“Brokenness is the shattering of my self-will – the absolute surrender of my will to the will of God. It is saying “Yes, Lord!” – no resistance, no chafing, no stubbornness – simply submitting myself to His direction and will in my life.” Nancy Leigh DeMoss
I, Simon Peter, am a servant and apostle of Jesus Christ. I write this to you whose experience with God is as life-changing as ours, all due to our God's straight dealing and the intervention of our God and Savior, Jesus Christ. Grace and peace to you many times over as you deepen in your experience with God and Jesus, our Master.
(2 Peter 1- The Message)
Next blogs coming from Taxco, Mexico......
Please pray:
1. For safe travels and safety while I'm there
2. Interactions with my ISU classmates and host family
3. That I would be able to learn Spanish well and effectively communicate with others
4. For my time with Jesus this summer- that I would be broken, and be brought to greater depths of worship and joy
My prayer for you:
My response is to get down on my knees before the Father, this magnificent Father who parcels out all heaven and earth. I ask him to strengthen you by his Spirit—not a brute strength but a glorious inner strength—that Christ will live in you as you open the door and invite him in. And I ask him that with both feet planted firmly on love, you'll be able to take in with all followers of Jesus the extravagant dimensions of Christ's love. Reach out and experience the breadth! Test its length! Plumb the depths! Rise to the heights! Live full lives, full in the fullness of God.
Eph. 3:14
Tuesday, May 25, 2010
Thursday, May 20, 2010
Cries from Mount Mizar
My soul is cast down within me; therefore I REMEMBER YOU FROM THE LAND OF JORDAN AND OF HERMON, FROM MOUNT MIZAR.
In Psalm 42:6, David paints a picture of three different types of scenarios one might find themselves in.
1. The land of Jordan- a place of great floods (the swelling of Jordan)- a terrifying place
2. Hermon- the land of the Hermonites- a place of lions and leopards
3. Mount Mizar- Mizar which means “littleness”. Or little hill
With these three different picture painted, reread the verse.
“I will remember you Lord during the great floods in life where I am completely taken and overcome by circumstances and events.
“I will remember you Lord when I feel I am in a place of lions and leopards- when I am being attacked by the enemy, by sin, my own emotions, when I feel I am trapped by my own bondage.”
“I will remember you Lord- from the little hill.
“So just where we are, from the place of our little trial, little pain, little difficulty, little temptation (if temptation can ever be little) let us remember our God.”- Amy Carmichael
A lot of times I’m just a cry from Mount Mizar. In light of other events and situations, my circumstance may not be a cry from the floods of Jordan, it may not even be feeling like I’m trapped in Hermon, but rather stuck on this “little hill” of Mizar.
And the promise?
“By day the Lord commands his steadfast love, and at night his song is with me.”
Relief is coming. Victory. Peace. Refreshment. The Lord made a promise. A promise to command his steadfast love toward us. Even on our little hill.
"But God is the God of the waves and the billows, and they are still His when they come over us; and again and again we have proved that the overwhelming thing does not overwhelm. Once more by His interposition deliverance came. We were cast down, but not destroyed." Amy Carmichael
Psalm 42:7- Deep calls to deep at the roar of your waterfalls; all your breakers and your waves have gone over me.
"Bare heights of loneliness...a wilderness whose burning winds sweep over glowing sands, what are they to HIM? Even there He can refresh us, even there He can renew us." Amy Carmichael
Sometimes I feel pathetic if I would share my struggles or what I’m feeling. It seems so insignificant or ridiculous. I found so much hope in this Psalm this week as the Lord reminded me-
It doesn’t have to be drowning in the Jordan to come to Him.
It doesn’t have to be stuck or trapped in the land of Hermon.
Come- from the Mount Mizars. Seek and find. Nothing is “too pathetic.” Or “too small” for the Lord to care about. It doesn’t have to be a big crisis. He wants me to come with everything. Every doubt, fear, worry, sin- He’s waiting with open doors to deal with it all with his steadfast love. Even on our little hill.
And another promise to those standing on Mount Mizar longing for the Lord? Those lost and drowning in the floods? Trapped by sin?
Come. Come to the Cross. He promises JOY.
Ecc. 2:26- For to the one who pleases Him, God has given wisdom and knowledge and joy….
Sunday, May 16, 2010
“Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, 4 who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. 5For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too….”
1 Corinthians 1:2-5
This past week I had a battle with a child. It was over whether or not they could keep the toad they found in my backyard. We garden a lot at our house, and these little creatures eat the bugs that like to get at the fruit in our gardens. Try explaining that to a child who really, really wants to keep that toad and make it a new pet. I really didn’t expect it to be a war of wills, but after 10 minutes of explaining the child stormed off and for the next while wouldn’t speak a word to me. I could have given the child the toad. I would have avoided an argument that carried well over into a few hours. At the expense of the toad, my garden, and the fruit, I could have given in to make that child happy for about 30 minutes. And in the ridiculousness of the argument, I found the Lord teaching me more through a toad and a little boy, than anything I think that child remembered.
Here I am- a battle of the wills a lot of days with the Lord. Wanting something that will make me happy for about 30 minutes. And arguing, complaining, storming off when life just doesn’t go quite that way.
One of the most loving things the Lord has done for me this past year has been to give me the blessing of trials. I never thought I would be saying that. And a lot of days when I’m in the middle of things I don’t always have this attitude. I still very much wrestle and argue with the Lord about why I can’t have that “toad.” But one phrase “my good and His glory” has been the theme phrase of my life this past year.
Over and over and over- I have seen the Lord gently say “no” and take something. Or He has said “wait,” and has given me something painful in the process to teach me something in my heart.
2 Corinthians 1 talks about the purpose of trials and afflictions to bring us to this place of personal comfort from God. A place only experienced in that great depth through the process of pain and struggling and afflictions. And for years, my mindset always stopped at this place.
‘It’s all about me. God meeting ME here. God doing something for ME here. This being all about ME.”
I didn’t look at where the rest of this life lesson went-
“, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
So that I can share the comfort I have found with others!
I think of all the people the Lord has brought into my life this past year. And there has very much so been a reoccurring theme in those I have met. Again and again, when you start getting deep with people- it’s been the same exact struggle in their life as mine. As I think back to all the conversations, prayers, late nights, tears, and struggles- over and over this past year as I have talked with people it’s been “Oh, you struggle with that too??” moments.
