Why it Matters - Never Forgotten

Readings for today: 1 Chronicles 7-9

Today’s reading brings us to an end of the genealogies. And while it isn’t easy to plow through all the names, it is important to remember the overarching point. God never forgets. He never forgets His people. He never forgets His promises. The Book of 1 Chronicles is most likely written to a group of people who have returned from exile. They have spent decades in Babylon wondering if God had indeed forgotten them. Now they have returned and they take a census of everyone who is resettling the land. To their amazement, all of the tribes are represented. Even the ten northern tribes who were scattered by the Assyrians centuries before. Yes, some of the tribes get more treatment than the others and it’s possible that the tribe of Dan is only indirectly referenced but all of them seem to there.

I don’t know about you but I find this deeply comforting. Though we may forget God. Though we may walk away from God. Though we may try to reject God. He never forgets us. He never walks away from us. He never rejects us. Once we accept Jesus Christ as our Lord and Savior, we are grafted into His family forever. We are adopted as His children and He will never stop pursuing us until He has rescued every lost sheep, found every lost coin, and saved every lost son or daughter. This is His promise. No one can snatch us out of His hand. I think of the people I love who gave their lives to Christ but now are trying to live apart from Him. They try so hard to forget God but I can see His hand at work in their lives, drawing them back home. It gives me hope. Even if they push Him away for years, His grace is irresistible in the end.

Do you know people in your life who once knew the love of God and have walked away? Deconstructed? Left the Christian faith? Don’t lose heart. God never forgets. He will pursue them with His love until the day they die. That’s His promise and that’s what these verses from 1 Chronicles attest to in our reading today.

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Samuel 5:1-10, 1 Chronicles 11-12, Psalms 133

Why it Matters - Chaos

Readings for today: Psalms 81, 88, 92, 93

Human beings have always hated chaos. Some of our earliest mythologies present the gods as bringing order to chaos. Typically, order comes about through a cosmic conflict whereby “chaos” is defeated and dismembered thus bringing the universe into being. When the ancient Hebrews looked out on the Mediterranean Sea, all they saw was chaos. It’s why they often depict chaos using water imagery. The waters of creation over which the Spirit of God hovered. The waters that covered the earth during Noah’s flood. And the waters that roar and surge in Psalms 93. “The waves roar, O Lord, the waves roar, the waves roar and crash. Above the sound of the surging water, and the mighty waves of the sea, the Lord sits enthroned in majesty.” (Psalms 93:3-4 NET) This is one of the many things that sets the Hebrews apart from their ancient near east neighbors. They don’t believe God has to fight some cosmic war to bring chaos to heel. He already sits enthroned above the flood. The waters can roar and foam and surge all they want but they present no threat to God. He simply speaks and order is brought to chaos.

I find this thought extremely comforting as did the Psalmist. The world often feels chaotic. Humanity is almost always at war. The pain and suffering we experience is real and overwhelming. Armies march. Economies crash. Pandemics rage. Storm systems spin. Drought and famine create a harvest of death. But the Psalmist lifts his eyes above it all to see the Lord enthroned on high. He knows God reigns and His throne cannot be moved. The Lord is robed in strength and majesty. His will is sovereign and reliable. No matter what we experience in this world, we can trust Him for He has always been and always will be king.

When you experience chaos in your life, where do you turn? Do you turn, like the Psalmist to God? Do you place your trust in His sovereign will and strength? Do you look to Him to bring order to the chaos of your life?

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Chronicles 7-9

Why it Matters - Despair

Readings for today: 1 Chronicles 6, Psalms 36, 39, 77-78

I recently spoke to a person who is really struggling with despair. Their life has not been easy. They’re battling addiction. They suffer from an anxiety disorder. They take medication for depression. They don’t make healthy choices. They seem to make the same mistakes over and over again. They have seasons where it looks like they are making progress but then they have a string of bad luck and things feel worse than before. It’s heartbreaking. And yet, all is not lost. One of the things I often encourage them to do is to reflect back over the course of their life and remember the blessings God has given them. Write them down in a gratitude journal of some kind. Take time every day to thank God for even small things like a warm home and food on their table and a family that loves them.

Our world is full of pain and suffering. Evil is all around us. Life is expensive and hard. Violence and hatred on the rise. Social media and cable news dumps all kinds of gasoline on this raging inferno. And in the face of everything we see and experience on a daily basis, it is easy to give into despair. The same was true for the Psalmist. Listen again to his words. “I said, “I tried to make sense of what was happening. I asked, “Will the Lord reject me forever? Will he never again show me his favor? Has his loyal love disappeared forever? Has his promise failed forever? Has God forgotten to be merciful? Has his anger stifled his compassion?” Then I said, “I am sickened by the thought that the sovereign One might become inactive.” (‭‭Psalms‬ ‭77‬:‭6‬b-‭10‬ ‭NET‬‬) Ever felt that way? Ever tried to make sense of what was happening in your life or in the world around us and wondered if God had abandoned you? Wondered if He had finally had enough and rejected you? Wondered if His patience had run out and His promises come to an end? I think all of us know what this feels like on some level. So how did the Psalmist handle his despair? He remembered. He reflected back on all God had done for Israel over the centuries. He recounted all of God’s mighty deeds. And it led him to praise and thanksgiving and gratitude once again. “I will remember the works of the Lord. Yes, I will remember the amazing things you did long ago! I will think about all you have done; I will reflect upon your deeds!” O God, your deeds are extraordinary! What god can compare to our great God? You are the God who does amazing things; you have revealed your strength among the nations.” (Psalms‬ ‭77‬:‭11‬-‭14‬ ‭NET‬‬)

Spiritual reflection is an important spiritual discipline. Thinking back over the course of our lives on all God has done. Remembering His goodness to us and to our family and to those we love. Even connecting to the wider story of all God has done for His people throughout history can bring us a sense of hope in the midst of our depression and despair. Whatever you may be facing today. Whatever pressures you may be under. Whatever anxieties and fears you may feel. Take some time to remember God’s faithfulness. God’s goodness. God’s steadfast love. You are not alone in what you are experiencing. God is with you.

Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays

Why it Matters - Belonging

Readings for today: 1 Chronicles 3-5

Several years ago, I ran across a brilliant insight from Old Testament theologian, John Walton, who wrote, “Though the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us.” This is critical to keep in mind as we read. For example, in today’s reading, the audience is very likely the Jewish community who returned from exile in Babylon. It is not being written down as it happens but as God’s people reflect back on their history. These former exiles would have been desperate to reclaim their tribal identities. They were looking to restore the worshipping life of Israel and the rebuilding of their nation. Tracing their lineage back to the patriarchs and kings of old would have provided a deep sense of belonging and a sense that God had not forgotten His promises to them. It’s a great reminder that “exile”, in whatever form that takes, is not the final word in our story.

When I meet with people for counseling, I often remind them they are not defined by their worst day or worst moments. They are not defined by their guilt or shame. They are not defined by their failures and mistakes. The reality is that all of us have sinned and fallen short of the glory of God. The key is to return to Him in repentance. Humble ourselves before Him. Submit once again to His will and to His way and in due time, He will lift us up again. God is faithful. He never leaves us or forsakes us. He never abandons us to our fate. This is the main thrust of the message of all these genealogies. The people of God literally tracing the faithfulness of God throughout their history. We should be able to look back on our own lives and our own families and our own histories and see the same dynamic in play.

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Chronicles 6, Psalms 36, 39, 77-78

Why it Matters - Wealth

Readings for today: Psalms 49, 84, 85, 87

Why does the Bible talk so much about money? Why does God care about what we do with our wealth? What possible relevance could earthly riches have in heaven? These are just a few of the questions I get frequently in my line of work. And when I scratch the surface, usually what I find is a deeper struggle for ownership and control. We want to run our lives. We believe we have the right to spend our money any way we desire since we are the ones who worked hard to earn it. We believe we are entitled to live at a certain economic level. We believe we should be free to pursue a certain kind of lifestyle. We don’t like constraints. We don’t like demands. We resist any claim on our wealth. And this is what makes money so dangerous. So easy to fall in love with which, according to Scripture, is the root of all evil. To be clear, it’s not wealth that is evil, it’s the love of wealth. It’s the sin of greed that so infects the human heart. It’s virulent. Airborne and highly contagious. There is no natural immunity or vaccine to stop it. There is only the Holy Spirit removing the old heart with its lusts and greeds and replacing it with a new heart and new, rightly ordered desires and loves, among which is generosity.

• The problem of greed is as old as the human race itself. For as long as human beings have walked the earth and lived in community together, there are some who accumulate more than others. Sometimes through hard work and determination. Sometimes through random chance and blind luck. Sometimes through manipulation and exploitation and the use of power. And it’s easy to grow resentful when we see the unrighteous prosper. We wonder how in the world a good God could allow the wicked to accumulate vast amounts of worldly wealth. The Psalmist felt the same way but he also understood the limitations of wealth. “They trust in their wealth and boast in their great riches. Certainly a man cannot rescue his brother; he cannot pay God an adequate ransom price (the ransom price for a human life is too high, and people go to their final destiny), so that he might continue to live forever and not experience death.” (Psalms‬ ‭49‬:‭6‬-‭9‬ ‭NET‬‬) Wealth cannot buy you happiness. Wealth cannot get you into ticket to heaven. Wealth cannot be used to win favor with God. It is temporal not eternal. It is fleeting. It is here today and gone tomorrow. And we certainly cannot take it with us when we die.

• So what is the purpose of wealth? The Bible is clear. God entrusts us with wealth to further His Kingdom in the world. When we give generously and sacrificially to the Lord, we are storing up treasures in heaven. We are inoculating ourselves against the love of money. We are letting go of temporal riches that fade in favor of heavenly riches that endure. So how do we get started? How do we grow in the spiritual discipline of generosity? We pray. We ask the Lord what we are to give and then we are to give it cheerfully and joyfully. Trust the Holy Spirit to lead and guide you in your giving.

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Chronicles 3-5

Why it Matters - God’s Plan

Readings for today: 1 Chronicles 1-2, Psalms 43-44

Biblical genealogies are not the easiest to untangle. There are a lot of names. Some are connected to the family tree. Their importance is obvious. Abraham. Isaac. Jacob. Others don’t appear connected in any way and seemingly pop up out of nowhere. Seir and the Horites. The kings of Edom. Caleb’s many wives and children. It gets confusing and it’s hard to keep everything straight. So what’s the point of reading these chapters? What value do they add to the believer’s life? If every Word of Scripture is breathed out by God and useful for correction, rebuke, and training in righteousness, what purpose do these chapters serve? I’m glad you asked.

1 Chronicles 1-2 offers the careful reader several important insights. First, it connects us to humanity’s origin story. It reminds us we all share a common ancestor. A man made in the image of God who was given dominion over all He had made. We are not just the product of random chance or natural selection. We have dignity and value and worth given to us by God Himself. Second, it connects us to God’s covenant family. The family through whom salvation will come to the world. The family God promised He would use to bless the nations. The family to whom God made an unbreakable, unshakeable promise. This means we are not orphans in this world. We have an identity. We are children of God, adopted into His family, chosen by grace. Third, it connects us to a holy nation. The nation of Israel. We’ve been grafted in according to God’s sovereign plan. Once we were not a people, now we are part of God’s people. Fourth, it connects us to the royal tribe of Judah. The tribe from which the Messiah will one day come. In Jesus, God fulfills His promise to never let the scepter depart from Judah. Finally, it connects us to the royal line of David. God fulfilling His promise to David that he would always have a descendent to sit on his throne. All of this is running in background as we read these names. It’s a snapshot of God’s salvation plan in action.

