Sometimes God wants me to go first…

Where I live, spending time with widows is relatively easy. Not so concerning orphans. For instance, the local children’s hospital has rules about visitors. If a child has no family or no family visits (it happens), I could not visit those children without special vetting and permission. Orphans are protected by laws to keep the public from seeking time with them. This is, of course, protection from predators, but it also keeps me for obeying all of this verse:

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world. (James 1:27)

Piper points to an OT verse that speaks about caring for those who are unable to care for themselves:

Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him. (Isaiah 30:18)

While this is not as specific as James about those to whom God shows mercy, it is clear that He does it to show His glory. I can transfer that to the description in James and rightly assume that caring for needy people exalts the Lord. Piper puts it this way: “One mark of great, self-sufficient poise is the willingness to get down low with the weak.”

That opens the door to far more than two groups of needy people. It even puts me in that category because God gets personal by using “you” to describe those He wants to be gracious toward. He is talking about those who wait for Him. Needy people do that, also people who are humble and realize that God is eager to help. It is not about those who take matters into their own hands. Instead, I am to wait on the Lord. However, the point is that God exalts Himself by showing mercy.

Since mercy is taking pity on and showing compassion to those who do not deserve it, this covers the entire human race. Salvation is a mercy because our sin means sinners should be punished, yet to be merciful is to be like God.

This gets personal. It tells me that if I am not merciful with those who are weak, I’m not being like the Lord. In the Bible, “weak” can describe those who are feeble, sick; morally weak; or those lacking in knowledge or faith. I know several who fall into each of those definitions. The feeble and sick are easiest to be merciful toward, but I get annoyed with those who seem dim about God and dim in their faith. I get  the same reaction in my heart when Christians disobey.

In other words, my ability to be merciful has great flaws. I do better when I remember how much mercy God has shown me, but pride and self-righteousness often jump in instead of treating others  in humility and with His compassion.

Maybe this is why God illustrates with widows and orphans. It is much more likely to feel tender-hearted to them than to others who are weak as a result of their own choosing or because they fail to seek the truths of God that will strengthen them. Yet I’m faced this morning with a similar challenge. Will I be strengthened in my faith and walk with God by being merciful to those whose sins and spiritual neglect usually annoy me? To do this, I must first do this:

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)

PRAY: Lord, I’m acutely aware of the people who disregard Your principles and choose to do life their way, even when their Bible is open in front of them. I pray that You will change their hearts but You have not done so, indicating that it is my heart that You first wish to change. Piper’s line of being willing to get down low with the weak points to my bad attitude of not being willing to put up with others who are unwittingly feeding their old nature and as a result fail to glorify You. This does not mean that I endorse what they do, but that I should have mercy on them and bless them, releasing them to experience Your grace in their hearts because You have worked forgiveness in mine.

Truth and Everlasting Joy

Yesterday was awful. Physical movement was difficult. Mentally, my thoughts were jumbled. It was not some sort of illness, more like a spiritual war in which the enemy had me in the dirt with his foot on my neck.

I wrote of despair and could not escape it. The words were true but so true also was human helplessness. Whatever God wanted me to learn also escaped me. I wanted to leave this place and go to the promised land of no more sorrow. When night fell, I took two Tylenol and fell asleep instantly. No crazy dreams. No trips to the bathroom. This morning, Monday seemed far away.

Today’s devotions are about enduring pain. It refers to the pain of a flawed marriage and how that endurance helped in other areas of life. But there are other kinds of pain. Loss of abilities. Loss of friends. Loved ones dying. Physical aches. Dementia. Feeling unwanted. A long list.
To His OT people who were barren in the fruit of their calling, God compares them to a widow who lost her partner. He says:

“Fear not, for you will not be ashamed; be not confounded, for you will not be disgraced; for you will forget the shame of your youth, and the reproach of your widowhood you will remember no more. For your Maker is your husband, the Lord of hosts is his name; and the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer, the God of the whole earth he is called. For the Lord has called you like a wife deserted and grieved in spirit, like a wife of youth when she is cast off, says your God. For a brief moment I deserted you, but with great compassion I will gather you. In overflowing anger for a moment I hid my face from you, but with everlasting love I will have compassion on you,” says the Lord, your Redeemer. (Isaiah 54:4–8)

When despair hits, regardless of the reason or cause, God assured His people that His compassion would win over the horrid sense they had of being abandoned. He promised to “gather them” and this is affirmed even in the NT. God is not done with Israel, no matter how it seems in history and in current news.

