This World is Not My Home

When we moved from Alabama to Florida, we had to adjust to being under Florida’s authority. We had to change driver’s licenses and car tags. We had to pay Florida taxes. We had to vote as Florida citizens.  We had to obey Florida laws. When we moved back to Alabama from Florida, we had to make the same transition as Alabama citizens once again. And even though we lived in Florida for almost 20 years, we always considered Alabama our home. I often said that Alabama red clay still ran through my veins. You know the saying: You can take the girl out of Alabama, but you can’t take Alabama out of the girl. My body may have been in Florida, but my heart was in Bama.

Our union with Christ makes us citizens of a new Kingdom, with a new Ruler. Our identity changes. Our allegiance changes. We are “a new creation” (2 Cor 5:17). The problem is that our old nature moves with us and continues the fight for control. The other problem is, our citizenship has changed, but our geographical location has not and we are still under the steady influence of sin.

In Romans 6, Paul reminds us that we who are in Christ are “dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus” (v. 11).  When we came to believe in Christ, we “died to sin” (v. 2), just as He died (v 3). But the grave couldn’t hold Jesus, and it cannot hold us. We have been raised with Him to “live a new life . . . to God” (vv. 4, 10). Somebody say “Hallelujah!”

Yes, a new life, yet still with the same old ingrained patterns of sin and the same old worldly influences. That causes quite a struggle for us as Paul noted in Romans 7. But here’s the good news: “Sin shall not be your master” because “you have been set free from sin” (vv. 14, 18, 22). That means you do not have to obey your sinful desires and the influence of the world anymore. Because “Christ is your life” you can “put to death whatever belongs to your earthly [sinful] nature” (Col.3:4-5).

Here’s the bottom line: before Christ, you and I had no choice but to sin, but now as a believer, if we sin it is because we chose to. It’s a choice that is completely in your hands – and your heart. Beloved, make the choice that says “I am a citizen of the Kingdom of God!”

Anchored in Hope

I have read the Bible through many times over the years. It’s always new and fresh no matter how familiar the words become because it is a “living word” (Heb 4:12).  It is also a consistent word. The same God speaks the same truth and the same promises from Genesis to Revelation. This morning God is speaking to me about hope. Because He knows I need it.

I sat down at my desk with my coffee and glanced down at my Bible which was still open where I left off yesterday in Isaiah. Isaiah prophesied about the coming Babylonian invasion when Nebuchadnezzar would take the brightest and best of Jerusalem captive. The first part of Isaiah was a warning of coming judgment, but the latter part is God’s promise of restoration. Chapter 49 specifically declares the return of the captives – and their children – to their home.

One verse drew my attention: “Those who hope in me will not be disappointed” (49:23). I realized that this verse is almost identical to one in the New Testament where Paul talks about “rejoicing in our sufferings” because suffering produces perseverance, character, and hope. “And hope does not disappoint us . . .” (Rom 5:3).

I’ve been disappointed with food that looked tasty and wasn’t. I’ve been disappointed by clothes that looked good on the rack but didn’t look good on me. I’ve been disappointed with jobs and politicians (who hasn’t) and even churches. I’ve been disappointed by people many times. But I’ve never been disappointed by hope. At least not when my hope was rightly placed.

Isaiah has the key: “Then you will know that I am the Lord; those who hope in me will not be disappointed.” Paul has another: “Hope does not disappoint us because God has poured out His love into our hearts by the Holy Spirit, whom He has given us.” Hope that is rooted in knowing God and His love is “an anchor for the soul, firm and secure” (Heb 6:19).

You may be dealing with a storm in your personal life. You might be looking at the culture and wondering if you will survive the hurricane of wickedness and evil all around us. You may feel adrift and insecure. You need something strong and sure. Hope is the anchor. God is the Rock. Beloved, that anchor will hold.

The Way of Holiness

Hebrews 12:14 says “Make every effort to live in peace with all men and to be holy; without holiness, no one will see the Lord.”  That’s a mighty strong statement – one that should give us pause. I don’t know about you but I want to see the Lord. That doesn’t just mean I want to lay eyes on Him. The word the writer used there means “to be admitted into intimate and blessed fellowship with God in his future kingdom,” (blueletterbible.org/lexicon). That’s what I want.

If holiness is the condition for seeing God, how do I get holy? I don’t. I have to be made holy.  The writer of Hebrews said that Jesus came to do the will of God (Heb 10:9). But what is the will of God? To make us holy (v. 10), that is, to make us into the very likeness of His Son (Rom 8:29). Paul said that God’s purpose is that we might “be holy and blameless in His sight” (Eph 1:4). That is what the cross is all about. Jesus nailed our sins to His cross (Col 2:13-14) and shed His blood to give us His holiness.

