Discouragement

Readings for the day: Jeremiah 13-16

There is a myth many Christians believe. If we are walking faithfully with the Lord. If we are obeying His commands and living according to His Word. If we are praying and worshipping and serving Him then we will not face hardship. We will not struggle or suffer or endure any pain. Life will be good and blessed and we will be happy. Fundamentally, we believe if we do our part, God is bound to do His and our lives should reflect His favor. 

But then we read a passage like this one from Jeremiah today... “Woe is me, my mother, that you bore me, a man of strife and contention to the whole land! I have not lent, nor have I borrowed, yet all of them curse me...Your words were found, and I ate them, and your words became to me a joy and the delight of my heart, for I am called by your name, O Lord, God of hosts. I did not sit in the company of revelers, nor did I rejoice; I sat alone, because your hand was upon me, for you had filled me with indignation. Why is my pain unceasing, my wound incurable, refusing to be healed? Will you be to me like a deceitful brook, like waters that fail?” (Jeremiah‬ ‭15:10, 16-18‬) Jeremiah is angry with God. He’s bitter and frustrated. He’s fulfilled the call of God. He’s been faithful. He took God’s Word and proclaimed it to the people at great personal cost. They beat and persecute him. They spit on him and mock him. He has no friends. No family. He sits alone. Who knows how long he has suffered? We only know he’s finally reached a breaking point. He is in anguish. He is in pain. He is depressed. He is discouraged. He accuses of God of being deceitful. Lying to him. Pulling a bait and switch. 

It’s real. It’s raw. It’s honest. I’ve been there. I remember well the 19 months we spent in Wisconsin. We were fully convinced God called us to go there to plant a church. We were excited. We were passionate. We couldn’t wait to get started. God had given us a vision. He had given us plenty of resources. We were confident we would do great things for Jesus. Within a few months, our dream became a nightmare. For the first time in my life, I became a man of “strife and contention” to those I worked for. I felt cursed. Afflicted. Unjustly accused. I didn’t handle it well. I complained. I grew frustrated. I got angry with God. I felt like He had let me down. I felt like He had broken faith with me. After all, I had given up a thriving ministry and uprooted my family and poured my heart and soul into this new work. All to no avail. I ended up broken. Battered. Bruised and contemplated throwing in the towel on ministry altogether. My wife was in an even darker place. It was the most painful time of our lives.  

In the midst of our heartache, I cried out to God and this is what He said. In essence, “Should you accept good from me and not hardship? Did you think this life I called you to was only going to be up and to the right? One success after another? What if it is my will to crush you? To break your pride? To make you suffer so you learn to depend on Me? Am I not enough for you?” It was sobering and convicting and strangely...comforting. Even in our darkest moments, God was there. Though His presence was a refiner’s fire, it felt good. The kind of good one feels after a hard workout or when one has overcome something incredibly difficult. You may still bear the scars but they become badges of honor along the way. 

Such was true for Jeremiah as well. Listen to the Lord’s response to him in the midst of his pain.  "If you return, I will restore you, and you shall stand before me. If you utter what is precious, and not what is worthless, you shall be as my mouth. They shall turn to you, but you shall not turn to them. And I will make you to this people a fortified wall of bronze; they will fight against you, but they shall not prevail over you, for I am with you to save you and deliver you, declares the Lord. I will deliver you out of the hand of the wicked, and redeem you from the grasp of the ruthless." (Jeremiah‬ ‭15:19-21‬) The call on Jeremiah’s life would be a hard one. God is relentless. And He would use Jeremiah as a hammer to break his people’s pride. He would be ostracized. Isolated. Hated. Persecuted. He would suffer and struggle and endure tremendous pain. But through it all, God would be with him. God would give him the strength he needed to bear up under the burden. 

Only you know the burdens you carry in life. Only you know the source of those burdens. Sometime we suffer because of our sin. The choices we make lead us down dark paths. We have to own those choices. Take responsibility. Repent and turn back to the Lord. Sometimes the Lord leads us into suffering. To refine us. Test us. Break sinful patterns of pride and self-sufficiency in our lives. In those times, we must submit. Accept. Surrender to His sovereign will and trust even the hard times serve His purposes in our lives.  

The Importance of Truth

Readings for the day: Jeremiah 9-12

Truth is a rare commodity in our day and age. Fake news. Outright lies. Conspiracy theories. Ideologically-driven news cycles. It’s hard to discern what is True and what is false in our world. Add to that the commercially driven lies our culture sells about beauty, identity, happiness, fulfillment, etc. and we find ourselves swimming in a cesspool of deceit. Social media has only thrown gas on this fire. Exacerbating a phenomena that threatens the very fabric of our society. Sadly, the church has fallen prey to these same forces. Trading in the Truth of the gospel for a more palatable, therapeutic gospel that fills the seats, sells books, and makes rockstars out of megapastors. But it’s not just the megachurches who fallen for these lies. I cannot tell you the number of small churches who’ve allowed themselves to be defined more by the culture wars raging around us than the Truth of the gospel. I cannot tell you the number of churches who care more about one’s political affiliation, one’s musical preference, one’s theological camp, or one’s denominational label than the Truth God’s lays out for us in Scripture. I cannot tell you the number of individuals I meet who claim to be Christian but whose lives exhibit little, if any, evidence of a commitment to the Way, the Truth, and the Life of Jesus. Left without a champion, Truth is lost and our world descends into chaos. 

Jeremiah faced a similar situation, living as he did in the final days of the kingdom of Israel.  “Let everyone beware of his neighbor, and put no trust in any brother, for every brother is a deceiver, and every neighbor goes about as a slanderer. Everyone deceives his neighbor, and no one speaks the truth; they have taught their tongue to speak lies; they weary themselves committing iniquity...Their tongue is a deadly arrow; it speaks deceitfully; with his mouth each speaks peace to his neighbor, but in his heart he plans an ambush for him.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭9:4-5, 8‬) It sounds strikingly familiar, does it not? Those who disagree are not just wrong, they are evil. Those who are different are corrupt. Those who will not toe the line when it comes to ideological purity cannot be trusted. Their motives are suspect. They must have a hidden agenda. Surely there is a conspiracy afoot! And, in fact, there is!

 “Again the Lord said to me, "A conspiracy exists among the men of Judah and the inhabitants of Jerusalem...” AHA! There it is! Confirmation of the deep state! Confirmation that those who don’t agree with us are plotting to take over! Confirmation of the most nefarious intentions of our enemies! SEE! It’s all right there in the Bible! But then Jeremiah confronts us with the hard truth. The “conspiracy”, as it were, exists not “out there” but “in here.” Inside every human heart. Deceit. Fake news. Blatant falsehoods. Hidden agendas. Guess what? They’re all right here. In my heart. I fight them every single day. My entire life is a battle against such evil. Listen to Jeremiah’s own words, “They have turned back to the iniquities of their forefathers, who refused to hear my words. They have gone after other gods to serve them. The house of Israel and the house of Judah have broken my covenant that I made with their fathers.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭11:9-10‬)

The reality, friends, is much more complex than we want to acknowledge. We all have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. There is none who is righteous. Not a single one. All of us are like sheep who have gone astray and it is only the love of the Good Shepherd that keeps us from destroying ourselves. Left to our own wisdom, we will become confused. Left to our own strength, we will fail. Left to our own riches and resources, we eventually will run out. And this is why God says to Jeremiah, "Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord."(Jeremiah‬ ‭9:23-24‬) Truth can only be found in God. The only way to discover Truth is through a personal relationship with Jesus Christ. Only after our dead hearts have been revived by the Holy Spirit can we discern what is True and False about our world and about ourselves. Only as we continue to surrender our own agendas, our own ideas, our own thoughts, our own opinions, our own truth to our Lord will we come to see His Truth for what it is and rejoice. Only as we fix our eyes on Jesus will we be able to see through all the lies and deceit this world has to offer. And it is only as we cling to the Jesus Truth and follow the Jesus Way that we will find the Jesus Life! 

The Grief of God

Readings for the day: Jeremiah 5–8

 “My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?" "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.” (‭Jeremiah‬ ‭8:18-22‬, 9:1-3)

Admittedly, I am pushing into tomorrow’s reading with today’s devotional but this passage from the end of Jeremiah 8 is one of the most poignant in all of Scripture and it bleeds into the beginning of chapter 9. Most English translations put these words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Primarily because of how uncomfortable we are with God experiencing deep, heartbreaking grief. As Western Christians we are heavily influenced by Platonic thought whether we realize it or not. We tend to believe God is fundamentally distant. Fundamentally different. Fundamentally beyond all human experience, including emotions. We believe He is untouchable. Unmovable. Unchangeable. We associate emotions with feelings of change. Instability. Unpredictability. And these things cannot be true of God...right? 

