Wait for the Whole Story

By now you know that my favorite way to study the Bible is passage-by-passage, verse-by-verse, and even word-by-word. There is so much wealth in every word of Scripture. But I also want to consider the greater context so I pull back from the close-up of one word and see the bigger picture of the verse and then the passage. Pull back a little more and I can see how the passage fits into the theme of the section and even the entire book I’m studying. If I take this macro-vision even further I can see the bigger-bigger picture of the Old or New Testament and finally the whole Bible.
That’s also how you and I need to look at our lives. Right now, you may be dealing with something very difficult and all your attention is centered on this one thing in your life. It’s all you can see. You are hyper-focused on this single issue, person, or struggle. May I encourage you to pull back just a little and look for the bigger picture? This issue, person, or need is one word in one sentence of one paragraph on one page of your entire life story. But it isn’t your whole story. God has a much bigger picture in mind. The Bible tells stories of people who had a challenge—infertility, oppression, imprisonment, slavery, rejection, even lack of basic life necessities—and God moved in such a way that the resolution to their challenge became a much larger and more God-glorifying part of their story.
In my present season, I am resting my heart in Jesus’ words in the upper room: “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand” (John 13:7). When I want to say, “God I don’t get this; I can’t figure out why You allowed this to happen,” I hear Him say, “You can’t grasp it now child, but you will understand when you see the bigger picture.” Because there is a bigger picture. There is a higher purpose. I’m leaning on that with all my heart today.
Let’s give God our troubles, our struggles, our difficulties, and disappointments and watch Him unfold something we never imagined (check out Ephesians 3:20). Beloved, your life is so much more than this one moment. Trust the Author of your story, He has a beautiful ending in store for you.

The Power of Your Words

This may surprise you, but sarcasm comes naturally to me. My mom was always after me about it. “If you can’t say anything good, don’t say anything at all.” That’s one of the reasons I tend to stay off of the Book of Faces after I post the day’s devotional. I do not trust myself to not get snarky. It’s just that – gosh – some people really deserve it.
But that’s the “old man” in me. That phrase comes from the Apostle Paul who wrote often about the tug of war between who we were before Christ and who we are to be in Christ. Even though our sin has been put to death by the Lord Jesus, our urges and desires remain until we are perfected. It is a life-long battle. For some, it may be drugs or alcohol or physical pleasure or materialism. But God has been working on my mouth for a long time for good reason.
Years ago I read in Isaiah, “I have put my words in your mouth and covered you with the shadow of my hand” (51:16). That verse grabbed my heart and I prayed that God would put His words in my mouth. The next day another verse came to life – very clear in its meaning and application for me: “If you utter worthy, not worthless words, you will be my spokesman” (Jer 15:19). Boom! I had a calling and a caution. I have bitten my tongue more than once – and failed to more than once.
Jesus said, “Men will have to give account on the day of judgment for every careless word they have spoken” (Matt 12:36). In the original Greek, that means idle words, useless words, lazy words, ineffective words. In other words, worthless words. So then, what are worthy words? Words that are productive, words that accomplish God’s good purposes, words that work hard for the good of others, words that edify. As Paul wrote, “Do not let any unwholesome talk come out of your mouths, but only what is helpful for building others up according to their needs, that it may benefit those who listen” (Eph 4:29).
Solomon said, “The tongue has the power of life and death” (Prov. 18:21). Your words can do great harm or great good – you and I need to use them wisely and carefully. Beloved, let’s commit to speak only “apples of gold in settings of silver” (Prov. 25:11)

If the Truth Offends . . .

According to Scripture, my job as a Bible teacher is to make you mad. My brothers will tell you I’ve been practicing for this my whole life. The writer of Hebrews said, “Let us spur one another on toward love and good deeds” (10:24). The word “spur” means “to incite, irritate, or provoke” and it comes from a root word that suggests a sharp disagreement. “But wait a minute,” you say, “I thought we were supposed to always get along and be at peace with one another.” We are. But sometimes peace requires confrontation. The church suffers greatly because we are not willing to confront uncomfortable issues like what a Christian should look like. The writer pointed to two specific things: Love and good deeds.
Jesus said that love would be the distinguishing mark of His followers (John 13:35), and His Apostle John went a step further (on someone’s toes) and said if you don’t love fellow believers in Christ, that’s a good indication that you are not in Christ (1 John 2:9-11). Love is non-negotiable for the Christian.
We are also called to do good deeds. Paul said that we are saved by grace through faith, not by works (Ephesians 2:8-9). But James said that faith without works is dead (James 2:17). Who’s right here? Both. Salvation comes by faith in the grace of God and is evidenced by good works. No, you don’t have to go to Calcutta and join Mother Teresa’s Missionaries of Charity to prove that you are a Christian. Simple acts of love, kindness, gentleness, and compassion are good fruit in the believer’s life. Hate, harshness, rudeness, and indifference are evidence that one is not a Christ-follower. If there’s no good fruit there is no root in Christ.
Love and good deeds are the identifying marks of the Christian. If they are absent, then Christ is not present. If that makes you mad then take it up with God – He’s the one who said it first, not me. Also, you might need to re-examine your relationship with Him.
The writer of wisdom said, “As iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another” (Prov 27:17). Sharpening iron involves rubbing it with an abrasive stone to grind the edge. Sometimes we need kind words and other times we need a gritty whetstone. I’m called to give you both, Beloved. I love you too much to not tell you the whole truth – in love – even if it makes you mad.