Surely, though, God has some expectations of me. Indeed, He does. He expects me to carry myself according to who I am in Christ. He expects me to choose holiness. Paul (again) said, “God did not call us to be impure, but to live a holy life (1 Thes 4:7). This agrees perfectly with Jesus’ teaching in the Beatitudes: “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God” (Mat 5:8). It’s the exact same “see” as we find in the Hebrews passage. Purity of heart brings holiness.

What does that look like in real life? “The grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men. It teaches us to say “No” to ungodliness and worldly passions, and to live self-controlled, upright, and godly lives in the present age, while we wait . . . for Jesus” (Titus 2:11-12). Saying “No” when the world and our flesh says “I want,” Looking for the way out of temptation (1 Cor 10:13). Submitting to the Holy Spirit (Rom 8:5-17). Turning away from every evil desire and pursuing “righteousness, faith, love, and peace along with those who call on the Lord out of a pure heart.” (2 Tim 2:22).

God has a highway, “called the Way of Holiness [and] it will only be for those who walk in that Way” (Is 35:8). No wonder Jesus said, “I am the Way . . .” (Jn 14:6). Beloved are you riding on the “Highway to Heaven?”

Power and Love

If you want to know what was important to the biblical writers – and thus to the Holy Spirit who inspired the message – look for repetition. I was going in a whole other direction with this devotional when the Holy Spirit stopped me and said, “Look at the text. What do you see over and over?” Power and love. Both words appear three times in Ephesians 3:14-21. I’ll let you read that passage while I wait for you here.

This is a beautiful prayer from Paul’s heart to “the saints in Ephesus” (1:1). It is also my daily prayer over my granddaughter. It is the apostle’s plea that God would “strengthen [them] with power” (v. 16) and “establish [them] in love” (v. 17). He prayed that they would have unified power to know and understand the immensity of Christ’s love (v. 18-19). And he assured them that God’s power was working in them to bring everlasting glory to Christ Jesus (v. 20-21).

The “power” that Paul used in verses 16 and 20 is dynamis and is the root word from which we derive “dynamite.” It’s not an explosive, destructive force, but is the power, or energy, that the Holy Spirit exerts for a strong and dynamic faith through which God can work. The power in verse 18 means that this is “full-strength” power – the Spirit is giving us everything He’s got.

Here’s what amazes me. This power is directed toward enabling us to grasp how much Christ loves us. I just looked up the word “grasp” and I kid you not, I have holy goosebumps. In English it means “to comprehend” but check out how deep it goes in the Greek: “of Christ by his holy power and influence laying hold of the human mind and will, in order to prompt and govern it” (Strong’s Greek Lexicon (niv) (blueletterbible.org).

For most of my life, I had the hardest time believing God loved me. Growing up, people who told me they loved me abused and used me. I was rejected by my peers and then by my ex-husband. And I was supposed to somehow believe that God loved me. Oh, I believed in God’s love – but not for me. And then Christ began to work His power in me to help me grasp how wide and long and high and deep His love is – for me. I may forget every theology lesson I’ve ever learned, but I will never forget that Jesus loves me – this I know.

He loves you too. That’s why He prompts me to call you “Beloved.”  Do you want to know how much He loves you? Just look at the picture.

The Word of God

Likely not the exact same picture I made, but it is the same design.

I come from a long line of crafters. My mom was an extraordinary seamstress – I loved the handmade clothes she created for me. My grandmother painted beautiful designs with a needle and thread. I often lay in bed and traced the stitches on my “Sunbonnet Sue” pillowcase. Mom decided it was time for me to take up the family tradition, starting with learning handwork. She bought me a simple embroidery kit and taught me how to rock my needle back and forth to make the straight lines of stitching, then she taught me the French knot and the daisy stitch and how to fill a piece of fabric with color. The kit was a design with a candle, a Bible – with a real velvet bookmark – and the words of Psalm 119:105. As I stitched the letters, the words were “sewn” into my heart: “Thy Word is a Lamp [unto my feet] and a Light [unto my path]”.

Psalm 119 is the longest chapter in the Bible and all 176 verses speak to the wisdom, beauty, blessing, and perfection of the Word of God. He said this Word brings blessing and Joy to the one who walks accordingly (v. 1). It helps young men – and old women – live a pure life and eschew sin (v. 9, 11).  When he is weary God’s Word gives him strength (v. 28). It sets his heart free (v. 32). God’s Word is precious to Him (v. 72). It gives him knowledge and good judgment (v. 66) and fills him with hope (v. 81). The Word of God is sweet – it is the Joy of his heart (v. 103, 111). It is true, righteous, trustworthy, right, and eternal (vs. 137-144, 160).

