Give me light in the darkness lest I die.
Psalm 13:3
David was in a dark time in his life. His beloved son, Absalom, had turned on him. He had stolen away David's kingdom, turned the people against him, and now sought his father's very life. David was on the run, hiding from his Absalom's hatred and Absalom's henchmen.
Without question, this was the darkest time in David's life. He had no one to blame but himself. His sin with Bathsheba... his failure to properly deal with family problems (Absalom's sister was raped by a half-brother, Amnon; Absalom ended up killing Amnon in response)... and his reluctance to discipline and mentor Absalom all contributed to this horrible time in his life.
WHAT TO DO IN THE DARKNESS?
What do you do when you are in a dark time in life? What do you do when that dark time is due, perhaps in large part, to your own failures? Can you have victory even in the darkness? YES!! But you must do three things that David did in Psalm 3.
1. BELIEVE THE TRUTH (Psalm 3:1-4). There is help for you in God. He will be your shield and the One who will lift your head. He will answer your prayers as you call out to Him. Don't call once and quit just because He does not answer on the first ring. Call and keep calling. He will answer at the proper time. He promised!!
Remember, the devil is a liar. Do not believe his lies. God is for you, not against you. Get your heart right with Him. Confess your sins and seek His face. He will help you and bring light to your darkness.
2. REST IN THE LORD (Psalm 3:5-6). Big problems often steal away our peace. We tend to walk in fear when our enemies and our problems are increasing and surrounding us. Yet in the midst of terrible trouble, David slept peacefully. How? He turned his problems over to the Lord. He cast his burdens on Him.
Peace is your birthright as a child of God. You experience supernatural peace when you get your mind and heart off your troubles and onto the Lord. Isaiah 26:3 says, "And You will keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed on You, because he trusts in You." Fix your mind on Jesus in the midst of your problems. Lean hard on Him. Think only on that which is true and honorable and right (Phil. 4:8). Put your life in His hands, and trust Him with the results.
3. RELY ON HIS DELIVERANCE (Psalm 3:7-8). Salvation belongs to God. He will deliver you from the darkness as you trust in Him. Wait on His timing. In the last letter Paul ever wrote, he said, "The Lord will deliver me from every evil deed, and will bring me safely to His heavenly kingdom; to Him be the glory forever and ever" (2 Tim. 4:18).
I know when you are in the darkness, time moves slowly. A day is like a thousand years.
But take courage, my friend. Your life is not over. God will arise at the proper time... and your enemies will scatter (Ps. 68:1). You can and will have victory in the darkness as you cling to God and His word. David was delivered from Absalom... and you will be delivered too if you simply trust Him.
How do I know? Because He promised... and He cannot lie!!
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Friday, October 17, 2008
A UNIQUE SPOKESPERSON
God's methods are often surprising. God did not raise up an army to destroy Ahab and Jezebel. Neither did He send some scintillating prince to argue His case or try to impress their royal majesties. Instead, God did the unimaginable---He chose somebody like . . . well, like Elijah.
Are you thinking right now that somebody else is better qualified for that short-term mission assignment? For that leadership training group? For that community service?
Are you a wife and homemaker who feels that your contribution to God's service is not noteworthy? Do you see other people as special or called or talented?
You may be missing an opportunity that is right there in front of you. You may be in the very midst of a ministry and not even realize it. (What greater ministry can there be, for example, than that of a faithful wife and loving mother?) Your ministry may be to just two or three people. Don't discount that. God's methods are often surprising.
When we're standing alone in the gap, ultimately, we're standing before God. When the call comes, will God find us ready and willing to stand for Him? Will He find in us hearts that are completely His? Will He be able to say, "Ah, yes, there's a heart that is completely Mine. Yes, there's sufficient commitment there for Me to use that life with an Ahab. That's the kind of disciplined devotion I'm looking for."
No matter what role you fill in life, you're not unimportant when it comes to standing alone for truth.