In this, I can take comfort. Truth and trust does that. Truth gives me where to put my hope and in whom to put my trust. God has always kept His Word, so no despair can change that. It might knock me to the floor now and then, but the bottom line truth is this:

He who did not spare his own Son but gave him up for us all, how will he not also with him graciously give us all things? Who shall bring any charge against God’s elect? It is God who justifies. Who is to condemn? Christ Jesus is the one who died—more than that, who was raised—who is at the right hand of God, who indeed is interceding for us. Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, “For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.” No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord. (Romans 8:32–39)

My body still feels ‘not good’ but the truth lifts my spirits and tells me that my Maker can remake it. But if it stays like this, He can fill me with His joy anyway. My friends at church are proof of that!

PRAY: God, I thank You for examples of faith that give me hope when the enemy thinks he is winning, friends like BT, JM, L & A, and DD who ignore what their body yells at them and instead listen to the truth You have put deep into their hearts. That ‘surgery’ is not without pain, but it does the job of releasing Your everlasting joy.

Whose glory?

Those gifted in teaching are quick to gather information, eager to share it with others, yet often slow to apply it to themselves. I tend to assume that most problems are caused by errors in thinking. That leads to assuming if I think right, then I am okay. But that is an error because my thinking is the root of my actions and if they are lacking or lagging… then something is missing. If God is not telling me what to do, or I am not listening or obeying Him, it could be that I think too highly of myself.

Lately the Bible verses that speak to me often reveal my inabilities and weaknesses in contrast to the power of God. Instead of applying this to myself, I get annoyed at others who err in their thinking. For instance, if another Christian says, “I led so and so to the Lord” I want to say, “No you didn’t. The Holy Spirit did the work in their heart.”

I’ve also sung lyrics like, “To God be the glory, great things He has done” and see His hand in the lives of all the doers, whether they give Him credit or not. And those on the ‘not’ side use their personal pronoun far more than the name of Jesus, making me wonder if the flesh is busier in their lives than they realize. And I am critical for their fleshy words. Then I look in the mirror and cringe — because I do this too.

What is it about us that desires the credit, or at least some of it, for what God does? This attitude has been called “practical atheism” defined as living our Christian lives as if God does not exist, or does not keep His promises or even hears our cries for help. Or I make myself God’s helper when it is me who needs His help. Others are so uncertain of God that they fall into the attitude that “I must do something” or they will lose their salvation. I know the verses that say this is not faith and am critical. God says:

And I am sure of this, that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ. (Philippians 1:6)
Now may the God of peace himself sanctify you completely, and may your whole spirit and soul and body be kept blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is faithful; he will surely do it. (1 Thessalonians 5:23–24)

I know that Jesus saves. Jesus keeps, protects, leads, intercedes, picks me up when I fall, forgives and cleanses my sin, says “It is finished.” He also says,

Already you are clean because of the word that I have spoken to you. Abide in me, and I in you. As the branch cannot bear fruit by itself, unless it abides in the vine, neither can you, unless you abide in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. Whoever abides in me and I in him, he it is that bears much fruit, for apart from me you can do nothing. (John 15:3–5)

He also promises and works to transform my life and put to death (separation from God) my fleshy old nature so that it has no value or bearing. Fleshy actions are only a waste of time that produce nothing of eternal value. As for my weaknesses, it is in them that God perfects His strength. Where does “I” fit in? No where, except I am to glory in those weaknesses and rejoice in the glory of the Lord, not put myself on a pedestal.

PRAY: God, forgive me for such sinfulness as wanting glory that belongs to You and You only. Forgive me for being annoyed with those who rob You of Your glory, forgetting I do the same. Like me, they may want to be important, not weak or incapable of doing anything apart from You. Forgive me for letting my insecurities drive me to God-playing instead of being thankful for Your great mercy and grace. Please cleanse my heart and deepen my faith and my love for You.

God’s Amazing Grace

My sister often said that even after mom died, mom was still picking up after her. Sis had a habit of never putting things away and then wasting time looking for her stuff. Today’s reading says this, and it reminded me of her…

God surrounds us; He goes after us to set straight the things we have made crooked and to undo the mistakes and failures that lie behind us. Mothers do this for their children all their lives, beginning with picking up the scattered toys in the nursery and then going “behind” them as they grow older to undo and atone for all their mistakes.

