"Do You Believe This"

It has been a week of sorrows. A young wife, mother, daughter, sister, friend to many, and a child of the King was unexpectedly taken Home. Yes, taken. He has in perfect wisdom and infinite love numbered our days. And so, He commands us to number our days--to realize how wonderful is the gift of each day that He gives us. We, too, never know when He will take us Home.
Let us rejoice in the day that He has given us--to be glad in it.
To show and to tell those we love how deeply we love them is a love responsibility for today, is it not?
How else does God ask us--command us--to respond? First, sorrow. Sorrowing for the one lost, though temporarily "lost," is not sin. To not sorrow would be sin. Our hearts ache, there is an emptiness in our lives that will not be filled until we embrace the one taken from us once again in glory. Weep--He treasures your tears. He understands. Was He not "a man of sorrows"--on a first name basis with grief? And as children of God our tears are also a reflection of our love for the gift God gave us in making that loved one a vital part of our lives. What a love gift the one lost was to us! The depth of our sorrow reflects the depth of our thankfulness for His love for us in giving that one to us to love us as we loved them.
We are commanded as well to enter as deeply as we can into the sorrow of those who weep. We are told to mourn and to weep with those who mourn and weep. We cannot fully understand their sorrow, but we have suffered loss, and He has comforted us. So by our presence and our prayers we must as deeply as the Spirit enables us share with them in their sorrows. Must. And as I so often encourage you, never let your prayers for them cease. Pop, Mom, others that I loved have been "gone" for what?--ten, fifteen, twenty years. Still, a moment, a memory triggered, a word said can bring the sorrow back into my thoughts. Don't you know that it will be the same for them? Then, as long as we have breath let us pray for the sorrowing that in those moments--one, two, ten, twenty years from now--our prayers will sustain them in their sudden sorrows.
We must--as His children--also have a joy that is deeper than our sorrows. Our time of loss is not a time to question His love but to rejoice in His love. His child--apart from us for a moment--has been presented to the Father by the Son "faultless to stand before the throne," clothed in His righteousness provided on the cross of His love. The room that He has prepared in His Father's House is now hers and for all eternity. "With a love that cannot cease," she is His and He is hers.
Do you remember when Martha--bound to her sense of duty--questioned our Lord's love for her family by not being there to heal Lazarus? "If You loved us, You would not have let this happen." He had failed to do His duty--His duty of love for their family who loved Him. And do you remember His response? No explanation. No defense of His choice. He responded with the most dynamic truth for those who have--are--experiencing the sorrow of loss. "Martha, Martha,"--and I'm sure He took her hands in his not-yet-pierced ones--and whispered, "I Am the Resurrection and the Life, the one who believes in Me shall never die." And then the question, "Do you believe this?" Anna did--and she is more alive today that she has ever been. As the song proclaims, death has "no grip" on her. The tomb has "no hold" on her. "The one who believes in Me shall never die."
Number your days. Weep. Mourn and weep with those who sorrow. Comfort. Pray--continually. Rejoice in His love--nothing can separate His child from Him.

"I Am the Resurrection and the Life, the one who believes in me shall never die."

"Do you believe this?"

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Following

"If anyone will be My disciple, let him deny himself, take up his cross, and follow Me."

The last choice in the call to faithful discipleship is "follow Me." The truth we must consider in following Him is "where are we going?" John puts it this way, "Beloved, now we are children of God, and it has not appeared yet what we shall be. We know that, when He appears, we shall be like Him, for we shall see Him just as He is. And everyone who has this hope fixed on Him purifies Himself, just as He is pure." Following Him leads to a face-to-face encounter--embrace--with our Savior. And that hope is to be a transforming miracle in our daily walk. To follow Him is to become more like Him day by day. To become more like Him day by day involves us in the process of purification. That is not an easy road. It requires trials by fire to consume the dross that is ourselves and to replace us with the beauty that is found in Him. It requires a life on our knees praying that His will be done in all things--in every situation. It accepts that the world can never know us, understand us and the choices that we make by faith to please Him. It brings the loving discipline of the Father that often does not seem pleasant in the present tense of our experience.
And yet, it is a life of fullness--the abundant life. The discipline "yields the peaceable fruit of righteousness." The discipline empowers us to "share in His holiness." Daily we drink the still waters and rest in His green meadows. His presence is with us always--even as we walk through the deepest shadows of the darkest valleys. The faithful rod is always accompanied by the staff of strength for us to lean on. Both are our comfort. The rod reassures us that He loves us, that we are His children, that He is transforming us into His likeness. The staff assures us that we can do all things through the One who is our strength and who never leads us to a place where He has not gone before and emerged victorious--more than Conqueror.
And when the journey ends, when the disciple finds himself standing next to His Savior in the presence of the Father, transformed at last into His image, the hope reality, only one thought will fill the disciple's heart and mind, "The Lamb is all the glory in Emmanuel's Land."

