Thursday, November 29, 2012

A Prayer for Today...

Lord, there has been a lot of dryness in my life lately. It is not You; it is me. My heart and love have grown cold. I follow through with the motions but lack the passion for You. I tend to be sidetracked by the small problems I face and work our of my own strength and understanding as if You did not exist, were not supreme.

Forgive me, O Lord. Remove my heart of stone, give me a heart of flesh and bring me back to You. Give me the grace and desire to follow You with all my heart...

Amen...

Wednesday, November 28, 2012

Full of Grace and Truth...

I love the simple yet profound description John gives of Jesus in the first chapter of his gospel. He says a number of things such as...

* The Word (Jesus) was in the beginning of all things...
* The Word (Jesus) was with God and even was God...
* All things were created through Him...
* Life was in Him and it was the light of men...

My favorite part is in verse 14 of chapter 1 where John says,...

"The Word (Jesus) became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father..."

And then my very favorite descriptor of John for Jesus...

"...(He was)...full of grace and truth."

Sometimes I'm full of grace (on good days). Sometimes I'm full of truth (on days that I'm feeling a bit cranky). Most days, I have a little dab of both but certainly not full of either which is surprising because I am a clay vessel-container of the Spirit of God who, in Himself, is full of grace and truth and in-dwelling my heart and life!

So perhaps deep within me is the potential and the promise of being full of grace and truth. However, the carnal man, the outer shell, the earthly pull, somehow crusts over the inner grace and truth that yearns to escape and be evident to the world. My crusty self, the part that needs to die to Christ daily, tends to restrict His grace and truth working in me, longing to pour out to those in need around me.

When I become judgmental and Pharisaic, the "truth" and legalistic part comes out and I am quick to judge, slow to understand and hasty to criticize. When I become compassionate to the point of relativism, I excuse my own and other people's actions because of "grace" and tend to ignore the balance of the truth of God's Word and His absolute yet loving laws.

If I try to balance - say 50% grace and 50% truth, I find myself miss applying one or the other to situations that really require the opposite and thus falling short of Christ's example and expectations.

Full of grace and full of truth. It really is an amazing concept. I am so glad that I serve a Savior who was fully both. I also long for the day to be totally conformed to His image so that I can be as well. 

Monday, November 26, 2012

Carrying the Cross...

In Luke's gospel, Jesus tells His disciples that to come along with Him, means that you will have to bear a cross. He puts it this way (Luke 9:23-25)...

"If anyone wants to come with Me, he must deny himself, take up his cross daily, and follow Me. For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life because of Me will save it. What is a man benefited if he gains the whole world, yet loses or forfeits himself?"

To "come with Jesus" means to literally follow Him, no matter what the course, what the destination. And the "coming with" Jesus is described as worth everything, even to the point of losing oneself for the sake of Christ and His purpose.

Through the years as our family lived and worked overseas, many well-intentioned people in churches in the USA would say things like, "Well, you'll be safe over there because you're in God's will." While I appreciate the thought, I would have to disagree.

Simply stated, there is nothing safe about following Jesus. On the contrary, as I read my Bible, our safety should be the least of our focuses in following Christ. We should seek to be obedient and faithful regardless of where He leads. And where He leads, there is always a cross.

Later in the gospel of Luke, there is a story of fellow who came into Jerusalem, probably with his family, to celebrate the Passover. His name was Simon. He was from Cyrene and was just coming in from the country for a once-in-a-lifetime holiday. As he entered the city, he was grabbed by Roman soldiers and forced to carry a heavy burden - a cross - for a state criminal that was being led to his death. He was overwhelmed, confused and wondered as he carried the burden, looking from face to face and seeing many people jeering while some were mourning and weeping. He was forced to walk behind the person to be crucified and perhaps had the chance to hear who it was....Jesus.

Simon possibly didn't know the honor that was being afforded him that day: to carry the cross of Jesus in the footsteps of the Savior. He probably would not have chosen that assignment if given a choice. But there he was, carrying the cross for the Savior of the world who was being led to the slaughter like an innocent lamb.

The call to follow Jesus is a call first and foremost to take up our crosses daily - whatever they be and wherever they lead - and follow Him. 

Tuesday, November 20, 2012

The Pursuit of God?...

One of my favorite authors of all times is A. W. Tozer. His simple but profound way of explaining spiritual truths speaks to me.

A few days ago, I finished re-reading his classic, "The Pursuit of God". In about 10 short chapters, he talks about the things that can and should kindle a passion in us for God and God alone.