The Psalmist said that even when he “strayed like a lost sheep” he never forgot the good commands of the Lord (v. 176). I’ve lost my way a few times since I made that picture for my grandmother. I’ve found myself in dark scary places. But I would trace the words on my heart, just as I traced the pattern on my pillowcase, and I knew where to find the light. I still go back to that verse often and remind myself that the Bible has the power to dispel darkness and show me the way home. The Word of God is Light and Life to me. It is stitched on my heart.

Who Can Know the Mind of the Lord?

I have this bad habit of trying to figure out how God can resolve my problems. As if He needs my suggestions. My little mind thinks in little terms. My imagination is limited to what I can see and understand. Not God’s. Isaiah spoke of a God who “did awesome things that we did not expect” (Isaiah 64:3) and Jeremiah 33:3 says that He knows “great and unsearchable things” that we do not know – things we have no capacity to discern or understand. Who am I to tell God what He should do?

The theologians call this God’s omniscience – His perfect and complete knowledge. I learn new things every single day.  There is nothing that God does not already know. He knows science because He created everything that exists (Gen 1: 1). He knows every human language because He gave the gift of words to us – and made us speak in different tongues (Gen 11:1-9). He knows every facet of wisdom because He is the source of wisdom (Prov 2:6; James 1:5). He knows truth because truth has its essence in Him (Jn 14:6). And yes, He knows you and me – inside and out – because He created us in His image (Gen 2:7). He also knows the future because what is ahead for us is the present in His view (Is 46:10).

In this present moment, the future is very murky for me. I am sitting in the middle of a multi-faceted mess with no idea how to get over it, past it, around it, or through it. It all looks impossible from my vantage point. But not from God’s. My sister-in-law recently reminded me that God is “able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to His power . . .” (Eph 3:20). In other words, I don’t have to dream up a solution – what could I possibly tell Him that would be better than His own plan?

What I do have to do is wait for Him. Quietly. And in the waiting, to watch and serve. And trust. He knows how to bring Joy back into my life. Beloved, God knows what to do with all the broken pieces. He knows how to overcome all that the enemy is trying to do. He knows the perfect plan for this situation. Stop trying to figure it out. Trust in the Lord. He’s going to do something you could never expect. Just wait for it.

Shaken and Stirred

When I read about the first church and those who fled Jerusalem under persecution for the gospel (Acts 8:1-3) and the martyrs who died with the name of Jesus on their lips, and I think about the Christians in the east who are still tortured and killed for their faith in Christ, I am ashamed. Oswald Chambers rightly said, “Beware of the danger of spiritual relaxation.” Beware of the Lazy-Boy faith of the Western church today. The true Christian life is not safe.

If every day as a Christian is an easy-breezy-peazy day, then we are in trouble. Following Jesus is not intended to be some blissful nirvana. It’s a climb, a race, a battle, a challenge.  It’s a step-by-step, day-by-day, prayer-by-prayer trek over desert sand and rocky mountains and treacherous trails through hostile territory.  That’s the life the Apostles experienced.  That’s the life the martyrs endured.  Their faith was tried and tested in the fires, and it came forth as gold.  The Christians with the strongest, deepest faith are the ones who defy opposition, persecution, threats, and even death for the name of Jesus.  The most dangerous state for a Christian is when all is right in their little world. 

After grapes are crushed to extract the juice it is placed in containers and allowed to ferment.  During fermentation, the dregs, or sediment, settle at the bottom of the container.  After forty days the wine is “shaken up” – poured into another container to allow the dregs to be removed.  If the dregs remain, the wine becomes too sweet and thick and it is spoiled. The Lord spoke of Israel’s enemy, “Moab has been at rest from youth, like wine left on its dregs, not poured from one jar to another.  So she tastes as she did and her aroma is unchanged” (Jer. 48:11).  Moab had been largely at peace, and their turmoil-free life had made them spoiled.  The Lord said the same of Jerusalem, “I will search Jerusalem with lamps and punish those who are complacent, who are like wine left on its dregs . . . (Zephaniah 1:12)”

Beloved, has your life – and your faith – been shaken lately?  Mine has. James says, “Count it all Joy . . .” (James 1:2).  God is sifting out the dregs, the dangerously sweet stuff that spoils you.  He is making your life an offering worthy of Christ.  Is it hard?  You bet.  Is it painful?  Without a doubt.  Is it worth it?  Just ask the saints who endured.  They’re the ones singing songs of Joy and praise around the throne.

In the Morning . . .

It’s still pretty dark outside as I sit here at my desk. My window is open and I hear the birds greeting the first light of the dawn. I’ve been rising early for many years. I often wake up before my 4:30 alarm these days. I love early mornings – everyone is still asleep and it’s my quiet time with Jesus. And coffee. These mornings set the tone for the rest of my day as I fill my mind and heart with truth and wisdom. I don’t know what the day will hold, but the Lord does and He guides me to a word that He knows I will need before I lay my head back down at the end of the day.