But what if we were willing to embrace a different understanding of emotions? A deeper understanding? Again, it is without question that God experiences emotions. Love. Anger. Frustration. Joy. We read about them over and over again and they are not simply anthropomorphisms. (A way for God to express Himself in human terms we can understand. Ex. “The arm of the Lord...”) What if our understanding of God could be expanded to include the full range of emotions? What if us having emotions is part of being made in God’s image? What if our “emotionalism”, which breeds the feelings of instability and unpredictability, is actually a result of sin and brokenness? What if God, because He remains untouched by sin, is able to experience all emotions without being driven by them? 

This brings us back to the passage cited above. God is expressing the deepest, most heartbreaking grief possible.  ”My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.” God is experiencing an incredible sense of loss. His people have betrayed Him. They have abandoned Him. And then they have turned around and blamed Him. “Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" They refuse to bow the knee. Refuse to repent and return to Him. Refuse to humble themselves before Him. Quite the opposite. They brazenly continue in sin. "Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?" This is a stiff-necked people. A foolish people. A rebellious people. They take their relationship with God for granted. They are entitled. They are spoiled. They assume God will come to their rescue despite their unwillingness to walk in His ways. "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved."

The perspective shifts back to God. “For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” Again, one pictures deep, heavy sobs. God weeping a flood of tears. God experiencing unimaginable pain. Because He has freely joined Himself in an unbreakable covenant with His people, their wounds become His wounds. Their pain becomes His pain. Their heartbreak becomes His heartbreak. Things get so bad, God wishes He could leave. Abandon them to their fate. Leave the Temple in Jerusalem and return to the wilderness. To the time when He tabernacled with them on the Exodus journey. “Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.” But the Tabernacle is gone. There is no lodging place in the desert God can run to. He is stuck. He is committed. He will endure. This is the great faithfulness of our God! It is costly. It is hard. It is painful. But it remains true. 

Really, God is being faithful to Himself here. Faithful to the promise He has made. To be our God, come hell or high water. This was the message He communicated through the covenant He first made with Abraham in Genesis 15 and sealed through the death and resurrection of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. His steadfast love establishes the fundamental reality of our lives. The bedrock on which we can build our lives. Without fear. Without shame. Without worry that somehow, someway there will come a day when God will finally lose patience and abandon us. God will not leave us or forsake us for in doing so He would be unfaithful to Himself. Let this truth be your firm foundation today, friends!

The Pathos of God and His prophet

Readings for the day: Jeremiah 1-4

Jeremiah is a hard book to read. Especially if one gets in touch with the pain present throughout. Not only Jeremiah’s pain as he watches his people and his nation struggle and suffer and eventually be destroyed. But God’s pain as well as His people betray Him by chasing after other gods. So intertwined is the pain of God with His prophet that it is often hard to know who’s speaking. For example, Jeremiah  4:19 says, “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭4:19‬) Traditionally, these words have been ascribed to Jeremiah himself because we simply cannot fathom God saying such things. However, when one looks closely at the text, it is clear God is speaking in verse 18 (“Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart.”) and in verse 22 (“For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.”) Is it possible that we are so uncomfortable with the idea that God might feel pain that we automatically bracket this reading out of the text? 

We’re going to see this dynamic pop up over and over again throughout this book and it forces us to come to grips with how we see and understand God. Classically, the question goes to the “impassibility” of God. The idea that God doesn’t have “passions” or “pathos” which has to do with suffering. Some have interpreted this to mean God doesn’t have emotions but that’s clearly not true. God expresses a whole range of emotions all throughout the Scriptures. More specifically this idea has to do with the suffering of God. Can God suffer? Does such suffering suggest a change in God? Does it threaten the immutability of His nature and character? Historically, the answer has been “yes” which then forces us to find other explanations for what we read in texts like the one before us today. But what if God suffers? What if God chooses - in His freedom - to be the kind of God who moves towards suffering? Who embraces suffering? Who welcomes suffering without it changing who He is? Is this not the heart of the gospel? Is this not part of the mystery of the Incarnation? Eternal God choosing to take on human flesh? With all its weaknesses and struggles and hardships? Is this not the heart of the passion of our Christ? God suffering with us and for us even to the point of death?  

It seems to me that we lose nothing by embracing the pathos of God if we understand God has embraced such pathos according to His own will and good pleasure. Certainly, such suffering is not forced on God. It doesn’t take God by surprise. It doesn’t enact a change on God’s experience. God is beyond all these things. He truly is immutable or unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow or turning in Him. But at the same time, God has revealed Himself in a particular, one might even argue, peculiar kind of way. He is a God who embraces a broken creation. A God who covenants with a broken people. A God who is steadfast and faithful and loyal and true even in the face of evil. He is a God who likens His relationship with His people to a marriage and the faithlessness of His people to adultery. He frequently uses the language of betrayal and heartache and pain to express His dismay over the sinful choices His people make. No one forces God to remain faithful. No one makes God forgive. No outside force can drive God to do anything He Himself has not already chosen to do in complete freedom. Which makes passages like the one we read today and others like it throughout the book of Jeremiah so intriguing. 

What if God is in anguish over us? What if being in relationship with us breaks God’s heart? What if God’s choice to love us from before the foundations of the earth involved Him choosing unimaginable suffering? Would this change how you relate to Him? Change how you see Him? Change how you experience Him? Change how you love Him?  

The Way to Revival

Readings for the day: Joel 1-3

Joel is one of my favorite books of the Old Testament mainly because of how clearly it teaches spiritual renewal and revival. There is a lot of talk in churches today about revival. A lot of prayers ascend asking God to bring revival. To pour out His Spirit. To bless our nation. To awaken the slumbering hearts of God’s people across our great land. Why then does revival not come? Why does our culture continue it’s rapid descent into chaos? Why is there such a rise in hate and anger and rage? Why is God not answering our prayers? 

According to Joel, the answer is quite clear. Repentance always precedes revival. We have not yet come to the end of ourselves. We have not yet exhausted our strength. We still believe on some level that it is up to us and our programs and our resources to bring this revival about. If we could just elect the right person. Just put the right programs in place. Just attend church more often. We will seemingly do anything and everything to avoid falling on our faces, helpless before the Lord. We will do all we can to avoid acknowledging our failures, putting on sackcloth and ashes. We simply refuse to bow the knee, confess our sins both personal and corporate, and cry out to the Lord. And this is why revival has not and will not come to the American church. We are too puffed up. Too prideful. Too divided. Too rich. Too comfortable. To consumer-driven. We spend more time complaining and arguing about worship styles like music than we do in heartfelt prayer. We spend far too much time guarding our hearts because we’ve been wounded than forgiving those who hurt us. We have such little faith and are not willing to put the time and effort into deepening our spiritual lives. I know these are generalizations but study after study confirms they are true. 

Joel speaks prophetically to the American church. To our church. To my church. To my own heart.  

• “Put on sackcloth and lament, O priests; wail, O ministers of the altar. Go in, pass the night in sackcloth, O ministers of my God! Because grain offering and drink offering are withheld from the house of your God. Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord.” (Joel‬ ‭1:13-14‬)
• “Yet even now," declares the Lord, "return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments." Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster. Who knows whether he will not turn and relent, and leave a blessing behind him, a grain offering and a drink offering for the Lord your God?” (Joel‬ ‭2:12-14‬)
• “Blow the trumpet in Zion; consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly; gather the people. Consecrate the congregation; assemble the elders; gather the children, even nursing infants. Let the bridegroom leave his room, and the bride her chamber. Between the vestibule and the altar let the priests, the ministers of the Lord, weep and say, "Spare your people, O Lord, and make not your heritage a reproach, a byword among the nations. Why should they say among the peoples, 'Where is their God?” (Joel‬ ‭2:15-17‬)

These are challenging words. Joel is unafraid to get in our face. They leave us no room for equivocation. We either accept them or reject them and the consequences of our decision is clear. Reject them to our own peril. Accept them and receive the promise. 

•  “Be glad, O children of Zion, and rejoice in the Lord your God, for he has given the early rain for your vindication; he has poured down for you abundant rain, the early and the latter rain, as before. "The threshing floors shall be full of grain; the vats shall overflow with wine and oil. I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.” (Joel‬ ‭2:23-25)
• “And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” (Joel‬ ‭2:28‬)

The answer we keep avoiding is simply this...surrender. Relinquishment. Submission. To God’s will and God’s ways and most importantly, God’s love. Until we do this, we will not see revival come. Repentance is the precondition to revival. Surrender is the precondition to the pouring out of God’s Spirit. We cannot receive from God until we open our hearts and unclench our fists. And this is a process. It’s not something that happens easily. It is a daily decision we make to place ourselves before the Lord. Bow the knee. Believe Him for who He is and what He has to say. Obey His commands.  

