Remembering the Deeds and Character of God

This morning, as I was reflecting back over this last year and looking forward into 2021, I was asking for a good verse to guide my thoughts and prayers, and was led to Psalm 77.  As I was reading through this psalm, I thought that this actually fits quite well with where I have been dwelling, at least in my mind.  

I think for many of us, 2020 was a rough year, and its in times like this that we can tend to turn our hearts away from the Lord, but in reality, we should be doing the exact opposite, turning towards Him, and remembering all the things that He has done in our lives

So, my encouragement this morning is to allow the thoughts of the Psalmist to lead us to remembering all of the good things the Lord has done, not just last year, but in the years past as well.

Psalm 77:1-15 NIV:

[1] "I cried out to God for help; I cried out to God to hear me. 

[2] When I was in distress, I sought the Lord; at night I stretched out untiring hands, and I would not be comforted. 

[3] I remembered you, God, and I groaned; I meditated, and my spirit grew faint. 

[4] You kept my eyes from closing; I was too troubled to speak. 

[5] I thought about the former days, the years of long ago; 

[6] I remembered my songs in the night. My heart meditated and my spirit asked: 

[7] “Will the Lord reject forever? Will he never show his favor again? 

[8] Has his unfailing love vanished forever? Has his promise failed for all time? 

[9] Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has he in anger withheld his compassion? ” 

[10] Then I thought, “To this I will appeal: the years when the Most High stretched out his right hand. 

[11] I will remember the deeds of the Lord; yes, I will remember your miracles of long ago. 

[12] I will consider all your works and meditate on all your mighty deeds.” 

[13] Your ways, God, are holy. What god is as great as our God? 

[14] You are the God who performs miracles; you display your power among the peoples. 

[15] With your mighty arm you redeemed your people, the descendants of Jacob and Joseph." 

Yes Lord, You do great and awesome things.  You have been faithful and merciful and loving!  You have blessed us with abundance beyond measure!  You are the God who loves us, and who has not forsaken us!  Our hope lies in You, for it is not just in what you do, but it is in who You are Lord!!  Help us to turn our hearts and minds fully toward You!

Amen and Amen!

Blessings in this New Year,  Sam

Seek, Forsake, Turn

This morning when I opened my Bible it opened to my last point of reading and my eyes landed on the following verses - Isaiah 55:6-7 NIV:

[6] "Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near. 

[7] Let the wicked forsake their ways and the unrighteous their thoughts. 

Let them turn to the Lord, and he will have mercy on them, and to our God, for he will freely pardon."

What a great and simple message for today!

Seek the Lord - the assumptive fact is that He IS near, and is willing to be found!  Oh, that we would set out hearts on seeking Him rather than other things.

Let us forsake our wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts!  This is the first step in repentance, changing the way we think.  I was reflecting on my need to make a couple of changes in my life, and the first thing I need to do is to change the way I think.  

The encouragement to forsake these ways and thoughts, speaks of a  complete leaving behind.  This is not a choosing to put those things on a shelf nearby where we can revisit them, rather, this is a packing them in a box and sending that box to the dump, never to be seen again.  The Lord understands our proclivities and weaknesses and that is why He always commanded Israel to "Break down their altars, smash their sacred stones and burn their Asherah poles in the fire; cut down the idols of their gods and wipe out their names from those places." (Deuteronomy 12:3 NIV).  We would be wise to take the same approach in our lives to our wicked ways and unrighteous thoughts! 

The key thing here is not to focus on what we are forsaking, but instead to embrace God and His plan for us.  Simply leaving an old way of thinking or acting behind is not enough, we must fill that emptiness with something positive, something meaningful, something that brings us real life, and what in this world is better than relationship with God?  

Jesus spoke of this very thing when He was teaching His disciples in Matt 12:43-45, where He is discussing the casting out of impure spirits, and gave them this perspective - [43] “When an impure spirit comes out of a person, it goes through arid places seeking rest and does not find it. [44] Then it says, 'I will return to the house I left.' When it arrives, it finds the house unoccupied, swept clean and put in order. [45] Then it goes and takes with it seven other spirits more wicked than itself, and they go in and live there. And the final condition of that person is worse than the first. That is how it will be with this wicked generation.”

