Transforming a pile of ashes

Think for a moment about your life today and then what Jesus wants to bring to you. You see, Jesus has a vision for your life and it is far greater than any vision we could have for ourselves. Here is that vision:

• If you need some good news, He wants to deliver it

• If your heart is sad and broken He wants to heal it

• If you have an addiction, He wants to free you from it

• If you are heartbroken, He wants to bring you joy

• If you have made a mess of your life, He wants to make it beautiful again.

• If you live in depression or despair, He wants to bring you gladness and joy

This vision for your life is found in Isaiah 61:1-3. “The Spirit of the Sovereign Lord is on me, because the Lord has anointed me to preach good news to the poor. He has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim freedom for the captives and release from darkness for the prisoners, to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor and the day of vengeance of our God, to comfort all who mourn, and provide for those who grieve in Zion - to bestow on them a crown of beauty instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, and a garment of praise instead of a spirit of despair. They will be called oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.”

This is God’s vision for your life! This is what He wants for us and what He offers to us. I had a conversation with a friend just recently where he shared how a few years ago he realized what a mess his life was and how he went on a quest to really understand Jesus and the life that He offers. This was someone who grew up in the church and knew Scripture but was not realizing God’s vision for his life. His life, like Isaiah says in verse 3 was a pile of ashes. Yet, now with God’s help, he is seeing God build something new and beautiful in his life. That is God’s vision for us. A crown of beauty instead of a pile of ashes. 

This is what Jesus talked about in John 10:10 where He says, "The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it to the full." You have have grown up in the church and known God for a long time but may still not be experiencing the fulness of life He offers. Don't settle for the ashes when He wants to give us a crown of beauty. Don't settle for loss when He wants to give us fulness.

CS Lewis put it this way in His book, Mere Christianity:

“Imagine yourself as a living house. God comes in to rebuild that house. At first, perhaps, you can understand what He is doing. He is getting the drains right and stopping the leaks in the roof and so on; you knew that those jobs needed doing and so you are not surprised. But presently He starts knocking the house about in a way that hurts abominably and does not seem to make any sense. What on earth is He up to? The explanation is that He is building quite a different house from the one you thought of – throwing out a new wing here, putting on an extra floor there, running up towers, making courtyards. You thought you were being made into a decent little cottage: but He is building a palace. He intends to come and live in it Himself.”

The result is this great word picture where Isaiah says, we will be called “oaks of righteousness, a planting of the Lord for the display of his splendor.” Instead of brokenhearted, darkness, mourning and ashes, our lives will look like a magnificent oak of righteousness, planted by God himself in order to display the splendor of what He can and does do in broken and needy people. 

The crazy thing is that God’s vision for our lives is better than any vision we could have. He will take your pile of ashes, whatever it is and craft something beautiful from it. From ashes to an oak of righteousness that brings Him glory. I will take that vision any day. All it takes is my willingness to invite Him to transform my life.

Father, I want to be an Oak of Righteousness, planted by you for the display of your splendor. Turn my ashes into a thing of beauty. Amen.

God's kind and compassionate heart

I grew up with a harsh view of God. Perhaps it was my own lack of understanding - I am not blaming anyone for that perception. But, I was afraid of him and I was sure that I could never measure up and that his view of me was always negative and judgmental. I felt that I always needed to prove myself somehow but knew that I always came up short. I doubted His heart for me and I could not have been more wrong. In fact, His heart is always leaning into us with love, concern and compassion.

Hebrews 4:14-16, says this. “Therefore, since we have a great high priest who has ascended into heaven, Jesus the Son of God, let us hold firmly to the faith we profess. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to empathize with our weaknesses, but we have one who has been tempted in every way, just as we are - yet he did not sin. Let us then approach God’s throne of Grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.”

As a human, Jesus faced all the issues we face. He understands our situations and temptations. He knows what it is to live with doubt and despair or joy and success. He had the same relational issues with others that we have. Some embraced him while others vilified him. In becoming a man in the incarnation, he intentionally chose to step into our broken humanity with all the limitations and issues we face. 

But here is an amazing thing. When Jesus went back to heaven, he took with him his body. Now glorified, but the God who created us, became one of us, and died for us will forever keep his  human form because He chooses to identify with us. 

And here is what the writer of Hebrews wants us to know. The same Jesus we read about in the Gospels is as accessible to us today from heaven as he was in the incarnation. His compassion, concern, understanding, mercy, grace, help, forgiveness, acceptance and love are the same today from heaven as they were from Galilee. His heart was for people then and His heart is for you today. He is for us, not against us. He understands us fully. He is available to us constantly.