What spot has God given you? Whatever it is, God says, "You're standing before Me, and I want to use you. I want to use you as My unique spokesperson in your day and age, at this moment and time."
Elijah, this gaunt, rugged figure striding out of nowhere, suddenly stepping into the pages of history, is a clear witness of the value of one life completely committed to God. An unknown man from a backwater place, he was called to stand against evil in the most turbulent and violent and decadent of times.
Look around. The need is still great, and God is still searching.
Are you thinking right now that somebody else is better qualified for that short-term mission assignment? For that leadership training group? For that community service?
Are you a wife and homemaker who feels that your contribution to God's service is not noteworthy? Do you see other people as special or called or talented?
You may be missing an opportunity that is right there in front of you. You may be in the very midst of a ministry and not even realize it. (What greater ministry can there be, for example, than that of a faithful wife and loving mother?) Your ministry may be to just two or three people. Don't discount that. God's methods are often surprising.
When we're standing alone in the gap, ultimately, we're standing before God. When the call comes, will God find us ready and willing to stand for Him? Will He find in us hearts that are completely His? Will He be able to say, "Ah, yes, there's a heart that is completely Mine. Yes, there's sufficient commitment there for Me to use that life with an Ahab. That's the kind of disciplined devotion I'm looking for."
No matter what role you fill in life, you're not unimportant when it comes to standing alone for truth.
What spot has God given you? Whatever it is, God says, "You're standing before Me, and I want to use you. I want to use you as My unique spokesperson in your day and age, at this moment and time."
Elijah, this gaunt, rugged figure striding out of nowhere, suddenly stepping into the pages of history, is a clear witness of the value of one life completely committed to God. An unknown man from a backwater place, he was called to stand against evil in the most turbulent and violent and decadent of times.
Look around. The need is still great, and God is still searching.
Thursday, October 16, 2008
Truth vs Lies
The lip of truth shall be established forever: but a lying tongue is but for a moment.”
Proverbs 12: 19, King James Version
EXPLORATION
“Sarai: There’s No Such Thing as a Little White Lie”
“Truth, like the burgeoning of a bulb under the soil, however deeply sown, will make its way to the light.”
Ellis Peters
Do I live a truth-filled life?
INSPIRATION
“Truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
For days the family caravan had been trudging over dusty paths, headed toward the “Promised Land” – Canaan. But as often happens, Abram and Sarai came upon a detour. I wish none of us ever found our paths straying from God’s map, but I know that more than once in my own life, I’ve found myself veering off course, wandering like a lost lamb, hunting desperately for greener pastures, when in fact, God has a beautiful meadow up ahead and I’m too blind and stupid to stay on the road with Him so I strike out on my own. Has this happened to you?
In the case of Sarai and Abram, Genesis 12: 9 & 10 (K.J.V.), tells us that Abram journeyed toward the south. “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there: for the famine was grievous in the land.” Now, you can correct me if I’m mistaken, but I don’t see any place where God told Abram, “I want you to go to Egypt to ‘sojourn.’” In fact, if we take a look at the Hebrew meaning of “sojourn” as used in this situation, I find it enlightening for it shines a spotlight on exactly what was going on. Sojourn means to “turn aside from the road for another purpose.” There’s more! The word “sojourn” also means to shrink back or fear a strange place. Let’s lay out the situation. God called Abram for a single purpose – to make of him a great nation. At God’s instruction, Abram was to leave the comforts of family, home, and land, and travel to Canaan. This was God’s bidding. But when trouble popped-up, and in this case it was a famine, Abram became afraid. Evidently, he forgot who was leading him. He convinced himself that he was in charge of solving the food crisis. Aren’t we humans a crazy lot? Abram decided he could figure out how to get food better than the Creator of all food! I’ve often wondered what would have happened if Abram had told God, “I’ll keep walking on Your path, I’ll fulfill Your purpose, and I’ll trust you to provide food for the journey.”