God is Enough

Readings for the day: Habkkuk 1-3

 “Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer's; he makes me tread on my high places.” (Habakkuk‬ ‭3:17-19‬)

When I was in college, I attended a Bible study one summer where the leader challenged us all to think about why we loved God. Drawing in material from across the Old Testament, he forced us to ask the fundamental question, “Is God worthy of our love simply because He’s God? Or does God need to earn our love and devotion on some level?” That may seem like an easy question to answer on the face of it but consider the implications. Consider the words of Habakkuk above. What if God withheld His blessings from your life? What if your work didn’t prosper? You never got married? Your children suffered? What if your health failed? You were discriminated against? Or falsely accused and imprisoned? What if your friends walked away from you? Your family turned against you? And you were left alone? What if your body turned against you and you contracted a disease like ALS? Or schizophrenia emerged when you were in your early 20’s? Or early dementia set in robbing you of your faculties? Would you still love God? Would He still be worthy of your devotion? Taking it one step further, would you rejoice? Praise the God of your salvation? 

These are the issues the leader of our group forced us to confront as we wrestled with the fundamental question, “Is God Enough?” From a ministry perspective, consider the call God placed on Habakkuk’s life. He is called to preach judgment. Suffering. Pain. The coming retribution for cumulative sins of the people of God. This is not your best life now. Or seven steps to a better you. Or God has a wonderful plan for your life. This is hard stuff and I am sure it didn’t make him very popular. He probably didn’t pastor a mega-church. Probably didn’t fill an auditorium. Probably would not have appeared on the cover of OutReach Magazine. He fails the seeker-sensitive test. Fails to make faith attractive. He puts a stumbling block to faith in the path of every single person who would give him a listen. And yet, everything he says is true. God’s truth. 

Passages like this force us to grapple with why we believe. Why we love God. Why we worship Him and serve Him. Is it for the eschatological goodies? Eternal salvation? An eternal home where the streets are paved with gold? A place where there is no more suffering, crying, or pain? Is that why we love God? Because He provides a safe and secure retirement plan? Or is it for the temporal blessings? Health. Wealth. Success. Take these things away and we often find our faith on the chopping block. I can’t tell you the number of Christians I’ve counseled over the years who’ve walked away from their faith simply because they felt God had let them down.  

Is God enough? It’s a question every Christian has to wrestle with at some point in their lives. It’s fundamentally the question the great heroes of our faith wrestled with in their lives. Noah believed God was enough even as he watched the world be destroyed. Abraham and Sarah believed God was enough even though they were barren and had no children. Moses believed God was enough even as he was being sent back to what I’m sure he assumed would be certain death in Egypt. David believed God was enough even when he sinned with Bathsheba. Jesus believed His Father was enough which is why He embraced the cross. Paul believed God was enough which is how he learned to be content in all circumstances. And on and on it goes. Down through the ages. The question is posed to every generation in all times and places. Until it comes to us. Do we believe God is enough? Or do we need more? What if God took away our American Dream? What if God took away our health? Our wealth? Our success? What if it served God’s purposes to strip these things out of our lives? Would He still be enough for us? Or would we find ourselves needing more? 

Life isn’t Fair

Readings for the day: 2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35

”Whoever said life was fair?” If I only had a nickel for every time I heard that phrase growing up! As the oldest of three boys, I often complained that I had to do more work than my brothers. I had to be more responsible than my brothers. More was expected of me than my brothers. In reality, I don’t actually think this was true but that’s how it appeared to me when I was young. Then I had my own kids. Four of them. As they grew up, we started assigning them chores around the house. They too would complain from time to time. Guess what words came out of my mouth? “Whoever said life was fair?”  :-) 

One of the more difficult things about reading and reflecting on Scripture from a Western perspective is this principle of “fairness.” We live in a democracy which - at least in theory - is built on the assumption that everyone has equal. Everyone has equal opportunity. Everyone gets the same chances in life. We all know this is a myth but that doesn’t stop us from believing it and it becomes a “lens” through which we read Scripture. Fundamentally, we believe deep down in our hearts that God’s law, God’s grace, God’s justice, God’s mercy must apply equally to all people at all times. In essence, everyone gets a chance or God is unfair. 

But then we read about King Josiah. A man so faithful to God that he’s described as the greatest king since David. His heart was pure. He did not turn aside to the right or to the left. He walked in the ways of the Lord. He tore down the altars his father had built. He purged Israel of their idolatry. He reinstituted the Passover to such a degree that nothing like it had happened since the days of Samuel the prophet. Josiah rebuilt the Temple. He fulfilled the prophecy given to Jeroboam, destroying the shrines he had built that had ensnared the northern kingdom of Israel, leading to her destruction. One would think Josiah’s faithfulness would stem the coming disaster. One would think God would judge him on his merits alone. One would think his faithfulness would be rewarded with long life and happiness and peace. Such was not the case. 

Judah had reached the point of no return. God’s judgment was on its way. There was no turning back. The sins of the fathers and grandfathers going back generations would now be visited on their descendents. Josiah’s faithfulness didn’t matter. It wasn’t enough to turn back the tide. So Josiah goes to war and rather than rewarding his faithfulness with a great victory - as God had done in ages past - Josiah is mortally wounded and dies. His reign of faithfulness comes to a tragic end. The people wail. Their grief is real. The great prophet Jeremiah himself appears in our text, lifting up a lament. And to our eyes it appears God moved the goalposts. God is unfair. After all, did not Josiah do all God had asked? Did not Josiah stay true to God’s commands? Did not Josiah walk in God’s ways? Why did revival not come? Why didn’t God give him a chance? Why didn’t God restore Israel like he had done before? 

Sin has consequences. Not just for our lives but for the lives of our children and children’s children as well. There is a cumulative effect to sin. It builds over time. With each passing generation, injustices are heaped upon injustice. Death doesn’t reset the deck. The passing of a generation doesn’t restart the clock. The debt is passed on. The weight of sin only gets more heavy and eventually becomes a burden too great to bear. God is just. God is righteous. He will not let sin go unchecked. He will not let evil go unpunished. So by the time we get to Josiah, the die has been cast. God’s wrath is already engaged. His judgment is on its way in the form of the Babylonian Empire. The line of David will be cut off. The city of David destroyed. The Temple raised to the ground. God’s people will go into exile where they will suffer. This is God’s will and though it might not seem fair to our Western eyes, it is good. 

At this point you may be thinking, “What hope do I have?” When will I feel the weight of God’s righteous wrath and judgment?  Should I be living in fear of the day when God’s punishment will come and I will lose all that I have? Hear the good news of the gospel. Jesus Christ bore the full weight of human sin! All the sin that had piled up generation after generation - not just from our past but also from our future - was laid on his shoulders. On the cross, the Father poured out the full measure of His righteous wrath and judgment on the Son. Jesus truly paid it all. His blood satisfied the just demands of God’s Law. Jesus was cut off. Jesus’ body was destroyed. His soul went into exile in hell. But the Righteous One would not stay in the grave! On the third day, He rose again! And through His death and resurrection we have been set free. This was God’s plan from eternity. To balance the scales of justice. To right every wrong. To level the playing field by sending His Only Beloved Son to die in our place. Rejoice, friends, God has done for you what you could not do for yourself! He has paid the penalty for your sin and granted you salvation!

Humility

Readings for the day: Zephaniah 1-3

I met a man recently who gave up a six figure income here in the US to return to his native country of Rwanda where he did not draw a salary for three straight years. He went from being in the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest people to the bottom 1% of the world’s poor. He gave us security and safety to live in danger and place his family at risk. He gave up power and influence and privilege in one of the world’s most significant NGO’s to work among those who have been forgotten. When I expressed my admiration for such a sacrifice, his response was confusion. “What sacrifice?” he said. “My life is not my own. My life has never been my own. My life is in the hands of God to do with as He wills.” This, friends, is true humility. 