Note, the reason the spirit was able to return and live there was that the house was unoccupied.  The point being that simply emptying one's life of those things that are not of God is not enough, we must fill those areas back up, allowing the Lord to occupy those very areas we cleanse.  In the same way, the earlier verses from Deuteronomy were actually from a chapter focused on proper worship of God.  The removal of the former things was not sufficient, there was a need to embrace worship of the Lord.

This morning, I am encouraged in three things.  First, that God is near, and willing to be found, willing to be found by any that turn to Him!  This is the first and foremost thing!  Secondly, that I need to take a look at my life and where things are not in alignment with God, make the decision to forsake them completely.  Finally, I am encouraged to replace those things I have forsaken with worship of the Lord, turning towards Him and embracing relationship with Him.

Amen!

The Lord's Long Game

This morning the first verses that came to my mind were from the Book of the Prophet Isaiah, written approximately 700 years before Christ came.   

Here are the verses - Isaiah 9:2-7 NIV:

[2] "The people walking in darkness have seen a great light; 

on those living in the land of deep darkness a light has dawned. 

[3] You have enlarged the nation and increased their joy; 

they rejoice before you as people rejoice at the harvest, as warriors rejoice when dividing the plunder. 

[4] For as in the day of Midian's defeat, you have shattered the yoke that burdens them, 

the bar across their shoulders, the rod of their oppressor. 

[5] Every warrior's boot used in battle and every garment rolled in blood will be destined for burning, will be fuel for the fire. 

[6] For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. 

And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. 

[7] Of the greatness of his government and peace there will be no end. 

He will reign on David's throne and over his kingdom, 

establishing and upholding it with justice and righteousness from that time on and forever. 

The zeal of the Lord Almighty will accomplish this."

I was thinking how amazing the Lord is, and how His purposes span generations, centuries, even millenniums.  We are so focused on our lives right in front of us, that we have a difficult time grasping the Lord's long game, his purposes and plans that span hundreds and even thousands of years.  Yesterday I was talking with a  good friend about the blessings and prophecies that Jacob spoke over his sons, which took place right before he died, and at the start of the Jews time in Egypt.  Its difficult to identify exactly when this was, but some people believe it was close to the 1680ish B.C.  Whatever the exact date, this is what He prophesied over Judah, from whom Jesus' lineage would come nearly 1700 years later - Genesis 49:8-11 NIV:

[8] “Judah, your brothers will praise you; 

your hand will be on the neck of your enemies; your father's sons will bow down to you. 

[9] You are a lion's cub, Judah; you return from the prey, my son. 

Like a lion he crouches and lies down, like a lioness---who dares to rouse him? 

[10] The scepter will not depart from Judah, nor the ruler's staff from between his feet, 

until he to whom it belongs shall come and the obedience of the nations shall be his. 

[11] He will tether his donkey to a vine, his colt to the choicest branch; 

he will wash his garments in wine, his robes in the blood of grapes."

Again, while the words are not as clear as those from Isaiah, but there is a clear allusion to the reign of Christ!  I was thinking about the frame of mind both of these men must have been in, for they were clearly channeling the Holy Spirit. One wonders if upon speaking or writing these, they had any idea of the significance.

Scriptures like these give me great confidence in the plans of the Lord, for they are far beyond my comprehension and understanding and yet they are true, and He accomplishes what He says He will do.  I am encouraged by His heavenly perspective, and know that when He is speaking to me, there is a depth to His words that I can never possibly comprehend this side of eternity.  I am also encouraged that if I don't understand what He is about, that He isn't worried, for He is watching over all of His words to bring them to completion, even if I have no idea how.  The good thing is that He really doesn't need our understanding, but He uses our participation to accomplish His plans.

This all reminds me of a couple of verses again from the Prophet Isaiah, speaking of God's words - Isaiah 55:8-11 NIV:

[8] “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. 

