on God for healing and holding the ropes for her parents and grandparents.  “Listen to my prayer, O God, do not ignore my plea; hear me and answer me. Psalm 55:1 (NIV). What seemed impossible is now a place where a community and a family rejoice, as God has miraculously intervened.

What does a prayer community look like? One example given by John Michael Talbot is a great starting point.  “Prayer is the strength of our individual and community existence. It is through prayer that we find the heart of our love relationship with Jesus as individuals, and it is through the love relationship of Jesus working in individual lives that communities prosper in peace and unity. It is in the solitude of prayer that we find our true companion and thus learn to be better companions of others. It is in the inner silence of prayer that we hear the living word of God, and thus learn to speak words that flow from the love of God to one another.”

We do not always get the answer we expected, but we always have God’s presence to see us through every circumstance. We never give up because God never gives up. Whatever situation you or I may face, we have a Savior who provides a way. Together, may we find encouragement in this prayer of benediction:

The LORD bless you and keep you;

The LORD make his face shine on you and be gracious to you;

The LORD turn his face toward you and give you peace – Numbers 6:24-26

 

God is great!

Lasting Treasure

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Jesus did many other things as well. If every one of them were written down, I suppose that even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written. John 21:25

How does your digital clutter compare to recent surveys? It shows that the average person has over 1,000 unread emails, 12 unread text messages, 17 unread social media notifications, 15 open browser tabs, 9 unused phone apps, 2 pending software updates, and 11 other unread app messages. If you often get overwhelmed by clutter, the good news is that over 31% of people have spent money to upgrade to devices with more storage. The bad news is that 77% of people feel digital clutter negatively affects their lives. (Information from an article by Josh Koebert, All About Cookies)

I don’t know where you stand in the digital clutter world, but I will say I am above average. Sometimes, I clean out my email inbox, but not every day. Maybe what Johann Wolfgang von Goethe wrote over 300 years ago still applies today to the world’s digital clutter: “Let everyone sweep in front of his own door, and the whole world will be clean.” The issue isn’t that our email boxes are cluttered, but that we live in a world with so much information that we can’t process it all. Digital clutter keeps expanding because technology keeps adding ways to store it.

Yesterday, or Easter Sunday, depending upon when you read this post, we celebrated a risen Savior. Churches were packed with people worshipping Jesus, who brought hope to a dying world. Sunday reminded us of his final words from the cross, words that forever challenged us to live a life fully surrendered to Him.

Scripture contains a wealth of truth that points us to salvation in Jesus, including the prophecies of His coming, the history of God’s story, the Psalms of worship, and Proverbs for living a godly life. It is truth that is ageless. What an amazing comparison to our world filled with digital clutter, especially in light of reading John’s ending: “I suppose even the whole world would not have room for the books that would be written.” (John 21:25)

I would almost guess that most of the digital clutter on our electronic devices will end up in the great digital trash can—information needed for the moment but with little future value.  The Bible, however, contains a life-giving, life-changing, and life-sustaining message.  Dwight Moody wrote, “The Bible was not given for our information, but for our transformation.”

Even though we will never know all the additional stories that Jesus told, what we do know is a treasure hoard beyond anything we can imagine. As we read the Bible, the treasure is not found in what we don’t have but in what is written.

What we do know is that the recorded words of Jesus bring wisdom. “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock.” Matthew 7:24

What we do know is that Jesus’ words brought amazement. “When Jesus had finished saying these things, the crowds were amazed at his teaching.” Matthew 7:28

What we do know is that no one can top Jesus. “No one ever spoke the way this man does.” John 7:46

What we do know is that Jesus left specific directions for eternal life. “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life.“ John 6:68

Paul Dayes found life-changing words reading John 5:24, “Very truly I tell you, whoever hears my word and believes him who sent me has eternal life and will not be judged but has crossed over from death to life.” Dayes was in both a physical and spiritual prison. He had been in and out of prison since he was 14. He was serving a prison term for robbery when he encountered Jesus.

Dayes said in an interview, “I remember having the urge to read the Bible. I don’t know why.”  The problem was that he didn’t have access to a Bible. However, the next morning, coincidence or miracle, when he stepped out of his cell, there was a brand-new Gideon Bible lying on the radiator. Dayes started reading, and as he read Matthew 9:13, he came across the verse, “For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners.”  He said, “It spoke straight to my heart, and I found myself praying the sinner’s prayer and gave my life to Christ.” After his release, Teen Challenge helped him, through their substance abuse program, escape his addiction.  (information from an article by Charles Gardner)

“When we submit our lives to what we read in Scripture, we find that we are not being led to see God in our stories but our stories in God’s. God is the larger context and plot in which our stories find themselves.” (Eugene Peterson, Eat This Book)

As we finished celebrating Easter, we were once again reminded of the great hope we have in Jesus. In Him, the world will never be the same. Easter marked the beginning of change; circumstances and people will never be the same. “Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away.” Matthew 24:35

God is great!