There are so many moments in life where I need the comforting reminder of God’s salvation plan. I need to remember He is at work. Even when I cannot see Him. Even when I cannot feel Him. Even when I cannot touch Him or perceive Him. God is at work in every generation. In every tribe and tongue and nation. He is at work in human history. He holds the past, present, and future in His hands. Whenever I feel discouraged or down or anxious or afraid, I try to remember the saints who have gone before me and their faith in the One who holds all things together.

Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 49, 84, 85, 87

Why it Matters - Honesty

Readings for today: Psalms 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 21

I love the Psalms. One of the main reasons is how honest they are about real life. The Psalmist expresses the full range of human emotion. Anger and despair. Grief and sorrow. Frustration and the desire for revenge. He is not afraid to lay his troubles before the Lord. He is honest about his fears and failures. He even wonders at times if God is present or if He even cares. At the same time, he clings to his faith. He calls on God for deliverance. He trusts God’s righteous character. He knows God will hear his prayers even if it doesn’t feel like it at times. He continues to seek the Lord with all his heart. “Lord, you give me stability and prosperity; you make my future secure. I constantly trust in the Lord; because he is at my right hand, I will not be upended.” (Psalms‬ ‭16‬:‭5‬, ‭8‬ ‭NET‬‬)

Recently, I was counseling an individual who has experienced significant loss and betrayal in her life. She comes from a country with an oppressive regime where women are systematically mistreated. She had a son who died tragically of cancer when he was seven years old. Immediately after her son died, her husband had an affair and left her for the other woman. Rather than support her, her mother blamed her for the breakup of her marriage. Her new husband cares for her but recently declared bankruptcy, putting them in significant financial straits. She is not yet a believer but is open to the faith. As she and I talked, I asked her what she thought about forgiveness. She immediately rejected the idea but as we talked more, she kept coming back to the concept. She asked me what it would take and why I felt it important. We talked about forgiving the different people in her life and than I suggested she may need to forgive God. This really took her by surprise. I encouraged her to share with God how betrayed she felt when He didn’t answer her prayers to heal her son. I encouraged her to share her anger with God and her deep grief and disappointment. I assured her God could handle her emotions. It was a new thought for her and I took her to the Psalms to give her some examples.

It’s hard for us to be completely honest with God. We often feel like we’re sinning if we express our frustrations or disappointments or even anger with Him. But the Psalmist shows us how to wrestle with God honestly in faith. It’s okay to share anything and everything we’re feeling with God as long as it leads us to a deeper faith and trust in Him. Through the Psalms, God invites us to share our deepest emotions with Him and He proves He is not afraid to hear our heart’s cries. This is what I love about our God and it is what it means to have an authentic relationship with Him.

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Chronicles 1-2, Psalms 43-44

Why it Matters - Friendship

Readings for today: 2 Samuel 1-4

I got a call from my oldest friend the other day. His mom passed away recently and he asked me if I would officiate at the memorial service. I was honored. After all, I’ve known Kyle since I first moved to Colorado. He and I went to elementary school together. We were in Boy Scouts. We hung out all the time in high school. We attended each other’s weddings. When he lost his mom, I too was grieved because of all the memories I have of her from growing up.

I reached out to another friend when I was in Central Asia last week. I met Tim in college right after becoming a Christian. Tim and I did Bible study together and served in our campus ministry together. When I got married, Tim was my best man. When he got married - literally two weeks later - I was one of his groomsmen. When he and his wife went on staff with a parachurch ministry, my wife and I were one of his early supporters. It’s been an honor to stay in touch with him over the years and follow the work God has done in and through him. That’s why I reached out to him while overseas. The people I was with are part of the same ministry Tim is with and it made me so grateful for our friendship and partnership in the gospel over so many years.

I hope you have friends like Kyle and Tim in your life. People who are close to you. People you could call at 2AM if you were in crisis. People who would pray for you, support you, encourage you, and bless you. People who are very dear to you. That’s what Jonathan was to David. He was David’s closest and dearest friend. Though they were technically rivals for the throne of Israel, Jonathan willingly gave up his rights for the sake of their friendship and David honored Jonathan in return. When Jonathan dies, David grieves. The loss is painful and personal for him. In fact, he even says his love for Jonathan was more special to him than the love of women. “I grieve over you, my brother Jonathan! You were very dear to me. Your love was more special to me than the love of women.” (2 Samuel 1:26 NET) The loss of Jonathan represents not only the loss of a close friend but the death of their dreams of ruling Israel together.

Now some have suggested this passage is an oblique ancient reference to a homoerotic relationship. It’s utter nonsense. Those who support such a view are reading their own point of view back into the text. Sadly, in our culture today, we have hypersexualized every relationship. We falsely believe that if we feel a deep, emotional connection to someone then we must desire them sexually. We don’t have modern categories for platonic friendships anymore whereas such things were common in the ancient world. Our lives are the poorer for it. The epidemic of loneliness and isolation is largely due in part to the loss of deep friendships. The reality is far too many of us don’t have a close friend. We don’t have someone we can call at 2AM in a crisis. We don’t have someone with whom we can bare our soul. This is not God’s design. He created us for deep friendships, especially in the Body of Christ.

p.s. If you need help getting started, let me recommend picking up the book, Receive, by Jeff Kemp. It’s geared towards men but is equally applicable to women. Very practical guide to how to begin forming deep friendships.

Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 6, 9, 10, 14, 16, 21

Why it Matters - Help

Readings for today: Psalms 121, 123-125, 128-130

I just returned from an international trip and one of the places I visited was Kazakhstan. I had never been there before and it is beautiful. I flew into Almaty and spent time with mission partners in the city. The city is located in the foothills of the Trans-Ili Alatau mountains. The peaks tower directly over the city to the south, some rising to over 16000 feet. They are glorious on a clear day. One of the main attractions in Almaty is a beautiful ski resort located about twenty minutes outside the city. Once you’re there, you can ride a gondola up into the mountains and catch some amazing views. Unfortunately, the day I was there it was cloudy but we were still able to get high enough to see the city below.

The city of Jerusalem is located in a similar spot, though the mountains are not nearly as high. It too is nestled on a plateau in the middle of the Judaean Mountains. The Mount of Olives lies to the east and Mount Scopus to the northeast. One of the most iconic views of Jerusalem is seen from a lookout point on the Mount of Olives and it’s where most tours stop on their way into Jerusalem. It’s spectacular. For the Psalmist, the view has a deeper spiritual meaning. As he looks out on the mountains that surround the city, he sees it as symbolic of how the Lord surrounds His people. Protecting them. Guiding them. Encircling them in His love. “As the mountains surround Jerusalem, so the Lord surrounds his people, now and forevermore.” (Psalms‬ ‭125‬:‭2‬ ‭NET‬‬) It’s a potent vision. One I am reminded of when I look out on the mountains that lie to the west of my own city. I think about their strength and permanence. I think about their heights and majesty. Over the years, I’ve climbed many of those mountains and the view from the top is breathtaking. A taste of what the Lord sees when He looks down on all He has made.

In Psalm 121, the Psalmist poses this question…”I look up toward the hills, toward the mountains, from where does my help come?” Not from the hills. Not from the mountains. Not from any place in this world. His help comes from the Lord, who made everything in heaven and on earth. Is the Lord your helper? Do you sense His abiding presence with you each and every day? Do you lean on Him for strength and wisdom? Do you look to Him for guidance when you make decisions? Is He your protector? Do you find yourself living within His embrace? Resting in His everlasting arms?

Readings for tomorrow: No devotionals on Sundays

Why it Matters - Grace

Readings for today: 1 Samuel 28-31, 1 Chronicles 10

Grace is unmerited favor. It is unearned blessing. It is a free gift from God. David understood grace. He understood his entire life up to this point had been filled with grace. Grace brought him from a shepherd’s field to a powerful position within the Kingdom of Israel. Grace won his battle with Goliath. Grace delivered the Philistines into his hands over and over again. And because David walked by grace and lived by grace, he was able to extend it out to others. Like the two hundred men who couldn’t keep up with him when they went into battle. The normal thing to do would be to punish them for their faithlessness. Deny them any part of the victory spoils. But David knew it was God who had given him the victory not his own strength of arms so he could be generous even with those who had let him down. I love how he is so quick to give God all the credit and glory. “But David said, “You shall not do so, my brothers, with what the Lord has given us. He has preserved us and given into our hand the band that came against us.” (1 Samuel 30:23 NET)

Over the years, I’ve become convinced that grace is the most powerful force in the universe. I have seen grace change the hearts of those I love in my own family. I have seen grace change enemies into dear friends. I have seen grace heal divisions in churches. I have seen grace have a transformative effect in ways judgment never could. Grace sees the best in people. Grace sees God’s image in people. Grace refuses to let any barriers get in the way. Just this past week, I experienced grace when spending time with people from multiple different cultures, speaking multiple different languages. My heart was filled by their joy and laughter and tears and sadness. All of it grace upon grace upon grace.

Where has grace changed your life? Where have you seen grace change the lives of others? How can you extend grace to those around you today?

Readings for tomorrow: Psalms 121, 123-125, 128-130

The Call of Christmas

Readings for today: Revelation 10-11, Psalms 43

I find most people live with a sense of cognitive dissonance. On the one hand, everyone generally agrees that our world is not in great shape. There is too much violence. Too much pain and suffering. Too much disease. Too much inequality. Too much resource disparity. Too much anger. Too much hate. And we generally blame God for not stepping in. Not taking care of things. Not leveling the playing field. Not solving our problems. Not restraining evil. At the same time, everyone generally agrees they want to be free. Free to make their own decisions. Free to live their lives the way they want. Free to pursue the fulfillment of their desires. So we don’t want God to tell us what to do. Don’t want God to challenge our choices. Don’t want God to restrict our behavior. But we can’t have it both ways. The fundamental reality that the Bible affirms is that we are free, moral agents, created in the image of God, capable of great good and great evil, fully responsible for the decisions we make and the impact those choices have on others and this is why we are subject to God’s judgment.

God loves the world. He loves everything He has made. He loves every creature He has made. He loves every human being He has made. And that’s why God hates what we’ve done to the world. He hates what we do to each other. He hates what we do to ourselves. And He holds us responsible for each and every action and non-action. He holds us responsible for each and every word we say or don’t say. He holds us responsible for the way we respond to those around us and especially the way we respond to Him. He created us to worship and to serve Him forever. And when we reject His creative purposes for our lives, we live for ourselves, and living for ourselves is what ultimately leads us to ruin. God, however, will not abandon us. He will not abandon the world He has made. He is coming again to judge the earth and everyone in it. He is coming again to make all things new and take control of His world once and for all. Listen again to how the Apostle John describes it, “The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever. The twenty-four elders, who were seated before God on their thrones, fell facedown and worshiped God, saying, We give you thanks, Lord God, the Almighty, who is and who was, because you have taken your great power and have begun to reign. The nations were angry, but your wrath has come. The time has come for the dead to be judged and to give the reward to your servants the prophets, to the saints, and to those who fear your name, both small and great, and the time has come to destroy those who destroy the earth.” (Revelation‬ ‭11‬:‭15‬-‭18‬ ‭CSB‬‬)

Thanks be to God that we know the end of the story! Now the challenge is for us to live with God’s glorious end in mind. Live now as if the kingdoms of this world have already become the Kingdom of our God and His Messiah. Live in the reality of God’s reign and rule on earth. This is the call to the church. This is the call to every Christian. And this call is renewed each and every Christmas.