Instead, off to Egypt Abram headed. Only now that he had taken things into his own hands, he encountered another obstacle. He was married to a beautiful woman.
Historians tell us that at this time, Sarai was not the age of a teenage beauty queen. She was even better. She was a mature woman who was not only beautiful but who also radiated a dignity and bearing that would have been appealing to the Egyptian Pharaoh for Sarai would have been admired as a goddess. Take that girls! For those of us who find the “teen years” of our life are only a faint memory in the rear view mirror, in Bible times, mid-life and old age often brought admiration and respect borne out of the dignity, strength, and wisdom shown by mature women.
Since Abram had taken things into his own hands, the problem of Sarai’s beauty and allurement became his to solve, so he cooked up a real dilly of a story that was partially true.
Abram instructed his wife, “Do not tell anyone who asks that you are my sister, otherwise they will kill me.”
I say there was some truth to the story because as we found out, Terah was Abram and Sarai’s father. With the threat of her husband’s potential murder hanging over her head, Sarai accommodatingly went along with the little white lie and within a short period of time, the story blew up in Abram and Sarai’s face.
Even though Abram and Sarai stepped off God’s path, He didn’t lose track of their whereabouts. God saw exactly what was going on and so He did an interesting thing.
As Abram thought, the princes of Pharaoh saw Sarai and said, “What a knock out. We’ll gain favor with the Pharaoh if we bring a beautiful woman like this to him for his pleasure.” They were right! The Pharaoh was so thrilled he sent Abram “sheep, oxen, asses, menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels” (Genesis 12: 16, K.J.V.).
In the United States, we have a word for men who get money for selling the favors of their women. They are called pimps. And pardon me, this is what Abram, the father of a Great Nation became when he got off God’s path and detoured into Egypt to get food. Abram became a pimp and God didn’t like his behavior at all. Since Abram hadn’t been paying attention to God’s will, God went to see Pharaoh. Genesis 12: 17 (K.J.V.) says “And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.” God stepped in, not to save Abram, but to protect Sarai! One of God’s daughters was going to be “used” and God said, “NO!” I love this story because for every one of God’s daughters in this world who is being disrespected, the God of the Universe, our Father who art in heaven is watching. To His girls in Kenya and Zimbabwe who are brutalized – God is watching. He is with you. He will save you. As one of our Transformation Garden sisters from Kenya wrote me last week, “I believe God is faithful.” I wept as I read her note because many of us have no idea the pain and suffering our sisters are enduring and as I read of God’s intervention to protect Sarai, I asked our God, who used plagues to protect one of His girls, to please use His mighty power to protect His daughters around the world who are suffering at the hands of those who have no respect or concern for God’s daughters.
Well, poor Pharaoh! He was taken off guard. He thought he was adding another gorgeous woman to his harem. As the plagues fell, he called Abram and said, “What is this that thou hast done unto me?” I’m glad Pharaoh was astute enough to lay the blame, not on God who was protecting His daughter, but on Abram who had betrayed His Father and his wife, too.
This short story has so many lessons I could write all day but let’s just focus on four of them.
1. When God gives you a purpose for your life, follow His path or you might end up in Egypt.
2. There’s no such thing as a little lie. Little lies can cause great suffering.
3. Each of us must choose what is right, no matter what threats hang over our heads.
4. Just because we can’t see God’s solution to the famine in our lives, doesn’t mean God’s food basket isn’t filled to over-flowing waiting for us just around the next corner.
Tomorrow, we’re going to leave Egypt and find out what lessons Sarai learned about hospitality and God’s gracious love.
“A half-truth is a dangerous thing, especially if you have got hold of the wrong half.”
Myron F. Boyd
AFFIRMATION
Road of my Desire
“O thou who dost direct my feet
To right or left where pathways part,
Wilt thou not, faithful Paraclete
Direct the journeying of my heart?
