Are You Thirsty?

My son came into the kitchen from a long day of working in the summer heat.  He needed a shower.  He needed food.  But at that moment he desperately wanted something cold to drink.  He chugged a bottle of water from the fridge and then headed off to get cleaned up.  When we all sat down to supper, he had a glass of iced tea at his place.  He took a few drinks from it but left the glass half-full when he finished the meal.  His thirst, so intense just an hour before, had been satisfied; he didn’t have the same desire for a drink.

David was running for his life through the desert.  It was Dry.  Hot.  Dusty.  He was desperately thirsty with no water in sight.  But even more than a physical thirst, David was experiencing a desperate desire for God. “O God, you are my God, earnestly I seek You, my soul thirsts for you, my body longs for you, in a dry and weary land where there is no water” (Ps 63:1).  Do you hear the intensity of his need?  Earnest. Thirsty.  Longing.  Nothing would satisfy but his God.

The Sons of Korah (think temple worship leaders) had the same passion for God: “As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God?” (Ps 42:1-2). It makes me wonder – when was the last time the church desperately panted for God?

Sometimes our lives take a hard turn and we find ourselves dry and desperate for relief.  I believe God allows those times to stir up a thirst for Him.  Just like my son at supper, when we are satisfied with our lives, we don’t drink Him in as deeply as we do when our thirst is intense.  We don’t sense our need for Him.  We don’t pant for Him. But when we’re in the desert we long for Him. That’s when we earnestly seek Him.  Is your heart dry and weary today?  Let that desperate need turn you back to God.  Be refreshed by His grace.  Be satisfied by His love.  Jesus said that whoever drinks from His spring will never thirst again (John 4:14). Come, Beloved, drink deeply from the Living Water.

How Can I Know . . .

When God called Abram He promised him descendants and land. “I will make you into a great nation and I will bless you” (Gen 12:2). When Abram settled in the land of Canaan the Lord said “Lift up your eyes from where you are and look north and south, east and west. All the land you see I will give to you and your offspring forever. Go walk through the length and breadth of the land, for I am giving it to you” (Gen 13:14-17). Later the Lord spoke to him in a vision and reassured him of the promise. He told him that his offspring would be impossible to count – like the stars in the sky. And “Abram believed the Lord, and he credited it to him as righteousness” (Gen 15:6).

Then God told him “I am the Lord, who brought you out of Ur of the Chaldeans to give you this land to take possession of it” (Gen 15: 5, 7). And what was Abram’s response?  “Oh Sovereign Lord, how can I know . . . ?” (Gen 15:8). From faith to doubt. Sound familiar? It does for me. I will believe God in the morning and be anxious by the afternoon. I can watch God work wonders on my behalf and wonder if He will come through for me in the next crisis. I have read His promises, even written them down, and forgotten them in the firey moment.

But let’s answer Abram’s question, “How can I know . . . ?” First, he was standing on the very land God had promised to give him – “this land” (v. 7). It was the same promise he had made at the beginning of Abram’s journey, “To your offspring I will give this land” (Gen 12:7-italics added). The land on which your sandals are resting, Abram. The land I had you walk through, Abram.

Secondly, because of who made the promise. The Lord, God Most High. The Creator of heaven and earth (Gen 14:22). The Sovereign Lord (Gen 15:2, 8). The One who had called him. The one he had followed all over Arabia. The same God that you can trust to keep His promises to you too. But you have one advantage that Abram didn’t. You have the cross of Jesus Christ. Because God’s ultimate promise of salvation was fulfilled there. God keeps His promises, Beloved. Every. Single. One.

Hebrews: Extraordinary Faith

God has moved and worked in my life for many years now and I don’t think He’s ever done anything “normal.” He doesn’t follow conventional wisdom, doesn’t act according to my expectations, resists my good advice, and doesn’t even obey His own laws of nature. But I’m not the first person to witness His extraordinary ways – and I doubt I will be the last. The writer of Hebrews highlighted two instances in the Scriptures.

“By faith, the people passed through the Red Sea as on dry land; but when the Egyptians tried to do so, they were drowned” (Heb 11:29). The Israelites were trapped. The sea blocked their way forward and Pharaoh and his army pinned them in from behind. They faced either drowning or defeat. The Lord had But the Lord knew right where they were and exactly what was happening. And He had a plan. A strong wind blew across the sea and the waters parted. Picture old men tapping their walking sticks on the sea bed expecting mud and marveling at the dry ground beneath their feet.  Watch curious children poking their fingers into the side walls of water, as bewildered fish watch the strange creatures passing by. See Mothers and grandmothers pulling youngsters back from those walls and scooping up little ones to get quickly across. As the people stepped onto the shore and watched the sea swallow up their enemies, I’m sure they shook their heads in amazement (Exodus 14).