[9] “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. 

[10] As the rain and the snow come down from heaven, and do not return to it without watering the earth and making it bud and flourish, 

so that it yields seed for the sower and bread for the eater, 

[11] so is my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, 

but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it."

Amen and Amen!

"What Should We Do Then?"

This morning, I am reading from Luke's Gospel, but rather than focusing on Jesus birth, which we celebrate tomorrow, I am reading about the preparative ministry of John the Baptist, who prepared the way for Jesus.  I find it very interesting and that the time between Jesus' birth and the beginning of His ministry is about 30 years.  I have spent much time thinking about the quiet years of Jesus' life, when He lived in Nazareth, but those are not my focus today either, instead I want to look at John's basic message.  Here are the verses that I am reflecting upon today - Luke 3:1-8 NIV:

[1] "In the fifteenth year of the reign of Tiberius Caesar---when Pontius Pilate was governor of Judea, Herod tetrarch of Galilee, his brother Philip tetrarch of Iturea and Traconitis, and Lysanias tetrarch of Abilene--- [2] during the high-priesthood of Annas and Caiaphas, the word of God came to John son of Zechariah in the wilderness. [3] He went into all the country around the Jordan, preaching a baptism of repentance for the forgiveness of sins. 

[4] As it is written in the book of the words of Isaiah the prophet: “A voice of one calling in the wilderness, 'Prepare the way for the Lord, make straight paths for him. [5] Every valley shall be filled in, every mountain and hill made low. The crooked roads shall become straight, the rough ways smooth. [6] And all people will see God's salvation.' ” 

[7] John said to the crowds coming out to be baptized by him, “You brood of vipers! Who warned you to flee from the coming wrath? [8] Produce fruit in keeping with repentance. And do not begin to say to yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you that out of these stones God can raise up children for Abraham."

One of the reasons we know that Jesus started His ministry in about the 30th year of his life, is this passage from Luke that sets John's ministry beginning in the 15th year of Tiberius Caesar.  His rule as emperor began in 14CE, following the death of Augustus, and if we believe Jesus' birth was in 0CE, then we have John starting to preach in the 29th year of Jesus life.  We could spend quite  bit of time looking at the situation in the greater world, within the Roman Empire during these times, but God's plan first and foremost was to interact with the Jews, and to step into their world, literally.

While Jesus' birth is absolutely critical to our salvation, it is His ministry that provides us a true understanding of the Gospel, and His Gospel was preceded by John's preaching in the wilderness. John was clearly a prophet fulfilling the verses from Isaiah, as one crying in the wilderness, "prepare the way for the Lord!"  He was to prepare the hearts of the people, and his message was repentance, turning away from sin.  Specifically, he said, "Produce fruit in keeping with repentance."   In other words, actually repent, and let your lives show this repentance, for repentance is much more than feeling sorry for one's sins, but instead it means to think in a new way, and to act in accordance with that new way of thinking.  

The Greek word that we translate repentance is metanoia, which is the conjunction of two Greek words 'meta' and 'noeo',  and they would be translated "after" and "reflection or thinking about something".  This really has very little to do with our feeling guilty,  but is rather a message that is supposed to inspire change in one's behavior, after reflection.  We actually see this played out in the verses that follow this short account of John's initial message - as follows in Luke 3:10-14 NIV:

[10] “What should we do then?” the crowd asked. 

[11] John answered, “Anyone who has two shirts should share with the one who has none, and anyone who has food should do the same.” 

[12] Even tax collectors came to be baptized. “Teacher,” they asked, “what should we do?” 

[13] “Don't collect any more than you are required to,” he told them. 

[14] Then some soldiers asked him, “And what should we do?” He replied, “Don't extort money and don't accuse people falsely---be content with your pay.”