Into the love of God, I pray.
Deeper and deeper let me press,
Exploring all along the way
Its secret strength and tenderness.
Into the steadfastness of one
Who patiently endured the cross.
Of him who, though he were a Son,
Came to his crown through bitter loss.
This is the road of my desire-
Learning to love as God loves me,
Ready to pass through flood or fire
With Christ’s unwearying constancy.”
Proverbs 12: 19, King James Version
EXPLORATION
“Sarai: There’s No Such Thing as a Little White Lie”
“Truth, like the burgeoning of a bulb under the soil, however deeply sown, will make its way to the light.”
Ellis Peters
Do I live a truth-filled life?
INSPIRATION
“Truth is the only safe ground to stand upon.”
Elizabeth Cady Stanton
For days the family caravan had been trudging over dusty paths, headed toward the “Promised Land” – Canaan. But as often happens, Abram and Sarai came upon a detour. I wish none of us ever found our paths straying from God’s map, but I know that more than once in my own life, I’ve found myself veering off course, wandering like a lost lamb, hunting desperately for greener pastures, when in fact, God has a beautiful meadow up ahead and I’m too blind and stupid to stay on the road with Him so I strike out on my own. Has this happened to you?
In the case of Sarai and Abram, Genesis 12: 9 & 10 (K.J.V.), tells us that Abram journeyed toward the south. “And there was a famine in the land: and Abram went down into Egypt to sojourn there: for the famine was grievous in the land.” Now, you can correct me if I’m mistaken, but I don’t see any place where God told Abram, “I want you to go to Egypt to ‘sojourn.’” In fact, if we take a look at the Hebrew meaning of “sojourn” as used in this situation, I find it enlightening for it shines a spotlight on exactly what was going on. Sojourn means to “turn aside from the road for another purpose.” There’s more! The word “sojourn” also means to shrink back or fear a strange place. Let’s lay out the situation. God called Abram for a single purpose – to make of him a great nation. At God’s instruction, Abram was to leave the comforts of family, home, and land, and travel to Canaan. This was God’s bidding. But when trouble popped-up, and in this case it was a famine, Abram became afraid. Evidently, he forgot who was leading him. He convinced himself that he was in charge of solving the food crisis. Aren’t we humans a crazy lot? Abram decided he could figure out how to get food better than the Creator of all food! I’ve often wondered what would have happened if Abram had told God, “I’ll keep walking on Your path, I’ll fulfill Your purpose, and I’ll trust you to provide food for the journey.”
Instead, off to Egypt Abram headed. Only now that he had taken things into his own hands, he encountered another obstacle. He was married to a beautiful woman.
Historians tell us that at this time, Sarai was not the age of a teenage beauty queen. She was even better. She was a mature woman who was not only beautiful but who also radiated a dignity and bearing that would have been appealing to the Egyptian Pharaoh for Sarai would have been admired as a goddess. Take that girls! For those of us who find the “teen years” of our life are only a faint memory in the rear view mirror, in Bible times, mid-life and old age often brought admiration and respect borne out of the dignity, strength, and wisdom shown by mature women.
Since Abram had taken things into his own hands, the problem of Sarai’s beauty and allurement became his to solve, so he cooked up a real dilly of a story that was partially true.
Abram instructed his wife, “Do not tell anyone who asks that you are my sister, otherwise they will kill me.”
I say there was some truth to the story because as we found out, Terah was Abram and Sarai’s father. With the threat of her husband’s potential murder hanging over her head, Sarai accommodatingly went along with the little white lie and within a short period of time, the story blew up in Abram and Sarai’s face.
Even though Abram and Sarai stepped off God’s path, He didn’t lose track of their whereabouts. God saw exactly what was going on and so He did an interesting thing.