This morning His word speaks deep into my soul: “Let the morning bring me word of Your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in You” (Ps 142:8). On it’s own this is a sweet sentiment. In fact, it’s about to go up on the wall over my desk. But if you read the entire Psalm (and I encourage you to do so), you will notice that David is in a dark place. He is being pursued by his enemy and he says “My spirit grows faith within me; my heart within me is dismayed” (v. 4). He is running out of hope.

I get it, David. This Psalm resonates with my own aching heart. It would be so easy to slip into despair and hopelessness right now – and the truth is, I have over the past few weeks. Like Peter, I let my eyes drift from the One who called me to the waves that threaten me and I soon feel the waters start to overtake me. What hope do I have when I’m drowning? The same hope that David had: the unfailing love of God and His faithfulness. David wisely did two things: he cried out to God (vv. 1-2) and he meditated on what God has already done on his behalf (v. 5). And so must you and I.

David asked for direction (v. 8), rescue (v. 9), and to know God’s will (v. 10). That’s what I’m asking for today. As His child, you can too. Beloved, whatever comes today, God wants to remind you of His unfailing love and assure you that you can trust Him. His good Spirit will lead you on level ground (v. 10). You have His Word on it.

Do You Believe?

What does it mean to believe? And in what should we believe? Is it enough to believe that there is a God? A lot of people agree to the presence of some supreme being in the universe, and many will call him God. And many believe that a man named Jesus taught the ways of God and exemplified His heart of love, compassion, and grace. But what makes one’s belief right or wrong? John explained the difference: “Anyone who does not believe God has made Him out to be a liar because he has not believed the testimony God has given about His Son” (1 John 5:10).

The heart of the Christian faith is to believe what God has said about Jesus Christ. God declared, “This is my Son” (Matt 3:17: 17:5), and that gave divine weight to everything Jesus said and did. John said that when men reject Jesus and His words, they are saying that God is not truthful nor trustworthy. When I say I am a Christian, I am not making a statement about my assent to the truths of Christianity; I am making a statement about God’s trustworthiness through His Son.

When I was younger in my faith, I thought my salvation depended on how hard I believed. It finally dawned on me that it wasn’t my dogged determination to hang on that saved me. It was God’s faithfulness to do what He promised to do. God said that Jesus is His Son, that His death was sufficient to cover all my sins, and that His resurrection ensures my eternal destiny. I believe what God said. It is the foundation of my faith.

Beloved, if you believe what God has said about Jesus, you are blessed in every way; for this life and life eternal. You are blessed because you stand on the confidence of God’s testimony, not on the traditions of men. You are blessed because “you will see the glory of God” (John 11:40). Your faith will be made sight and your hope in Christ will be confirmed. In heaven’s chronicles, your name will be recorded among the great saints of human history, and you will be commended with those who pleased God by their faith. What a blessing it is to believe!

When You See Him

After Jesus’ resurrection some of the disciples, at a loss for what they should do, decided to go fishing (Jn 21:1-3). It was what they had always known; they were fishermen by trade before they started following the Lord. You might remember that Jesus called them to ministry by telling them He would make them “fishers of men” (Matt 4:19). So off to the boat they went, but their fishing expedition was fruitless, they fished all night but “caught nothing” (Jn 21:3) As they were returning to shore a man stood on the water’s edge. He called out “Friends haven’t you any fish?” (v. 5). When they said no, He told them “Throw your net on the right side of the boat and you will find some” (v. 6). And the catch was so large they couldn’t haul them in.

That was when John realized who the man was – “It is the Lord!” (v. 7). Peter abandoned the boat and jumped into the water to get to Jesus. When the crew and the boat reached the shore they all had breakfast together (v. 12). The Scripture says, “None of the disciples dared ask Him, ‘Who are you?’ They knew it was the Lord” (v. 12). This passage goes on to detail how Jesus reinstated Peter after the disciple’s betrayal and that is one of my favorite accounts in the Bible. But something different stood out to me this morning.

Before He called out to them from the shore, John said, “The disciples did not realize that it was Jesus” (v. 4). Their eyes were opened after the miraculous haul. Fishing then was very hard work and a fruitless night of fishing would be exhausting and discouraging. I can just imagine these weary fishermen coming in with downcast faces and bent shoulders. Much like you and me sometimes. Life can be so hard. Exhausting. Discouraging.

And then something happens and we realize “That’s Jesus!” The disciples had no idea that it was Him. Until after the miracle. We don’t either until He shows Himself in glory and power. This may be a difficult season for you. You may be exhausted and discouraged. But Jesus is there and He’s about to pull off the miracle you need. You may not see Him yet Beloved, but keep scanning the shore. Keep looking up. He said He’ll be with you always (Matt 28:20) and He never breaks a promise.