The Jews responded as they should, or at least asked the right question, "what should we do then?"   This really should be the primary question we ask ourselves daily, in our relationship with the Lord!  Our relationship with Him should inspire us to repentance, changing the way we live after thinking about what we have heard and learned.   The Lord is about change, in the best way possible, for each of us!  His desire is that we learnt to live as His sons and daughters, and learning or education is effectively about transforming our lives by learning to think differently and then acting differently.  

I love how many of the main-line denominations prepare for the major church holidays of Christmas and Easter with a season of reflection and preparation, and what should be a season of repentance, changing the way we behave after thinking and reflection.  We are celebrating Christ's birth tomorrow, and as such, our lives and whole world WAS changed!  His coming to earth, becoming like us in all ways (see Phil 2:6-8), was to make a way for us to be in relationship with Him.  We have the opportunity to reflect on His words, and on His actions, and ask ourselves, "What should we do then?"

This morning I am encouraged to ask myself this same question, "What should I do, in light of Jesus coming to earth, in light of my relationship to Him, in light of His words to me and actions towards me?"  What needs to change in the way I think, and in the way I act?   This Christmas, as we celebrate the Light of Christ coming to the world, let us allow His light and truth to shine into our lives and cause us to think and act accordingly!

Amen!

Embracing Differences In The Body of Christ

Last night I had a number of dreams, but I had two in particular that stood out, and they were both about a small country church that a friend and I visited one weekend when we were traveling somewhere together.  Anyway, the people there were lovely and excited about having visitors, as  that clearly didn't happen often.  They were hoping we might become long term members.  What was interesting was their worship, or I should say their music selection.  They had several people get up and sing to the Lord, but the styles and selections were not cohesive at all.  One guy, wearing his special leather vest and long guitar sang some rock-ballad style song, with his wife accompanying him, to the Lord.  The next up was a traditional hymn, sung operatic style, and then the third woman got up and was rapping, and dancing quite horribly.  It was at that point I woke up.  

Upon waking, I had to smile at the bizzareness of the dream, and the strange ways my mind apparently entertains itself!  Anyway I went back to sleep, and then something that almost never happens to me occured, I dreamt about the church again, and this time it was clear it was some time later, and that people knew me, and it appeared that I had even spoken there.  Anyway the music selection this time was equally off the charts unique.  There was a group that was doing a 70s style love song, complete with choreography and interpretive dance motions, another group was dressed in the matching outfits and were clearly going to be a doing something with British invasion sound. Another individual got up and sang something that would be heard on TBN, very dramatic and such.  Another couple got up and sang a beautiful worship song that they had written and was clearly a church-group favorite, or everyone was mouthing the words, and commenting on how much they loved that song.  

Again, I woke up and thought that was so strange to have two dreams in one night with a very similar theme, going back to the same place.  It was at this point that I felt like the Lord pointed me back to one of my Pastor's sermon this past weekend about our need to look past our differences.  

The point that I get out of these dreams is simply this that in the same way we allow the enemy to separate us over different teaching, or things we think are important, worship styles can be equally difficult to see past.  I felt like the Lord gave me the same dream twice to make sure I was paying attention, and understood.  In His eyes, it was all worship!  Everything that is directed to Him, regardless of style, quality of voice, or skill, He enjoys and welcomes.  We are so quick to judge other's expressions as being less than what we want, or think is correct, or moves us, and somehow we allow this to become a point of separation in the Body of Christ.  I have a strong feeling that we are going to need to look past our differences in every area in the near future.  We are all sons and daughters of God, and He loves us, not in spite of our differences, but because we are all unique.  There is something in our uniqueness that He loves, for it represents His creation, and each is a small representation of Him.  

It is time for us to welcome, with love, acceptance and warmth, those that are different than us, no matter how they pronounce Shibboleth (see Judges 12:4-6)

Blessings, Sam

Reading Paul's Letters Backwards

This morning I have been reading Paul's letter to the Philippians backwards, as I read first verse of Chapter 4, which led me to turn to some verses in chapter three.  Here are the verses in the order I read them, for I was deconstructing Paul's logic.

Philippians 4:1 NIV

Therefore, my brothers and sisters, you whom I love and long for, my joy and crown, stand firm in the Lord in this way, dear friends!