I had the most random conversation with a classmate in the hallway to only find out 30 minutes later we struggled with the exact same thing in life. The difference? I had Jesus and she didn’t.
And let me make the claim- that makes the world of difference.
Psalm 119:5- My comfort in my sufferings is this: Your promise preserves my life.
Matthew 5:4- Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
There’s no other explanation for why I’m on the path I am, other than the immense grace of my Lord. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be out trying to play the games and seeking fulfillment in people, things, ideas. Other than I’ve experienced a taste of the satisfying water of life.
What’s more incredible and absolutely ridiculous- is that even though I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good- some days I still insist on fighting for that toad, still demand having life my way, go off running in other places to meet those needs, tell God that I just don’t believe He can be enough for me this time, this day, in this situation or trial. It’s stupid. It’s like crying because I can’t have some gumball in the grocery store.
Psalm 119:76- May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
Isaiah 49:13- Shout for joy, O heavens! Rejoice O earth, burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on his afflictions.
I have seen Him work out over and over and over events in my life for my good and His glory. I have seen him take the pain, the tears, the struggles, and bring me to a place where I would never have been had he done things “my way.” And He’s used those moments to allow me to understand a glimpse of other’s pain and share the same comfort of the Lord I have experienced. I may not understand exactly their situation- but I know some of those emotions and struggles- and that has allowed me to connect with people I never would have if God wouldn’t have done that in my life.
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. (Message)
He is faithful in the afflictions. He is the God of comfort. He is the Lord who Redeems. A refuge in times of trial. The grace that He offers- incredible. It’s seeing people lose a child and still raise their hands and praise Him for His faithfulness, a broken person crying out to Jesus for freedom from the addictions, a persecuted believer preaching the gospel to the prison guards, a sex slave writing Psalm 27 on the wall, a Haitian from the rumble singing hymns….. That’s a comfort I can’t describe in words. You have to experience it for yourself. It sounds crazy and ridiculous. Oh, but come and taste and see what He offers for those who come to the stream!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwfHkZOU1_o
This is our God- Chris Tomlin
A refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm
This is our God
He will wipe away your tears and return your
wasted years
This is our God
Oh... this is our God
A father to the orphan, a healer to the broken
This is our God
And he brings peace to our madness and comfort
in our sadness
This is our God
Oh... this is our God
this is the one we have waited for
Oh... this is our God
A fountain for the thirsty, a lover for the lonely
This is our God
He brings glory to the humble and crowns for the
faithful
This is our God
1 Corinthians 1:2-5
This past week I had a battle with a child. It was over whether or not they could keep the toad they found in my backyard. We garden a lot at our house, and these little creatures eat the bugs that like to get at the fruit in our gardens. Try explaining that to a child who really, really wants to keep that toad and make it a new pet. I really didn’t expect it to be a war of wills, but after 10 minutes of explaining the child stormed off and for the next while wouldn’t speak a word to me. I could have given the child the toad. I would have avoided an argument that carried well over into a few hours. At the expense of the toad, my garden, and the fruit, I could have given in to make that child happy for about 30 minutes. And in the ridiculousness of the argument, I found the Lord teaching me more through a toad and a little boy, than anything I think that child remembered.
Here I am- a battle of the wills a lot of days with the Lord. Wanting something that will make me happy for about 30 minutes. And arguing, complaining, storming off when life just doesn’t go quite that way.
One of the most loving things the Lord has done for me this past year has been to give me the blessing of trials. I never thought I would be saying that. And a lot of days when I’m in the middle of things I don’t always have this attitude. I still very much wrestle and argue with the Lord about why I can’t have that “toad.” But one phrase “my good and His glory” has been the theme phrase of my life this past year.
Over and over and over- I have seen the Lord gently say “no” and take something. Or He has said “wait,” and has given me something painful in the process to teach me something in my heart.
2 Corinthians 1 talks about the purpose of trials and afflictions to bring us to this place of personal comfort from God. A place only experienced in that great depth through the process of pain and struggling and afflictions. And for years, my mindset always stopped at this place.
‘It’s all about me. God meeting ME here. God doing something for ME here. This being all about ME.”
I didn’t look at where the rest of this life lesson went-
“, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God.”
So that I can share the comfort I have found with others!
I think of all the people the Lord has brought into my life this past year. And there has very much so been a reoccurring theme in those I have met. Again and again, when you start getting deep with people- it’s been the same exact struggle in their life as mine. As I think back to all the conversations, prayers, late nights, tears, and struggles- over and over this past year as I have talked with people it’s been “Oh, you struggle with that too??” moments.
I had the most random conversation with a classmate in the hallway to only find out 30 minutes later we struggled with the exact same thing in life. The difference? I had Jesus and she didn’t.
And let me make the claim- that makes the world of difference.
Psalm 119:5- My comfort in my sufferings is this: Your promise preserves my life.
Matthew 5:4- Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.
There’s no other explanation for why I’m on the path I am, other than the immense grace of my Lord. There’s no reason I shouldn’t be out trying to play the games and seeking fulfillment in people, things, ideas. Other than I’ve experienced a taste of the satisfying water of life.
What’s more incredible and absolutely ridiculous- is that even though I have tasted and seen that the Lord is good- some days I still insist on fighting for that toad, still demand having life my way, go off running in other places to meet those needs, tell God that I just don’t believe He can be enough for me this time, this day, in this situation or trial. It’s stupid. It’s like crying because I can’t have some gumball in the grocery store.
Psalm 119:76- May your unfailing love be my comfort, according to your promise to your servant.
Isaiah 49:13- Shout for joy, O heavens! Rejoice O earth, burst into song, O mountains! For the Lord comforts His people and will have compassion on his afflictions.
I have seen Him work out over and over and over events in my life for my good and His glory. I have seen him take the pain, the tears, the struggles, and bring me to a place where I would never have been had he done things “my way.” And He’s used those moments to allow me to understand a glimpse of other’s pain and share the same comfort of the Lord I have experienced. I may not understand exactly their situation- but I know some of those emotions and struggles- and that has allowed me to connect with people I never would have if God wouldn’t have done that in my life.