As Abram thought, the princes of Pharaoh saw Sarai and said, “What a knock out. We’ll gain favor with the Pharaoh if we bring a beautiful woman like this to him for his pleasure.” They were right! The Pharaoh was so thrilled he sent Abram “sheep, oxen, asses, menservants, and maidservants, and she asses, and camels” (Genesis 12: 16, K.J.V.).
In the United States, we have a word for men who get money for selling the favors of their women. They are called pimps. And pardon me, this is what Abram, the father of a Great Nation became when he got off God’s path and detoured into Egypt to get food. Abram became a pimp and God didn’t like his behavior at all. Since Abram hadn’t been paying attention to God’s will, God went to see Pharaoh. Genesis 12: 17 (K.J.V.) says “And the Lord plagued Pharaoh and his house with great plagues because of Sarai Abram’s wife.” God stepped in, not to save Abram, but to protect Sarai! One of God’s daughters was going to be “used” and God said, “NO!” I love this story because for every one of God’s daughters in this world who is being disrespected, the God of the Universe, our Father who art in heaven is watching. To His girls in Kenya and Zimbabwe who are brutalized – God is watching. He is with you. He will save you. As one of our Transformation Garden sisters from Kenya wrote me last week, “I believe God is faithful.” I wept as I read her note because many of us have no idea the pain and suffering our sisters are enduring and as I read of God’s intervention to protect Sarai, I asked our God, who used plagues to protect one of His girls, to please use His mighty power to protect His daughters around the world who are suffering at the hands of those who have no respect or concern for God’s daughters.
Well, poor Pharaoh! He was taken off guard. He thought he was adding another gorgeous woman to his harem. As the plagues fell, he called Abram and said, “What is this that thou hast done unto me?” I’m glad Pharaoh was astute enough to lay the blame, not on God who was protecting His daughter, but on Abram who had betrayed His Father and his wife, too.
This short story has so many lessons I could write all day but let’s just focus on four of them.
1. When God gives you a purpose for your life, follow His path or you might end up in Egypt.
2. There’s no such thing as a little lie. Little lies can cause great suffering.
3. Each of us must choose what is right, no matter what threats hang over our heads.
4. Just because we can’t see God’s solution to the famine in our lives, doesn’t mean God’s food basket isn’t filled to over-flowing waiting for us just around the next corner.
Tomorrow, we’re going to leave Egypt and find out what lessons Sarai learned about hospitality and God’s gracious love.
“A half-truth is a dangerous thing, especially if you have got hold of the wrong half.”
Myron F. Boyd
AFFIRMATION
Road of my Desire
“O thou who dost direct my feet
To right or left where pathways part,
Wilt thou not, faithful Paraclete
Direct the journeying of my heart?
Into the love of God, I pray.
Deeper and deeper let me press,
Exploring all along the way
Its secret strength and tenderness.
Into the steadfastness of one
Who patiently endured the cross.
Of him who, though he were a Son,
Came to his crown through bitter loss.
This is the road of my desire-
Learning to love as God loves me,
Ready to pass through flood or fire
With Christ’s unwearying constancy.”
Wednesday, October 15, 2008
Love worth Finding
Praise the Lord!"
“Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever.” Revelation 7:12
I heard about a man who got a little excited in a church and kept shouting, “Praise the Lord!” One day, some of the brethren called on him while he was plowing his fields.
When they were finished talking, he hung his head and said, “I know it’s the truth. I have disturbed the services, but you know I sit there and think what the Lord has done for me, how He died in agony and blood for me upon the cross, how He’s forgiven all of my sins, how He’s filled me with the Spirit, and – here, hold this mule while I shout!”
If being a Christian and going to heaven doesn’t excite you, then you have calluses on your soul. It’s exciting to know the Lord Jesus Christ!
When was the last time you raised your hands and shouted “Praise the Lord!”? Maybe right now is a good time!
“Blessing, and glory, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, and honor, and power, and might, be unto our God for ever and ever.” Revelation 7:12
I heard about a man who got a little excited in a church and kept shouting, “Praise the Lord!” One day, some of the brethren called on him while he was plowing his fields.
