Revisiting a moment ...

This is one of the first devotions and pictures posted on this blog ... It just seemed like we all might need a little spot of summer and the encouragement that God is with us always ...

"Why art thou cast down, O my soul? And why art thou disquieted within me? Hope thou in God, for I shall yet praise Him for the help of His countenance" Psalm 42:5, KJ21).

   What do tears have to do with joy? During moments of intense stirrings in our heart we may feel joy intermingled with tears as we become overwhelmed with elation.  Holding a newborn child, hearing expressions of love from another that overflow with feeling and even seeing something with our eyes can become overpowering to our senses ... any of these and many others can bring forth both tears and joy at the same moment.

      At other times, tears flow from our deepest anguish when words falter and fail. They can seem to come from an endless source of heartbreak as they bathe our face as grief and sorrow pour forth. These tears ache with questions and brokenness in endless waiting and joy cannot be seen or much less found. At times our tears come as think of our gracious and loving God and remember His grace as we travel through difficulty or repentance.

     Jesus walks with us throughout all of our days upon the earth. He celebrates with us in those joyous times and weeps with us in our deepest anguishes. We also know that we will join Him in eternity and for certain, a day is coming when "death is swallowed up forever, and the Lord God will wipe away tears from all faces" (Isaiah 25:8).  What is too deep for us to really comprehend when our tears are wiped away and our joy is fulfilled in the presence of our Lord forever.

And it will be said in that day:

“Behold, this is our God; We have waited for Him, and He will save us.

This is the Lord; We have waited for Him; We will be glad and rejoice in His salvation.” Isaiah 25:9

"Let us learn to think of tears as liquid prayers; and of weeping as a constant dropping of importunate intercession which will wear its way right surely into the very heart of mercy, despite the stony difficulties which obstruct the way." Charles H. Spurgeon (1834-1892)

We sometimes forget …

“When the evening had come, they brought unto Him many who were possessed with devils, and He cast out the spirits with His word and healed all who were sick, that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Isaiah the prophet, who said, “He Himself took our infirmities and bore our sicknesses.” (Matthew 8:16-17, KJ21)

  There are numerous metaphors used to describe God and His strength which include substantial and solid elements and armaments such as Mighty Warrior, Deliverer, Tower, Rock, Fortress and Refuge.  These words convey in concrete and tangible images for us to remember the power of God in providing security, safety, protection and provision.  There are numerous other metaphors that describe God and care and compassion as Father, Shepherd, Sustainer, Keeper and Helper and still more metaphors that describe God as Healer, Creator and Giver of Life.  Beyond those and hundreds of others, there are metaphors that note God as our Redeemer and Savior and finally as the King.  In addition to all of the metaphors, there are dozens of names in the Old Testament coming from the root El such as Elohim name giving reference to part of the character, essence or attributes of God. Finally there is the Sacred Name "YHVH" usually written as LORD noting the one and only Living God. 

     In Jesus Christ the Son, all that God is becomes flesh as Jesus reveals in a living presence the God who the metaphors describe and names honor. As Jesus lived, as He walked, as He taught, as He healed … He was God amongst the people of the earth.  All that the Father was in strength and power, Jesus showed in His command over all the elements of the world.  The compassion, attention and care of merciful Father and Shepherd flowed through the Son in all the works He bestowed on those who came to Him.  Even as Jesus was rejected, bruised and crushed and as He bore all sickness and disease on the cross, He was redeeming the sin of the world for all time.  His ultimate victory  over death as He rose up out of the grave, crowned Him, King of Kings for all eternity.

     The metaphors and the names, the essence and the character and even the healing and the power are unbelievable and inconceivable in any possible true accounting and acknowledgment to us as human beings but that He saw us, He came for us, He took on all our sin and diseases, healing us and redeeming us forever as His children is something we cannot forget.  It is and will always be the “Good News” for each of us and for all the world.

“For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send His Son into the world to condemn the world but the world through Him might be saved” (John 3:16-17, NKJV).

Suggested Reading … Matthew 8 & John 3

The God we worship.

“Give thanks unto the Lord, call upon His name; make known His deeds among the people. Sing unto Him, sing psalms unto Him; talk ye of all His wondrous works. Glory ye in His holy name; let the heart of them rejoice that seek the Lord. Seek the Lord and His strength; seek His face continually.  Remember His marvelous works that He hath done, His wonders and the judgments of His mouth, O ye seed of Israel His servant, ye children of Jacob, His chosen ones!” (1 Chronicles 16:8-13, KJ21)

   Sometimes the words roll off our tongues quite easily when speaking of the God that always been, that will always be.  We act as if we can explain God. We act as if know all about who He is and how He works.   We don’t speak of God as being unexplainable, unfathomable or being majestic or omnipotent beyond our words.  We reduce Him to our understanding and make Him just beyond ourselves. 

      We need to stop this speaking of our God, whose vastness we know in miniscule capacities and amounts. We need to lose our selves in the awe of Him and the scope of His love for the world and all He created.   We need to release our hearts and minds to the wonder in the limitless space of His power and knowledge inexhaustible in our comprehension.  Instead of speaking, we need to be still,  worshiping as we  acknowledge we are inadequate in language to truly speak of God who has such power.  As Christians we need to take time to be reflective, even for a few moments to consider the spectacle of God’s creation both in its majesty and in its intricacy.  To truly worship the God who separated the earth and sky and created all that is, out of nothing.  This worship should bring quiet prayers of gratitude to God who even in creation, would choose to form human beings in His image.  In His image we are given soul and spirit of His essence which brought us as human beings into relationship with His immeasurable greatness and His perfect design.  Though initially separated by sin, we were redeemed and repositioned by grace renewed to this created intended relationship.  We as human beings who even in a fallen sinful state are loved and given a chance to be reconciled through Jesus Christ the Son to this God who created the world. 