 “But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord...” (Zephaniah‬ ‭3:12‬) It is hard to overstate the importance of humility to the Christian faith. Humility is what keeps us grounded before the Lord. Humility is what keeps us dependent on Him. Humility is what opens our hands and our hearts, allowing us to release those things in which we too often place our trust. Wealth. Health. Power. Privilege. Status. Authority. Pride. We are fools to place our trust in these things and yet it is so hard to resist temptation. We who have so much actually fall prey to our own desires. Our ability to gratify those desires instantaneously only serves to tighten our bonds. Thinking we are free, we choose to become slaves and there’s nothing more pitiful than a free man or woman choosing to remain in bondage. Nothing more heartbreaking than sitting in a cell with the door wide open, refusing to leave. This is the state we find ourselves in today. Our culture has made Self a “god” and the result is entitlement. Narcissism. Selfishness. Greed. Self-protection. And far too many of us worship at this altar. 

So how do we resist this temptation? How can we uproot Self out of the center of our lives and re-focus our devotion around God? Humility. The fundamental recognition that my life is not my own. My future is not mine to determine. My hopes are not set on the limited horizons of this world. My happiness does not come from chasing temporal pleasures. Humility honors God as sovereign over all of life, including my own. Humility submits. Humility surrenders. Humility bows before the God of the universe and willingly entrusts Him with all that we are and all that we have. This is the secret that my friend understood. He owned nothing. Not his house. Not his salary. Not his job. Not his family. Not his lifestyle. Not his degrees. Not his professional success. Not his future. None of it was his to hold onto. All of it came from God and all of it was used by God as He wills for His good pleasure. So when God called him to leave Colorado Springs and move to Kigali to help his people recover from the genocide, he went. No questions asked. The Master called. My friend answered. The King issued a command. My friend obeyed. The Father made an appeal. My friend responded in faith. Though life has been much harder. Much more difficult. Much more painful and heartbreaking. He has no regrets.  

Humility. Not just an attitude of the heart. Not just a thought process in the mind. But a way of life. It means holding onto the things of this world loosely, knowing the Lord may require them at any time. It means holding onto our hopes and dreams loosely, knowing the Lord may change course at any time. It means holding onto even our pain and heartbreaks and suffering loosely, knowing the Lord often leads His people through such experiences to teach them of His sufficiency. It means holding onto our strength and safety and security loosely, knowing the Lord may demand even our lives at any time.

Now all this may sound very scary. Very frightening if this has not been your path. Here’s the good news. God doesn’t ask for blind obedience. He doesn’t require us to step into the great unknown. He gives this promise to all who walk humbly before Him...“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says the Lord.” (‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3:17-20‬) God can be trusted. God is true to His Word. His faithfulness never ends. His love never fails. Simply believe and let God take you by the hand today. 

Jealous God

Readings for the day: Nahum 1-3

 “Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.” (Nahum‬ ‭3:5-6‬)

Some things you can’t unsee. Like the time I ran my first Bolder Boulder several years ago and saw the male belly dancers around mile four! :-) On a more serious note, now that I’ve become aware of the “honor/shame” dynamic running through all of Scripture, it seems like it’s everywhere. Why does God judge Nineveh with such harshness? Why is He not just content to have the victory but goes further, grinding them into dust? Why does He put their nation to open shame? Lifting their skirts. Exposing their nakedness. Demonstrating before the whole world their powerlessness? Why does He go as far as to throw excrement at them and make them a spectacle? Because God is a jealous God. Jealous for His honor. Jealous for His glory. Jealous for His name. 

The nation of Assyria has enjoyed their time in the sun. Their chariots have rolled all over the Middle East like an ancient blitzkrieg. Their empire is great. Their power limitless. Their military without equal. But they’ve grown proud. They’ve exceeded the limits God set for them. They’ve become drunk with their success. Though they served as the rod of God’s anger against the northern kingdom of Israel, He must now bring them to heel. He must again demonstrate His sovereignty over ALL the nations. Remember the words of the Assyrian commander to King Hezekiah when they besieged Jerusalem? How they dared to compare Almighty God with the small tribal gods of the pagan nations? It’s worth going back and re-reading the story from 2 Kings 18 again. Such disdain and disrespect draws God’s ire. Not because it hurts His ego but because it offends His sacred and holy honor. God will not be mocked! The Creator will not allow His creatures to treat Him this way. They will learn to honor God. They will learn to respect God. They will learn to submit to God. He will bring them to their knees one way or the other because there is one thing God cares about more than the creatures He made in His own image and that is Himself. His glory. His honor. His fame. His name WILL be great upon the earth!

 “The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.” (Nahum‬ ‭1:2-6‬) Assyria will learn this lesson in spades. As will the other nations who dare defy the Living God. 

But what about God’s people? What is our response to this God? How should we approach this God? With fear and trembling? On some level, yes. With humility and submission? Certainly. With terror and dread? Absolutely not! Why? Because our God is also good. And He loves His people. He is faithful to His people.  “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” (Nahum‬ ‭1:7‬)

So...are you living a life of humble submission before the Lord? Or prideful rebellion? Is God an ever-present reality in your life or does He seem distant? Someone to call on in case of emergency? Do you seek to love God with all your heart or are you apathetic towards His commandments? What about His honor and glory? Do these things cross your mind when you work? When you parent? When you’re among friends? When you relate to your husband or wife? Is your worship focused on praising God and pleasing God or are you more concerned with your personal preferences? These are critical questions, friends, in light of what Nahum shares with us today. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!

Everything Rises and Falls on Leadership

Readings for the day: 2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33

I am wrapping up my time in Rwanda but one final stop was the National Genocide Museum. Spending time at the mass graves of over 250,000 people was sobering to say the least. In all, the genocide claimed the lives of over 1.1 million people. Most of whom were killed by friends, neighbors, even family members. A national trauma survey by UNICEF estimates that 80% of Rwandan children experienced a death in their family in 1994. 70% witnessed someone being killed or injured and 90% believed they would die. How can such a thing happen? 

Leadership. An unholy alliance between the racist government of Juvenal Habyarimana and the “Hutu Power” promoting media run by Hassan Ngeze combined to create the conditions whereby such a horror was possible. Aided and abetted by the French government who supplied them arms and training, the government worked hard to gain control over the country as they prepared to implement their own version of Hitler’s “Final Solution.” As the international community turned their backs on Rwanda, evil was allowed to flourish and the results were beyond tragic. 

Such leaders are not unknown in the Scriptures. Manasseh reigned for over fifty years and in that time, “did what was evil in the sight of the Lord, according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” (2 Kings‬ ‭21:2‬) He reinstituted pagan idol worship, rebuilding the high places his father had torn down. He defiled the Temple by setting up altars to foreign gods. “He burned his sons as an offering in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, and used fortune-telling and omens and sorcery, and dealt with mediums and with necromancers. He did much evil in the sight of the Lord, provoking him to anger.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭33:6‬) In short, he did more evil is reign than all the kings who had come before him and after he died, his son Ammon continued in his ways. It was the darkest period in the southern kingdom’s history and the people were led astray. Everything rises and falls on leadership. 

All of us are leaders. Leadership begins with self. Learning to control our thoughts and desire and channel them to godly action. Leadership continues in the family. We lead our families as fathers and mothers and teach our children to walk in God’s ways. We lead at work as we use our influence - whether supervisor or employee - to impact the health and well-being of others and our organization’s future. We lead at church by the way we worship and serve our brothers and sisters in Christ. We lead in every sphere of life so here’s the critical question...what kind of leader are you? When the final analysis is in and the impact of your life is measured, will it be for good or for evil in the eyes of the Lord?

Everything rises and falls on leadership. President Paul Kigame could see what was happening in his country. He saw the signs and he began to organize a resistance. He led a rebellion against the racist government and national media and, as a result, saved tens of thousands of lives. He is rightfully called a hero. But his leadership didn’t stop there. He has worked hard to reintegrate the country. Establishing Unity and Reconciliation commissions where wrongs can be redressed, crimes confessed, forgiveness offered, and entire communities restored. This is his greatest accomplishment. Like Nelson Mandela before him, he refuses to allow hate to drive his leadership and his nation is reaping the benefits. 

Everything rises and falls on leadership. How are you doing? 

Potter’s Hand

Readings for the day: Isaiah 64-66

Last night we had dinner at a rooftop restaurant overlooking all of Kigali. It was a beautiful evening spent eating great food and sharing with new friends. Jason and Kimberly Peters have been incredible hosts this week in Rwanda. Jason serves as the CEO of Hope Haven and has been living here all summer with his wife and family. We’ve become very fast friends. Pastor Jimmy and his wife Sharol lead Potter’s Hand Church here in Kigali and Pastor Jimmy was instrumental in helping build Hope Haven due to his civil engineering background and experience in construction.   

