Desert Desserts

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(Jeremiah 17:7,8) Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, whose trust is in the Lord.

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Here's a double description of people whom God enriches with blessings. By combining both descriptions we see how to trust God. First, trust is an action word--a verb. It's a unique set of actions that blessed people do in the here and now. Second, these trust-actions are not random or non-specific: they move these "trusters" to ever-improving alignment and ever-richer intimacy with the Lord. He is the object of these people's trust even though they people don't see or hear Him.

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I love how Jeremiah describes the results of living this way (verse 8): "[They] are like a tree planted by water, that sends out its roots by the stream, and doest not fear when heat comes, for its leaves remain green, and is not anxious in the year of drought, for it doest no cease to bear fruit." You don't see the roots, but you enjoy the fruit.

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Lord, thank You for showing me that I don't need to be intimidated by threatened economic, political, or relational disasters. By trusting You, and by living that way, You are able to make me rich in the fruits and gifts of Your Spirit. You can spread a table of rich fruit in a desert (Psalm 78:19)!

Reflective Listening

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(Jeremiah 13:11) "For as 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."

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God reveals two conditions for being His people--people who reflect His good name, His praise-worthiness, His glory. First, we are to cling to Him as closely and consistently as loincloths that--in those days--were attached by a belt. Whether a belt or elastic, it's our love of truth that keeps us from being humiliated (see Ephesians 6:14 and 2 Thessalonians 2:12). Second, we are to listen to Him because not listening to Him leads quickly to shame.

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What clings more constantly or closer than a swimming suit or underwear? What's more personal? That's how closely I need to cling to my Lord. It's much closer than being tied to apron strings. Only in such a close proximity will I hear my Savior's clear voice. Therefore, when talking to people or figuring things out for myself, I need to do more listening than talking, more seeking and verifying seeking than pontificating.

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Lord, apparently I'm more prone to wander than I had realized. You told me to "abide in Your love...that my joy might be full" (John 15:9-11). So I'm sticking to You as closely and constantly as possible. Why would I ever want to leave Your joy or Your love?

Hope and a Future

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This is what the Lord says: "When seventy years are completed for Babylon, I will come to you and fulfill my gracious promise to bring you back to this place. For I know the plans I have for you," declares the Lord, "plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Jeremiah 29:10-11
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God takes sin seriously. He doesn't just wink at it. After repeated calls for repentance, He judges His people by taking them into captivity in Babylon. But even as He prepares to judge them (in order to cleanse them), He reassures them of a gracious future!
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this verse is God's promise to those going into captivity in Babylon, but in a larger sense, it reveals His character. He warns me of sin, and even sometimes allows the consequences of sin to lead me to repentance. And yet, He is always moved by his steadfast love to declare His gracious plans to bless those who love Him. I need to remember this, when things are tough, and when I am discouraged!
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Dear Lord, thank you for your spreading goodness! You love us enough to deal with sin in a serious manner, and yet you always remind us of your good plans to bless us! May your love always draw me to love you in return, and obey your Word as a result.

New House Guests

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(Jeremiah 4:14) O Jerusalem, wash your heart from evil, that you may be saved. How long shall your wicked thoughts lodge within you?

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God would not command us to wash our hearts if He didn't also give us the capacity to do wash them. He identified our deliberate hosting of wicked thoughts as a core contaminant of our souls. However, "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness" (1 John 1:9).

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Bitterness, wrath, anger, clamor, slander, and malice can--for a short time--be highly entertaining and comforting guests in our minds. They quickly, however, prove to be liars, thieves, and murderers. I know this is true (John 8:44; 10:10; Matthew 5:21-30). So the Holy Spirit counsels us to immediately evict these "houseguests" from our hearts and instead to host kindness, tenderheartedness, and forgiveness (Ephesians 5:31,32).

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Wonderful Counselor, Savior, this body You've give me, a palace-like temple for Your Spirit to dwell in, is not worth trashing with such cruel and domineering guests as wrath and malice. Forgive me for entertaining them and allowing them to pollute Your temple. I eagerly invite Your Holy Spirit to rework my entire soul, just as You also forgave me and invited me to Your Heavenly home.

The Perils of Privilege

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(Zephaniah 3:7,8) I said, "Surely you will fear me; you will accept my correction . . . Therefore, wait for Me," declares the Lord, "for the day when I rise up to seize the prey" (ESV).

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Zephaniah shocks us. This prey includes His people who were in the midst of unprecedented moral and spiritual reforms under King Josiah's leadership. Ignoring that completely, "Zeph" (whose name means "The Lord Hides"), warns of God's imminent, all-consuming wrath (chapter 1). Except for Josiah and a few others, the privilege and prosperity from their reforms were only hypocritical camouflage: their hearts and actions remained evil despite their participation in a few good deeds (chapter 2). Finally, we're shocked again by God's tender nurturing of His people, showing that His love drives all this.

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This command to wait for the Lord is active. While waiting for God's justice that in His time consumes all corruption, our task is to safely dispose of our sins under the blood of the cross. We are to actively seek the Lord in humble obedience to all His commands, to seek to live out His righteousness through loving relationships with people, and to seek humility (Zeph. 2:3).