All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. (Message)
He is faithful in the afflictions. He is the God of comfort. He is the Lord who Redeems. A refuge in times of trial. The grace that He offers- incredible. It’s seeing people lose a child and still raise their hands and praise Him for His faithfulness, a broken person crying out to Jesus for freedom from the addictions, a persecuted believer preaching the gospel to the prison guards, a sex slave writing Psalm 27 on the wall, a Haitian from the rumble singing hymns….. That’s a comfort I can’t describe in words. You have to experience it for yourself. It sounds crazy and ridiculous. Oh, but come and taste and see what He offers for those who come to the stream!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dwfHkZOU1_o
This is our God- Chris Tomlin
A refuge for the poor, a shelter from the storm
This is our God
He will wipe away your tears and return your
wasted years
This is our God
Oh... this is our God
A father to the orphan, a healer to the broken
This is our God
And he brings peace to our madness and comfort
in our sadness
This is our God
Oh... this is our God
this is the one we have waited for
Oh... this is our God
A fountain for the thirsty, a lover for the lonely
This is our God
He brings glory to the humble and crowns for the
faithful
This is our God
Wednesday, May 12, 2010
Abiding
"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken."Live in me. Make your home in me just as I do in you. In the same way that a branch can't bear grapes by itself but only by being joined to the vine, you can't bear fruit unless you are joined with me. "I am the Vine, you are the branches. When you're joined with me and I with you, the relation intimate and organic, the harvest is sure to be abundant. Separated, you can't produce a thing. Anyone who separates from me is deadwood, gathered up and thrown on the bonfire. But if you make yourselves at home with me and my words are at home in you, you can be sure that whatever you ask will be listened to and acted upon. This is how my Father shows who he is—when you produce grapes, when you mature as my disciples.
I learn things the best when I can see a physical representation of the lesson that is being taught. I really like the parables of Jesus and the analogies he would so often use with physical objects around him. In John 15- I would have been completely lost with all the words and phrases “abide in me,” if not for the mental picture Jesus gave to the disciples to illustrate his point.
Looking outside- as we see the leaves on the trees, flowers blooming, “life” is a very easy mental picture to have of this time of year. But as you start doing some yard work, the one thing everyone has left over from the winter is dead sticks. What happens that these sticks are no longer a part of the tree, and are good for nothing except to be tossed on a burn pile?
1 John 3 is a chapter that deals with how believers are to love one another, to walk in truth and make no practice of sinning, and finally the last section which speaks of how to practically love one another. But again, as in John 15, this idea of “abiding in Christ.”
“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen or known him.”
Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
This idea of abiding in Christ is painting all over the Scriptures.
Two different aspects of abiding in Jesus are painted in this passage. First, those who abide in Christ cannot continue repeating in sin, and secondly those who are truly abiding in Christ are loving one another.
I’d like to take you for a bit on a journey with me to the Chronicles of Narnia and a scene between Aslan and Lucy in the following dialogue:
"Are you thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm DYING of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.
"May I-could I-would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill
gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked
the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly
frantic.
"Will you promise not to-do anything to me, if I come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step
nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors,
cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting,
nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"O dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and
look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
Picture walking beside Jesus and he stops beside the tree and gives the illustration of the vine and branches. “Without being joined to be you can’t produce a thing.”
Sometimes the conversation between me and the Lord goes something like Jill and Aslan,
“Well, perhaps then I’ll find something a little easier. This pruning sounds terrifying. Could I maybe still abide in you and get the benefits but not have you do that pruning part?”
“I make no such promise to that.” –Jesus
“Will you take over my life?”- Me
“Anyone who follows me must take up his Cross and follow me daily.”
“Oh, that sounds so hard. I daren’t take such a load.”
“Then you will surely die.”
“Oh my, then I must go and look for another way to this!”
“There is only one road.”
How much I miss out on in life by my refusal to be truly abiding in the Vine. So much joy I lose because I am stuck in my own games of excuses for why I continue in sin, why it’s “too hard” to love that one person, why that one area of pruning the Lord wants to do just “isn’t necessary.” Sitting there dying of thirst- but my own stubbornness and pride screaming at me to continue the conversation and arguments instead of laying it down and going to the living water.
The message version of the end of this chapter says:
"My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. "
“His deep and abiding presence.” That’s what we miss when we refuse to abide in the Vine. Dead sticks worth nothing but to be thrown on a burn pile.
It's not some far off concept. It's like walking in the truth- day to day choices and decisions. How much of my heart does the Lord have? Is He really the Lord of my thoughts, my time, money, choices, motives, love toward others, giving, etc. Am I allowing Him to do His pruning in my life? Am I standing looking at the stream, talking about it, longing for it, but never really going there?
Or am I going there even though there's no such promises it will be safe, or comfortable, but knowing the living water is the only way to true joy, satisfaction, and salvation?
How well are we doing at abiding in the Vine? I would venture to say we could see the answer by looking around us and asking really honestly- how well am I loving others and how much am I fleeing from sin?
I learn things the best when I can see a physical representation of the lesson that is being taught. I really like the parables of Jesus and the analogies he would so often use with physical objects around him. In John 15- I would have been completely lost with all the words and phrases “abide in me,” if not for the mental picture Jesus gave to the disciples to illustrate his point.
Looking outside- as we see the leaves on the trees, flowers blooming, “life” is a very easy mental picture to have of this time of year. But as you start doing some yard work, the one thing everyone has left over from the winter is dead sticks. What happens that these sticks are no longer a part of the tree, and are good for nothing except to be tossed on a burn pile?
1 John 3 is a chapter that deals with how believers are to love one another, to walk in truth and make no practice of sinning, and finally the last section which speaks of how to practically love one another. But again, as in John 15, this idea of “abiding in Christ.”
“No one who abides in him keeps on sinning; no one who keeps on sinning has either seen or known him.”
Whoever keeps his commandments abides in God, and God in him. And by this we know that he abides in us, by the Spirit whom he has given us.
This idea of abiding in Christ is painting all over the Scriptures.
Two different aspects of abiding in Jesus are painted in this passage. First, those who abide in Christ cannot continue repeating in sin, and secondly those who are truly abiding in Christ are loving one another.
I’d like to take you for a bit on a journey with me to the Chronicles of Narnia and a scene between Aslan and Lucy in the following dialogue:
"Are you thirsty?" said the Lion.
"I'm DYING of thirst," said Jill.
"Then drink," said the Lion.
"May I-could I-would you mind going away while I do?" said Jill.
The Lion answered this only by a look and a very low growl. And as Jill
gazed at its motionless bulk, she realized that she might as well have asked
the whole mountain to move aside for her convenience.
The delicious rippling noise of the stream was driving her nearly
frantic.
"Will you promise not to-do anything to me, if I come?" said Jill.
"I make no promise," said the Lion.