During the course of the meal, Pastor Jimmy shared his story with us. He is a trained civil engineer who has worked all over Rwanda. He has advanced degrees from more than one university. He has not only led many projects but consulted on many more and is very well-respected. In fact, prior to getting involved in ministry, he had an opportunity to go to work for some large construction firms in overseeing some of the key infrastructure work in his country. However, God had a different plan for Jimmy’s life. At the same time his professional career was taking off, he was serving part-time as an assistant pastor in his church. They had a crisis of leadership. It was extremely painful and resulted in many people leaving, including several of their key leaders. Jimmy was asked to fill the gap. He had a decision to make. Should he take the exciting, lucrative job offer from the government or take the difficult, low-paying job of helping his church recover? As he prayed, God led him to verses like this one from Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” 

Jimmy knew the call had come. He was to serve the church. He gave up his position and power and wealth and political influence to serve a church broken by conflict. A church struggling to make ends meet. A church that was coming apart at the seams. He gathered the elders and leaders together and shared the verse God had given him. They renamed the church “Potter’s Hand.” I wish I could tell you some great story of success. Some great story about how God has honored Pastor Jimmy’s choice by bringing prosperity and rapid growth to the congregation. What I can tell you is the story Jimmy shared with me. The story of God’s abiding faithfulness to a small group of people hungry for the gospel with a passion to serve God’s Kingdom. Pastor Jimmy has led his congregation well. Much healing has taken place. The church is growing. God is moving. But it is long, hard work. There are leadership challenges. Financial challenges. Ministry challenges. And yet, the verse God gave Pastor Jimmy before he stepped into this ministry continues to guide them. He is the Potter. We are the clay. The clay doesn’t ask the Potter, “Why have you made me like this?” The clay doesn’t question the Potter’s plans for it’s life. The clay doesn’t worry because the Potter knows what He’s doing. He is shaping us for His own glory.  

It’s an ancient insight that still holds true today. What was true for the prophet Isaiah has held true for Pastor Jimmy. CEO Jason. Pastor Doug. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. God is the master potter. We are his clay. He has us right where He wants us...on His wheel...and He is shaping us to serve His purposes in this world. We have no need to ask Him, “Why?” No need to question His plans. We simply are called to trust and obey. To let the Potter do what the Potter does best. What is the Potter doing in your life today? How is He shaping you? How is He forming you? Where is He at work in you? Give Him thanks no matter what season you find yourself in.  

Rebuilding

Readings for the day: Isaiah 59-63

 “They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations.” (Isaiah‬ ‭61:4‬)

This is a powerful verse to read in Rwanda. A nation with a tragic history of ethnic violence that resulted in the deaths of over 1.1 million people. Not a single person was left untouched by the genocide. Every single person suffered the trauma of either watching their family and friends die or participating in the killing themselves. If you ever wanted to know what national PTSD looks like, Rwanda would be a good case study.  

Bishop John Rucyahana is a key figure in the unity and reconciliation movement. God has used him specifically to rebuild ancient ruins. Raise up former devastations. Repair ruined cities and recover from the devastation of the last generation. He has dedicated his life - in the spirit of Isaiah 61 - to proclaiming the year of the Lord’s favor even in the face of great evil. Though retired from the Anglican priesthood, he is committed to continuing his work until his dying breath. Listen to what he shares in his book, The Bishop of Rwanda... 

 “There is so much pain here, so many real tears, and so much guilt that our ministry is like preaching hope from the top of a pile of bones. From atop a mountain of mutilated bodies, we are stretching a hand upward to proclaim a message of transformation and recovery.“

 “We are talking about shedding miles of tears before one is able to forgive. And to repent of such cruelty requires divine motivation and the divine presence just to attempt it. It cannot be done without God. As a human being, to be able to repent of such demonic cruelty requires the cross of Jesus right in the middle of it.”

 “No one can convince me that there was not demonic influence in all of this. And that convinces me even more to bring in the gospel, the teaching of our Lord Jesus Christ, to come against this demonic presence.”

“When I began announcing programs for healing and forgiveness, some people criticized me for not moving on. But this is not something you can simply move on from without divine help. You don’t forget the brutal murders of your loved ones. It is not even our mission to tell people to forget, but only to forgive with God’s help. And you certainly can’t forgive yourself for killing innocent people. God has to be a part of that.“ 

 “The hope for Rwanda does not lie in the hands of the international community. The hope for Rwanda lies in the hands of a God who is capable of changing human hearts.“

 “There cannot be any cruelty greater than the cruelty that was in Rwanda, and therefore there is no grace greater than the grace that is in Rwanda. It is a grace that frees people from great cruelty and allows them to share life. And that grace comes from the cross of Jesus Christ. There is no magic here. It’s the power of the divine grace of the Lord Jesus Christ. It’s the hand of God.”

The genocide of Rwanda is simply an outward manifestation of the genocide we all carry in our hearts. Anger. Rage. Hate. These are emotions we experience everyday. Social media only exacerbates the problem. Providing pure oxygen to keep the inferno burning as hot as possible. According to Gregory Stanton, president of Genocide Watch, genocides occur in well-defined stages. “Classification” occurs when we divide people up into groups, usually with an “us vs. them” mentality. “Dehumanization” takes place as we seek to make those who are different less human on some level. “Polarization” creates a national atmosphere where groups no longer associate, respect, or even talk to each other. They simply are enemies. “Identification” begins happening as certain influential individuals are targeted for hate and abuse. I see such things taking place all the time in our culture and it is truly horrifying to consider the consequences of our attitudes and actions. 

Just as the gospel is the only hope for the reconciliation of Rwanda, it is the only hope we have to cure the evil in our own hearts. Only Christ can heal our wounds. Only Christ can save us from our hate. Only Christ can transform our anger into love. Only Christ can give us the strength to love and forgive our enemies. In America, we stand in desperate need of such grace. We stand in desperate need of Christ. Though 80% of Americans claim to believe in God, a huge percentage deny Him by their actions every single day. Christianity is more than a religion. More than a philosophy. More than self-help or moral therapeutic deism. It is about the transformation of the heart. The reorientation of all our thoughts and desires. It’s more than “accepting Jesus into our hearts” by raising a hand and praying a prayer. It is about living our lives under His Lordship, empowered by His Spirit, with our eyes firmly fixed on His Kingdom.  

Lest you think I’m overreacting, let me offer this sobering warning from Bishop John, “Rwanda had often been called Africa’s most Christian country, with 90 percent of the people identifying themselves as Christians (65 percent Roman Catholic and 25 percent other Christian faiths). Essentially that means people who dutifully attended church on Sunday were slaughtering their neighbors by the end of the week.”   

Contextual Reflections

Readings for the day: Isaiah 5-58

The great Reformer, Martin Luther, taught that we learn to hear God’s voice in three primary ways. Oratio - Prayer. Meditatio - Meditation. En Tentatio - Within the “tensions” of real life. It is this last one I find impacting me this morning. 

I am in Rwanda. A nation still recovering from a horrific genocide that resulted in the death of over 1.1 million people. Spurred on by a racist national government with a history of systematic abuse and oppression, many ordinary, everyday people turned into rabid killers. They murdered and raped friends. Family members. Neighbors. Co-workers. Things turned so evil that some pastors turned on their congregations. Turning church buildings into charnel houses. Luring their parishioners into traps with the promise of safety. One pastor even bulldozed his own church down on the heads of those he served. These events provide a dark backdrop to these words from Isaiah this morning... 

 “Why have we fasted, and you see it not? Why have we humbled ourselves, and you take no knowledge of it?' Behold, in the day of your fast you seek your own pleasure, and oppress all your workers. Behold, you fast only to quarrel and to fight and to hit with a wicked fist. Fasting like yours this day will not make your voice to be heard on high. Is such the fast that I choose, a day for a person to humble himself? Is it to bow down his head like a reed, and to spread sackcloth and ashes under him? Will you call this a fast, and a day acceptable to the Lord? "Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard.” (Isaiah‬ ‭58:3-8‬)

Rwanda has been known for many years as a Christian nation. Some 90% of the population claimed to know Christ prior to the genocide. So how does one adequately explain how these same people ended carrying out one of the most gruesome pogroms in human history? Bishop John Rucyahana, a key figure in the forgiveness and reconciliation movement in the wake of the genocide, suggests it is because their Christianity only went skin deep. It hadn’t penetrated to the heart. Though they worshipped. Though they fasted and prayed. Though they had the appearance of godliness, they did not love God with their hearts. Isaiah was facing a similar situation in his own time. The people of God worshipped, fasted, sang, made sacrifices. They appeared to follow God’s commands but all the while they were seeking their own pleasure. Their own power. The results were obvious to anyone who could see. Oppression of the weak. Violence. Dissention. Pride. 