When they were finished talking, he hung his head and said, “I know it’s the truth. I have disturbed the services, but you know I sit there and think what the Lord has done for me, how He died in agony and blood for me upon the cross, how He’s forgiven all of my sins, how He’s filled me with the Spirit, and – here, hold this mule while I shout!”
If being a Christian and going to heaven doesn’t excite you, then you have calluses on your soul. It’s exciting to know the Lord Jesus Christ!
When was the last time you raised your hands and shouted “Praise the Lord!”? Maybe right now is a good time!
Tuesday, October 14, 2008
Showers of Blessings
In Ezekiel 34:26, God is speaking, and He says,
“I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
In this passage, God is certainly speaking of natural rain when He talks about the showers He will send. Those are rains He promised to Israel which would water the land and cause it to increase and be fruitful and bring an abundant harvest.
But, more than that, when God says there will be showers of blessing, He is talking about bringing blessings into the lives of His people. The rain is symbolic of more than just the rain that falls to the earth. It symbolizes the good things that God wants to bring into the lives of those who serve Him.
God wants to bring showers of blessings into your life. Not just a blessing or two, but showers of blessings. An abundance of blessings.
You may feel like you are in a season of drought rather than experiencing showers of blessings. So over the next few devotionals, I will help you understand:
The three ways God brings blessing into the lives of people
The things that can cause a spiritual drought
How you can break such a drought in your life
For today, what I want you to begin to see is God’s desire to rain blessings into your life. If you are feeling a spiritual drought, I pray God will use the coming devotionals to help you break that drought, and experience the refreshing rains of His blessing.
“I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
In this passage, God is certainly speaking of natural rain when He talks about the showers He will send. Those are rains He promised to Israel which would water the land and cause it to increase and be fruitful and bring an abundant harvest.
But, more than that, when God says there will be showers of blessing, He is talking about bringing blessings into the lives of His people. The rain is symbolic of more than just the rain that falls to the earth. It symbolizes the good things that God wants to bring into the lives of those who serve Him.
God wants to bring showers of blessings into your life. Not just a blessing or two, but showers of blessings. An abundance of blessings.
You may feel like you are in a season of drought rather than experiencing showers of blessings. So over the next few devotionals, I will help you understand:
The three ways God brings blessing into the lives of people
The things that can cause a spiritual drought
How you can break such a drought in your life
For today, what I want you to begin to see is God’s desire to rain blessings into your life. If you are feeling a spiritual drought, I pray God will use the coming devotionals to help you break that drought, and experience the refreshing rains of His blessing.
Showers of Blessings
In Ezekiel 34:26, God is speaking, and He says,
“I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
In this passage, God is certainly speaking of natural rain when He talks about the showers He will send. Those are rains He promised to Israel which would water the land and cause it to increase and be fruitful and bring an abundant harvest.
But, more than that, when God says there will be showers of blessing, He is talking about bringing blessings into the lives of His people. The rain is symbolic of more than just the rain that falls to the earth. It symbolizes the good things that God wants to bring into the lives of those who serve Him.
God wants to bring showers of blessings into your life. Not just a blessing or two, but showers of blessings. An abundance of blessings.
You may feel like you are in a season of drought rather than experiencing showers of blessings. So over the next few devotionals, I will help you understand:
The three ways God brings blessing into the lives of people
The things that can cause a spiritual drought
How you can break such a drought in your life
For today, what I want you to begin to see is God’s desire to rain blessings into your life. If you are feeling a spiritual drought, I pray God will use the coming devotionals to help you break that drought, and experience the refreshing rains of His blessing.
“I will make them and the places all around My hill a blessing; and I will cause showers to come down in their season; there shall be showers of blessing.”
In this passage, God is certainly speaking of natural rain when He talks about the showers He will send. Those are rains He promised to Israel which would water the land and cause it to increase and be fruitful and bring an abundant harvest.