     How can this be?  It should make us stop in the awe and magnitude of having such a personal relationship the God of the universe.  All that He was and is and is to come remains daunting to our simplest

ideation and yet in the wonder, we will find worship and faith. Our faith is not in what we can understand but in what the omnipotent, omniscient and omnipresent God has freely given to us in Christ.  May our pausing, break through the ordinary and stagger us for a few moments in our daily routines and take us to wonder.  Only in wonder can we worship the Living God and speak of His endless and wondrous works.  Only in wonder and in our humble acknowledgement of our many inadequacies can we truly worship beyond ourselves.

Suggested Reading … 1 Chronicles 16

Enough for each day.

“This is the thing which the Lord hath commanded: ‘Gather of it every man according to his eating, an omer for every man, according to the number of your persons. Take ye every man for those who are in his tents.’ And the children of Israel did so and gathered, some more, some less. And when they measured it with an omer, he that gathered much had nothing over, and he that gathered little had no lack; they gathered every man according to his eating.” (Exodus 16:16-18, KJ21).

  When is enough, enough? When is the amount sufficiently consumed, sufficient?  When is the need supplied, adequate? In all human hearts from which we can easily be deceived comes a web of looking just beyond, of desiring more than we have and of being entangled in our own lusts and greed. We can be tempted to gather more than we need, consume more than enough and yet can find ourselves not sufficiently satisfied or fulfilled.  It happens with food, it happens with material things and it happens in our pursuit of peace and pleasure.  To be satisfied with enough is sometimes elusive in our daily pursuits and thus dissatisfaction leads to our being tempted and in the end to our being overtaken by lust, pride and greed greatly affecting our physical, emotional, psychological and spiritual health and well- being.

     God’s commands and His pathways will direct us to true satisfaction in His plan and provision. They protect us from our ultimate discovery that we have been fooled by our own sinful hearts.  The manna, which is the daily bread that He gives, will always be enough when we trust in Him. The joy He gives in the tangible and the intangible is always more than enough … in fact it is more than we can imagine (Ephesians 3:20). The boundaries He lays out to protect us from the excesses and heartache of sin coming from our lusts, pride and greed are always real, accurate and true.  The problem mostly lies with us.  The problem for the Israelites wasn’t with the manna but with their attitudes, their thoughts and their hearts.  The problem with not having enough, lies many times with our not seeing what we have, as enough.  The real problem lies with us being greedy, lustful and prideful. We can be just like the Israelites in finding or creating our own problems even as God is loving, guiding and providing for us.  We can fail to see all that He gives, as enough for the day.  In fact, we can be just like them, never entering the Promised Land or we can find joy in our being His children, always knowing He will give more than enough in the Land of Milk and Honey.

Heavenly Father, protect us from ourselves. Let us be always thankful in all that You give us. For You, are our Father, help us to always remember this.  You give us only good things and provide more than we can imagine … over and over again.  Give us this day our daily bread and lead us not into temptation but deliver us from any evil ways we might be contemplating. Help us to remember that your ways are always true and perfect . We thank You, as we trust You, on this day and for all our days. For Yours is the Kingdom, Glory and Power forever and ever.  Amen.

Suggested Reading … Exodus 16

  

One last thing to be thankful for.

“Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world” (  1 Peter 5:8-9, ESV).

  So how do we deal with temptation?  During the month of November we often talk of the Pilgrims and although the month has gone by, there is one thing that we seldom take time to be thankful about ... victory over temptation. The Pilgrims were Puritans who weren’t interested in the reformation of the existing Church of England but instead thought it best to separate and begin again. They were Separatists but they retained much of the Puritan theology.  

    It was the Puritan's aim to reconstruct and purify not only the church, but individual conduct and all the institutions men live by. The Puritans wanted purity in their lives but they realized their susceptibility to sin. They realized their hope and victory was in the power of God especially when it came to dealing with temptation. The Puritans as a group left us many thoughts concerning the common battle with temptation that all Christian believers face. 

    One of the greatest Puritan theologians was John Owen (1616-1683) and he wrote three books about living in victory over temptation.  These are some of his insights in the area of temptation.

    “Consider whether the sin you are contending with has any dangerous symptoms attending it.  Have a clear and abiding sense upon your mind and conscience of the guilt, danger, and evil of that sin. Get a constant longing for deliverance from the power of it.  Consider whether the sin is rooted in your nature and exacerbated by your temperament. Consider what occasions and advantages your sin has taken to exert and put forth itself, and watch against them all.  Rise mightily against the first actings and conceptions of your sin. Meditate in such a way that you are filled at all times with self-abasement and thoughts of your own vileness. Listen to what God says to your soul and do not speak peace to yourself before God speaks it, but hearken what he says to your soul.”

    Some might say that you can’t win the battle over temptation with self-effort but if you look deeper at the thoughts of John Owen, there is a sense of needing to be honestly aware of ourselves to gain victory through the strength of Christ. As we draw close to God with an honest and contrite heart, He releases His power to work in us.  It is by the power of Christ being alive in us, that we are able to do all things.  “I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me” (Philippians 3:17, NKJV).  We need to be ever thankful for the mighty gift in the forgiveness of our sins upon the cross while realizing our susceptibility to sin. In that humble place we can be ever thankful for the victory that the living and risen Christ has given us over all things including all temptation and sin.  Long after Thanksgiving Day is past, it is one of the greatest things we need to be thankful for. 

“May our Lord Jesus Christ himself and God our Father, who loved us and by his grace gave us eternal encouragement and good hope,  encourage your hearts and strengthen you in every good deed and word” (2 Thessalonians 2:16-17 NIV).