Jill was so thirsty now that, without noticing it, she had come a step
nearer.
"Do you eat girls?" she said.
"I have swallowed up girls and boys, women and men, kings and emperors,
cities and realms," said the Lion. It didn't say this as if it were boasting,
nor as if it were sorry, nor as if it were angry. It just said it.
"I daren't come and drink," said Jill.
"Then you will die of thirst," said the Lion.
"O dear!" said Jill, coming another step nearer. "I suppose I must go and
look for another stream then."
"There is no other stream," said the Lion.
Picture walking beside Jesus and he stops beside the tree and gives the illustration of the vine and branches. “Without being joined to be you can’t produce a thing.”
Sometimes the conversation between me and the Lord goes something like Jill and Aslan,
“Well, perhaps then I’ll find something a little easier. This pruning sounds terrifying. Could I maybe still abide in you and get the benefits but not have you do that pruning part?”
“I make no such promise to that.” –Jesus
“Will you take over my life?”- Me
“Anyone who follows me must take up his Cross and follow me daily.”
“Oh, that sounds so hard. I daren’t take such a load.”
“Then you will surely die.”
“Oh my, then I must go and look for another way to this!”
“There is only one road.”
How much I miss out on in life by my refusal to be truly abiding in the Vine. So much joy I lose because I am stuck in my own games of excuses for why I continue in sin, why it’s “too hard” to love that one person, why that one area of pruning the Lord wants to do just “isn’t necessary.” Sitting there dying of thirst- but my own stubbornness and pride screaming at me to continue the conversation and arguments instead of laying it down and going to the living water.
The message version of the end of this chapter says:
"My dear children, let's not just talk about love; let's practice real love. This is the only way we'll know we're living truly, living in God's reality. It's also the way to shut down debilitating self-criticism, even when there is something to it. For God is greater than our worried hearts and knows more about us than we do ourselves. And friends, once that's taken care of and we're no longer accusing or condemning ourselves, we're bold and free before God! We're able to stretch our hands out and receive what we asked for because we're doing what he said, doing what pleases him. Again, this is God's command: to believe in his personally named Son, Jesus Christ. He told us to love each other, in line with the original command. As we keep his commands, we live deeply and surely in him, and he lives in us. And this is how we experience his deep and abiding presence in us: by the Spirit he gave us. "
“His deep and abiding presence.” That’s what we miss when we refuse to abide in the Vine. Dead sticks worth nothing but to be thrown on a burn pile.
It's not some far off concept. It's like walking in the truth- day to day choices and decisions. How much of my heart does the Lord have? Is He really the Lord of my thoughts, my time, money, choices, motives, love toward others, giving, etc. Am I allowing Him to do His pruning in my life? Am I standing looking at the stream, talking about it, longing for it, but never really going there?
Or am I going there even though there's no such promises it will be safe, or comfortable, but knowing the living water is the only way to true joy, satisfaction, and salvation?
How well are we doing at abiding in the Vine? I would venture to say we could see the answer by looking around us and asking really honestly- how well am I loving others and how much am I fleeing from sin?
Monday, May 10, 2010
Walking in Truth
Not to care about truth is not to care about God. To love God passionately is to love truth passionately. Being God-centered in life means being truth-driven in ministry. What is not true is not of God. What is false is anti-God. Indifference to the truth is indifference to the mind of God. Pretense is rebellion against reality and what makes reality is God. Our concern with truth is simply an echo of our concern with God.
John Piper
3 John 1:3-4
“For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
Picture this scenario. You’re sitting at a table in a coffee shop and two people that you respect very highly- who are older than you and have played a very influential part in your life walk in and take a seat a table over. You then realize they don’t see you sitting there, but they start a deep conversation so you don’t think it polite to interrupt. All of sudden you hear your name brought up and they begin talking- about you. One of them pulls out a book- and to your horror as he/ she begins reading you realize they are reading every event in the past week of your life. 24 hours, 7 days, every event, every thought, every motive that has taken place in your life the past week. You can’t run over and grab the book- it’s too late now.
After reading through the past week you sit there in stunned silence, with many emotions. Slowly, they close the book and look at each other.
Would you expect to hear this:
“I have no greater joy than to hear that _________ is walking in truth?”
In 3 John and in 2 John as well Paul makes the claim about the believers that he has found great joy in hearing they are walking in truth.
2 John:1: 4,6
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning so that you should walk in it.
Now- if someone read the events of our lives for even the past 24 hours, they would find a lot of mess, amen? At least they would in my life. There’s no way someone could read the events of the past week in my life and be able to say “she has been perfectly walking in truth.” Of course not- that wouldn’t be true for any of us.
But if they could look at the past week overall- would they be able to make the claim for my life, “Yes, I have found great joy that Emily is walking in truth?”
It’s very sobering. In these passages, Paul addresses the lives of believers on a day to day, moment by moment basis. As it comes down to the practicalities of Christian living. Even Christ Himself found this issue important enough to pray in one of his last prayers in the garden,
John 17:17- Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth.
Sanctify them in truth- may they be growing in holiness, in purity, in worship, in service, in humbleness, in love. May they be separating from evil and no longer participating in sin. May they be becoming more and more like you Father! Every day.
The Word is the standard to which everything else must be tested and compared. An analogy I heard this weekend was that of a screen door- using the Word as a screen door to test everything that comes into our lives. Filtering out what is evil and sinful and not helping us become more like Christ, and letting that in that is of truth and in according to the Word.
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
How I wish sin just affected me and not the lives of those around me. But it never works that way. When I chose to not walk and live in truth- I am affecting all of those around me. When I refuse to walk and live in the light of the Cross- I am ultimately showing others a lie.
It is a serious responsibility to walk in truth. How much more serious to refuse to walk in the light?
Are we becoming more and more like Jesus every day?
Oh, not perfectly as none of us are. But more and more and more- becoming more holy, more loving, more passionate about the Word and truth, more giving, more surrendering. Running to the Cross and turning our back on sin, fellowshipping with believers who will really hold us accountable and ask the hard questions, checking out motives and asking what Jesus thinks about every aspect of our life, becoming more forgiving, the list goes on and on.
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)
We show God our love for Him by whether or not we walk in truth. We can’t be half in darkness and half in light. It’s one or the other. Walking in truth is not burdensome. Yes, some days the Cross seems heavy. And yet as said by A.W. Tozer:
________________________________________
In every Christian's heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.