Readings for tomorrow: Revelation 12-13, Psalms 44

Experiencing Christmas

Readings for today: Ephesians 5-6, Titus 1-3

“I cannot wait for Christmas!” How many of us have expressed that sentiment? Especially this year! When we were young, it probably had to do with getting more presents. But as we get older, the sentiment expresses some of the deepest longings of our hearts. We wish there was more kindness in the world. More gentleness. More compassion. As we feel the effects of the social distancing and isolation from COVID, we wish we could spent more time with friends and family and those we love. We wish we could experience more of the beauty that makes up the magic of this particular season. Perhaps most of all, we wish we could connect with God every day like we do when we sing “Silent Night” while holding candles with hundreds, perhaps thousands of other voices at the foot of the manger. In that moment - and perhaps only for that moment - the cares and worries and struggles and heartaches of this world are forgotten as we focus in on the Christ child. 

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people...” Paul’s talking about the miracle of Christmas. He’s not only talking about what happened but why it happened and how we can experience a bit of Christmas every single day of our lives. Jesus came to bring salvation to all people. And part of His great salvation plan - the plan that was unveiled for all to see that first Christmas night in Bethlehem - is to train us to live godly lives in this ungodly world. Train us to be little lights in the darkness of our world. Train us to cling to hope amidst the hopelessness and despair of our world as we wait for the day of Jesus’ Second Coming. The Second Advent. The Day the promise of Christmas will be finally and completely fulfilled. 

“For the grace of God has appeared, bringing salvation for all people, training us to renounce ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, waiting for our blessed hope, the appearing of the glory of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave himself for us to redeem us from all lawlessness and to purify for himself a people for his own possession who are zealous for good works.” (Titus‬ ‭2:11-14‬)

What does it mean for us to experience Christmas on a daily basis? What would it look like to lay claim to the grace God offers us in Jesus Christ each and every day? It has to do with living a godly life. And what is a godly life according to Paul? It is self-controlled. Good and upright. Pure and holy. Notice he does not say “perfect.” We are never perfect this side of heaven but Christmas stirs in us the hope that one day Jesus Himself will come. He will redeem us and our world from all lawlessness and sin and evil and death. He will purify us once and for all as He ushers us into His Kingdom. The Kingdom He’s been preparing for us from before the foundations of the world. 

The reality is we can be kind in this world. We can be gentle. We can be compassionate. We can make more time for friends and family and those we love. We can experience the beauty of God’s creation every day in a sunrise or hiking up a 14’er or fishing a mountain stream. We can give gifts year round and seek to bless those around us. We can gather for worship every single Sunday with God’s people and sing songs of deliverance and praise to our God. These are things we can do. Even here. Even now. Even in the midst of a global pandemic. Nothing stops us. Nothing keeps us from intentionally living with the “Christmas spirit” year round.

Think of the witness it would be if Christians were truly “zealous for good works.” If we were truly passionate about the works of God. Think of how it would change our neighborhoods if we started connecting with people even in a socially distanced way? Think about how it would change our work environments if we got there just a little early to make the coffee or sent out a few thank you notes to the rest of the staff? Think about how it would change the social fabric of our schools if Christian students made the intentional decision to love those who are marginalized? Those who are ostracized or bullied? Those who seem so alone? Think of how our churches would change if we extended grace to those who hurt us rather than judgment? If we forgave those who sinned against us rather than leave and head to the church down the street? Think of how the world would change if we saw our wealth and resources as tools in God’s hands to bring life and light and health and hope in the name of Jesus? All this is possible for those who know and follow Christ. 

If you’ve ever wished it could be Christmas every day, I have good news for you! It can be! Simply love and obey Christ. Live a life of praise and worship and joy before your Redeemer. Renounce your ungodly and worldly passions. Those things only get in the way. Instead, live your life for Jesus. Invite others to join you. Serve those whom Jesus’ loves - the lost and the least in your community - and you will discover the peace the angels proclaimed at Jesus’ birth.  

Readings for tomorrow: 1 Timothy 1-6

True Prophets vs. False Prophets

Readings for today: Jeremiah 25-28

“Thus says the Lord: Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and speak to all the cities of Judah that come to worship in the house of the Lord all the words that I command you to speak to them; do not hold back a word. It may be they will listen, and every one turn from his evil way, that I may relent of the disaster that I intend to do to them because of their evil deeds. You shall say to them, ‘Thus says the Lord: If you will not listen to me, to walk in my law that I have set before you, and to listen to the words of my servants the prophets whom I send to you urgently, though you have not listened, then I will make this house like Shiloh, and I will make this city a curse for all the nations of the earth.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭26:2-6‬)

So many in our world claim to speak for God. Political leaders. Social leaders. Religious leaders. They come from all walks of life. They come from all different backgrounds. They come from all different ethnicities and cultures and nations. They hold all kinds of different credentials. So how is one to know who is true and who is false? How is one to discern the difference between a true prophet and a false prophet? Someone who actually is speaking for God vs. someone who is speaking for themselves?