I’m not sure that is true for every mother, but I know that it is true about God. All my Christian life He has been showing me the truth of these verses:

And we know that for those who love God all things work together for good, for those who are called according to his purpose. For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. (Romans 8:28–29)

“All things” includes my mistakes, even the biggest of them. While some of the worst involve other people and should not be shared, I can say this — even the stupidest things I have done have turned into either lessons in how to behave, or exposures of sin to confess, or both. This is the grace of God. He is able to use whatever I do or don’t do in the classroom of life for His purposes. And those lessons work, even though they may need to be repeated several times.
Part of this is because God knows me. He knows exactly what to do that will accomplish His purposes for me…

O Lord, you have searched me and known me! You know when I sit down and when I rise up; you discern my thoughts from afar. You search out my path and my lying down and are acquainted with all my ways. Even before a word is on my tongue, behold, O Lord, you know it altogether. You hem me in, behind and before, and lay your hand upon me. Such knowledge is too wonderful for me; it is high; I cannot attain it. (Psalm 139:1–6)

The passage goes on to say that I cannot flee from His presence. Realizing that is important. No matter where I go or what I am doing, He is there to lead me, hold me, enlighten me. He created me so knows what will enable me to stay healthy, be happy, and be the most useful to His plans. Knowing that He is with me and knows me, makes a difference in my thoughts. Sure, I forget at times. Or the enemy feeds me his favorite ruse, “God does not really want the best for you” when I’m having problems, but the Lord always rescues me.

For instance, I had a thing come up yesterday and was uncertain how to deal with it, but the verse on today’s calendar says: “And because of him you are in Christ Jesus, who became to us wisdom from God, righteousness and sanctification and redemption…” (1 Corinthians 1:30) and the truth that Jesus is my wisdom gave confidence to solve the problem. How gracious of God to care and to use even a calendar page to reassure and correct a small confusion.

PRAY: As the days go by, Your Word is a continual blessing. Even when I forget or am distracted from major truths about You and what You do, Jesus, You continue to abide with me and meet all needs, even using the smallest to the largest difficulties to change my life. Like mom with my sister, You are always picking up after me. Even the mess-ups that I make are used for good in Your hands. Praise to You for such loving care!

God’s blessings are not limited by enemies or troubles

Ezra 7:1–8:36, 1 John 4:1–6, Psalm 107:1–22

In ancient times, kings seldom honored foreigners with a decree and rarer still would a king offer his own wealth to help a foreigner. Yet King Artaxerxes of Persia sent Ezra and those Israelites willing to go with him to his own land with much of the king’s silver and gold. Ezra was going to rebuild the temple, but another prime task was to teach the Word of God to the people.

“Ezra went up from Babylonia. He was a scribe skilled in the Law of Moses that the Lord, the God of Israel, had given, and the king granted him all that he asked, for the hand of the Lord his God was on him . . . . For on the first day of the first month he began to go up from Babylonia, and on the first day of the fifth month he came to Jerusalem, for the good hand of his God was on him. For Ezra had set his heart to study the Law of the Lord, and to do it and to teach his statutes and rules in Israel.” (Ezra 7:7, 9–10)

God motivated Ezra to study and teach the Word of God to His people, then sent him from Babylon to do it. The king gave him plenty of supplies and told him, “Whatever else is required for the house of your God, which it falls to you to provide, you may provide it out of the king’s treasury.” (Ezra 7:20)

If God wants His people to do something, God will provide direction, give the authority to proceed, and provide the means and support for the task. Our church leaders have an incredible vision for the future. If this is from God, we can move forward with confidence. Whatever we need will be provided!

Ezra also had the task of appointing others to share the load. “And you, Ezra, according to the wisdom of your God that is in your hand, appoint magistrates and judges who may judge all the people in the province Beyond the River, all such as know the laws of your God. And those who do not know them, you shall teach.” (Ezra 7:25)

God’s man needed to be careful to select the right leaders and ensure they were trained for the job. As our church moves forward, we will need to train people that are part of the team. We also need to be careful in our selection for there are many who attend church yet do not know the Lord. For that, the NT reading gives instruction . . .

“By this you know the Spirit of God: every spirit that confesses that Jesus Christ has come in the flesh is from God . . . . We are from God. Whoever knows God listens to us; whoever is not from God does not listen to us. By this we know the Spirit of truth and the spirit of error.” (1 John 4:2, 6)

Sharing the vision could mean first sharing faith in Christ and the leading of the Holy Spirit. Giving responsibility to people without the Spirit and without faith would be disastrous. They would lead us astray. It has happened in the past in other churches and could happen in ours if we are careless.

