December 1, 2017

Into Your Hands

“Father, into Your hands I commit My spirit.”  Lk. 23:46

The seventh saying of Christ on the cross expresses loudly (for Jesus spoke this in a loud voice) that the work had been completed and now it is time to rest.  His words represent His action – “Father, I am coming home.”  It is the Great Homecoming.  In those six wondrous sayings, Jesus spoke it all and it was done.  Now He could go home and rest.  Just as God spoke creation into existence in six days and on the seventh day He rested – so too Jesus spoke redemption into existence in six sayings.  With the seventh saying, Jesus commits His spirit into the hands of His Father and says – DADDY, I’M COMING HOME.

This is Jesus: He willingly gave Himself to those who would crucify Him.  Now, the work complete – He gives Himself to His Father.  This is Jesus:  His first word on the cross is Father, forgive them.  He ends His words on the cross with Father, for the work is done and the relationship is restored.  Jesus yields Himself to God.  He laid down His life with the power to take it back again.  The Son of God was restored back to His Father.  He had been sent – the Word of God became flesh and dwelt among men.  Now – He was returning back to His Father. 

I began to understand those words in my life.  How long I struggled and fought and resisted the love of God.  Not six days or even six years – but years upon years.  I began to understand that what Jesus did was the great expression of my heavenly Father’s love for me.  No matter how long I resisted His perfect love – He waited for me.  Would I be the thief who rejected God’s love, or would I be the thief who turned, realized my need to be saved, recognize my fallen ways, and turn toward perfect love?  I could struggle – or enter into the rest that salvation provides for me.  It was a moment of choice, and finally, I turned toward Him.  I entered love’s embrace: Jesus Christ.  Daddy, I’m coming home.

Just as God waited for me, He waits for us all.  He set aside today for those who have resisted Him, fought against Him, rebelled and rejected Him.  He says to us – it is not too late.  You can come, those who are weary and heavy laden; come and I will give you rest, Father says to us today.

There is one way back home to our heavenly Father.  It is through Jesus Christ, His Son.  He made the way for us to come to Him and say I surrender all.    Come.  Today can be the first day of the rest of your life.

November 30, 2017

This Truth

“Early on the first day of the week, while it was still dark, Mary Magdalene went to the tomb and saw that the stone had been removed from the entrance.”  John 20:1

From this moment on

The meaning is new

Skies once darkened

Now bright and blue.

The tomb is empty

The stone is moved

Death became life

This is Your Truth

No words were needed

To try and explain

The impossible made possible

One man’s loss was life’s gain.

And when my time is over

When I’ve been called home

I’ll be wearing my resurrection clothes

I’ll be rejoicing at the stone.

For my tomb will be empty

My stone will be moved

His death gave me life

This is my Truth.

No words will be needed

To try and explain

The impossible made possible

His loss was my gain.

His death took my pain

Nailed it to the cross

He took it to the cross.

He died for me

He rose for me

Hallelujah!

Jesus came for me.

November 29, 2017

What the Lord Requires

“He has showed you, O man, what is good.  And what does the Lord require of you?  To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”  Micah 6:8

Israel is on trial before the Lord in chapter 6 of Micah.  The first verse clues us in when the Lord say, ‘Stand up, plead your case before the mountains, let the hills hear what you have to say.’  God presses His charges against Israel, claiming the people’s disobedience to His commands.  Yet the Lord had not abandoned His people.  This may strike a familiar chord with us – for we have disobeyed the Lord’s commands and yet He has not abandoned us.

The prophet Micah goes on to declare what God does want, after he let Israel know that the sacrifices and burnt offerings were in and of themselves missing the point.  And so God makes His point and it is an eternal point.  His command, if you will, traces through the rest of the Bible.  Israel was to act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

Jesus declares something similar in Luke 11:42, which states, ‘Woe to you Pharisees, because you give God a tenth of your mint, rue, and all other kinds of garden herbs, but you neglect justice and the love of God.  You should have done the latter without neglecting the former.’

The message hasn’t changed for followers of Jesus.  Today we are called act justly, love mercy, and walk humbly with God.

November 28, 2017

The Unseen is Eternal

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen.  For what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal.”  2 Cor. 4:18

An ancient Jewish practice was to engage in a visualized prayer of Ezekiel 1:15-28 – the wheels and living creatures and brilliant colors all leading up to the throne and the “appearance of the likeness of the glory of God.”  It is a great example of what it means to fix our eyes on the unseen.  The unseen dimension is the eternal dimension.  Sometimes God blesses us by showing us glimpses of the eternal dimension.  When that happens, we are usually undone by it.