“By faith, the walls of Jericho fell, after the people had marched around them for seven days” (v. 30). Joshua led the people toward Jericho when the “Commander of the army of the Lord” came to him with the strangest battle plan in history. But he followed it to a T. For six days the entire nation walked silently outside the walls of the city as the priests blew the trumpets. On the seventh day, they marched again and then the command was given to SHOUT – and the walls came tumbling down (Joshua 6).

It had to take some extraordinary faith to step out onto the riverbed where the water once flowed or to walk silently around the city walls, trusting that they will fall. The same kind of faith it takes to trust God in the everyday trials and struggles of life you face today. You can have that same faith because you have the same God. Walk through Beloved. March on. Their God proved faithful. And so will yours.

So Help Me God

*Steel-toed boot warning.

Court scenes in movies, television, and books generally show witnesses and defendants swearing to tell the truth with their right hand on a Bible. The practice of swearing an oath goes back to antiquity. In twelfth-century England the practice of swearing on the Word and name of God to declare one’s truthfulness became law. The custom came over with the pilgrims but was never made law as it was one of the many reasons they left the oppressive religious rule of England.
In the day when the Bible was considered sacred text and God was revered, the practice of swearing an oath “on the Bible” was the norm. That is no longer the case and the courts have determined that a witness could simply “affirm” to be honest. But putting one’s hand on the Bible has never been a guarantee of truthfulness, has it? People swore on the Bible and still lied. Even claiming to be a Christian these days doesn’t mean a person will be godly. So what good is the Bible anyway? And who needs it if it can’t make you a better person?
Here’s the ugly truth: we often use the Bible to comment on the ungodliness in our culture and to point out sin in the world. But remember, the Bible was written to the people of God, not to the world. The Old Testament was written to the Israelites and the New Testament is written to the church. Who needs the Bible? I do. You do. The Pastor and the deacons and every member of the Church. Every person who claims the name of Jesus Christ. Because God is speaking to His people. God is calling the church back to Himself. He is telling His people to stop living in sin and repent. He is drawing those who claim the name of Christ into holy living. We can’t hold the unsaved world to biblical standards not following. We can’t rant about homosexual marriage when the divorce rate in the church is the same as outside the church. We can’t judge unwed mothers when pornography addiction is rampant in the church. We can’t demand righteousness we don’t have ourselves. Don’t read the Bible to convict the culture, read it to convict your own heart. “For it is time for judgment to begin with God’s household . . .” (I Peter 4:17).

The Man (or Woman) God Uses

“Then King David went in and sat before the Lord, and he said, ‘Who am I, O Sovereign Lord, and what is my family, that you have brought me this far?’” (2 Samuel 7:18).

Think you have nothing to offer to God and His kingdom? Do you believe that you’re too young or too old or have no gifts or talents? Sure you want to do great things for God, but you’re just a mom wiping dirty noses or a regular guy at a regular job, or a college student trying to get through finals. You’re in very good company, my friend!

A young woman had nothing to offer God but a loyal heart. She followed her mother-in-law home and did the most normal thing – she went out to gather grain to feed them both. But God interceded and Ruth became the great grandmother of God’s anointed King of Israel and part of the lineage of Jesus.

Esther had no influence in the politics of Persia – but she had courage. Because she stepped up and stepped into the King’s court, the Jewish people throughout the Persian empire were saved.

A young captive in a foreign land, Daniel had nothing of value. But he did have integrity. God used him to show His sovereignty and power to two of the greatest rulers in history: Nebuchadnezzar and Darius.

Jesus called twelve men from fishing boats and tax booths and used them to turn the entire world upside down.

Two women did what women throughout the ages have done – raised children and grandchildren. God used Lois and Eunice to shape young Timothy into the Apostle Paul’s right-hand man and true son in the faith.

You may not be in a position of importance, but you are important to the Kingdom of God. You may see yourself as small and insignificant or past your prime, and that’s just fine with Him. He likes to use the least likely people to accomplish the most amazing things. That way He gets all the glory.

If you think you have nothing of value to offer God, you’re wrong. You have yourself. That’s all He needs. He will take you and use you in the most ordinary – and yet extraordinary – ways. I’m living proof of that. Beloved, He’s got an important task, and you’re just the person He’s been looking for. Just be available and watch Him work.