The psalmist speaks of the grace of God and how He listens to those who became careless in their spiritual lives and wound up in trouble because of it. “Some were fools through their sinful ways, and because of their iniquities suffered affliction; they loathed any kind of food, and they drew near to the gates of death. Then they cried to the Lord in their trouble, and he delivered them from their distress. He sent out his word and healed them, and delivered them from their destruction. Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love, for his wondrous works to the children of man! And let them offer sacrifices of thanksgiving, and tell of his deeds in songs of joy!” (Psalm 107:17–22)

God uses trouble to get the attention of wayward believers as well as people without faith. Yet He is also gracious to hear those who cry out to Him. This is part of the ministry of the church — to tell this good news to those who suffer because of foolish choices. They need to hear that God will answer their call. Unlike Ezra, Christians do not need to be specifically called by God to do that task. He calls each of His people to glorify Him and to bring His grace and steadfast love to others who will then tell others, in songs of joy, about His wondrous works.

Genealogies, Widows, and a Shepherd who is also a Lamb

1 Chronicles 8:1–40, 1 Timothy 5:10–17, Psalm 78:53–72

Today’s Old Testament passage reminds me why doing family tree research is both exciting and frustrating. Yesterday, I found some interesting tidbits in the history of Israel. Today I found this... and much more just like it:

“Benjamin fathered Bela his firstborn, Ashbel the second, Aharah the third, Nohah the fourth, and Rapha the fifth. And Bela had sons: Addar, Gera, Abihud, Abishua, Naaman, Ahoah, Gera, Shephuphan, and Huram. These are the sons of Ehud (they were heads of fathers’ houses of the inhabitants of Geba, and they were carried into exile to Manahath): Naaman, Ahijah, and Gera, that is, Heglam, who fathered Uzza and Ahihud. And Shaharaim fathered sons in the country of Moab after he had sent away Hushim and Baara his wives. He fathered sons by Hodesh his wife: Jobab, Zibia, Mesha, Malcam, Jeuz, Sachia, and Mirmah. These were his sons, heads of fathers’ houses. He also fathered sons by Hushim: Abitub and Elpaal. The sons of Elpaal: Eber, Misham, and Shemed, who built Ono and Lod with its towns....” (1 Chronicles 8:1–12)

This information is included in the Word of God for a reason, but today that reason is beyond my grasp!

The NT reading is more practical but still a puzzle. There is not much explanation for these verses regarding the church’s care for widows, but a few principles can be seen...

“Let a widow be enrolled if she is not less than sixty years of age, having been the wife of one husband, and having a reputation for good works: if she has brought up children, has shown hospitality, has washed the feet of the saints, has cared for the afflicted, and has devoted herself to every good work. But refuse to enroll younger widows, for when their passions draw them away from Christ, they desire to marry and so incur condemnation for having abandoned their former faith. Besides that, they learn to be idlers, going about from house to house, and not only idlers, but also gossips and busybodies, saying what they should not. So I would have younger widows marry, bear children, manage their households, and give the adversary no occasion for slander. For some have already strayed after Satan. If any believing woman has relatives who are widows, let her care for them. Let the church not be burdened, so that it may care for those who are truly widows.” (1 Timothy 5:9–16)

Obviously the church had a list of widows that they supported. Apparently they expected those under sixty to take care of themselves or be cared for by their family. Yet being on the list also included the lifestyle of the widow. Had she shown herself to be a godly person? Was she doing good things?

The younger widows seem to be forbidden to remarry yet verse 15 says otherwise. Certainly the phrase about their passions drawing them away from Christ was something far more serious. In that culture wives usually took the religion of their husband so Paul might have been referring to some who were marrying outside their faith.

He also seemed concerned about widows remarrying for financial support that would free them to idly spend their time in gossip and other folly. Some had “already strayed after Satan” so Paul obviously was writing about a particular issue in that church.

It made me think of the issues concerning widows today. Financial care now comes from government social programs, not the church. Yet widows are lonely, often taken advantage of by unscrupulous people, even their own family members. They have practical and medical needs. Those who have lived for Jesus may not struggle with sins like gossip and meddling, but they will need to be encouraged in their spiritual lives and respected for their age and wisdom. Most congregations could do better in caring for widows.