"Follow, I will follow Thee, my Lord; follow every passing day. My tomorrows are all known to Thee; Thou wilt lead me all the way."

The New

It's that time of year again for me--time for a "new" beginning. My summer job--being a hermit--is about to come to an end. Of course, life is full of endings and beginnings. Child to teen to adult. Parent, to parents of teenagers, to empty nesting, to grand parenting and a house full of small children again. There are new jobs, new houses, moves to new places. One thing ends and another begins. Sometimes we wish we could stay in the old, and sometimes we look forward to the new.
I have found that finishing well is always a challenge. And I have found that new beginnings can be a challenge as well. Several things are necessary. Faith--that God is in the new and that the waiting is over. He has a new assignment for us and just like the last one only faith in Him will enable us to fulfill it in a way that pleases Him. Courage is necessary. It's not as if the enemy will not be active in the new beginning. Maybe even more so in order to convince us that we are in the wrong place. The adversity is just proof that you're not. If you were, the enemy wouldn't care. As we have waited on Him in confidence, now we must go forward in confidence. And a time of reflection is needed. He has led you into this new beginning because you are exactly who He needs in this new place. He has been molding you into the vessel He needs for this moment, for this beginning. So, forward we go. Rest in His promises--He will be with you, He will strengthen you. Be faithful. And be courageous. Cloth yourself daily in His armor and resist the enemy, and He will flee. Promised. The roar of the Lion of the Tribe of Judah sends all other lions fleeing in terror. And remember, you are not in this new place in your life by accident. The Sovereign God of the Universe has placed you here because He is confident that you are prepared--have been molded--into the very person He needs for this "assignment.

Only trust Him.

Reflections for July, 2019

The strongest Christian is the one who has given up trying to control everything--control anything. Trust me. Everything is already under control. I guess the question is: Do I really want and trust Him to be in control? Who are you going to trust in?
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Often God waits to do His best work until things look totally hopeless.  That way all the glory rightfully goes to Him alone.  Keep doing the work of persevering prayer.
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The powerful Christian life comes from being Jesus in the "monotony" of our everyday lives.  Such a life underscores the marvelous truth that He is with us every moment of every day.
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It's not a matter of if the world is watching the Christian.  It's a matter of what do they see?  You or Him?
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What must a man or woman do to gain eternal life?  "This is the work of God to believe on Him Whom He has sent."
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"There is no music in a rest, but let us not forget that the rest is part of the making of the music."  (Cowman)
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Are you praying your prayers of remembrance?  Those who have lost someone they love are feeling the lost just as much today as when it happened.  Did you promise to pray for them then?  And now . . .?
Be a faithful friend.
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What seeds will you sow today?  God promises that there will be a harvest.
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Will I be Christ-in-the-room today?  Have I surrender to His will for my life this day?  Same question.  His glory or my glory?  Which do I really want?
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"The line separating good and evil passes not through states, nor between classes, nor between political parties either, but right through every human heart."  (Solzhenitsyn) 
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To pursue what I want in life apart from Him is to pursue a life of soap bubbles.  Only one Person promises--and gives--the abundant life.
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Peace comes only when I totally surrender to His will.
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I still have moments of anger about things that happened thirty years ago.  The response I need?  To once again pray the prayer of surrender.  And the only way to express righteous anger is on a daily basis is through overwhelming acts of kindness.
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Any man or woman who thinks his "filthy rags" righteousness will impress the Holy, Righteous, God of Justice is in great eternal danger.
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God's goodness and mercy are still actively working in your yesterdays.
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Do I spend more time worrying and complaining about the about the condition of my country or more times on my knees praying for its leaders and its citizens--especially those I see as my enemy?  Which do you think is the deepest expression of love?  Which has He commanded you to do?  Which has the greatest power to transform?
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Would you like to change the world today?  Touch one person with His love.
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Christ-like love is not dependent on the response of the one being loved.  He is love.
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God may never explain "why."  The answer lies not in the "why," but in the changeless character of God and my unwavering faith in His character.