John Piper
3 John 1:3-4
“For I rejoiced greatly when the brothers came and testified to your truth, as indeed you are walking in the truth. I have no greater joy than to hear that my children are walking in the truth.”
Picture this scenario. You’re sitting at a table in a coffee shop and two people that you respect very highly- who are older than you and have played a very influential part in your life walk in and take a seat a table over. You then realize they don’t see you sitting there, but they start a deep conversation so you don’t think it polite to interrupt. All of sudden you hear your name brought up and they begin talking- about you. One of them pulls out a book- and to your horror as he/ she begins reading you realize they are reading every event in the past week of your life. 24 hours, 7 days, every event, every thought, every motive that has taken place in your life the past week. You can’t run over and grab the book- it’s too late now.
After reading through the past week you sit there in stunned silence, with many emotions. Slowly, they close the book and look at each other.
Would you expect to hear this:
“I have no greater joy than to hear that _________ is walking in truth?”
In 3 John and in 2 John as well Paul makes the claim about the believers that he has found great joy in hearing they are walking in truth.
2 John:1: 4,6
I rejoiced greatly to find some of your children walking in the truth, just as we were commanded by the Father.
And this is love, that we walk according to his commandments; this is the commandment, just as you have heard from the beginning so that you should walk in it.
Now- if someone read the events of our lives for even the past 24 hours, they would find a lot of mess, amen? At least they would in my life. There’s no way someone could read the events of the past week in my life and be able to say “she has been perfectly walking in truth.” Of course not- that wouldn’t be true for any of us.
But if they could look at the past week overall- would they be able to make the claim for my life, “Yes, I have found great joy that Emily is walking in truth?”
It’s very sobering. In these passages, Paul addresses the lives of believers on a day to day, moment by moment basis. As it comes down to the practicalities of Christian living. Even Christ Himself found this issue important enough to pray in one of his last prayers in the garden,
John 17:17- Sanctify them in truth; your word is truth.
Sanctify them in truth- may they be growing in holiness, in purity, in worship, in service, in humbleness, in love. May they be separating from evil and no longer participating in sin. May they be becoming more and more like you Father! Every day.
The Word is the standard to which everything else must be tested and compared. An analogy I heard this weekend was that of a screen door- using the Word as a screen door to test everything that comes into our lives. Filtering out what is evil and sinful and not helping us become more like Christ, and letting that in that is of truth and in according to the Word.
“Little children, let us not love in word or talk, but in deed and in truth.” (1 John 3:18)
How I wish sin just affected me and not the lives of those around me. But it never works that way. When I chose to not walk and live in truth- I am affecting all of those around me. When I refuse to walk and live in the light of the Cross- I am ultimately showing others a lie.
It is a serious responsibility to walk in truth. How much more serious to refuse to walk in the light?
Are we becoming more and more like Jesus every day?
Oh, not perfectly as none of us are. But more and more and more- becoming more holy, more loving, more passionate about the Word and truth, more giving, more surrendering. Running to the Cross and turning our back on sin, fellowshipping with believers who will really hold us accountable and ask the hard questions, checking out motives and asking what Jesus thinks about every aspect of our life, becoming more forgiving, the list goes on and on.
“For this is the love of God, that we keep his commandments. And his commandments are not burdensome.” (1 John 5:3)
We show God our love for Him by whether or not we walk in truth. We can’t be half in darkness and half in light. It’s one or the other. Walking in truth is not burdensome. Yes, some days the Cross seems heavy. And yet as said by A.W. Tozer:
________________________________________
In every Christian's heart there is a cross and a throne, and the Christian is on the throne till he puts himself on the cross; if he refuses the cross, he remains on the throne. Perhaps this is at the bottom of the backsliding and worldliness among gospel believers today. We want to be saved, but we insist that Christ do all the dying. No cross for us, no dethronement, no dying. We remain king within the little kingdom of Mansoul and wear our tinsel crown with all the pride of a Caesar; but we doom ourselves to shadows and weakness and spiritual sterility.
As Christ Himself in the throneroom today goes before the Father and intercedes for us- Oh how I long for Him to be able to say "Yes, Father- our daughter Emily is walking in the truth."
May we walk in truth, bearing the Cross- allowing Christ to be Lord of the throne on every decision that we make. May we run and cling to truth as our life depends on it. May we hate every area of sin in our lives and run to and love righteousness. May we live a life so that other can truly say “I have no greater joy than to hear that _______ is walking in truth.”
Friday, May 7, 2010
Promises of God
“Over and over again, He communicates His glory and He communicates His might and He communicates His power. And what ends up happening in those dark nights of the soul is we want to forget all God has historically done for us and all the testimonies of others that we've seen Him come through in. We want to forget the testimony of the person that's suffered and came to know Christ so deeply. In that moment, we forget. In the moment where it's our pain, where it's our frustration, where it's our fear, where we feel stagnant and wore out, we want to forget the testimony of the saints and we want to accuse God of failing us. And in that moment, what we see from the story is that God's going to lovingly discipline you in that moment. In that moment, God's going to lovingly say, “Alright, I'll receive that, I'll hear you. But no man gets to stand in front of My throne room and shake his fist at Me. So We're going to break you down. We'll humble your heart. Very gently, because I love you, not with a baseball bat but with a scalpel, I want to show you that I'm God so I'm going to have to cut some things out here.” And it seems like the humble, the one who through tears says, “I don't understand. I'm trying to trust You. I'm trying to believe and I don't understand. I don't understand how this is getting me good. I don't understand how this is working my completion until the end. And I don't understand how to beat the sin in my life despite the fact that You've said I've got a way out. Show me the way out because I don't see it. Help me.”
- Matt Chandler
Psalm 31:
(vs.7) I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hands of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.
(Vs 14-15)- But I trust in you, O Lord; I say “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand.
(vs. 19)- Oh how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you- which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.
There are just some days when the promises of the Lord seem absolutely ridiculous and so far off. When the distractions of this world are screaming loudly, and the calling of the Spirit gets lost in the chaos. Take yesterday for example- I sat down to do my time with the Lord and was so distracted with all of the things I needed to get done, that the next thing I knew it was time to leave for my next scheduled appointment. By the end of the day I was exhausted- physically and spiritually as I had not really been in the Word and meditating on Scripture or spending time in communication with the Lord in prayer. It was a “failure day.” But then take into consideration a few days ago- when I had spent hours in the Word, taken my prayer walk, and felt like a “victory day.” Both of those, a “good day” and a “bad day” in comparison to another day this week of feeling completely overwhelmed with the depravity of my own heart- face to face with the ugliness of my sin, seeing very clearly the games I was trying to play with God, and being at the place where I could do nothing but cry out to the Lord to deliver me from my pride and sin so deep in my heart. Knowing I need to change some things in my life, I need to re-surrender issues, but feeling I had no idea where to go with any of it.