The reading from the psalms surprised me with a short bit about widows as well. In this passage, God was angry with His people for straying into idolatry and other sin. “He gave his people over to the sword and vented his wrath on his heritage. Fire devoured their young men, and their young women had no marriage song. Their priests fell by the sword, and their widows made no lamentation.” However, in mercy He did not stay angry... “Then the Lord awoke as from sleep, like a strong man shouting because of wine. And he put his adversaries to rout; he put them to everlasting shame.” (Psalm 78:62–66)

The widows in that day also suffered under the hand of God, yet they did not cry out to Him with a lament normally to express sorrow for sin. Their lives were in great peril, yet sadly without repentance. This is horrifying, yet God continues with His promise to send a shepherd (David) to lead them, hinting at His eventual plan to send another Shepherd, also known as the Lamb of God who would deliver all His people from their sin.

Our Awesome God

Judges 2:11–3:31, Philippians 1:12–18, Psalm 63–64

If tested, I’d probably be more of a pessimist than an optimist. When evaluating a situation, I see the down side first, even to the point that I need a strong encourager to help me get my eyes off negatives. This is how I feel reading the book of Judges. I also feel judgmental, and must remind myself that I’ve ‘been there, done that.’ I’ve no qualifications to pick on the people of Israel because I’ve made many of their mistakes. At the same time, there is much to be learned from mistakes and from their negative example.

Israel was in the land God gave them. They failed to clear out the pagan idol worshipers of the land and wound up allowing their sons and daughters to intermarry with them. They also worshiping their idols and God was angry.

They abandoned the Lord and served the Baals and the Ashtaroth. So the anger of the Lord was kindled against Israel, and he gave them over to plunderers, who plundered them. And he sold them into the hand of their surrounding enemies, so that they could no longer withstand their enemies. Whenever they marched out, the hand of the Lord was against them for harm, as the Lord had warned, and as the Lord had sworn to them. And they were in terrible distress. (Judges 2:13–15)

But He did not destroy them. Instead, the Lord raised up judges, who saved them out of the hands of those who plundered them. Yet they did not listen to their judges, for they whored after other gods and bowed down to them. They soon turned aside from the way in which their fathers had walked, who had obeyed the commandments of the Lord, and they did not do so. Whenever the Lord raised up judges for them, the Lord was with the judge, and he saved them from the hand of their enemies all the days of the judge. For the Lord was moved to pity by their groaning because of those who afflicted and oppressed them. But whenever the judge died, they turned back and were more corrupt than their fathers, going after other gods, serving them and bowing down to them. They did not drop any of their practices or their stubborn ways. (Judges 2:16–19)

This is the pattern of Judges. It is sad reading, yet so true of God’s people, even after salvation through faith in Jesus Christ. God warns us of the dangers, but we turn our own way. Often, God lets us find out the hard way that we are behaving foolishly. When we start to feel the stress of our mistakes, He allows that, but eventually takes pity and bails us out. Our God is an awesome God.

The NT reading is from one of Paul’s prison letters. The church had fallen into a competitive thing where preachers were striving for ‘bigger and better’ against other preachers. Paul heard about it and wrote this:

Some indeed preach Christ from envy and rivalry, but others from good will. The latter do it out of love, knowing that I am put here for the defense of the gospel. The former proclaim Christ out of selfish ambition, not sincerely but thinking to afflict me in my imprisonment. What then? Only that in every way, whether in pretense or in truth, Christ is proclaimed, and in that I rejoice. Yes, and I will rejoice... (Philippians 1:15–18)

His focus was in the right place. He didn’t care about the one-upmanship game, only that people hear about Jesus Christ. For him, the preacher’s motive didn’t matter, or their sincerity. As long as Jesus was preached, he was joyful. God had done a major work in this man’s heart. He once was putting Christians in jail and trying to kill them. Our God is an awesome God.

From the Psalms, David writes about his distress. Betrayed by family, hated by those who pursued him, he sought the presence of God, and found it. He said, “So I have looked upon you in the sanctuary, beholding your power and glory. Because your steadfast love is better than life, my lips will praise you. So I will bless you as long as I live; in your name I will lift up my hands. My soul will be satisfied as with fat and rich food, and my mouth will praise you with joyful lips, when I remember you upon my bed, and meditate on you in the watches of the night; for you have been my help, and in the shadow of your wings I will sing for joy. My soul clings to you; your right hand upholds me.” (Psalm 63:2–8)

He did not retaliate against his enemies, but trusted God to deliver him. Even though David was not a perfect person, he knew that our God is an awesome God.

Today and tomorrow, I am asking God for grace to finish my last assignments before graduation later this month. I know He will hear my cries because He is an awesome God.