Before and After

Some time ago I ran across some old photos of myself. I laid them out in the progression of ages from about 3 to my high school years, watching myself grow taller, with a variety of hairstyles and some very strange fashion sense. I saw something else. Somewhere between 10 and 18, the girl in those photos took on a dark demeanor and I remembered my past – things that had been done to me, and things I did to myself. Glancing up into the mirror on my dresser, I thought about how much I physically looked like the girl in the pictures, but I no longer recognized those dark eyes. I heard a whisper in my heart, “That is because that’s not who you are anymore. Then you were a victim and a rebel. Now you are Mine.”
In Ephesians 5:8, Paul wrote, “You were once darkness . . .” Then he gives the contrast: “. . . but now you are light in the Lord.” He was using words to paint a before and after portrait.
One of Satan’s favorite ploys is to assault us with our past, to tell us that we will always be who we were and there is no point in trying to resist those old familiar sins. “You know deep down, you still want it. You haven’t changed. You are bound to your past. You are bound to your sin.” But if you belong to Jesus Christ, you are free from your past. You are a child of light, purified from all your sins (1 John 1: 7). Where you were once held captive to sin, you are now bound up in God’s love. You have the power to say no to sin.
In Philippians 3:13, Paul gave the secret to walking in our new identity: “One thing I do: forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on…” We can forget what is behind us because “as far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us. (Ps 103:12)”
Beloved, I want so much for you to understand that because Jesus Christ has completely removed all your transgressions; you are a new creation in Christ, no longer bound to a painful, sinful past or those dark desires. You have light in your eyes, and God’s love shines on your face. Because you are not who you once were. Now you are His.

We Need One Another

Every person I know is struggling with something – family issues, health problems, financial difficulties, mental and emotional health, work and school. You probably found yours among that list.
Something else we all have in common is the need for encouragement. The Lord impressed on my heart at the end of last year that I need to focus on writing more messages of encouragement. I understand why. You need it and so do I. I was reading this morning in 1 Thessalonians and was caught by the sequence I saw in chapter 3.
Paul was in Athens but his heart was in Thessalonica and the church he had previously established there. Paul was concerned that the Thessalonians had abandoned their faith in Christ. He sent Timothy, his trusted friend and co-worker to both find out how they were and to “strengthen and encourage” them in their faith (v. 2). He did not want the church to become discouraged by persecution nor to be tempted by the enemy to give up.
When Timothy returned, he brought Paul “good news about your faith and love” (v. 6). They were “standing firm in the Lord” (v. 8). The Apostle was greatly encouraged! He thanked God for the Thessalonians and was strengthened in his own faith. Their lives were a testimony to God’s power and faithfulness. Paul was refreshed and able to endure the persecution and trials that surrounded him.
There is something wonderful about the family of God. We encourage one another. We hold each other up. We “speak to one another with psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs” (Eph 5:19).. We share stories of God’s goodness in our lives. That is why I am so transparent in these devotionals – maybe a little too transparent. I believe with all my heart if you see God carry me through difficulties, it will give you hope in your own. Likewise, when you share what God is doing in your life, it gives me encouragement to hold fast to Him and keep pressing on.
Someone you know needs a word of encouragement today. It may be a family member, a coworker, a friend -it may even be me. Or maybe it’s you. I hope these simple words lift you up and that “you and I may be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith” (Rom 1:12). Let’s support one another, Beloved. The three of us – you, me, and the Lord will get through this together.

The Holy Spirit at Work

When my son was first starting school, he was diagnosed with ADHD and after trying many alternatives, we finally relented and gave him prescribed medication. I opted to homeschool him in middle school and made a very interesting discovery one day. He took his morning meds and we sat down together to work on spelling and vocabulary. As he wrote out the words and definitions, I watched the medication take effect. The first several entries he wrote were sloppy and careless but gradually his writing improved noticeably. He took his time and his handwriting was much neater with no mistakes. It was a dramatic change.