This spiritual discipline is always helpful; however, one of its great benefits is when we are struggling.  When we are in the midst of illness, tragedy, loss, grief – the benefit of focusing on things eternal is the great encouragement we need.  The things we can see will not last.  Why focus on what won’t last?  Jesus says as much in Matthew’s gospel.  Seek first the Kingdom of God and all its righteousness – because that will last.  When we do that, our Lord tells us “all these things will be added unto us.”  He may even show us a wheel, a throne, or the appearance of the likeness of the glory of God.  And we will be undone by it.

November 27, 2017

Cooperating with God

“They replied, ‘Let us start rebuilding.  So they began this good work.”  Neh. 2:18

In Neh. 2:17-18 it was evident that the walls and gates were destroyed.  Nehemiah encouraged the people to rebuild, which they agreed to do.  The word build in Hebrew is “banah” and means to repair, set up, and build for future generations.  When the broken walls are rebuilt, it is not just for us, but for future generations!

When we say yes to the Lord’s invitation to rebuild, it is not easy.  We don’t know how long it will take, the obstacles we may face, and the process may be painful.  Some people may not want broken areas healed and restored because it is inviting the unknown into our lives: health, wholeness, new thoughts and behaviors.  Temptations may creep in; when that happens we must remind ourselves that God will not let us be “tempted beyond what we can bear,” according to 1 Cor. 10:13-14. 

Our example is Jesus.  John 6:38 records Jesus saying, “For I have come down from heaven not to do my will but to do the will of Him who sent me.”  Jesus came from heaven as the Word became flesh and dwelt among men,  He could have done anything – but chose to do only the will of His Father who sent Him on a mission to redeem a broken world (filled with broken walls).  This mission lasted all the way to the cross and in Matthew 26:39 Jesus in His humanity declared, “My Father, if it possible, may this cup be taken from Me.  Yet not as I will, but as You will.”  It is always our choice to respond to the Lord’s invitation.

Lord, am I ready to fully surrender and submit my will, so that Your will can be established?

November 26, 2017

Walk Worthy

“I, therefore, the prisoner of the Lord, beseech you to walk worthy of the calling with which you were called…”  Eph. 4:1

Walking as we should is the focus of the remaining three chapters in the Book of Ephesians.  We have learned to sit first and receive all that the Lord has for us.  Next we learn to walk.  We can surmise this as having a heavenly rest in our position in Christ, and an earthly walk in our practical experiences.  For the remainder of this epistle Paul wrote to the Ephesians, we will find the word “walk” used eight times.  It is used to indicate how a believer conducts oneself.  As Christ deposits His character within us, we are called to “walk worthy of this calling.”  In this chapter we will examine the requirements of such a walk.

Chapter four begins with Paul’s exhortation to walk worthy of the calling.  He then immediately follows that exhortation with instructions in verses 2 and 3:

• Walk with lowliness and gentleness;
• Longsuffering;
• Bearing with one another in love; and,
• Endeavoring to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace.

• We begin by examining these terms and what they mean for our conduct.  Lowliness is in Greek a “humble mind,” and implies humility. 
• Gentleness means meekness, and is best defined as power under control.
• Longsuffering means patience and forbearance.
• Bearing is enduring, defined as holding up in the action of love.
• Endeavoring is the same word in Greek, which means eager and diligent; in the context of verse 3, it is read as one’s diligence and desire to keep the unity of the Holy Spirit in peace.

Paul then employs the word “one” a total of seven times in the next three verses.  Let’s take a look at what he is referencing:

• One body
• One Spirit
• One hope
• One Lord
• One faith
• One baptism
• One God and Father of all.

Believers are called to endeavor to keep unity because we operate from the foundational premise of: one.  We are all called to be as one: one body, known as the church, with Christ Jesus as the head.  Millions of Christians around the world are called to oneness. 

November 25, 2017

God’s Masterpiece

“When they see among them their children, the work of My hands, they will keep My name holy…” Isa. 29:23

The palette of God’s splendor
He uses to paint across the sky
Words of love go unspoken
A love He has opened wide.

We sit in awe and wonder
The Lord reveals the truth to each
To me He gently whispers
“You are my unfinished masterpiece.”

As the sun sets across the ocean
Water so calm and serene
There is trust in each wave coming
To walk on the waters of Galilee.

O Father how we love You
All created nature You use to teach
The message of Your magnificence is
We are Your unfinished masterpiece.

There is room left on Your canvas
Many colors to create
And it is in my incompleteness
That I praise what You have made.

An unfinished masterpiece
A work of art in Your hand
It will be kingdom come
Until You are done
A child of the promise I stand
I am Your unfinished masterpiece.