In recent years, the church of Jesus Christ has endured scandal after scandal. I think of the systematic coverup in the Roman Catholic Church of the priests who abused thousands of children over decades across the country. I think of the scandals that have rocked the evangelical world as leaders like Bill Hybels, Ted Haggard, Mark Driscoll, and James MacDonald among many, many others are exposed for their hypocrisy. I think of the failure of church boards and episcopal governing structures in addressing these problems head on. Their enablement of the abusers only increasing the trauma of the victims. I wish I could say such incidents are rare but they are not. There are far too many false prophets running around these days. They masquerade as end times prophets, health and wealth preachers, and sexual predators who prey on their congregations. They are cult leaders. Religious charlatans. Purveyors of hate. They defend the indefensible. They justify their abuses. They claim special anointing and protections from the Lord himself. And they lead many astray with their lies. Unfortunately, the religious life seems to attract shady characters. Men - and it is almost exclusively men - whose character is utterly corrupt and who see the church as an easy mark. A soft target because of the grace she proclaims. Frankly, it all makes me want to vomit.

Sadly, it seems like such has always been the case. Throughout the book of Jeremiah, we have encountered many a false prophet. People claiming to speak for the Lord who are, in reality, seeking to hold onto their power. The man we meet in today’s reading - Hananiah - is simply the latest in a long line of court prophets who seek to advance their position by flattering the king. Hananiah’s message to Zedekiah is that he will defeat the Babylonians. God will break the yoke from their necks and set them free. It is clear pandering designed to maintain political privilege and power and it bears a striking resemblance to the many pastors of our day who sell out the gospel for a place at the political table. Both progressives and conservatives alike are guilty. I think of Al Sharpton and Robert Jeffress and many others we could name. These are the kind of men of whom God speaks when He says, “I did not send the prophets, yet they ran; I did not speak to them, yet they prophesied.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭23:21‬) 

Friends, God will not be mocked. When Hananiah falsely prophesied a great victory over Babylon, Jeremiah foretold his doom. “And Jeremiah the prophet said to the prophet Hananiah, "Listen, Hananiah, the Lord has not sent you, and you have made this people trust in a lie. Therefore thus says the Lord: 'Behold, I will remove you from the face of the earth. This year you shall die, because you have uttered rebellion against the Lord.'" In that same year, in the seventh month, the prophet Hananiah died.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭28:15-17‬) Over the course of my short life, I have seen this pattern repeated over and over again. Those who speak falsely in the Lord’s name are eventually exposed for the religious hucksters they have become. They fall into disgrace and the examples are legion. God will not allow His name to be spoken in vain. God will not be manipulated for our purposes or bent to our will. He will not share His glory with another and woe to any man or woman who declares falsely a Word from the Lord! Woe to any man or woman who calls evil “good” and good “evil!” Woe to any man or woman who would subvert the Word of God and twist it to serve some other purpose! God is watching! He sits on His throne even now! He will expose what is done in secret! He will bring to light the sinful agendas of every human heart! Nothing is hidden from His sight!

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 29-32

War with God

Readings for today: Jeremiah 21-24

Today’s reading makes me so thankful for Jesus. Jesus died in my place. He took the full wrath and fury my sin had earned on Himself. He endured the suffering. The pain. The horrors of hell that I may live. Without Christ, I would be lost. Rightfully condemned. At the mercy of God’s judgment. Just like the people of Israel. It also makes me thankful Jesus is returning to make all things new. To put an end to oppression and injustice and the corrupt ways of the nations of this earth. Only in Jesus’ Kingdom will we find perfect justice and righteousness forming the foundation of His throne. Until that day, we live in a broken world inhabited by broken creatures with broken longings in their hearts that constantly lead them astray.

“I myself will fight against you with outstretched hand and strong arm, in anger and in fury and in great wrath.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭21:5) These might be some of the scariest words in all the Bible. Can you imagine what it must be like to be at war with God? To be in complete rebellion against your Creator? Not just ignoring His will but consciously, intentionally, even eagerly seeking to disobey? The sons of Josiah knew full well what they were doing. The priests and prophets of Jeremiah’s time were fully aware of their actions. The people of God who lived in the cities and villages were not ignorant of the commandments of God. They simply chose to ignore them. They simply chose to reject them. And the consequences of their actions are devastating. 

Israel will go into exile in Babylon. They will lose their land. They will lose their homes. Their Temple will be raised to the ground. Their glory pounded into dust. Even worse, their God was now fighting on the side of the Chaldeans! No longer their Protector. No longer their Warrior. He who was for them is now against them. Who can resist His might? “I will turn back the weapons of war that are in your hands and with which you are fighting against the king of Babylon and against the Chaldeans who are besieging you outside the walls...I will strike down the inhabitants of this city, both man and beast. They shall die of a great pestilence...I will give Zedekiah king of Judah and his servants and the people in this city who survive the pestilence, sword, and famine into the hand of Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon and into the hand of their enemies, into the hand of those who seek their lives. He shall strike them down with the edge of the sword. He shall not pity them or spare them or have compassion.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭21:4, 6-7‬) It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!

And yet, even amidst this national catastrophe, Jeremiah sounds a note of hope. There will come a day when the sins of Israel have been paid and the Lord will visit His people once more. “I will gather the remnant of my flock out of all the countries where I have driven them, and I will bring them back to their fold, and they shall be fruitful and multiply. I will set shepherds over them who will care for them, and they shall fear no more, nor be dismayed, neither shall any be missing, declares the Lord. "Behold, the days are coming, declares the Lord, when I will raise up for David a righteous Branch, and he shall reign as king and deal wisely, and shall execute justice and righteousness in the land. In his days Judah will be saved, and Israel will dwell securely. And this is the name by which he will be called: 'The Lord is our righteousness.'” (Jeremiah‬ ‭23:3-6‬) As is so often the case in the prophetic literature of the Old Testament; things are always darkest before the dawn. The promise of a Messiah rises out of the ashes of Israel’s sin like a phoenix spreading it’s wings. David will not be abandoned. A righteous Branch shall come from his line. A king who will reign with justice and righteousness and wisdom. One who will restore the fortunes of God’s people. One who will defeat their great enemy once and for all so they may finally dwell secure. He will even have a name...יְהוָ֥ה צִדְקֵֽנוּ...“The Lord is our righteousness.” 