 

Therefore, “Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.” What do you need today? He is inviting you into his presence. Where are you broken today? He invites you to come to Him for healing. What sin do you struggle with today? He invites you to confess it and find forgiveness. What fears or concerns do you carry in your heart today? He invites you to lay them at His feet. When we come to Jesus, there is no shame but understanding and forgiveness and help.

Don’t buy into lies about God. He is for you not against you. He is available, not distant. He is loving, not harsh. He gets you and he gets me. He understands our weaknesses and empathizes with us. He cares deeply for you. Today! Right now!

My own journey brought me back again and again to the gospels and to those passages where His heart for us is disclosed. Pay attention to them. Live in the grace found there and know that He is for you.

Don't Quit

The Christian life is, as Eugene Peterson so eloquently put it, “A long obedience in the same direction.” It is a marathon, not a sprint and the finish line is that day when we meet Jesus face to face.

But, there are times of fatigue. Times when we just want to take a break, withdraw into ourselves and put aside our long obedience for a while. After all, it takes energy and discipline to keep going in a marathon and in this quest to follow Jesus. All of us have the temptation to slow down in our followership, take a break from the race and focus on what we want rather than on what God wants. Besides, people let us down, even fellow believers. It is easy to become discouraged and tired.

I think this is a special temptation as we age, thinking, we have done our time, done our ministry and now we can relax. Actually it is in these years when we have the most to offer given our experiences and history. It is not the time to slow down in doing good. It is the time to continue our long obedience in the same direction.

This is why Paul writes to the Galatian church with these words during those times when we are tempted to slow down in our long obedience. “Let us not become weary in doing good, for at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we do not give up. Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers” (Galatians 6:9-10).

I find Paul’s words helpful here. He wants us to continue to do good and not give up in doing good for all people but especially those who are believers - our spiritual brothers and sisters. One of the things that Christians should be known for is Tov - the Hebrew word for goodness. Unfortunately that is not always the case. In fact, the amount of vitriol and unkindness among believers can be very discouraging. Just read social media.

But you and I should be known by our goodness and kindness toward others. Acts of kindness toward one another is a character trait of God whose kindness toward us is never ending. When we engage in acts of goodness toward others we follow the example of Jesus who never tires of blessing us in too many ways to count.

This week, think about how you can practice Tov or goodness toward those around you. In fact, pray daily that God would give you at least one opportunity to do good to others in practical and tangible ways. Paul says that if we do, “at the proper time we will reap a harvest if we don’t give up.

Don’t quit. Keep going and you will be blessed as you bless others.

Jesus never tires of blessing us. His faithfulness to us ought to spur our faithfulness to others. Be a source of goodness to someone in your world this week. Encourage them as He encourages you.

The Paths of our Lives

All of us are on a path in life. This is certainly the case in our walk with God. That walk starts with some small step toward Him which leads us to take additional steps toward Him. Each step we take gives us the courage and strength and faith to take another further step in our followership of Him.

Growth in our followership of Jesus does not all happen at once. In fact, there is a profound verse in Proverbs that describes this process. The path of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, shining ever brighter till the full light of day (Proverbs 4:16).

I love the first gleam of dawn. You know that a new day is arriving. In the darkness there is a glimmer of light after the darkness of night. Think about the first time you chose to move closer to God. What was the first step you took? What was it that prompted you to take that first step? How did it feel to let go of your own life and choose His life over yours? What stirred in your heart as you took what was a real step of faith. What was it like to take that first step toward him? Why did you choose to do so?

In taking that step of faith you started down a path of followership, but where we started is not where God wants us to end. He wants us to walk down a path that shines every brighter till the full light of day. That is a beautiful description of growth in our spiritual lives. It starts small, like the first glimmer of dawn and keeps getting brighter till it is like the full light of day. That is God’s vision for our lives. It is not static but growing and expanding and getting ever larger.

What is the key to moving from that first glimmer to the full light of day spiritually? Simply put, it is that we follow Him more closely each day. That we delight in His presence more regularly, take greater risks of faith and obedience and are even willing to change our lives to bring them into conformity with His. Each new step takes us from the first light of dawn to a place of greater light.

None of this happens overnight. And that is the point of the writer of this Proverb. In fact there is something deeply beautiful about that first step of faith and obedience we take toward Jesus, no matter how small. It is like the first glimmer of light in the morning that promises a new day. That first step, no matter how small, is something to celebrate.

But even more beautiful is each step we take after that first step because our lives move from a glimmer of God to the full light of God as we choose a long obedience in the same direction. Those who keep pressing forward and go deeper in their love and followership of Jesus shine like the full brightness of the day.

That is what I want and I suspect that is what you want. Let's go from the glimmer to the full light - a little more each day as we press forward in loving Jesus and allowing Him to transform our lives. It is a beautiful path. Not always easy but beautiful.