In the face of evil, God calls His people back to Himself. He calls them to lay aside their own comfort and protection. Their own safety and security. Their own wants and desires to serve a higher calling. A greater purpose. To humble themselves before the Lord and lay their lives and their future in His hands. Prior to returning to Rwanda, Bishop John was leading a flourishing ministry in Uganda. He was doing God’s work and many people were being saved. But God wanted Bishop John to leave his comfortable life and return to his own country. Bishop John reports hearing God telling him, “If you do not go there and present the healing gospel, then the fate of Rwanda will be in the hands of those who carry guns. If God is the remedy and the solution, whom shall He use, if you don’t allow Him to use you?” This powerful message from the Holy Spirit convicted Bishop John and he laid everything aside to return home. Isaiah calls his people to a similar return. To return back to God in faithfulness and service. To “loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke...to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house...” God promises that when His people commit their ways to Him, their light shall breakforth like the dawn and the glory of the Lord will be their rearguard.

So...here’s the challenge for us...do we believe these words are as much for us as they were for the people of God in Isaiah’s time? For the Hutus and Tutsis of Rwanda in the 1990’s? Do we believe God has called us to place our lives in His service? To give all that we have and all that we are to a higher calling? A greater purpose? To set aside our own agendas and let God guide and direct our steps? This is what it means to follow Christ. There are no other options. There is no other way. Only full and undivided devotion will do. How will you live your life for Christ today? 

Suffering Servant

Readings for the day: Isaiah 50-53

Perhaps it is providential I am reading about the Suffering Servant on the very day I am to meet and have dinner with Bishop John Rucyahana of Rwanda. Bishop John writes and speaks powerfully on the subject of the genocide that horrified a watching world in 1994. He wrestles deeply with the question, “Where was God as over one million people were being slaughtered?” And he comes out the other side with this answer, “Where was God when a million innocent people were being butchered? Where was God when priests and pastors helped massacre the people in their churches? I’ll tell you where God was. He was alongside the victims lying on the cold stone floor of the cathedral. He was comforting a dying child. He was crying at the altar. But He was also saving lives. Many were saved by miracles. God does not flee when evil takes over a nation...God is the giver of eternal life, and He can bring great good out of any situation. He raises the dead; He can also raise the broken. He can restore their hearts and minds and lift their spirits to renewed life. In my country God is doing this today by the thousands. There is so much pain here, so many real tears, and so much guilt that our ministry is like preaching hope from the top of a pile of bones. From atop a mountain of mutilated bodies, we are stretching a hand upward to proclaim a message of transformation and recovery.” (The Bishop of Rwanda ) 

I cannot fathom the journey so many in this country have endured. The horror. The pain. The suffering. It’s immense. Indescribable. Beyond words. And yet, I would argue the forgiveness and reconciliation they have found is equally, if not more, profound. The other day I asked a woman if she was ethnic Tutsi or Hutu. “Neither” was her reply. “Here we are all Rwandan.” She went on to describe some of the hell she and her family had been through and the freedom they had found through forgiveness. Only Jesus could provide such grace. Only Jesus could give them such strength. How can I be so sure? Because Jesus knows the depths of human suffering. He experienced the absolute worst this world has to offer. He knows evil intimately and through his death defeats it once and for all. Listen to how the ancient prophet Isaiah describes the suffering of Jesus, some hundreds of years before His death and resurrection.

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed...He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth...Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand...Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah‬ ‭53:3-5, 7, 10, 12‬)

The same God who bore the sins of many. The same God who makes intercession for the transgressors. The same God who loved His enemies so much He died for them is the same God who is alive and active in Rwanda. Bringing about reconciliation through forgiveness. Preaching hope from atop a pile of His own bones. From atop His own mutilated body, He is stretching a hand upward to proclaim a message of transformation and grace. It’s truly incredible and it is available to all who would place their trust in Him. Friends, if God can bring about reconciliation between the victims and perpetrators of genocide in Rwanda can He not accomplish the same in our lives as well? Can He not bring together husband and wife on the verge of divorce? Can He not bring back together children and parents who’ve been estranged? Can He not help Democrats and Republicans find common ground? Or heal the racial tensions in our own country? These are just a few of the problems we face that only the gospel can solve. 

What is required? Repentance. Confession. Truth-telling. Courage. Faith. Humility. Most of all, a deep and abiding and enduring trust in the power of the gospel. 

Let God Carry You

Readings for the day: Isaiah 46-49, Psalm 135

You have a choice. Either carry your god or let God carry you. Either you load yourself down with the idols of your lives. Idols that are false. Dead. Cannot save. Or you let God bear you up on eagle’s wings. I love how Isaiah 46 puts it, “Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” (Isaiah‬ ‭46:1-4‬) The picture Isaiah paints here is of the foreign nations carrying their gods around from place to place. They put their gods on carts borne by beasts of burden. They are heavy loads. The oxen have to strain to keep going. And all for naught as they are dead and empty. So the result is defeat. Exile. Captivity. Contrast this with the Living God of Israel. No idol can depict him. No statue or totem to carry. So strange was Israel’s faith that many of their neighbors considered them atheist! Because they didn’t appear to even have a god! And yet their God is real. Alive. Active. Bears them up from birth even to their old age. They didn’t make him, He made them. They didn’t bear him, He bore them. They didn’t carry him, He carries them. They didn’t save him, He saves them. ‬

You and I are faced with this same choice everyday. Sure, our idols are not as obvious. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. We don’t have statues or totems or anything like that. Instead, we have bank accounts. Homes. Careers. Relationships. These are the things we place our trust in rather than the Living God. We place our faith in ourselves. We worship ourselves. All our energy and resources are directed towards making sure our needs, our wants, our desires are fulfilled. We are told we deserve this. We are told we’ve earned this. We’re told we want this. That we would be nothing without it. Life is not worth living unless you have it all. Such lies place burdens on our shoulders too heavy to carry. They wear us down. They sap us of our strength. All of us know the rat race we’re on is killing us. We cannot maintain the pace. So what’s the answer?

Turn to God. Let Him bear the burden of your life. Trust the One who shaped and formed you in your mother’s womb. Trust the One who gave you breath and life at your birth. Trust the One who endowed you with all gifts and talents and abilities you have. Trust the One who knows every hair on your head. If you’ll let Him, He will lift you up. If you’ll lean on Him, He will give you strength. If you trust Him, He will never let you down. He has made you. He has borne you. He has carried you. He will save you. This is his promise.

This week I met a new friend. His name is Nankpak. He is from Nigeria. He is a young man around 24 years of age. He exemplifies what Isaiah is talking about. He has suffered unimaginable tragedy in his life. Boko Haram killed his parents and siblings and tried to take his life. He still bears the scars from the machete wounds on his back. He has a bullet in his side. But God saved him. God protected him. God delivered him. One would think such a man would be bitter and angry. One would think such a man might seek vengeance against those who killed his family. Not Nakpak. The gospel has set him free. And he believes God has a special plan for his life. He believes he’s been called to fight the rise of infectious disease in his country. He has already achieved a bachelor’s degree in microbiology. He will serve the next few years as a teacher in his country as part of a compulsory service program run by the government for those who graduate college. Then he plans on going back to school for a master’s degree. Because his father was a pastor, Nakpak is also considering ministry or perhaps combining the two in some way in the future. His is one story among many that inspires because he shows me what it means to place my trust in God.

Created. Called. Redeemed

Readings for the day: Isaiah 43-45, Psalm 80

I’ve been staring at a map for hours. Watching as we make our way from Istanbul to Kigali. We pass over Cairo, Khartoum, Juba, and Entebbe. Out the window to the east, I see names like Bahir Dar, Asmera, Djibouti, Jeddah, and Mogadishu. (There’s not much to the west…just a whole lot of desert.) We’ve flown over Turkey, Egypt, Sudan, South Sudan, and Uganda. I’ve fallen love with this part of the world. God has given me a heart for the people here. I have friends in some of these places. In others, they are still strangers though I hope one day to visit and get to know them. There is much darkness in this part of the world. A lot of idolatry. The worship of false gods. Isaiah’s words are not so strange when you’ve seen some of the things I’ve seen. “The carpenter stretches a line; he marks it out with a pencil. He shapes it with planes and marks it with a compass. He shapes it into the figure of a man, with the beauty of a man, to dwell in a house. He cuts down cedars, or he chooses a cypress tree or an oak and lets it grow strong among the trees of the forest. He plants a cedar and the rain nourishes it. Then it becomes fuel for a man. He takes a part of it and warms himself; he kindles a fire and bakes bread. Also he makes a god and worships it; he makes it an idol and falls down before it.” (Isaiah‬ ‭44:13-15) You see, I’ve met these carpenters. I’ve seen the craftsmen hard at work fashioning their idols. I’ve watched them bow down before them and it shatters my heart. I’ve wept over the lost. I’ve held those who are sick. I’ve prayed with those who are dying. I’ve seen the desperately poor. And I’ve dedicated my life to bringing them the hope of the gospel.

