Peace--Rest

Be at peace--at rest. He is always in complete control.

Be at peace--at rest. Your life will be used to bring eternal glory to His name.

Be at peace--at rest. His grace and His mercy are infinite and everlasting. You--nor those you love--can ever exhaust it. 

Be at peace--at rest. The Lord is your Shepherd. Today, He will lead you to the green pastures and the still waters. His goodness and mercy will saturate your yesterdays. He will empower your weary soul. And He is no hireling. He will not run from the wolves but will, instead, be your fortress and your rock. Be at peace. Rest. 

Be at peace--at rest. This life of endurance and perseverance and joy--they are inseparable--is but a breath of eternity. And the rest of everlasting will be spent in a place prepared for you by the majestic Creator of all things. And in His presence--who is infinite love. 

Be at peace--at rest.

Fall off the cliff . . .
Jump off the cliff . . .
Pushed off the cliff . . .

"Underneath are the Everlasting Arms." 

Get Busy

The exhortation regarding the Second Coming hasn't changed since the Ascension when the angels turned to the disciples and said: "Why are you dummies standing around gawking, staring up into Heaven? He said He'll be back. Quit standing there and get busy! There's work to be done. A world's worth."

Harvest

One absolute we Christians like to shrug our shoulders at is that "you reap what you sow." God reinforces this truth throughout His Word. And it's a truth that is just as true for the godly as the ungodly--just as true for David as it was for Jezebel. For example, look at the life of Jacob. He lied and deceived His father with false pretenses, and he spent the rest of His life reaping the consequences. First, his uncle deceived him, and Jacob ended up marrying a woman he didn't love and working seven extra years to finally obtain Rachel. Then, his own sons deceived him by selling Joseph into slavery and telling Jacob that a lion had killed him. There is a deep sadness in the Lord's description of Jacob when he thought Joseph was dead. "And all his sons and all his daughters rose up to comfort him; but he refused to be comforted and he said, 'For I will go down into the grave mourning,'" Jacob spent many years mourning for a son who wasn't really dead. Mourning because his sons followed in his footsteps and deceived him just as he had deceived his own father, Isaac. Jacob planted the seed of deception and reaped the harvest--the wrong wife, seven extra years of labor, more than ten years of deep mourning and sadness. Some harvest, don't you think?
What are you and I planting today? At home? At work? At school? Think carefully before you plant the seeds. The harvest belongs to you. Guaranteed.

Absolutes

In the real world the word "absolutes" will usually generate quite a reaction. For if there is one thing modern man hates--as well as fears--it's the existence of absolutes. When you hear expressions like, "Well, in my opinion . . ." or "But if God is love, how can He . . ." Or "You don't really believe the Bible is the Word of God, do you?"--then the chances are someone has been backed into a corner by an absolute truth and is trying to rationalize his way out of his accountability to that truth. God's absolute truth infringes on man's desire to believe and to do as he pleases--to be his own god; consequently, man resents it. Whether a man resents God's truth or not, God's absolutes are still absolutely true--and the consequences of not believing them are inescapable. Now. And eternally.

Closest to Your Heart

I am 67 years old, and I can't begin to count how many anecdotes and sermon illustrations I've heard in my lifetime. But one that I heard a long time ago--I don't even remember where or when--has always stayed with me. A memory gift from the Spirit. It went something like this:

"A single women had been faithfully serving the Lord in some remote area of the world for decades. But people noticed that she always wore a necklace--with a heart locket on the end. The curious--there are always some of those--assumed that it was a lost love from her early days that she could never forget--a life long sorrow. Finally, her Lord fulfilled her joy and took her home to be with Him. When they opened the locket, to their surprise, it didn't contain a picture of anyone, just a reference: I Peter 1:8: 'Whom having not seen, you love, and though you do not see Him now, but believe in Him, you greatly rejoice with joy inexpressible and full of glory.' "

I've needed to be reminded of that story many times in my life. The Spirit's question is always the same: Who is in your "locket," closest to your heart?

I do not know what God will or has called you to--singleness, a long happy marriage, or anything in-between, but unless He is in the "locket" of your heart, your life will lack the richness that only He can bring. And if He is the "love of your life," you will never be poor for as long as you live.

Who is in your "locket," closest to your heart?

Doubts

"When all kinds of trials and temptations crowd into your lives, don't resent them as intruders, but welcome them as friends! Realize that they come to test your faith and to produce in you the quality of endurance. But let the process go on until that endurance is fully developed, and you will find that you have become men and women of mature character with the right sort of independence. And if, in the process, any of you does not know how to meet any particular problem he has only to ask God--who gives generously to all men without making them feel guilty or foolish--and he may be quite sure that the necessary wisdom will be given him. But he must ask in sincere faith without secret doubts as to whether he really wants God's help or not. The man who trusts God, but with inward reservations, is like a wave of the sea, carried forward by the sea one moment and driven back the next. That kind of man cannot hope to receive anything from the Lord, and the life of divided loyalty will reveal instability at every turn."