There is something – or rather Someone – that makes a dramatic change in a person. When someone is saved through faith in Jesus Christ, the Holy Spirit, the third member of the Trinity comes to reside in the believer and begin the work of transformation. The changes the Spirit brings start on the inside and work their way out. He is the Spirit of Truth (Jn 16:13), teaching us truth from God’s Word and Truth in the person of Jesus. He is the Spirit of wisdom and revelation (Eph 1:17), taking that truth and making it real in our lives. He is the Spirit of life (Rom 8:10-11). He raised Jesus from the dead and is raising us who were spiritually dead, “giving life to our mortal bodies.” He leads us to “put to death the misdeeds of the body (8:13) and “testifies with our spirit that we are God’s children (8:16).

He is the Spirit of Holiness (Rom 1:4) working within us to transform our hearts and lives so that we will be “conformed to the likeness of [God’s] Son” (Rom 8:29). It is a far more dramatic change than a dose of medication. Paul wrote, “Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” and “the mind controlled by the Spirit is life and peace” (8:5,6).

Granted the transformation isn’t as quick as taking a pill; it is a lifelong process, but even in small steps the work of the Spirit is still evident. The corollary is clear, if there is no fruit of transformation, there is no Spirit, and no Christ (8:9). Beloved, how has the Spirit of Christ worked in you? Can you see the changes He has made in your heart, your habits, words, desires, attitude, reactions, and decisions? Let Him work in you and transform you into the image of Jesus.

Acts: Receive the Holy Spirit

It is a sad truth in our churches; not everyone who claims to be a Christian is a true believer and follower of Christ. Some put up a very good front, and we’ll see an example in a couple of weeks. But some who believe themselves to be Christians are sadly wrong. Case in point: read Acts 19:1-7.

Paul traveled to Ephesus where he encountered twelve disciples – but not disciples of Jesus. A disciple is not a solely Christian concept. Disciples are learners and followers and go back in Scripture to Moses and Joshua, Eli and Samuel, and Elijah and Elisha among many others. The secular version of disciples are apprentices, learning a trade or craft from a master.

When Paul questioned the disciples, he realized they did not know fully about Jesus and life in Him. That speaks volumes to the present state of the church. They had no knowledge of the Holy Spirit. They had received “John’s baptism” but John the Baptist baptized for repentance of sins, which is the first step to full conversion to Christ. Another point at which the modern church falls flat. John was beheaded before Jesus’ death and resurrection and before the filling of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost. Thus, John’s disciples taught what John taught, which was true, but incomplete. Paul brought them up to speed on Jesus and they believed and “were baptized into the name of the Lord Jesus.” They also received the baptism – or filling – of the Holy Spirit, who comes to every true believer.

Paul would later write to the churches in Rome saying, “If anyone does not have the Spirit of Christ, he does not belong to Christ” (Rom 8:9). How can we know if we have the Spirit of Christ? “Those who live in accordance with the Spirit have their minds set on what the Spirit desires” (v. 5). They produce the “fruit [or evidence] of the Spirit: love, Joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control” (Gal 5:22-23). They “keep in step with the Spirit” (v. 25), and they live so as not to “grieve the Holy Spirit” (Eph 4:29). The Spirit of Christ is the mark of a true Christian.

When I meet a fellow Christian for the first time, the Holy Spirit in them and the Holy Spirit in me confirms to each of us that we are family in Christ. Beloved, don’t settle for an incomplete faith that cannot save you. Know Jesus. Be all in. And be filled with the Holy Spirit of Christ.

Acts: The Gift of Believing Friends

Next to salvation, one of the sweetest gifts God gives to us is Christian friends. My circle of sisters in Christ has encouraged and prayed me through so many things I am so grateful for these precious ladies. I pray I have returned the favor well. Paul knew the value of believing friends. Please take a few minutes to read Acts chapter 18.

When Paul left Athens (Ch 17) he traveled to Corinth where he met a Jewish couple named Aquila and Priscilla who shared his profession as tentmakers. They took him in and supported him with work while he continued to preach and teach about Jesus. It was a difficult assignment because the Jews in Corinth rejected his message and were abusive to him. He turned to the Gentiles who were more receptive of his message and him.

The Lord knew his servant was in a tough position and he came to encourage Paul. “One night the Lord spoke to Paul in a vision: ‘Do not be afraid; keep on speaking, do not be silent.  For I am with you, and no one is going to attack and harm you, because I have many people in this city” (Acts 18:9-10). What reassurance that must have been for Paul! And what a blessing to know that there were “many people” ready to stand shoulder to shoulder with him.