“But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah‬ ‭43:1‬) God created me for such a time as this. God has fashioned me for this purpose. He redeemed me so many years on the campus of the University of Colorado in Boulder so that I might fulfill His great plan to bring the gospel to the nations. This is why He called me by name. To set me apart. To serve His purposes. To take all that I am and all that I have and use me for His glory. I have no identity of my own. I have nothing to call my own. This is not just something I do in my spare time or support with the leftovers of my life. This is literally the reason I exist. “Remember these things, O Jacob, and Israel, for you are my servant; I formed you; you are my servant…I have blotted out your transgressions like a cloud and your sins like mist; return to me, for I have redeemed you.” (Isaiah‬ ‭44:21-22‬)

Now you may be tempted to believe dismiss this as my calling. As something that is unique to Doug Resler but nothing could be further from the truth. Every single person who has called on the name of the Lord has been saved and set apart for this glorious purpose. To bring the gospel to the nations! Starting at home and extending to the ends of the earth. Every resource you have been given. Every gift you have received. Every talent you have developed. Every life experience you have gone through, God has carefully orchestrated that you might serve His divine purposes. (This is true whether you acknowledge Him or not. Just consider the example of Cyrus the Persian!!!) The reality is you don’t have to go to Africa to see idolatry. You don’t have to go to the Middle East to see the worship of false gods. Our nation and our neighborhoods are just as dark as places like Juba and Khartoum and Entebbe. The people we live among need the gospel just as desperately as the people I will have the opportunity to serve this week in Kigali. When it comes to the Kingdom of God. When it comes to eternal life. We hold no advantage. We have no privilege of position. We will not be “boarding” first or get any special treatment. God has given us a truly great commission. To share the good news of the gospel. To go and tell the nations of all He has done! To sing a new song! To lift up praise to our King! To place our lives in His hands for Him to use as He sees fit according to His divine plan.

“Let your hand be on the man of your right hand, the son of man whom you have made strong for yourself! Then we shall not turn back from you; give us life, and we will call upon your name! Restore us, O Lord God of hosts! Let your face shine, that we may be saved!” (Psalms‬ ‭80:17-19‬)

I Will Hold Your Hand

Readings for the day: Isaiah 40-42, Psalm 46

One of my favorite memories is of the first time we took our son Josiah to the beach. We were living in 
Mobile, AL and we took a short day trip to Dauphin Island. Josiah had just turned two and we were excited to introduce him to the Gulf of Mexico. We parked. Grabbed all our stuff. Chloe ran on ahead. Kristi and I were walking with Josiah. When we got to the beach, he started to run towards the water. I was pumped for him, thinking this was shaping up to be a great day. After getting about halfway, his little legs suddenly dug in. He stopped so fast he almost left skid marks in the sand! He stretched out his little arms and starting shouting at the waves. “You stop! You stop!” They didn’t obey. He got more frustrated, kept yelling, started crying, and finally sat down. His little two year old brain just couldn’t make sense of the movement of the waves and he was scared. Watching all this go by, I quickly dumped all our stuff and went to Josiah’s side. He looked up at me, his dad, with big eyes full of tears. Pointed to the waves and said, “Don’t stop, daddy. Don’t stop.” I picked him up in my arms to calm him down. Then I set him back down on the beach, grabbed his hand, and we walked to the water together. 

Today’s reading is awesome. The picture of God taking us by the hand and leading us, guiding us, showing us the way is tender and special. Isaiah speaks of a God who comforts. A God who forgives. A God who gathers His people in His arms like a shepherd gathers little lambs. Let the power of these words wash over you as you reflect and pray today...

• Comfort, comfort my people, says your God. Speak tenderly to Jerusalem, and cry to her that her warfare is ended, that her iniquity is pardoned, that she has received from the Lord 's hand double for all her sins. (Is. 40:1-2)
• He will tend his flock like a shepherd; he will gather the lambs in his arms; he will carry them in his bosom, and gently lead those that are with young. (Is. 40:11)
• Have you not known? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He does not faint or grow weary; his understanding is unsearchable. He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. (Is. 40:28-29)
• Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God; I will strengthen you, I will help you, I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. (Is. 41:10)
• For I, the Lord your God, hold your right hand; it is I who say to you, Fear not, I am the one who helps you...I am the one who helps you, declares the Lord; your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel. (Is. 41:13-14)
  
• When the poor and needy seek water, and there is none, and their tongue is parched with thirst, I the Lord will answer them; I the God of Israel will not forsake them. (Is. 41:17)
• I am the Lord; I have called you in righteousness; I will take you by the hand and keep you; I will give you as a covenant for the people, a light for the nations...(Is. 42:6)
• And I will lead the blind in a way that they do not know, in paths that they have not known I will guide them. I will turn the darkness before them into light, the rough places into level ground. These are the things I do, and I do not forsake them. (Is. 42:16)

There is a lot in life that makes us afraid. Crisis. Uncertainty. Unexpected experiences. Illness. Disease. Job loss. Aging. Growing up. These things are like waves crashing on the shores of our lives. We cannot stop them anymore than Josiah could stop the wave action in the gulf. What we can do is let God take us by the hand. Lead us to the water’s edge. And help us find safety, security, and peace in His presence. When we do, we discover the very things we fear become opportunities for significant spiritual growth. Our greatest trials become the source of our greatest victories. Our greatest struggles become our greatest strengths. Playing in the surf of life is where the action is and with God at our side, we have nothing to fear. Whatever you may be facing today, know God is with you! He is at your side! If you reach out, He will take you by the hand!  

Testing

Readings for the day: Isaiah 38-39, 2 Kings 20:1-21, 2 Chronicles 32:24-33 

I am supposed to be on a plane somewhere over the Atlantic. On my way to a ministry called Hope Haven outside of Kigali, Rwanda. Kristi and I were given this trip by a dear friend and it’s something we’ve been looking forward to for some time now. Last evening, we arrived at the airport as scheduled. Got all checked in. Went to the gate. That’s when we started noticing the delays. Scheduled to leave at midnight, the flight was pushed back to 3AM. Then 4AM. Then 5AM. Then 6AM. Our five hour layover in New York was shot. We would miss our connecting flight to Doha, Qatar. Then came the really bad news. After waiting for hours, we were told around three in the morning that the flight had been cancelled. Brutal. People rushed to the desk. They were angry. Frustrated. Plans were disrupted. Carefully coordinated schedules came apart. One man would miss seeing his son who was planning on leaving the country for a month. Another woman would miss her chemo appointment. Others would not be able to make work the next day. It wasn’t the airlines’ fault. The weather was just too bad to fly. 

Strangely enough, I feel at peace. Though disappointed that we will lose a day and a half in country, I found myself giving thanks for small blessings along the way. An airline attendant who worked for hours to rebook our entire itinerary. Switching airlines. Coordinating connections. Shawn made it possible for us to get to Hope Haven this week. (Provided the weather doesn’t intervene again...) An Uber driver came to pick us up at 4AM. Matt is a young Christian who’s struggling in his faith. We were able to spend an hour on the way home encouraging him, sharing with him, and when we arrived we prayed over him before he left. His tears of joy in our driveway at almost 5AM were precious. After getting a few hours of sleep, Kristi and I now have an unplanned, unscheduled day to spend together. (Something with four kids that never...ever...happens!) Yes, there are still things to do but we will go to dinner and a movie later. Just the two of us.  

How do you respond to tests when they come? 2 Chronicles 32:31 makes it clear God often sends tests our way. “And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left Hezekiah to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.” Do you respond with pride? Anger? Frustration? A sense of entitlement? Before we left for our trip, our family went to Subway to eat. One of our girls ended up with the wrong sandwich. She wept. It was a teachable moment to help her understand mistakes get made. Sandwiches get messed up. Plans go awry. Flights get cancelled. Do we respond to such tests with faith or with fear? Do we trust or do we get resentful? Do we really believe God is sovereign over all things and thereby see tests as opportunities to see Him work in a fresh way or do we only see the obstacles such tests place in the path of our own plans? How do you respond to tests when they come?