But, more than that, when God says there will be showers of blessing, He is talking about bringing blessings into the lives of His people. The rain is symbolic of more than just the rain that falls to the earth. It symbolizes the good things that God wants to bring into the lives of those who serve Him.
God wants to bring showers of blessings into your life. Not just a blessing or two, but showers of blessings. An abundance of blessings.
You may feel like you are in a season of drought rather than experiencing showers of blessings. So over the next few devotionals, I will help you understand:
The three ways God brings blessing into the lives of people
The things that can cause a spiritual drought
How you can break such a drought in your life
For today, what I want you to begin to see is God’s desire to rain blessings into your life. If you are feeling a spiritual drought, I pray God will use the coming devotionals to help you break that drought, and experience the refreshing rains of His blessing.
Monday, October 13, 2008
Love cannot fail
"Having loved his own who were in the world, he now showed them the full extent of his love."
The love which flows in our hearts when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit is not a general love but a specific one -- the love of Christ. This love dulls the edge of disappointment and enables us to be invulnerable to many things, not least a lack of appreciation. The poet was thinking of this high degree of love when he wrote:Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever fixed mark,That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
Let's follow this thought through a little more deeply. The nine ingredients of the fruit of the Spirit were all exemplified in Jesus' life on earth, and it is the present purpose of the Holy Spirit to engraft them into us as we abide in Christ and maintain a close, day-by-day relationship with Him. When we do this, the very first evidence will be that of agape love. This is not a give-and-take kind of love, a love that is reciprocal; it is a love that descends from above and is showered on the deserving and the undeserving, the agreeable and the disagreeable. Christians who dwell deeply in God find that they are changed from people who just love occasionally, when it is convenient, to people whose controlling purpose is love. Love becomes the organizing motive and power in their lives. Such love "never fails," for it always finds a way of expressing itself -- and when it expresses itself, it is itself the success.
Prayer:
O Father, I see that in expressing love, I become more loving even if the other person doesn't accept my love. I cannot fail in love even if love seems to fail in accomplishing the desired end. I am so thankful. Amen.
The love which flows in our hearts when we are indwelt by the Holy Spirit is not a general love but a specific one -- the love of Christ. This love dulls the edge of disappointment and enables us to be invulnerable to many things, not least a lack of appreciation. The poet was thinking of this high degree of love when he wrote:Love is not loveWhich alters when it alteration finds,Or bends with the remover to remove.
O, no! It is an ever fixed mark,That looks on tempests and is never shaken.
Let's follow this thought through a little more deeply. The nine ingredients of the fruit of the Spirit were all exemplified in Jesus' life on earth, and it is the present purpose of the Holy Spirit to engraft them into us as we abide in Christ and maintain a close, day-by-day relationship with Him. When we do this, the very first evidence will be that of agape love. This is not a give-and-take kind of love, a love that is reciprocal; it is a love that descends from above and is showered on the deserving and the undeserving, the agreeable and the disagreeable. Christians who dwell deeply in God find that they are changed from people who just love occasionally, when it is convenient, to people whose controlling purpose is love. Love becomes the organizing motive and power in their lives. Such love "never fails," for it always finds a way of expressing itself -- and when it expresses itself, it is itself the success.
Prayer:
O Father, I see that in expressing love, I become more loving even if the other person doesn't accept my love. I cannot fail in love even if love seems to fail in accomplishing the desired end. I am so thankful. Amen.
Sunday, October 12, 2008
He is Waiting in the Midst of the Storm
Peter knows he is in trouble.
The winds roar down onto the Sea of Galilee like a hawk on a rat. Lightning zigzags across the black sky. The clouds vibrate with thunder. The rain taps, then pops, then slaps against the deck of the boat until everyone aboard is soaked and shaking. Ten-foot waves pick them up and slam them down again with bonejarring force.