That’s when I “discovered” Psalm 31 this week. In the mess of my own heart, the cycles and chains of my own sin. Once again undergoing the discipline and “surgery” from the Lord to make me more like Himself.
“But I trust in you…. My times are in your hand.” Every event, every circumstance, every fear, emotion, doubt, insecurity, present, past, future- my times are all in his hands. But the question is how trustworthy is this God that asks me to place all of life into his hands?
Joshua 21:45-
“Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”
Joshua 23:14-15
“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you…”
I’ve broken a lot of promises I have made to people. I’ve been hurt by a lot of broken promises others have made to me. Never have I had a friend of whom I can say “not one word of all the promises they have ever made to me has all come to pass.” People let you down, they fail you, my sin and their sin creates problems and hurt and messes. But to have a God of whom it is said “not one word of all the good promises has failed” – that’s incredible. I don’t understand it. A lot of times I doubt truths that are so often quoted like Romans 8:28- All things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.”
It sounds ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong- it’s one of the easiest verses to quote to others who are struggling, to just throw it out there in conversation because it sounds good. But do we really, really believe it, if our life was really hanging onto that promise?
I have a family, friends, church, support groups, freedom, comfort. But when the Lord starts to strip things away inside of us and really deal with our hearts, what do we think of the promises then? When He takes a child, when someone dies of cancer, when a spouse walks away from a marriage, when you feel completely overwhelmed by our own sin and struggles, when the Lord says “I need you to give that to me. I need you to open up your hands and surrender that issue,” do we believe the promises of the Lord then?
The Bible says such backwards things compared to what our flesh wants. For instance, my “good day”/ “bad day” scenarios. It was seem the Lord would be the most pleased with my “good day.”
But not when I’m playing games with him, not when I’m avoiding the work he wants to do, not when I’m caught up in pride and self righteousness, not when I think I’ve somehow earned the love of God that day based on my works for Him.
It speaks over and over in the Word of how the Lord loves a repentant heart, one that truly seeks Him. He loves brokenness, the moments when we finally come to the place where we acknowledge “God, I so don’t have this together. This is my heart, this is my mess. I’m done running, I’m willing to let you deal with these issues. Jesus I need your help.”
I have been learning so much about how I can’t “earn” the love of God. How it’s not based on what I do. This quote tells it well- how so often we think God will love a future version of me, when I’ve “got it together.”
“Because I think most of us think He will love us and that's completely different than He does. And there's all this objective evidence that He does. He loves you enough to let you suffer right now. He loves you enough to let you go to a dark place where what's really inside of you gets churned up to the top. He loves you enough to let the Son of God, God in the flesh be slaughtered. He loves you enough to call you into Himself. Man, I could go on and on with objective evidences, but at the end, do you know that He loves you? And that in the end, that same Romans 8 passage says nothing can separate you from that, nothing, not sickness, not death, not persecution, not your own stumblings. But we see our sin as this reason for God to not have anything to do with us, and God sees our sin as this monumental opportunity to glorify His name in healing us from it.”
A monumental opportunity to show His goodness, His glory as he deals with my heart and makes me more like himself. To prove to me that every single one of his promises is true, and is about my good and His glory. He longs for me to be broken- he longs for me to be holy- far, far more than he would ever care for me to be “happy.” The struggles, the discipline, the trials- all a process of leading us to greater joy and deeper worship. He proves His promises over and over and over. And its most often- in the darkest moments and greatest struggles when that promise is all you have to cling to- that the light becomes the brightest, his grace truly sufficient, the Cross more than enough, and his love overwhelmingly satisfying.
- Matt Chandler
Psalm 31:
(vs.7) I will rejoice and be glad in your steadfast love, because you have seen my affliction; you have known the distress of my soul, and you have not delivered me into the hands of the enemy; you have set my feet in a broad place.
(Vs 14-15)- But I trust in you, O Lord; I say “You are my God.”
My times are in your hand.
(vs. 19)- Oh how abundant is your goodness, which you have stored up for those who fear you- which you bestow in the sight of men on those who take refuge in you.
There are just some days when the promises of the Lord seem absolutely ridiculous and so far off. When the distractions of this world are screaming loudly, and the calling of the Spirit gets lost in the chaos. Take yesterday for example- I sat down to do my time with the Lord and was so distracted with all of the things I needed to get done, that the next thing I knew it was time to leave for my next scheduled appointment. By the end of the day I was exhausted- physically and spiritually as I had not really been in the Word and meditating on Scripture or spending time in communication with the Lord in prayer. It was a “failure day.” But then take into consideration a few days ago- when I had spent hours in the Word, taken my prayer walk, and felt like a “victory day.” Both of those, a “good day” and a “bad day” in comparison to another day this week of feeling completely overwhelmed with the depravity of my own heart- face to face with the ugliness of my sin, seeing very clearly the games I was trying to play with God, and being at the place where I could do nothing but cry out to the Lord to deliver me from my pride and sin so deep in my heart. Knowing I need to change some things in my life, I need to re-surrender issues, but feeling I had no idea where to go with any of it.
That’s when I “discovered” Psalm 31 this week. In the mess of my own heart, the cycles and chains of my own sin. Once again undergoing the discipline and “surgery” from the Lord to make me more like Himself.
“But I trust in you…. My times are in your hand.” Every event, every circumstance, every fear, emotion, doubt, insecurity, present, past, future- my times are all in his hands. But the question is how trustworthy is this God that asks me to place all of life into his hands?
Joshua 21:45-
“Not one word of all the good promises that the Lord had made to the house of Israel had failed; all came to pass.”
Joshua 23:14-15
“And now I am about to go the way of all the earth, and you know in your hearts and souls, all of you, that not one word has failed of all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you. All have come to pass for you; not one of them has failed. 15But just as all the good things that the LORD your God promised concerning you have been fulfilled for you, so the LORD will bring upon you all the evil things, until he has destroyed you from off this good land that the LORD your God has given you…”
I’ve broken a lot of promises I have made to people. I’ve been hurt by a lot of broken promises others have made to me. Never have I had a friend of whom I can say “not one word of all the promises they have ever made to me has all come to pass.” People let you down, they fail you, my sin and their sin creates problems and hurt and messes. But to have a God of whom it is said “not one word of all the good promises has failed” – that’s incredible. I don’t understand it. A lot of times I doubt truths that are so often quoted like Romans 8:28- All things work together for good for those who are called according to his purpose.”