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Lord, I take my virtues too seriously when I should be humble and I am too fearful and doubting when I should be bold. Help me live in Your fierce strength. Hide me in Your tender mercies.

Break Forth O Beauteous Heavenly Light

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(John 8:12) Again Jesus spoke to them saying, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness, but will have the light of life."

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Under Jesus' feet is thick darkness, like heavy clouds (2 Samuel 22:10). This--at least figuratively--describes people's confusion. So Jesus explains why some people will never understand Him: They are looking at Him from below, from their own tiny perspectives, where they see only thick darkness (John 8:23,24). If, instead, by faith we follow and love God, we find ourselves suddenly walking in His light.

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Sometimes I feel like Habakkuk, the Old Testament prophet whose sight and understanding got confused because he couldn't figure out what God was doing. Like him, therefore, I will cry out to God for help and I will continue to walk by faith (Habakkuk 2:1-4; 3:17-19). Then, I too, will discover that what seems like thick darkness is actually the dust from God's activity (Habakkuk 1:15).

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Creator God, I still love Your clouds--they show off Your splendor. Although confusion or fear sometimes settle on me like a thick fog, help me remember at these times that this state is not a hindrance to Your care (Psalm 139:11,12). Remind me that my exercise of trusting You causes Your light to break through like a glorious sunrise (Isaiah 58:8).

Good Posture

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(Isaiah 60:1,2) Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the Lord has risen upon you. for behold, darkness shall cover the earth, and thick darkness the peoples; but the Lord shall arise upon you, and His glory will be seen upon you.

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This important prophecy reveals Christ's plans for His beloved people. Amidst a world of thick darkness, He offers His light. He is the true light amidst people who claim to see even while they stumble in blindness (John 1:1-14; Revelation 3:14-22). In contrast, Christ's followers recognize their natural darkness and receive His light.

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Strangely, this light is not anything I can produce, yet Isaiah calls for me to stand tall and shine with Christ's light. I guess only people who deeply bow to this King will then have the capacity to stand erect and tall in the light of His glory--which will be visible enough for others to witness upon us.

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Lord, I choose to be such a person upon whom Your radiance can rest. I don't like being in thick darkness, nor do I like being a soul-darkened person when I can be with You in Your hope-filled joyfulness. If that is how You choose to be glorified in me, I'm all for that.

Sprouting New Grace

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(2 Peter 3:18) But grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. To Him be glory both now and to the day of eternity. Amen

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Growth is good--and deliberate in this case. Growth in grace is awe inspiring because God wants, in ever-constant, ever-increasing measure, to give us goodnesses we don't deserve. The text says this is all through Jesus Christ--relating to Him as both Lord and Savior. As we walk with close relationship with Him, He reveals Him glory and grace to us...and we grow.

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I am so glad this is not merely an academic study, that growth in grace comes from an experiential knowledge of God. What an incredible journey: knowing Him as Savior means letting Him convert me into His likeness instead of my enemy's likeness. Knowing Him as my Lord means submitting by faith to His higher call on my life rather than my enemy's call.

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My Lord, I bow my heart, my soul, my strength, my everything to the supremecy of Your will in all things. My Savior, please give me still more grace so I can grow into Your likeness and into the fullness of all You've made available to me...to us, Your church.

Incorrectable?

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(Isaiah 53:5) But He was wounded for our transgressions; He was crushed for our iniquities; upon Him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with His stripes we are healed.

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Wounding, crushing, chastising, and striping are serious methods for correcting our sins. Chastisement--verbal rebukes--seem relatively out of place here, but that helps us see the incongruency of the whole: Why would the Sinless One have to suffer the sting of oral reprimands? If that was unfair, how much greater must the other stings be?

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I don't like being corrected, but when I receive it with a right heart there's a healing comfort that soothes my pain...small pains in comparison to His. I can't help but think that my willingness to receive my Heavenly Father's correction and to respond repentantly must also comfort my Savior who endured such painful wounds for me.

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Dear Savior, there is so much I don't yet understand about Your love for me. Why would You receive so much injustice? Why was my justification so important? Me of all people? Thank You hardly seems significant, but is also seems the perfect, honest starting place. So... thank You...and please continue correcting me.

Collision of Wills

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Isaiah 65:2,5) I spread out my hands all the day to a rebellious people, who ... say, "Keep to Yourself, do not come near me, for I am too holy for You ..."

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How could anyone in my human family speak such things to God? But we did--and we still do. So Jesus demonstrated these words in shocking, juxtapositioned reality. He said (John 3:14): "And as Moses lifted up the serpent in the wilderness, so must the Son of Man be lifted up." On the cross, with His arms extended to everyone and His affection open and vulnerable, we nailed His hands, impaled His heart, and railed against His holy words.

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I could not ban God from me any more than I could command Mt. Hood to erupt with rivers of hot fudge, but He does permit me to reject His outstretched, helping, healing hands. Whenever I exercise veto power over His call and wise commands, I'm part of the mob that crucified Him (Hebrews 6:16). Whenever I worship Him without pretension, His mighty embrace resettles me in Heavenly places (Ephesians 2:1-7).

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Lord, forgive me, please, of treasuring my will above Your will. Forgive me for excluding those people who seem less holy than I. Help me instead to offer them my loving embrace and to gently confront them as need be--like You've patiently done with me.