Will God rescue me when I got myself in trouble?

Our son’s wedding rehearsal was yesterday afternoon followed by a dinner for at least forty people. We then helped our future daughter-in-law and her bridesmaids with some decorations in the reception room. After we came home, I was too wound up to go to sleep so read for a while. I still couldn’t sleep and woke this morning feeling as if the night was spent with a pillow over my head.
 

If I ever wondered about God’s sense of timing (or even His sense of humor), I wonder no more. Today’s Bible reading gives me His reminder that He can solve my problem, and the writing that goes with them reminds me that He is not obligated to fix anything that is my fault.

. . . as your days, so shall your strength be. (Deuteronomy 33:25)

I can do all things through him who strengthens me. (Philippians 4:13)

The author of the reading uses these verses to point out that God will not impose any needless burdens upon me. He will not ask of me more than He knows my strength will bear. He never asked Peter to come to Him on the water, without at the same time imparting strength and support for him on those unstable waves. He will not ask me to draw water if the well is too deep, or to remove a stone if it is too heavy. 

But the reading does not stop there. He writes that God does not consider anything as impossible that I, as a free and responsible person, have the power to avert. That is, He will not regard as my misfortune what is also my crime. I stayed up too late. This was not forced upon me. While He grants renewed strength to the weary, I could have come home sooner. I could have also put down the book. Can I expect His help when I was not sensible and got myself over-tired? 

Yet isn’t it my sinfulness that causes most of my problems? God is my Savior from sin. Will He save me from the problems of being weak and unable? Did Christ come to give power to overcome foolishness only before I make the mistakes, or power also have I have messed up? Will He leave me in the pits that I foolishly dig? The Bible also says,

He gives power to the faint, and to him who has no might he increases strength. Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted; but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings like eagles; they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. (Isaiah 40:29–31)

The last part of these verses has been written into a chorus and this song is already running through my mind. Well for now, maybe it is only walking, yet whether God chooses to renew my strength for the wedding today or lets me feel this tired all day, I have already decided my best option is to wait on Him.

---

Lord, I am old enough to know better and disciplined enough to know that I cannot take You for granted. Yet this day is not about me. Perhaps I need to feel tired so I will depend on You for the energy and grace to do my part in today’s ceremony and celebration, rather than depending on my excited emotions. Whatever happens, enable me to hear Your voice and do what You ask, and to honor You on this important day.

To Live is Christ — having a perfect Father

Sometimes I feel like a bratty child before God. Best intentions aside, I fall into stinkin’ thinkin,’ or say mean and unkind words, or do something that I should not have done. The sense of God’s presence at those times is something like realizing my mother just came into the room as I put my hand in the cookie jar.

My parents rarely disciplined me though. My doctor told them I would not live long because of a childhood disease. I’m sure that came to mind whenever I acted up. They were merciful because my days were numbered.

Obviously their fears were never realized. Both lived to see me grow up, marry, have children and grandchildren. As I look back, I may have made them worry on many occasions, but their lack of strong discipline didn’t result in a monster. Instead, because they were so kind and loved me so much, I had respect for them. That respect kept me out of much trouble.

Today I’m missing both of them, but also giving thanks that my parents modeled the love of God toward me. Reading these verses reminds me so much of them.

The Lord is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love. He will not always chide, nor will He keep his anger forever. He does not deal with us according to our sins, nor repay us according to our iniquities. For as high as the heavens are above the earth, so great is His steadfast love toward those who fear Him; as far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our transgressions from us. As a father shows compassion to his children, so the Lord shows compassion to those who fear Him. For He knows our frame; He remembers that we are dust. (Psalm 103:8–14, ESV)

My parents were like that, merciful and gracious, slow to anger, great to offer compassion. The only thing they could not do was remove my sins from me. The reason is simple; no one can take away the sins of others or even their own sins. No matter the goodness of my parents, they passed on to me the same inclination to sin as they received from their parents. Going up the family tree all the way to Adam, all are sinners.

I know that I was born with a determination to have my own way. No one taught me that. It comes from my sinful nature. I was raised to do good, but deep in my heart I knew that my goodness was not enough. I learned in Sunday school and church that God is holy. His standard is far above mine, and He cannot tolerate sin.

My parents did the best that any parents could do, but again, they could not remove my sin. For that, I needed God and the sacrifice of His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. Because of the Lord’s mercy, I rejoice in knowing His forgiveness and grace. Because of His mercy, I am also deeply grateful that He gave me such loving parents.