It sounds ridiculous. Don’t get me wrong- it’s one of the easiest verses to quote to others who are struggling, to just throw it out there in conversation because it sounds good. But do we really, really believe it, if our life was really hanging onto that promise?
I have a family, friends, church, support groups, freedom, comfort. But when the Lord starts to strip things away inside of us and really deal with our hearts, what do we think of the promises then? When He takes a child, when someone dies of cancer, when a spouse walks away from a marriage, when you feel completely overwhelmed by our own sin and struggles, when the Lord says “I need you to give that to me. I need you to open up your hands and surrender that issue,” do we believe the promises of the Lord then?
The Bible says such backwards things compared to what our flesh wants. For instance, my “good day”/ “bad day” scenarios. It was seem the Lord would be the most pleased with my “good day.”
But not when I’m playing games with him, not when I’m avoiding the work he wants to do, not when I’m caught up in pride and self righteousness, not when I think I’ve somehow earned the love of God that day based on my works for Him.
It speaks over and over in the Word of how the Lord loves a repentant heart, one that truly seeks Him. He loves brokenness, the moments when we finally come to the place where we acknowledge “God, I so don’t have this together. This is my heart, this is my mess. I’m done running, I’m willing to let you deal with these issues. Jesus I need your help.”
I have been learning so much about how I can’t “earn” the love of God. How it’s not based on what I do. This quote tells it well- how so often we think God will love a future version of me, when I’ve “got it together.”
“Because I think most of us think He will love us and that's completely different than He does. And there's all this objective evidence that He does. He loves you enough to let you suffer right now. He loves you enough to let you go to a dark place where what's really inside of you gets churned up to the top. He loves you enough to let the Son of God, God in the flesh be slaughtered. He loves you enough to call you into Himself. Man, I could go on and on with objective evidences, but at the end, do you know that He loves you? And that in the end, that same Romans 8 passage says nothing can separate you from that, nothing, not sickness, not death, not persecution, not your own stumblings. But we see our sin as this reason for God to not have anything to do with us, and God sees our sin as this monumental opportunity to glorify His name in healing us from it.”
A monumental opportunity to show His goodness, His glory as he deals with my heart and makes me more like himself. To prove to me that every single one of his promises is true, and is about my good and His glory. He longs for me to be broken- he longs for me to be holy- far, far more than he would ever care for me to be “happy.” The struggles, the discipline, the trials- all a process of leading us to greater joy and deeper worship. He proves His promises over and over and over. And its most often- in the darkest moments and greatest struggles when that promise is all you have to cling to- that the light becomes the brightest, his grace truly sufficient, the Cross more than enough, and his love overwhelmingly satisfying.
Sunday, May 2, 2010
Sifting
“The bottom line in here today, as we’ve unpacked this text, the question is: Do you trust Him? Do you trust Him as the loving Father? Because what’s going to come out is whether you do or don’t. What’s going to come out in your prayer life, in your emotions when it comes to the God of the universe is: Do you really trust and believe He’s good, that He’s the good Father? I’m not pretending for a moment that you’ve got to understand it. I would never put that weight on you. I don’t think the Scriptures put that weight on you. I’ve been in plenty of rooms where there is no understanding to be had, none; and years later there’s no understanding. I’m not saying you have to understand, I’m saying you have to trust that He’s good, that He could have stopped it or started it if He willed. But for some reason in His providence, in His beautiful, glorious, overflowing providence, if He did, it would hurt, wound or derail Him bringing all things new. And there will be this day where it makes sense, probably not while we’re breathing this oxygen, but there will be a day where all of it makes sense.”- Matt Chandler
To Sift: to pass a substance through a sieve to separate out or break up coarse particles
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."
Luke 22
To Sift: to pass a substance through a sieve to separate out or break up coarse particles
"Simon, Simon, behold, Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat, but I have prayed for you that your faith may not fail. And when you have turned again, strengthen your brothers." Peter said to him, "Lord, I am ready to go with you both to prison and to death." Jesus said, "I tell you, Peter, the rooster will not crow this day, until you deny three times that you know me."
Luke 22
I heard the testimony today at the baptism of a man in our community who has gone through alot of sifting. The loss of his little boy in a car accident, a failed marriage, consequences of poor choices, losses of jobs- everything we cling to as "enough" in our world and society. Relationships, children, money, etc. Nothing had been left unaffected. The most powerful part as I was listening was at the end of his testimony- hearing him talk of how he had come back to the Lord a few months ago- but today as he stood there getting ready to be baptized, he made a comment how he still wasn't financially stable, his marriage was still lost, his little boy still gone, and he was living with friends- but yet he stood up there and said "Even if I go through all of this alone- I have God and I have Jesus- and thats enough!"
This morning I got up and read this passage in Luke 22, and as familiar of a passage as I thought this was, had never caught some of the most important words in this section."Satan demanded to have you, that he might sift you like wheat."It referenced back to the passage in Job where Satan demanded to have Job and test his faithfulness to the Lord when things in his world were taken from him. Here is Satan going before the Lord- demanding to have Peter and the disciples to sift them. You can imagine the conversation.
“Let me have Peter. You put the pressure on him and he’s going to fail you in a second!”
Or bring it closer to our own hearts. “Let me have her. Sure, she worships and says she loves you. She has everything she could need or want. But you take away what’s closest to her heart- you mess with that one place- and she’ll turn her back on you. Oh, maybe she’ll stick with you a few days, or weeks, or months, but you make that into years and she’ll forget you.”
And Jesus looks Peter right in the eyes and says “And you Peter- I have prayed for you that you would not fail me completely.”
Jesus has interceded before the throneroom on behalf of Peter. He knew Satan’s demands on Peter- he knew that the Lord would grant Satan the rights to sifting Peter. He knew exactly what would be allowed to come into Peter’s life. And while he knew exactly what Peter’s response was going to be- he still prayed, interceded, that Peter would not fail completely. Because He knew it would be for Peter's good. By passing Peter through this- it was going to reveal some heart issues- it was going to sift out some things that needed to go.