When Paul wrote about the shield of faith in Ephesians 6:16, he was picturing the Roman’s soldier’s shield which had an important feature for the protection of the whole troop – a loop-and-locking system on the sides that allowed a group of soldiers to form what is known as “The Turtle Formation.”  By locking their shields together in front of them they formed a sturdy wall and some raised their locked shields above their heads to protect the whole company from attacks launched over the wall of shields.  They essentially built themselves a “safe house” that covered them from all sides.  This is the picture Paul painted of the Body of Christ working together in faith against the enemy of our souls.

Someone needs the strength of your faith to encourage their own.  Someone needs you to lock in with them and help them hold up their shield.  It might even be me.   With your shield and mine together, we’re both protected. That is the Body of Christ at its finest.  Beloved, who needs you to help hold up their faith today?

God’s Will

We have all wondered, “What is God’s will for my life?”  It’s a good question but there is a bigger plan in place than just your life and mine. First, let’s widen the scope.

Paul said God’s will, “is “to bring all things in heaven and on earth together under one head, even Christ” (Eph 1:9, 10). We get a glimpse of that in Daniel’s heavenly vision of the coronation of “the Ancient of Days” (Dan 7:9-10). The big picture of God’s will for all creation is the sovereign rule of His Son.

Now let’s scale this back to a more personal level. What is God’s will for you and me? That depends on where we are in relationship with Him. God has a will for His redeemed children and He has a will for those who are not His children.  Paul told the Athenians that God works in the lives of people “so that men would seek Him and perhaps reach out for Him and find Him” (Acts 17:27). Everything that God does in the life of an unbeliever is designed to draw his attention to his Creator. God never meant for man to blindly stumble through life and hopefully trip over Him. He acts with purpose and intention in every circumstance, even down to “the times set for them and the exact places where they should live” (v. 26).

When the unbeliever becomes a believer God’s will sharpens – and often so do His methods. Paul declared that God’s purpose for every believer is “to be conformed to the likeness of His Son” (Rom 8:29). That is His “good, pleasing, and perfect will (Rom 12:2). That is what everything after conversion is working toward – to make you like Jesus.

Does that mean God doesn’t have an individual purpose for you? Not at all. God gives His children gifts and talents to serve Him and the church. Your love of music or art or your natural giftedness with children point you to His purpose for you. I have loved words and writing since I was a little girl because God’s will for me is to be a writer and He gave me a big mouth because He wanted me to be a teacher.

Whoever you are, wherever you are, God’s will is that you will be His child, reflecting Jesus in the world, and be part of the heavenly crowd at His Son’s coronation. Everything is working toward that end. Because that, Beloved, is what your life is all about.

Tell the Good News

Everywhere you go you will meet people who need the Lord. At the supermarket, at work, at school, at a football game, and yes, even at church. Somebody somewhere needs Jesus. The Jesus who saved you and made you His own. But not everyone will grasp the message of Jesus in the same way. The Apostle Paul understood that and adapted to his audience wherever he went. Please read Acts 17. There’s a lot here and we’ll be in this chapter for a couple of weeks.

Paul and his companions were in Thessalonica, an important city in Greece with a large Jewish population. Paul followed his usual custom of speaking to the Jews in the synagogue and spent three days sharing about Jesus. Luke said that his evangelism method was to “explain and prove that the Christ had to suffer and rise from the dead. ‘This Jesus I am proclaiming to you is the Christ’” (vs 2-3). Paul went back to the Scriptures – what we know as “The Old Testament,” brought out the Messianic prophecies and proved that Jesus fulfilled them all. He tailored his message to his audience – the Jews would understand Messianic prophecies. They had been looking for the Messiah for hundreds of years. This was the perfect way to get their attention and deliver the gospel message. And some of the Jews received the message and believed.

Skip over to verse 16 and Paul is now in Athens, a large metropolis of education and philosophy – but not much Jewish influence. Paul had to shift gears, but he did not shift the message. He toured the city, getting to know the people and the culture and building a bridge to carry the truth. He approached them from their interest in religion and even referenced one of their own poets. They had built an altar “To an Unknown God” and Paul used that altar as a springboard to share the gospel. Their “Unknown God” was the God of the Universe, the Creator of everything – including them. He was worthy of all worship and obedience and He commanded “all people everywhere to repent” before He sent the judgment (v. 30-31). Paul’s message garnered interest and response.

Years later Paul wrote in Romans 10: “How beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news!” (v. 15). Someone you will meet today needs the good news. Wherever you go, Beloved, put on the beautiful shoes of the gospel of peace and tell the story of Jesus.