The problem is rarely that we doubt God's ability to help. What we doubt is whether we want Him to help, whether we want Him to show us what transformation needs to take place in our lives if we are going to be more and more like Him. The question is do we know of anything in our heart that we want more than to be transformed into His image? It is the man or women with divided loyalties, divided loves, divided wants, that is constantly lost on the waves of spiritual seasickness. Such a believer is not standing on the Rock that is Christ Jesus His Lord. Do you want to know the full joy of your salvation? Stop trying to embrace God while at the same time holding Him at arm's length. Present your bodies a living sacrifice--make your daily walk a continuous act of worship. Crush the doubts--defeat the world's conforming power. Pray "I surrender all." And mean it.

Release

We often find ourselves in circumstances totally out of our control. Life's difficulties seem to pile up, and we long for release. There are certain things we must remember during such times of testing.
First, the troubles are rarely a sign that God is disappointed with us. One of Satan's most effective strategies is to convince the believer that because of his circumstances, he must certainly be in a backslidden condition. It's such an effective lie because it causes us to doubt God's love for us. And we start to judge our love for Him and the depth of our commitment to serve Him based on our circumstances. If difficult, trying circumstances are proof of one's backslidden condition, than the Apostle Paul, for instance, must have been the most backslidden Christian that ever lived. From health issues, to depression, to betrayal, to unfulfilled aspirations, to imprisonment--and the list goes on. And on. And on. Paul had to deal with them all. And it was not because his relationship with God was broken, but because he was constantly walking in obedience to Him.
The second thing we must remember is the need for prayer. We must ask others to intercede on our behalf before the throne of grace. The effectiveness of intercessory prayer is immeasurable. Jesus always interceded for His disciples. Paul was always praying for others and always asking others to pray for him. And we must always remember our Lord's intercessory prayer the evening of the betrayal. He prayed that we would be one with Him as He was one with the Father. Knowing that His prayer will undoubtedly be answered in our lives is a great assurance. He is going to make us more and more like Him. Suffering is one of His most effective tools in doing that. In fact, God will answer all prayers in light of the prayer His Son has made on our behalf. It's a guarantee.
The last thing we must remember is that if we are going to be released from our difficult circumstances, it will be because He releases us. We cannot do it for ourselves. The choice is His--and His alone. His timing will be perfect. And when He is ready to release us, it will be because He can now be glorified through the release. Which means, of course, that we must be willing to give the entire problem and its resolution into His hands. We will find with the release that He is just as He claims to be--loving, kind, wise, and faithful. Until He is ready to release us from our trial, we must continue to live by faith--faith in who we know Him to be, and faith in His promise to reward those who diligently seek Him.
So, in tough times, remember. Your circumstances are not evidence of God's dissatisfaction with you or evidence that you are somehow some terrible backslidden Christian. Probably, just the opposite. Remember to seek the prayer support of others and to trust in your Savior's intercessory prayer for you. It will be answered. The Father will not deny the prayer of His Son. Remember that release will come when He is ready, and you will find Him loving and true--even if you don't see the slightest evidence at the moment that He is those things. What you are going through, others have been through--or worse--and they have found Him faithful. You will find Him to be so, too. Don't spend all your energy trying to gain a victory that only He can gain. There's a reason it's out of your control. Give it to Him. The victory is His--through His lavish grace. Meanwhile be faithful. One moment at a time. If you are still in the trial, it's because He knows you are strong enough to endure it. If you are still in the trial, release will come when He is ready and you are ready. If you are still in the trial, release will come. "No trial has come your way that is too hard for flesh and blood to bear. But God can be trusted not to allow you to suffer any trial beyond your powers of endurance. He will see to it that every trial has a way out, so that it will never be impossible for you to bear it."

The Problem

God is not the problem.

No, the devil didn't make you do it.

Let's see--ummmm--who does that leave that needs to do some adjusting in thought and/or action?