Father: Thank you for this beautiful picture of my own life. Help me to follow you closer each day so that I move from that first step of followership to a deeper and deeper followership. From the first glimmer of a new day to the full light of day. Amen

A word that has always bothered me

It has always made me wonder when I read a certain word in the New Testament. About God, I understand the meaning of the word. About you and me, especially me, I don’t. That word is “saint.” 

In Philippians, 1:1, Paul opens his letter to the church at Philippi with the words, “To all the saints in Christ Jesus at Philippi.” In his letter to the Colossians, he says, “We always thank God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, when we pray for you, because we have heard of your faith in Christ Jesus and of the love you have for all the saints.” In Ephesians 1:1, he writes, “Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God. To the saints in Ephesus, the faithful in Christ Jesus.”

The very thought that I am a saint makes me feel uncomfortable because I know me. I know the broken, messed up version of myself, some of which others see and some that I alone see. In either case, I don’t deserve the title “saint,” but there it is in plain sight as Paul writes to the churches. He calls God’s people saints. 

The word “saint” is hagios in Greek and it means “different, otherness or holy.” It also means “set apart”. God is hagios, something we understand, but us? Here is the reason that Paul refers to us as saints. Listen to his words in 1 Corinthians 2. “To the church of God in Corinth, to those sanctified in Christ Jesus and called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ - their Lord and ours.”

There are two things that stand out here. First, when we come to salvation in Christ and make Him Lord of our lives, he sanctifies us. He cleanses us, wiping away our sins of the past and making us new creatures. And then, He calls us to be holy, to be set apart, to be like Him in our character and our life. So there is the reality of His divine work in our life and then there is the call, on the basis of that gift of cleansing and renewal, to become like Him.  Remember that hagios means otherness. We are different because of His work in our hearts and we in turn are called to live differently. In the words of Paul, we are “called to be holy, together with all those everywhere who call on the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.”

We are not sinless but we are called to sin less. We are called to become more and more like the Lord Jesus who saved us. Through the help of the Holy Spirit this is possible because that Holy Spirit is God who dwells in us. Therefore Paul says in Ephesians 4:1, “As a prisoner for the Lord, then, I urge you to live a life worthy of the calling you have received.” Wow. He says later in Ephesians 5:1-2, “Be imitators of God, therefore, as dearly loved children and live a life of love, just as Christ loved us and gave himself up as a fragrant offering and sacrifice to God.”

In those words we see the key to living like a saint. It’s very simple. We imitate God. We live a life of love toward Him and others just as He did toward us. We bring our attitudes, words, thoughts and actions into alignment with His. We are saints by definition. And we are called to live as saints by imitating him.

“Father. Thank you for the work you have done in my heart and life. You have made me a saint, one set apart for yourself. Today, help me to imitate you so that I also live like a saint. Amen”

Where Jesus tells us about His own heart for us

 

I meet many people today who have burdened hearts. In fact, I am often one of them. The cares and corners we carry around, the failures that lurk in our backgrounds, the regrets we have or the present challenges we face all conspire to burden our hearts and weigh us down. Even as you hear this, I am sure your own struggles and burdens come to your mind.

There are 89 chapters in the four gospels but only one place where Jesus explicitly tells us about His own heart. And what He says about His own heart has a direct connection to our own burdened hearts. His explanation of His heart is found in Matthew 11:29-30.

Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.

Did you see what Jesus says about His heart? “I am gentle and humble in heart.”  These are two characteristics of Christ’s heart that we don’t often think about. The word gentle describes a savior who is kind, compassionate, understanding and gentle in his dealings with us. He will never hurt us or treat us badly. He is a God of mercy and grace for all who approach Him.

The word humble or lowly means that He is always accessible to us. Think of the adjectives that describe God like holiness and righteousness and there are many more. Here is the God of the universe saying to us, You can approach me at any time with any issue because my heart is a heart of humility. Gentleness is who God is. Humble is who God is. It is what makes it so inviting to come to him with our burdened hearts.

And what does He do for our hearts? He gives us rest as we allow Him to carry the burdens that we cannot carry. He invites us into a life of obedience so that we literally find rest for our souls. And because of his gentleness and humility, His yoke is easy and His burden is light. In fact, He loves to reach out and embrace, to heal and lift up the most broken people, the most broken life and come alongside those who carry around loads of pain. His gentleness and humility brings healing and rest for our souls.

Where do you need rest for your soul today? Would you simply come into the presence of the most loving and gentle God and ask Him to give you rest? He will. It is His promise and it is His desire to heal your wounds, carry your burdens, lighten your heart and give your soul rest.