Hebrews: The Blood of the Lamb

As a Christian, I am fascinated by the history of Israel and the people of the Jewish faith – after all my Savior was a Jew. Every person God used in Israel’s history has an important story to tell. Like the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and the great kings, David and Solomon. And don’t forget the rescuer of the Hebrew people. Every Jewish person knows the story of Moses. Christians who want to know the Lord better should too because he was a “type” of Christ, an early example of Jesus and His ministry. Maybe that’s why the writer of Hebrews devoted so much of “the Hall of Faith” to telling his story.

One point of Moses’ story that most parallels Jesus is in the Passover – an eight-day festival that celebrates the Jews’ escape from Egypt. It especially remembers the protection of the Lord from the tenth plague when God sent the death angel to every house in the land, and every firstborn son was slain – unless the mark was present. This is where Moses stood tall. “By faith, he kept the Passover and the sprinkling of blood, so that the destroyer of the firstborn would not touch the firstborn of Israel” (Heb 11:28). It’s not just a dramatic story for Cecil B. DeMille’s movie. It is the most powerful, important truth in human history: personal deliverance only comes through the blood of the Lamb.

The Passover (pesach) lamb, a spotless, yearling, was slain and the blood was applied to “the sides and tops of the door frames of the houses” (Ex 12:7). When the “destroyer of the firstborn” went through Egypt, he “passed over” the Hebrews’ homes where the blood was applied. Consider the placement of the blood – on the top and sides of the door frame. Think about the cross where Jesus’ bloodied head and hands were positioned. The blood on the door frames foretold the blood of Jesus – the Lamb of God – on the cross.

What does all this mean for you? It means that if you have been covered by that blood, you are spared the condemnation due all sinful people. Moses had faith that the blood of the paschal lamb was enough to save the people. You and I can have faith that the blood of Jesus is enough to save us. God has made the way through the blood of the Lamb. He did it for His people. He did it for you, Beloved.

Be Like Jesus

“Look at this pretty dress,” my Mom said, “this silhouette would look so nice on you.”
“It’s okay, but it’s not exactly the style today, nobody’s wearing stuff like that now.”
My mom was a master seamstress and made a lot of my clothes; we were in the fabric department, looking at patterns. Or she was. I was impatiently trying to drag her to the young women’s section to buy the things my peers were wearing. My mom wanted me to be different – or as she said, “to be yourself.” I didn’t want to be myself – I wanted to be like everyone else. The thing is, on those rare days when I did wear something my mom wanted me to wear, I got the most compliments. Most days, I was just one more face in a look-alike crowd.
When God called the nation of Israel to be His people he said He had “set you apart from the nations, to be My own” (Leviticus 20:26). He wanted them to be distinct – holy – like Him. His people were meant to reflect Him to the nations. They resisted this throughout their history, and when they had settled in the Promised Land, they demanded a king “then we will be like all the other nations” (1 Samuel 8:19). They did not want to be like God, they wanted to be like everyone around them.
Not much has changed. God’s people, now under Jesus’ sacrifice, are called to be different, to be like Christ – distinct, set apart – holy. But we try our best to fit in – to be like everyone around us. We don’t want to “stand out from the crowd.” But the crowd needs to see you and me looking like Jesus, talking like Jesus, loving like Jesus – not a mirror image of themselves. You may not get compliments, but you will be noticed, and that allows you to “give the reason for the hope that you have” (1 Peter 3:15).

Do you blend in with the world, or do you stand out from the crowd? Do people see their own weary reflection when they look at you – or do they see the hope of Christ? The truth is, you cannot be a follower of Christ and look like the world. You are either one or the other. Which will it be Beloved? 

God is With You

The Lord God told Abram (Abraham) “I will bless you . . .” (Gen 12:2) and at first glance, we see that God made Abram a wealthy man with “livestock, silver, and gold” (13:2).  So much so that he and his nephew, Lot, had to part ways because the land could not support them both (v. 6). That’s a lot of blessing! But the real blessing of God is found a couple of pages over. “The word of the Lord came to Abram in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid, Abram. I am your shield, your very great reward” (Gen. 15:1). The greatest blessing God gave Abram was Himself.  The more I read the Bible the more I’ve discovered that the blessing God desires most to give us is the same.