As I finished and reflected on what I had read, I had an interesting thought. I always tend to think of "the pursuit of God" as my striving, my efforts and my steps to "pursue" Him. However, the revelation (and I know it is simple and I know that you are wondering why I am so slow) came to me that it really isn't about my "pursuit" of God but rather the fact that God is pursuing me!

I can think of a million, helter-skelter activities that I can engage in to make me appear like a man on a mission to find God. But in the end, the irony is that God does not make Himself hard to be known! He pursues us with a passion we can only dream about. He has loved us with an everlasting love. We are courted by Him, the Creator of the whole universe, as a white-hot Lover seeking the beloved. While we think and often position ourselves as the seekers, in truth, we are the ones being sought by the Great Seeker!

There is something in my sin-filled, self-centered being that says I have got to do something (and do it right) to be worthy of love, God's love. I have to pray more. I have to read more devotional books. I have to meditate more. If I do these things, I will be "pursuing" God...

While I deeply believe and try and practice multiple spiritual disciplines, in the end, the "pursuit" of God is not about our efforts to get to God. It's not even our story or ours to accomplish. The fact is that God is pursuing us! That's the story! That's the good news!

Thank you, Lord, for pursuing me passionately, patiently and lovingly. Forgive me for not stopping and receiving your grace. I am amazed that I am the object of Your affection. Let me rest in You, not my efforts, and let me be totally immersed and washed over by Your pursuit of me.

Amen!

Monday, November 19, 2012

What Are You Thankful For?...

I got to be at our home/base church yesterday and hear Pastor Andy speak. As always, he rightly divides the Word of truth. He shared a thanksgiving message from Psalm 100 and basically said that this Thanksgiving, we should thank God for His greatness (awesomeness) and His goodness.

God is great and awesome and holy. Because of that holiness, He is also righteous and just and will not permit sin in His glorious presence. So, the greatness of God is a bit of a dilemma for us because we, like sheep who have gone astray, are all fallen, sinful creatures. To be honest and frank, all of us deserve death and separation from God because there is nothing righteous within us of ourselves.

However, since God is not only great but good, He provided a way, through His goodness, that we, sinful people, could approach and even have eternal fellowship with Him. His goodness was made complete in the sacrifice of His Son, Jesus. He, who knew no sin, became sin for us that we might experience the righteousness of God. That is good news!

God is great and unapproachable because He is purely holy and we are hopelessly corrupt. But He is also good and provided a way, an avenue if you will, for us to approach Him. And He provided it at a great cost: the blood of His one and only Son, Jesus.

God is great...God is good...
Let us thank Him that He is both!

That's what I'm thankful for...

Monday, November 12, 2012

The Touch of Jesus...

I am once again back in the New Testament in my devotions. This morning, I enjoyed visiting with Matthew (the book of Matthew) and perusing through the first nine chapters.

I made some underlines of previously underlined passages and was struck anew by the actions of Jesus as He started his earthly ministry. In particular, as I re-read the healing passages, I kept seeing phrases such as...

"Reaching out His hand, He touched him..." to a leper. (Matthew 8:3)

"So He touched her hand..." to Peter's mother-in-law. (Matthew 8:15)

"If I can just touch His robe..." said a lady who had suffered bleeding for 12 years. (Matthew 9:21)

"He went in and took her by the hand..." preceded the healing of a girl near death. (Matthew 9:25)

"The He touched their eyes..." and the blind could see. (Matthew 9:29)

I am always struck by the fact that Jesus over and over touches people, physically as well as spiritually, where they are hurting. The lepers skin...the eyes of the blind...the hand of a girl near death. There is something compelling of our Savior not just speaking truth (which He does so well) into the lives of the hurting and needy but also touching them, physically, in the areas of their deepest, darkest needs.

I have never personally experienced the healing touch of Jesus for a major issue like cancer, an unhealed wound, or a sickness leading to death. I am truly fortunate and favored to have lived a relatively healthy and sound life. However, I have experienced the deepest touch of all from Jesus - the touch or his Spirit in my heart.

Isn't it amazing that all of us who claim to follow Christ have been touched and utterly healed of our sin-stricken soul? Once, we were aliens and hostile to God and deserving of death. And now, because of the amazing touch of Jesus on our hearts and lives, we can stand before him as cleansed lepers, seeing blind people and dead ones now brought back to life!

Thank you Lord for Your touch of grace!

Amen.