The question in my mind was "standing in what way?"

Philippians 3:17-21 NIV

Join together in following my example, brothers and sisters, and just as you have us as a model, keep your eyes on those who live as we do. [18] For, as I have often told you before and now tell you again even with tears, many live as enemies of the cross of Christ. [19] Their destiny is destruction, their god is their stomach, and their glory is in their shame. Their mind is set on earthly things. [20] But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ, [21] who, by the power that enables him to bring everything under his control, will transform our lowly bodies so that they will be like his glorious body.

I thought - "what is his example?"  Clearly, there are those who do not embrace the cross of Christ, and what that means, but understanding what that means to Paul, required that I backtrack to see what He was talking about.  Being an enemy of the cross of Christ is a theme that I need to do some more research on, and will come back to later.  However looking back to His example, He describes it as follows:

Philippians 3:12-14 NIV

Not that I have already obtained all this, or have already arrived at my goal, but I press on to take hold of that for which Christ Jesus took hold of me. [13] Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, [14] I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

I love Paul's transition statements, for they do require a that one understands fully, what He was just talking about, for he is building a logical flow.  In this case, read verse 12, I again wanted to revisit what he meant by "not that I have already attained all this".  

Philippians 3:7-11 NIV

But whatever were gains to me I now consider loss for the sake of Christ. [8] What is more, I consider everything a loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus my Lord, for whose sake I have lost all things. I consider them garbage, that I may gain Christ [9] and be found in him, not having a righteousness of my own that comes from the law, but that which is through faith in Christ---the righteousness that comes from God on the basis of faith. [10] I want to know Christ---yes, to know the power of his resurrection and participation in his sufferings, becoming like him in his death, [11] and so, somehow, attaining to the resurrection from the dead.

While these verses are very familiar to me, it was actually helpful for me to read them in this way, asking questions and going backwards to find the answers.  Sometimes, I find I flow so easily through Paul's writings, that I don't actually stop and let the meaning f what He just wrote settle into my mind and heart!  He has so much weight to his writings, and while they do flow well logically, it is important for me to stop and really mine them.  

Today the foundational thought of all of these verses is that everything He was pursuing previously in His life, were as nothing when compared to Christ.  In fact, the more he experienced this life in Christ, the more he realized he was only scratching the surface, but the value of what he had received in Christ, and the value of knowing Christ more fully was worth everything, and every waking breath for the rest of His life!  This was no casual pursuit, but a life-long, all-in pursuit!   Also, this was not an ala-carte pursuit of Christ, just picking and choosing what he wanted, but rather an embracing of everything regardless of the cost, personally.  

Oh Lord, that I might have a greater understanding of the supreme worth of knowing You, that everything else in comparison is so much rubbish.

Amen!

The Wedding Banquet of the Son - Reflecting on Difficult Passages

This morning I am reflecting on a difficult set of verses from Matthew 22:1-14 NIV:

[1] "Jesus spoke to them again in parables, saying: [2] “The kingdom of heaven is like a king who prepared a wedding banquet for his son. [3] He sent his servants to those who had been invited to the banquet to tell them to come, but they refused to come. 

[4] “Then he sent some more servants and said, 'Tell those who have been invited that I have prepared my dinner: My oxen and fattened cattle have been butchered, and everything is ready. Come to the wedding banquet.' 

[5] “But they paid no attention and went off---one to his field, another to his business. [6] The rest seized his servants, mistreated them and killed them. [7] The king was enraged. He sent his army and destroyed those murderers and burned their city. 

[8] “Then he said to his servants, 'The wedding banquet is ready, but those I invited did not deserve to come. [9] So go to the street corners and invite to the banquet anyone you find.' [10] So the servants went out into the streets and gathered all the people they could find, the bad as well as the good, and the wedding hall was filled with guests. 

[11] “But when the king came in to see the guests, he noticed a man there who was not wearing wedding clothes. [12] He asked, 'How did you get in here without wedding clothes, friend ?' The man was speechless. 