To Moses, who questioned his ability to lead the Israelites out of Egypt, God said “I will be with you” (Ex 3:12). To Joshua, as he prepared to lead them into the Promised Land, “Do not be terrified; do not be discouraged, for the Lord your God goes with you wherever you go” (Joshua 1:9). To Gideon, “The Lord is with you mighty warrior” (Judges 6:12). To the disciples Jesus said, “Surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age” (Matt 28:20). And when Paul was in prison, the Lord Jesus Himself “stood near” him and gave him strength (Acts 23:11). And Jesus promised that He was returning to heaven to “prepare a place for you . . . that you may always be where I am” (John 14:2-3). Forever.

But God’s presence is not just relegated to the past. Jesus promised His own Spirit would dwell in His followers so that His presence would never leave them (John 14:16-17).  That means when you accept Christ, you are given His Spirit at that very moment. The same God that was with Abraham, Moses, Joshua, Gideon, the disciples, and Paul is with you. In you. What you and I need now is an awareness of His presence. That’s my prayer for us both today, that we would be acutely sensitive to the Spirit, keenly attuned to His voice and His leading. The most comforting words in Scripture are not, “it’s all gonna be okay,” but “I am with you.”

Beloved of God

I have learned more about the love of God as a grandmother than almost anything else in my life. Last night Joy leaned her head against my shoulder and said, “I love you, Nana.” And Nana melted into a puddle. Oh, how my heart sang with – well – Joy. But she loved me because I loved her first. I fell in love with her the day she was born. I told her so the first time I held her in my arms. I’ve told her multiple times a day for the last three years and 52 days. I will tell her I love her every day for the rest of my life.

When I told her “I love you” on that first day of her life, she had no love to offer me. She was a helpless, tiny baby. I didn’t love her because of what she could do. I loved her because it welled up in me like a tidal wave. She was about a year old when she first started saying “I love you.” But she wasn’t expressing her own affection – she was just parroting me. She didn’t really understand what “love” meant. She just knew it made Nana happy when she said it back to me. But in time, through showing her my love, she understood, and when she says “I love you” now she is speaking from her heart.  

Paul said that God loved us when we were still sinners (Romans 5:8). When we had nothing to offer Him in return for His love. John said that is because “God is love” (1 John 4:16). He wrote, “We love because He first loved us” (v. 19). John knew a thing or two about God’s love through Jesus. He called himself, “The disciple whom Jesus loved” (John 13:23, 20:2, 21:7, 20). Of course, Jesus loved all of His disciples (John 13:1), but John took that personally. He made it his identity. It fueled his ministry and his life. Whatever befell him, whatever the world did to break him – like exiling him to the Isle of Patmos – John took that assurance with him.

So can you. I hope you’ve noticed that I always refer to you as “Beloved”. That’s because you are. I want you to hear that and believe it with all your heart. I want you to take it personally and make it your identity. I want you to write it on your heart forever. You are the Beloved of God.

Hebrews: Perseverance

I didn’t come from wealthy folks so there wasn’t any inheritance for me or my brothers. But I do have some treasures that were passed along to me like some of my dad’s military memorabilia and my most precious possession – my mom’s Bible with notes in her handwriting. I also “inherited” bags and bags of fabric, much of it leftover scraps from clothes my Mom made us when we were kids. One thing she and I have in common is our refusal to give up on half-done craft projects. Notice I didn’t say we finished them, we just tucked them away to “come back to later.” I have boxes now of hers and my own.

The Bible has a lot to say about not giving up but I don’t think that is what Scripture means. The writer of Hebrews said that Moses “persevered” in his calling to rescue the Hebrew people out of slavery (Heb 11:17).  Remember that this letter is written to Hebrew Christians who are facing extreme persecution for their faith. Every one of them knew the story of Moses and the exodus out of Egypt. They knew that Moses had repeatedly gone before Pharaoh to demand the release of the Jews and he had refused. He made ten visits to Pharaoh – each more contentious than the last. But Moses persisted. Why? Because He had God’s name and promise. God had revealed Himself to Moses as “The Lord” and promised on that very name to deliver the people out of their misery. (Ex 3:15-17). Through all of the trouble that Pharaoh caused, God’s name and promise continued to give Moses strength.

That’s what the word “persevere” means – a strong, steadfast assurance that fuels endurance. It also means a word we often steer clear of. Patience. You’ve probably been told you should never pray for patience because the way to get it is through hardships, but Moses proved that the way to patience and perseverance is “by faith” in the name and the promise of the Lord.

When God calls you to a task, that calling comes with His promise to finish the work. Paul said, “The one who calls you is faithful and he will do it” (1Thess 1:24). His calling and His promise rest on His Name. So can you, Beloved.