Hezekiah experiences an unbelievable miracle. God heals him from a terminal disease. Furthermore, God confirms the healing by giving him the miraculous sign of the shadow cast by the sun move backwards ten steps. Hezekiah’s response? He grew prideful. Took God’s blessings in his life for granted. He failed to maintain a godly perspective on all his success and wealth and privilege. So God sent envoys from a foreign land to test his heart. To see whether or not Hezekiah would honor God in the presence of these pagan witnesses. Sadly, Hezekiah failed.

Sadly, I too often fail as well. I too often see interruptions, disruptions, changes, etc. as obstacles in my way. Barriers thrown up that prevent me from getting where I feel like I need to go. Thankfully, last evening, in the presence of many people who may or may not believe in Christ, I was able to maintain a godly perspective. I was able to bless amidst all the cursing. Be a source of encouragement in the midst of all the anger and frustration. Show kindness rather than be rude. I was able to honor God and the result is peace. Peace about our plans. Peace about the immediate future. Peace about our trip. May God grant you His perspective in whatever trial or testing comes your way!

Only One God

Readings for the day: Isaiah 36-37, 2 Kings 18:9-37, 19, 2 Chronicles 32:1-23, Psalm 76

A few years ago, I was having a conversation with one of my children who was asking me about a friend of hers who was struggling. She was depressed. Anxious. Afraid. Lonely. Being bullied at school. I asked about her faith. Was she a Christian? Did she believe in Jesus Christ? No, came the answer. But she does pray. She is a spiritual person. She believes in a personal spirit animal. I asked if she’d prayed to the spirit animal about her struggles? Yes. All the time. But nothing happens? That’s right. Could it be that nothing happens because there is no such thing as a spirit animal? That she’s worshipping something that doesn’t exist and is therefore completely unable to help? Might the answer she’s looking for be found in Jesus Christ? And are you willing to talk to her about Him? It was a great conversation. Hard but good. Heartbreaking to hear all this young woman was going through but hopeful because my child now had the opportunity to share Christ with her. 

Today’s reading highlights an important truth. We live in a religiously pluralistic world. A world full of all sorts of gods and goddesses. A world that is growing more religious by most measures. A world full of competing ideologies and worldviews. A world full of idols. Such has always been the case. In Hezekiah’s time, every tribe had their own god. They worshipped their gods. Sacrificed to their gods. Served their gods. In return, their gods were supposed to provide for them. Protect them. Give them victory over enemies. So when a nation like Assyria invaded, the battle wasn’t just between kings and armies but between the gods they served. If Assyria won, their god was more powerful. If they lost, their god was weak. “Beware lest Hezekiah mislead you by saying, "The Lord will deliver us." Has any of the gods of the nations delivered his land out of the hand of the king of Assyria? Where are the gods of Hamath and Arpad? Where are the gods of Sepharvaim? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? Who among all the gods of these lands have delivered their lands out of my hand, that the Lord should deliver Jerusalem out of my hand?” (Isaiah‬ ‭36:18-20‬)

Assyria has established their dominance. Their god has thus far proved more powerful than the tribal gods of the other nations. But the Assyrians have misplaced their trust. They believe in idols. Gods who are not gods. Further, their victories are hollow because the nations they have conquered also worship false gods. Now things are different. Now they have come up against the one true and living God of the universe. The One who reigns in glory high above the heavens. The One who directs the affairs of all men. Hezekiah doesn’t need his army. He doesn’t need chariots and horses. The Lord is on his side and it is enough. “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, enthroned above the cherubim, you are the God, you alone, of all the kingdoms of the earth; you have made heaven and earth. Incline your ear, O Lord, and hear; open your eyes, O Lord, and see; and hear all the words of Sennacherib, which he has sent to mock the living God. Truly, O Lord, the kings of Assyria have laid waste all the nations and their lands, and have cast their gods into the fire. For they were no gods, but the work of men's hands, wood and stone. Therefore they were destroyed. So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord." (Isaiah‬ ‭37:16-20‬)

We often fall into the trap of believing as long as someone is spiritual, it’s enough. As long as someone worships something - call it whatever - it is enough. As long as they acknowledge the existence of a deity on some level it is enough. It’s different names for the same reality. Like the “COEXIST” bumper stickers you see on the back of cars. But that’s simply not true. Allah and Yahweh are not the same. Muhammed and Jesus are not the same. Christians worship a different God than our Muslim, Mormon, Jehovah’s Witness, Hindu, and Buddhist friends. Biblically speaking, they worship false gods and their false worship has consequences. Their gods cannot answer them when they cry out. Their gods cannot heal. Cannot comfort. Cannot provide. Cannot protect because they do not exist. As Hezekiah points out in his prayer, “They were no gods, but the work of men’s hands, wood and stone.” We might put it this way in our time, “They are no gods but the work of men’s imaginations, crafted and created to serve our own purposes.”  

This was the point I was making to my own children. Our faith is not a matter of opinion. It doesn’t rest on sincerity or how strongly we hold to our convictions. Our faith is real because it trusts in a God who is real. Who is alive. Who reigns and rules from heaven even now. Who is with us. Who’s Spirit dwells in the heart of every believer. Who hears our prayers. Who breaks through time and space to work miracles on our behalf. Who actually came to earth. Walked among us. Taught us the ways of His Kingdom. Who suffered and died on our behalf. Who rose again. These aren’t just philosophical truths we believe but historical facts that undergird our faith in a way that sets us apart from all others.  

I don’t know what you are dealing with today. The challenges you face. The burdens you carry. I don’t know what your friends and loved ones are struggling with but I encourage you to pray the prayer Hezekiah prayed. “O Lord our God, save us that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord." 

God is our Stability

Readings for the day: Isaiah 31-35

I get seasick. Not just a little queasy but over the top, barfing multiple times over the side, green-faced seasick. The first time I realized this I was in Maine and had signed up to go deep sea fishing off the coast. It was a stormy day. We were in a small boat. The wave action was fierce once we moved beyond the breakers. I paid quite a bit of money - for a college student - to go out on this half day trip. I was hoping to catch something big. Have a great story to tell. Alas, all I did for five hours was throw up over the side. It was honestly one of the most miserable experiences of my life. Motion sickness is caused by the disconnect between what we see with our eyes and what we feel in our inner ear. If the two don’t match, you’re in trouble and the symptoms won’t resolve until you find stability. Make it back to shore. Put your feet on solid ground. 

Today, Isaiah describes a form of spiritual motion sickness. There is a spiritual disconnect between what God’s people say and what they do. They worship God with their lips but not from their hearts. The result is judgment. The result is pain. The result is suffering. They are in danger of being exiled from the Promised Land. And it’s not just them. Because Israel abandoned her calling to be the light to the nations, the world has been left in darkness. No one to show the pagan nations how to worship the True and Living God. So they too come under judgment. They too experience the righteous wrath of God. There is no place that is safe. Not Egypt. Not Assyria. Not Zion. All have sinned greatly. All have abandoned true worship. All have brought shame and dishonor to God and treated Him with utter contempt. The result is chaos. Instability. The earth reels and quakes beneath their feet at the sound of God’s voice. 

But all hope is not lost! God Himself provides a way where there is no way. A highway for the redeemed called the Way of Holiness. (Is. 35:8-10) It’s a safe way. A secure way. A road for those who love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, and minds. It’s a stable way for those who walk on it honor God for who He is. “The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion's treasure.” (Is.‬ ‭33:5-6‬) It’s a peaceful way because those who walk on it hunger and thirst after righteousness. “And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.” (Is. ‭32:17‬) It’s a noble way. A way of honor and glory and respect and privilege. “He who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.” (Is.‬ ‭32:8‬) And because it is all these things and more, the redeemed rejoice when they find it. “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Is. ‭35:10‬)

It’s a beautiful vision, is it not? Don’t you find yourself longing to walk there? To experience the abundance of peace, stability, justice, righteousness, wisdom, knowledge, nobility and salvation that walking such a road promises? Doesn’t your heart long to sing and rejoice and burst with everlasting joy? Believe it or not, the way is open to you even now! Jesus Christ says “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6) All the promises of God are hid in Christ. All the riches of God are available to those who trust Christ. All the honor and glory of God is revealed in Christ and is available to those who would place their faith in Him. Those who profess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts God raised Him from the dead are saved. And walking in salvation means you are already walking this road! So don’t be afraid to claim that which is already yours in Christ Jesus! To open your hands and heart to receive from Christ all He has promised! All He has won for you through His life, death, and resurrection!