Sometimes sifting doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. It’s very painful. It’s a lot of long nights, clinging to the promises we know should be true even when we don’t feel them. And over and over in my life it comes back to the same question “Do I trust Him? Do I believe He’s good?” And through the sifting in my life- the answer to this comes out very clearly. And its humbling to often see my response is that I don’t really trust Him or believe this.
As I heard the testimony of this man- as he spoke of seeing his little boy die in a hospital and begging the Lord not to take him- I don’t think there’s any way he understood that sifting. He might never “get it.” But I watched him raise his hands from that water and praise Jesus and cling to the truth that the Lord is really enough. That’s incredible.
I think another question out of this could be- are we found faithful enough to be demanded by Satan to be sifted? The fact that Satan demanded to sift Job and Peter speaks volumes that they were doing something right. I need to be alot more concerned when I feel there's times the Lord "just isn't convicting me" or I don't feel the need for the Cross. Thats not a good place.And through the sifting- Jesus is interceding, bringing us to a place of recognizing our own depravity, bringing us to a place where we repent and turn back to him and open up our hands, trusting that He’s good and that he’s enough- and then he brings the times of refreshment that come from the presence of the Lord.
Repent therefore, and turn again, that your sins may be blotted out, that times of refreshing may come from the presence of the Lord, and that he may send the Christ appointed for you, Jesus. Acts 3:19-20
Saturday, May 1, 2010
Bringing in the Sheaves (Psalm 126)
Psalm 126:1-6
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy;then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us, we are glad.
Restore our fortunes O Lord, like streams to Nigeb!
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
As a kid I grew up singing the hymn "Bringing in the Sheaves" on Sundays in afternoon church service. I was studying this psalm this past week, when the music to that old hymn by Knowles Shaw from 1874 got brought back to my memory. This song was inspired by Psalm 126, specifically verse 6 "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy; bringing his sheaves with him."
The last two stanzas and chorus goes:
Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither dark clouds nor winter's chilling breeze,
By and by the harvest , and the slave labor's ended,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Going forth with laughter, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained, the child often grieves;
When our weeping is over, He will tell us gently,
We shall come to heaven, bringing in the sheaves
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
I've heard this song many times over the years, but never knew until this week that it was inspired by Psalm 126. This psalm is a community lament that remembers a time of God's mercy on his people and asks for a fresh showing of His mercy. In times of crisis and trouble, God's people may take encouragement from past events of mercy and pray for more of it.
In verse 1- the writer describes the Lord's mercy as so great- that it is like that of a dream!
The writer continues to call for the Lord's restoring to be as that of the streams of Negeb. Negeb- a southern region of Judah that was especially dry and desert like- would be green and fertile land with plants if the dry gullies were to run as streams through it.
A calling and plea to be restored. For dry and weary hearts to be restored and made new- pleading for water to come to the thirsty souls.
It sounds so backwards in the last few verses. That those who sow in tears, those who go out weeping, shall come home with shouts of joy and bringing the sheaves in with them. Who wants to sow in tears?
And yet- isn't this so often how work for the Kingdom goes? Alot of sowing in tears, alot of hard and overwhelming nights when I feel like all I have is questions for the Lord, pleading over and over for those I love to be brought into a saving faith. Alot of what looks like fruitless labor.
But the hope that lies in Psalm 126 is amazing. The harvest will come! And maybe it won't be me seeing the fruit of my labor in this small town ministry, maybe it won't be till Heaven when I get to see all those I love with the Master, but oh this psalm speaks of joy in the harvest!
"The Lord has done great things for us, we are glad."
Yes, the Lord has done, is doing, and will continue doing great things in the work here in Eureka.
"The gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches."- Charles Hodge
When the Lord restored the fortunes of Zion, we were like those who dream.
Then our mouth was filled with laughter, and our tongue with shouts of joy;then they said among the nations, "The Lord has done great things for them."
The Lord has done great things for us, we are glad.
Restore our fortunes O Lord, like streams to Nigeb!
Those who sow in tears shall reap with shouts of joy!
He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy, bringing his sheaves with him.
As a kid I grew up singing the hymn "Bringing in the Sheaves" on Sundays in afternoon church service. I was studying this psalm this past week, when the music to that old hymn by Knowles Shaw from 1874 got brought back to my memory. This song was inspired by Psalm 126, specifically verse 6 "He who goes out weeping, bearing the seed for sowing, shall come home with shouts of joy; bringing his sheaves with him."
The last two stanzas and chorus goes:
Sowing in the sunshine, sowing in the shadows,
Fearing neither dark clouds nor winter's chilling breeze,
By and by the harvest , and the slave labor's ended,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
Going forth with laughter, sowing for the Master,
Though the loss sustained, the child often grieves;
When our weeping is over, He will tell us gently,
We shall come to heaven, bringing in the sheaves
Bringing in the sheaves, bringing in the sheaves,
We shall come rejoicing, bringing in the sheaves.
I've heard this song many times over the years, but never knew until this week that it was inspired by Psalm 126. This psalm is a community lament that remembers a time of God's mercy on his people and asks for a fresh showing of His mercy. In times of crisis and trouble, God's people may take encouragement from past events of mercy and pray for more of it.
In verse 1- the writer describes the Lord's mercy as so great- that it is like that of a dream!
The writer continues to call for the Lord's restoring to be as that of the streams of Negeb. Negeb- a southern region of Judah that was especially dry and desert like- would be green and fertile land with plants if the dry gullies were to run as streams through it.
A calling and plea to be restored. For dry and weary hearts to be restored and made new- pleading for water to come to the thirsty souls.
It sounds so backwards in the last few verses. That those who sow in tears, those who go out weeping, shall come home with shouts of joy and bringing the sheaves in with them. Who wants to sow in tears?
And yet- isn't this so often how work for the Kingdom goes? Alot of sowing in tears, alot of hard and overwhelming nights when I feel like all I have is questions for the Lord, pleading over and over for those I love to be brought into a saving faith. Alot of what looks like fruitless labor.
But the hope that lies in Psalm 126 is amazing. The harvest will come! And maybe it won't be me seeing the fruit of my labor in this small town ministry, maybe it won't be till Heaven when I get to see all those I love with the Master, but oh this psalm speaks of joy in the harvest!
"The Lord has done great things for us, we are glad."
Yes, the Lord has done, is doing, and will continue doing great things in the work here in Eureka.
"The gospel is so simple that small children can understand it, and it is so profound that studies by the wisest theologians will never exhaust its riches."- Charles Hodge
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