[13] “Then the king told the attendants, 'Tie him hand and foot, and throw him outside, into the darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth.' 

[14] “For many are invited, but few are chosen.”

This parable of Jesus has always been a bit of a mystery to me, and certainly has a few verses I prefer not to read.  It is so important that we work through everything Jesus said, not just the things we like.  I like the idea of a wedding feast, of inviting everyone, not so much a couple of other things.

First, there are statements that seem contradictory - verses 9 & 10 and verse 14.   In the first statement the King has thrown open the invitation to all they can find, and good and bad alike are invited and come, and fill the banquet hall.  So it seems to me that many are invited, and many come. Of all those that come, only one is rejected, the one who doesn't have on the wedding garb, which seems in contradiction to Jesus' final statement of only choosing a few.  I guess, we have to include in His final statement all those who were originally invited, who rejected or ignored His invitation, so that is a much larger group of those who were invited, but who ultimately were not chosen to remain.  I am sure that Jesus, in speaking to the people who were following Him, was speaking to the Jews, and there were probably Pharisees and teachers in the crowd, and thus He is wrapping his parable up and essentially bringing their minds back to the original invitees, who were clearly the Jews.  

This final statement may very well be pointing to the time following Jesus death and resurrection where there were only a few  remaining followers of Jesus, and may well be prophetically looking at the overall rejection of the Gospel by the great percentage of the Jews.  I have no idea how many Jews converted as a percentage of all possible, but it seems likely that of the overall population - few would have been the correct description.  That is somewhat helpful.

The second bit worthy of reflection is that here Jesus seems to be clearly indicating that there would be an opening of the Gospel to the Gentiles, for the servants invited everyone they could find, which would likely have included those not of Jewish decent, especially if we read this logically and look to the fact that Jesus said the King had sent an army to burn the city of the first invitees, thus there were not many of those people left.  Regardless, we find Jesus' description of those that are gathered unexpected for the list includes the good AND the bad.   The Greek word that is translated as bad in English is the word "poneros" and it is defined as follows: 

1. full of labours, annoyances, hardships

    a. pressed and harassed by labours

    b. bringing toils, annoyances, perils; of a time full of peril to Christian faith and steadfastness; causing pain and trouble

2. bad, of a bad nature or condition

    a. in a physical sense: diseased or blind

    b. in an ethical sense: evil wicked, bad

If we take the whole of that definition, we find described many that we would hope to be invited, those whose lives are full of hardship, troubles and pain.  It seems here that Jesus is veery much prophetically speaking of the Gospel of Grace, and the mercy and compassion that flow from that Gospel.  Secondly, we find those who are broken, in some way physically; the blind, lame, diseased, etc. but also mentally, emotionally and spiritually.   I think this would be extended to those who see themselves as broken, the worn down, the weak, those overcome by their struggles.  Again, here I see a great message of hope in the Gospel of Grace.  These things don't disqualify anyone from being invited.  Finally, in the definition we find the invited could include the ethically bad, those that would cause us to question the King's motives.  Why would He want these bad people invited to the wedding banquet of His Son? That I can't answer, but again, judgement of who is bad is not my place.  The point is that these people receive an invitation too, and come to the banquet.

Next up is the man without a wedding garb, and the King's response to him.  To me, the King's response seems a bit harsh on the surface, but digging into this a bit more, I am not so sure.  Everyone else, good and bad, those gathered from the streets, the alleys, the countryside, wherever, were wearing wedding garb.  Clearly this wasn't something they had time to grab, but was something that was provided by the King.  I read a few commentaries and apparently that was not uncommon for wedding garb to be provided for guests of such large and elaborate weddings.  Anyway, the point is everyone else puts on the wedding garb, except this man.  He clearly is an exception, and must have made a specific choice to not wear the garb.  The commentators believe this represents those who are presented the Gospel, but in their final act of rebellion, reject it. One wonders if the man thought he would never meet the King anyway, and could just take what he wanted, eat what He wanted and enjoy the feast without honoring the Son, whose wedding it was, or the King who invited him, paid for everything and even provided the wedding garb?  Whatever his state of mind, the King responds rightly, for this is His son's wedding, after all.