Jesus is our righteousness, friends. God made Him who knew no sin to actually become sin on our behalf. To bear the full weight of the world’s sin. Past. Present. Future. He took all my sin. All my brokenness. All my fears. He took all my rebellion. All my rejection. All my disdain. He took all my selfishness. All my greed. All my lusts. And He nailed them to the cross. Furthermore, He died not only for me but for the sins of the world. The broken systems of this world. The oppressive and corrupt structures of this world. By His wounds, we are healed. By His brokenness, we are made whole. By His chains, we are set free. By His death, we are given new life. 

The reality is all flesh is at war with God. The desires of our hearts are bent towards evil. Our thoughts and attitudes and actions are corrupt. And God is at war with us. His Spirit waging a battle for our hearts. He has invaded our world. Invaded our hearts in order to cleanse us. Purify us. Refine us. He is a consuming fire. He will not rest until our lives reflect His glory. And the more we surrender. The more we submit. The more we cooperate with the work of the Spirit, the more we will experience the freedom Christ promises. This is no easy task. The flesh and its desires must be crucified. Put to death. There can be no safe harbor for them in our souls. We must allow the Spirit to “save to the uttermost.” We must open ourselves up fully and completely to His work. Only then will we be truly set free.  

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 25-28

The True Pandemic

Readings for today: Jeremiah 17-20

“The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it? (Jeremiah 17:9)

One cannot help but look at the history of humanity and be troubled. We are - by nature - a violent, greedy, selfish people. Ever since the fall of humanity from grace in the Garden of Eden, we have been at war. Alienated from God. Alienated from ourselves. Alienated from one another. Alienated from creation itself. It’s why we have so many problems. It’s why - no matter how hard we try - we never seem to make the progress our souls desire. Utopia seems forever beyond our grasp. Justice and righteousness forever slipping through our fingers. The Kingdom of God always just beyond the horizon.

Jeremiah looks around and the diagnosis seems clear. Humanity is desperately sick. We are all infected with a deadly disease. It’s a heart condition. One that cripples us from conception. One that corrupts us from birth. One that keeps us from becoming the people we were created to be by God. Our hearts are deceitful. We lie to God. We lie to ourselves. We lie to those around us. We simply cannot and will not face up to our true condition. We are broken beyond repair. We are totally depraved. We are sinful creatures through and through. God says, “I, the Lord, search the heart and test the mind, to give every man according to his ways, according to the fruit of his deeds.” (Jeremiah 17:10) It’s why every single one of us will eventually die. It’s God’s righteous judgment on our sin. It is the penalty we pay for our crimes. No one escapes.

Jeremiah’s words still ring true today. Think about all we are going through in our nation. Political division. Ethnic tension. Economic instability. Global pandemic. A culture of outrage and hate fostered by political leaders and furthered by a complicit media. And yet, the answers they offer only promise to treat the symptoms not the disease. They only address the downstream issues and fail to attack the root of the problem. The stark reality is we want the Kingdom without the King. We want all the blessings of heaven but we don’t want to follow the only One who can get us there. We refuse to obey His commands. We refuse to submit to His will. We refuse to walk in His ways. And our society continues to descend into chaos and anxiety and fear. I love how Pastor Charlie Dates put it in a recent devotional I read on the root of the ethnic tensions we currently face, “The germ of injustice lives in all of us. We can hear the dream of exceptionality in our indignation. We see those troubling images and videos and think we would never do anything wrong like that. Our tweets are rightfully angry, but often unrighteously condescending. Even those who claim the name of CHrist have forgotten that if it were not for the grace of God we too would do to others what we hate to see them do to someone else.” Without minimizing the seriousness of COVID-19, sin is the true pandemic afflicting the human race.

So what can do we do? How shall we respond? Again, I love how Dates puts it, “We human creatures are not all bad, but all of us are bad. The Bible teaches that all have sinned and fallen short of God’s righteous standard. None of us escapes sin’s reach. And what’s worse is that we cannot remedy our world in our own power or fix ourselves. The Gospel is the only message that can cure the problems it diagnoses. Until you recognize that you are susceptible to the lure of sin, you cannot fully enjoy the gift of redemptive grace.” I think Jeremiah would agree. In fact, I believe this is exactly what Jeremiah is getting at when he says, “A glorious throne set on high from the beginning is the place of our sanctuary. O Lord, the hope of Israel, all who forsake you shall be put to shame; those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth, for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.” ‭‭(Jeremiah‬ ‭17:12-13‬)

Friends, through Christ, the way to the throne is open. In Christ, we can approach the throne of grace in confidence to find mercy in our time of need. So look to Christ! See Him seated on the glorious throne! Place your trust in Him and invite His Spirit to do His sanctifying work in you, healing you from the affliction of sin. Delivering you from the power of sin. Only faith in Christ can save us from the pandemic of sin.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 21-24

Cling to God

Readings for today: Jeremiah 13-16

“For as the loincloth clings to the waist of a man, so I made the whole house of Israel and the whole house of Judah cling to me, declares the Lord, that they might be for me a people, a name, a praise, and a glory, but they would not listen.” ‭‭(Jeremiah‬ ‭13:11)

It’s a weird scene. God tells Jeremiah to buy a loincloth. Wear it. Bury it. Dig it up. All in an effort to illustrate for His relationship with Israel. I don’t know about you but I feel for these prophets. They are often called to do the strangest of things. I often wonder what their friends and family thought of them. I wonder what kind of ridicule and abuse they suffered. How isolated and alone they must have felt. I think of John the Baptist who was described as the “lone voice crying in the wilderness.” It had to be such a hard life. At the same time, I love the message God sends through Jeremiah. The picture of God clinging to us like an undergarment. Clinging to us in the most intimate of places. Clinging to us and never letting go. Why would God do such a thing? Especially when His people harden their hearts and refuse to listen?