Revival

The older I get--and I'm already too old to die young--the more I am convinced that God's revival is the strengthening and upholding of a faithful remnant. That is not a pessimistic view, but an optimistic faith in God's ability to always show mercy, to always have His witness in a dark world. How do you become a part of God's faithful remnant? You develop the traits of perseverance, endurance, discernment, total dependence, and joy.
Perseverance because the road is difficult and long. The Christian life is the most difficult life in the world to live. You are at odds with your culture--sometimes even at odds with the church. The world doesn't understand the way you live and resents that your values are so different from theirs. They consider you judgmental and intolerant just by the way you live. You don't have to say a word.
Endurance because you have to be earthquake proof. It is through the trials of life that God matures you into His likeness. There is no easy road. Only those who are not afraid to embrace brokenness need apply.
Discernment because the truth is always under attack from every possible direction and source. And you are not, without the Spirit's help, wise enough to see all the deception. The Spirit must be relied on to lead you into all truth, into the narrow way, the straight path. One step to the left or to the right can be disastrous for you and for the ones you love. And there is nothing the Devil does better than to mimic the results of the truth through the teaching of lies. Wherever God's seed is being sown, he is sowing his seed as well.
Total dependence because it is impossible to do any of these things without total reliance on the all sufficient grace of God. Only in weakness can you be strong. Only in absolute submission to the life of Christ that is in you can you live right, think right, love right, and always in every situation say the right things about your God.
Joy because it is the strength of the believer, the bedrock of the abiding, fruit-bearing Christian. Joy puts a song in your heart even when it is crushed and broken. Joy turns trials into transformation, the long trek up the road into a dance. And joy rests in the certain hope of one day being in the presence of Him who came from the remnant to be the Savior of the world. To be your Savior--whose mercies are new every morning and whose faithfulness is great.
Join the revival. Plead with God to saturate you with His all sufficient grace that you might remain faithful one day at a time.

Warning

Warning: Whenever I forget that the man (or woman) after God's own heart is capable of a terrible sin and then of being hedged in by that sin and committing an even more devastating sin--both for him and his family, I am teetering on the edge of a slippery precipice. Pride goes before a fall. Any Christian is capable of committing any sin. Guard your heart!

Lepers

I am impressed by the story of Naaman found in II Kings 5. Here was a man who was a great success in life. He was a mighty warrior, an able leader, a kind master, a king's trusted right hand man. But he was a leper. What a picture of sin leprosy is! It is humanly incurable; it destroys the body; it is contagious; it inevitably results in death. And only a miracle of grace can heal it.
Naaman was a great man but filled with the leprosy of sin. He had temporal success because the Lord in His sovereignty decided to bless Him, but the earthly recognition was far from being proof that he was God's man. For he was not. He was an idolatrous leper walking about in a state of living death. The same is true today. No matter what success or station in life a man may find himself, it is not evidence that he is a child of God. No matter what a man's character or earthly value, he is still a leper from God's point of view--the only view that counts. "For all have sinned and come short of the glory of God." "For there is no distinction to be made anywhere: everyone has sinned; everyone falls short of the beauty of God's plan." "There is none that does good, no not one." "In sin did my mother conceive me."
But there was hope for Naaman. He knew and recognized his condition. Luke tells us that Israel was full of lepers but only Naaman, the Syrian idolator, came to God for the miraculous cure that alone would cleanse him of his condition. If you are today a man or woman of worldly success, perhaps even living among the people of God, unless you have recognized your condition--"but he was a leper"--you will never find the cure for your sin. "Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners."
"Sin pays its servants: the wage is death. But God gives to those who serve Him: His free gift of eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord." "As many as received Him, to them gave He the right to become children of God, even to those who believe on His name."

The Name

Our Good Shepherd is in the business of restoration.  It is the soul that He restores.  Many times there are things in the life and body that because of our carelessness and sin are beyond restoring. But the soul can always be restored to fellowship and love--to the loving embrace of our Good Shepherd.  As with a house, no soul can be restored that was not built on a sound foundation.  "No foundation can any man lay, save Jesus Christ."  The sheep that are His, He is always ready to gently restore to sweet fellowship with Him, walking in the light.
Notice, though, that the Psalmist tells us that He restores "for His Name's sake."  So much is revealed in His Name, the expression of His character, the expression of all that He is to His sheep:

Jesus, The Christ, The Lord, The Prince of Peace, The Mighty God, Wonderful Counselor, Everlasting Father, The Morning Star, Immanuel, Holy One, The Lion of the Tribe of Judah, The Way, The Truth, The Life, The Beloved, The Dayspring, The King of Kings, I Am, The Author and Finisher of our Faith, The Word of Life, The Righteous Judge, The Chief Cornerstone, The Head of the Church, The Light of the World, The Resurrection and the Life, The Bread of Life, The Door, Alpha and Omega, The Sun of Righteousness, The Bridegroom, The Messiah, Our Advocate, The Son of God, The Son of Man, The Shepherd and Bishop of our Souls, The Good Shepherd, The True Vine.

He is never inconsistent to any aspect of His Name.  He is always each of those things to each of His children.  Yes, He does all for us because of Who He is.  "Jesus Christ, the same, yesterday, today, and forever."  His Name is at stake, His glory, His character.  So He restores the soul of His struggling, wandering sheep.  Clasps them to His heart and whispers, "I Am all these things for you.  Let Me love you fully.  Trust in all that I Am."

"For Thy Name's sake, O Lord, pardon my iniquity, for it is great."

Restore my soul.