Finally, I was thinking about where I would put myself in this story.  My first response was as one of the wedding guests, for I clearly have accepted His invitation.  However, my second thought was that actually, while I could be one of the wedding guests, I think I am actually invited to be one of the servants of the King, who is sent to invite all who would come to the wedding banquet of the the Son!  What a great invitation, not to just be a guest and enjoy the feast, but to invite all I can to join the feast!  

This morning I am encouraged to make sure that I read and reflect even on the difficult passages, for the words of Jesus, the Word of God is worthy of my time, my energy and my understanding.  Secondly, I am encouraged that even these difficult passages can bring me hope, encouragement and an understanding of my purpose.  Lastly, I am encouraged to pray for all those who have not yet received their invitation, and to be an inviter myself.  Lord, help me be one whose life leads others to You!

Amen!

Let Peace Rule in Your Hearts

This morning I felt led to reflect on a few verses from Paul's letter to the Colossians 3:15-17 NIV:

[15] "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace. And be thankful. [16] Let the message of Christ dwell among you richly as you teach and admonish one another with all wisdom through psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit, singing to God with gratitude in your hearts. [17] And whatever you do, whether in word or deed, do it all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through him."

My first thought on reading these verses was how bad we need God's peace right now!  While this is typically a pretty busy time of the year, getting ready for Christmas, Christmas parties, seeing loved ones, this year is more about trying to minimize contact with others, worrying if you have a cold or a cough, concern that the virus might visit your house or place of employment!  I see anxiety all around!  We are seeing ever constricting rules of lock-down, and it feels like we are  in for a long winter.

This is why Paul's message is so important this morning, for he encourages us to LET the peace of Christ rule in our hearts, in other words its our choice as to what we allow to rule in our hearts.  We can allow anxiety and fear to rule in our hearts, or we can allow the peace of Christ.  Many of us are taking a responsible approach to keeping others safe, and that is laudable.  We, however, need to make sure that this is not a rationalization for fear.  We can be responsible and peaceful at the same time!  

Lately, I have been seeing a significant increase personally, and in the people I love, of anxiety, feelings of inadequacy, aloneness, introspection, and fear.  I see a increase in illogical thoughts, of reasoning disconnected from fact, of people's mindsets being set by things other than the Word of God.  This brings me back to Paul's encouragement, "Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts!".

Let us embrace his next encouragement, to let the message and words of Christ, dwell richly among us, reflecting on it, meditating on it, speaking it to ourselves and to one another!  The other night I realized I had been under a similar attack and I just started reminding myself of who I am, of what God has said about me, of His word over me, and it allowed me to break through into a place of peace.  I  started thanking the Lord for all the goodness He has poured into my life, thanking Him for His provision and blessing.  I started admonishing myself, reminding myself of all the incredible interactions of intimacy I have had with the Lord, and saw my previous thinking dissolve into nothingness for it was based on lies, not the Truth of the Word.

Since that evening, I have been listening to much more worship music, I have been actively praying more throughout the day, I have been choosing to let His peace reign in my heart and it has made a huge difference in the state of my mind and heart.  I am not ignoring all the swirl, but I am not getting caught up in the swirl.  I am reminded of Jesus' teaching about building our house (our Life) on rock (His Word) found in Matthew 7:24-25 NIV: “Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. [25] The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock."

As I read those last verses, the rain still came, the streams still rose and the winds still blew, but the house did not fall...it did not collapse into the flood and get swept away.  There is no denying that we are in a season of storming, swirling, and change, but we can remain steadfast, by allowing Christ's words and peace to reign in our hearts and minds!

My prayer for myself and for all is that we might embrace this encouragement today!  That we would press through the whirlwind surrounding us, and reconnect with the Rock, the Lord,  for He is unshaken!  Let us really embrace the reason for this season, and let His peace reign in our hearts!

Amen!