These drenched men don’t look like a team of apostles who are only a decade away from changing the world. And you can be sure of one thing. The one with the widest eyes is the one with the biggest biceps?Peter. He’s seen these storms before. He’s seen the wreckage and bloated bodies float to shore. He knows what the fury of wind and wave can do. And he knows that times like this are not times to make a name for yourself; they’re times to get some help.
That is why, when he sees Jesus walking on the water toward the boat, he is the first to say, “Lord, if it’s you … tell me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28)
He is aware of two facts: He’s going down, and Jesus is staying up. And it doesn’t take him too long to decide where he would rather be.
Perhaps a better interpretation of his request would be, “Jeeeeeeeesus. If that is you, then get me out of here!”
“Come on” is the invitation.
And Peter doesn’t have to be told twice. It’s not every day that you walk on water through waves that are taller than you are. But when faced with the alternative of sure death or possible life, Peter knows which one he wants.
The first few steps go well. But a few strides out onto the water, and he forgets to look to the One who got him there in the first place, and down he plunges.
Peter’s response may lack class?it probably wouldn’t get him on the cover of Gentleman’s Quarterly or even Sports Illustrated?but it gets him out of some deep water:
“Help me!”
And since Peter would rather swallow pride than water, a hand comes through the rain and pulls him up.
The message is clear.
As long as Jesus is one of many options, he is no option. As long as you can carry your burdens alone, you don’t need a burden bearer. As long as your situation brings you no grief, you will receive no comfort. And as long as you can take him or leave him, you might as well leave him, because he won’t be taken half-heartedly.
But when you mourn, when you get to the point of sorrow for your sins, when you admit that you have no other option but to cast all your cares on him, and when there is truly no other name that you can call, then cast all your cares on him, for he is waiting in the midst of the storm.
The winds roar down onto the Sea of Galilee like a hawk on a rat. Lightning zigzags across the black sky. The clouds vibrate with thunder. The rain taps, then pops, then slaps against the deck of the boat until everyone aboard is soaked and shaking. Ten-foot waves pick them up and slam them down again with bonejarring force.
These drenched men don’t look like a team of apostles who are only a decade away from changing the world. And you can be sure of one thing. The one with the widest eyes is the one with the biggest biceps?Peter. He’s seen these storms before. He’s seen the wreckage and bloated bodies float to shore. He knows what the fury of wind and wave can do. And he knows that times like this are not times to make a name for yourself; they’re times to get some help.
That is why, when he sees Jesus walking on the water toward the boat, he is the first to say, “Lord, if it’s you … tell me to come to you on the water.” (Matthew 14:28)
He is aware of two facts: He’s going down, and Jesus is staying up. And it doesn’t take him too long to decide where he would rather be.
Perhaps a better interpretation of his request would be, “Jeeeeeeeesus. If that is you, then get me out of here!”
“Come on” is the invitation.
And Peter doesn’t have to be told twice. It’s not every day that you walk on water through waves that are taller than you are. But when faced with the alternative of sure death or possible life, Peter knows which one he wants.
The first few steps go well. But a few strides out onto the water, and he forgets to look to the One who got him there in the first place, and down he plunges.
Peter’s response may lack class?it probably wouldn’t get him on the cover of Gentleman’s Quarterly or even Sports Illustrated?but it gets him out of some deep water:
“Help me!”
And since Peter would rather swallow pride than water, a hand comes through the rain and pulls him up.
The message is clear.
As long as Jesus is one of many options, he is no option. As long as you can carry your burdens alone, you don’t need a burden bearer. As long as your situation brings you no grief, you will receive no comfort. And as long as you can take him or leave him, you might as well leave him, because he won’t be taken half-heartedly.
But when you mourn, when you get to the point of sorrow for your sins, when you admit that you have no other option but to cast all your cares on him, and when there is truly no other name that you can call, then cast all your cares on him, for he is waiting in the midst of the storm.
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