God has a plan for your life. How many times have you heard that message? It’s true! From the beginning, God has made His plan clear. Humanity’s purpose is to fill the earth with the glory of God. Fill the earth with the image of God. Fill the earth with the praise of God. This is why God made us in the first place. This is the condition Adam and Eve were born into in the Garden of Eden. This is what all of us will one day experience when heaven comes to earth. No matter what we do or where we go or how much we sin, God’s plan never changes. He never relents from His purposes. He never stops working to bring about His will in our lives. Though we may resist Him. Though we may run from Him. Though we may rebel against Him. God refuses to let go. His grip remains tight. His love steadfast and true.

I think of when my children were younger. How I would scoop them up in my arms at times and try to hold them close. Sometimes they would arch their backs and try to wiggle from my grasp. Sometimes they would fight me and try to push me away. But in the end they always laid their head down on my shoulder and snuggled in close. I think of the teenagers I live with and how upset they get at times. They yell. They cry. They say hurtful things. One of the things I’ve learned is not to fight them but simply hold out my arms. Wait for their emotions to calm down and give them a big hug. Then we talk things out. I think God is like that.

If you are a Christian, you are part of God’s people. You have been given His name. You were created for His praise and glory. You are not insignificant. You are not worthless. You are not hopeless. You are not lost. You are not alone. You are not on your own. God is with you. He clings to you even now. He is as close as a loincloth around your waist. Engaged in the most intimate spaces of your life. Stop running. Stop resisting. Stop fighting. Turn and embrace the One who loves you more than you can ever know. Cling to God even as He clings to you.

Conspiracy Theory

Readings for today: 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 something more palatable, more therapeutic 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 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!

“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! 

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 13-16

The God who Weeps

Readings for today: 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!

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 9-12

The Suffering of God

Readings for today: 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, 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?  

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 5-8

Apocalypse Now

Readings for today: Joel 1-3

We live in apocalyptic times. If you listen to the media or to the conversations happening on social media feeds, it seems like the world is coming to an end any day now…unless we vote for their candidate. All politics and social policy is now cast in terms of good and evil. We’re fighting a zero sum game in a never-ending culture war. “Re-elect President Trump and the world goes to hell.” “Elect Vice President Biden and the world goes to hell.” Or so we hear. America’s perch as the world’s leading superpower is being threatened by China and Russia. The great American experiment in democracy seems to be teetering on the brink. Capitalism which has driven wealth-creation on a scale never before seen in human history is broken. Any trust we once had in the institutional strength of the checks and balances of the different branches of government is gone as we watch Congress continue to flail about. It’s hard to live in the twilight of an empire. Compound it with a global pandemic, ethnic strife, and a complete lack of any kind of godly leadership and we end up resonating with what the prophet Joel was going through as he watched the sun set on the southern kingdom of Judah…

“What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.” (‭‭Joel‬ ‭1:4‬) King Josiah was dead. The brief flicker of hope had gone out. The locusts were on the march. The Babylonians were on the move. No one would escape. Swarm after swarm. Army after army would march through Israel, burning everything to the ground. Jerusalem would be destroyed. The Temple razed. Not a stone would be left on top of another. So what are the people of God to do? Send out a Twitter blast? Riot in the streets? Overturn the government? Burn down the establishment? No…

“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…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.” (Joel 1:14, 2:12-13) The appropriate response is always repentance. Always humility before the Lord. Turning to Him with all our hearts. Relinquishing any sense of control. Letting go of our anger. Refusing to cling to whatever power and privilege we have left. Resisting the temptation to play the blame game. Looking in the mirror to see how we have contributed to the mess we are in. Honestly acknowledging our sin. Yes, it feels like disaster is on the horizon. Yes, there is so much fear and anxiety in our world. Yes, we have become prideful and arrogant and entitled and spoiled. We have forgotten our first love. We have abandoned true worship of God in favor of idols. We have taken all the blessings God has given us for granted. We deserve our fate. And yet…

“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 2:25) There simply is no end to God’s grace. No matter how many times we fall. No matter how many times we fail. No matter how corrupt and selfish and greedy we become, God is quick to forgive if we will be confess our sin before Him. If we will express but grieve over what we have done or what we have left undone. God’s mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is great. His love never fails. This is our hope! This is our joy! This is our peace! But God doesn’t stop there. He doesn’t just restore us, He actually sends us out to declare this same gospel to the nations…

“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) God’s grace is not something we keep to ourselves. It is a gift designed to be given away. A blessing we offer to others. Something we share with the world around us. God poured out His Spirit on His people at Pentecost. It’s like He turned on the faucet and left it running for two thousand years. There is no end to the Spirit of God which is why billions around the world today call on His name. If you are a Christian, you have been drenched in His life-giving flow. You have been indwelt by His life-giving power. You have been filled by His life-giving presence. This sets you apart. This makes you different. You are now the salt of the earth, called to help preserve her from all evil. You are the light of the world, called to help put an end to darkness. Our hope, friends, is not in the coming election but in the Spirit of God working through the people of God to proclaim the gospel of God to a dead and dying world.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 1-4