Promises for family…

The Spirit of the Lord God is upon me, because the Lord has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to bind up the brokenhearted, to proclaim liberty to the captives, and the opening of the prison to those who are bound; to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified. They shall build up the ancient ruins; they shall raise up the former devastations; they shall repair the ruined cities, the devastations of many generations. Strangers shall stand and tend your flocks; foreigners shall be your plowmen and vinedressers; but you shall be called the priests of the Lord; they shall speak of you as the ministers of our God; you shall eat the wealth of the nations, and in their glory you shall boast. Instead of your shame there shall be a double portion; instead of dishonor they shall rejoice in their lot; therefore in their land they shall possess a double portion; they shall have everlasting joy. (Isaiah 61:1–7)

Even Christians alert to the mess in the world worry about what will be the fate of our children and grandchildren. Some speak of the return of Christ, yet with concern that the generation that experiences that wonderful event will suffer greatly. Such worry is either ignorant of God's promises, or unaware of what He can do. 

Is the above passage a lie? A false promise? Up until now, everything God promised has happened. Is He going to cease bringing good news to the poor, or stop binding up the brokenhearted? Will there be no more liberty for those who are not free, or comfort for those who grieve? Will God granting righteousness to sinners and cease bringing glory to Himself?

If I trust Him now, for today’s faith and and spiritual needs, and to bring me through tests and trials, why not trust Him to do the same in the future, or even for those who are not yet born? 

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

God does not change. My offspring might, but that depends on Him. He can draw them to Himself and give them redemption and the new life of Christ. For this, whether I get to see it or not, I have the assurances of God's unchanging love and promises. He says:

All your children shall be taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. (Isaiah 54:13)

My part? Obey the Lord. Do what He says. Teach as He leads. Live like His Son. Pray for them always.

Jesus, Your Spirit convicts of sin an grants understanding and redemption. May I not interfere with what You do and speak, but support and glorify You by what I do and say. 

 

An opportunity from the Lord?

 

Sometimes an opportunity presents itself and I feel as if I’ve stepped into a shopping mall to choose whatever I want. This time a friend offered me a top-line sewing machine that she isn’t using. It is almost new and has enough bells and whistles to make my head spin. The issue is making a choice. My ADHD loves diversion from normal and this is it. My creative side looks at the hundreds of new possibilities and imagines how this machine would enhance the speed and beauty of making quilts for needy people. The practical side thinks of the learning curve and wants to stay simple. 

So I am praying. The verse for today is a repeat from last week. Is this His answer to this opportunity? “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8)

He never changes. I am to be like Him, changed to be like Him. That speaks of stability, but not necessarily standstill. The process of being transformed is not boring or always the same. That is, He might change me with a sermon, a line in a song, thoughts in a book, the words of a friend, circumstances, even a vivid dream. Jesus Christ is always at work and when I pay attention, I can see Him in every situation. Sometimes people do things that call for a Christ-like response. Sometimes my mind is challenged to think like Jesus, to choose words that He wants said, to do things that are out of my comfort zone.

In this case, it isn’t about money. I can afford the machine. It is about time. If I am going to have it, it will mean being more thoughtful about how I waste time doing things that are ‘busy work’ yet not important. I will need to pray more, and wisely use not just that machine but my time and energy. This might seem simple for some people, but for those with easily scattered minds, it means more reliance on Jesus than ever.

The Spirit pops a phrase into my mind about numbering my days. This passage is more than relevant for I am already past eighty:

The years of our life are seventy, or even by reason of strength eighty; yet their span is but toil and trouble; they are soon gone, and we fly away. Who considers the power of your anger, and your wrath according to the fear of you? So teach us to number our days that we may get a heart of wisdom. Return, O Lord! How long? Have pity on your servants! Satisfy us in the morning with your steadfast love, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days. Make us glad for as many days as you have afflicted us, and for as many years as we have seen evil. Let your work be shown to your servants, and your glorious power to their children. Let the favor of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands! (Psalm 90:10–17)

Those last lines are saying to me that Jesus can use this opportunity to show His power to me and to my children, granting not only favor but establishing my work? I looked up the idea of being established and am amazed again by what God is saying about His favor. The word is used to express the action of being determined, firmly rooted, and spiritually and emotionally strong. It is about being well-grounded, filled with the hope of what is to come, and implored to encourage others. It also expresses a certainty or firm decision, like being determined as when Jesus “determined to journey to Jerusalem” (Luke 9:51).

I can see that this is not about having a new machine as much as it is about having the right attitude towards moving forward with the burdens on my heart, doing what I can for others, and being open to greater challenges. The woman who offered it is also a Christian and she wants my skills shared with others (many Christians and some who are not there yet) in this complex where we live, and using this machine well could be part of that. It is an opportunity to be more like Jesus.

Another writer tells me to step outside my comfort zone by doing things I’ve never done before. Obedience-based actions will shape my character and deepen my faith as God  increasingly forges me into the image of the radical Jesus found in the pages of Scripture.

PRAY: Again Lord, You surprise me. I know now why You have put this in my path. It isn’t about using the thing but about being like You in the process. You are giving me a greater open door to “let Your work be shown to Your servants” — not my work but the work of You in me. This is a bit scary, but my heart knows what You want from me. Again, I am amazed — and blessed.

God’s perfect will. . . .

I’ve been praying more than twenty years for the salvation of some family members and friends. Through this, God is teaching me patience. However, I have a small problem concerning my own need that I’ve prayed about for a week and am getting impatient. This says a great deal about my concern for others and my selfishness concerning myself.

I read this morning that I am impatient if I think time belongs to me, but if I realize it  belongs to God, I will have the capacity to be patient. The question is, am I willing to trust in Him when I am living in the middle of the story, or do I want to fast forward to the end? Do I want to skip the struggle to get to the resolution? Or even in the struggle can I be content to trust in God, letting faith in the unseen be my anchor during this troubling time? If I can do it for the salvation of others, what is my problem with waiting on Him concerning a small problem of my own? Where is my faith then?

Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen. (Hebrews 11:1)

Why is it easier to depend on the unseen for someone else and not for myself? Am I so important that I must have God hear me right now? I am critical of those Christians who must have a resolution to all of life’s struggles as soon as possible, yet accept my impatience without thinking I also lack the faith needed to wait just as they do?

God promised to meet all my needs. Do I doubt that He sees my prayer as a need, or that the answer would be helpful? In Exodus, He held back on some vital needs of His people to test them, to see if they would obey Him. Am I so short-sighted that I cannot see this might be why He delays?

This week, an eleven-year-old child said to me, “When we have troubles, God is trying to teach us something.” How easily the flesh forgets that truth. How wonderful that He can speak it through the lips of a little one to someone who is old enough to be her great-grandmother. I am humbled.

My little problem does rob me of energy and enthusiasm, but I must not let it rob me of faith. God is the same God for this issue that He is for all issues. He rules the universe and the earth revolves around the sun at the exact time and angle needed for our lives to thrive. My problems are nothing to such an Almighty God.

PRAY: Lord, You know my needs. Forgive me for thinking that You have forgotten me or that You do not care. Your timing is always perfect and You are good all the time. As Hebrews 13:8 says, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” I can depend on Your will to be done, in Your way and in Your perfect time.

Faith Affirmed

God affirms me in amazing ways. Today’s devotional says what the Holy Spirit has been revealing to me all week. With delight, I reproduce it here, making the pronouns personal.

Sometimes, in spite of all my efforts to discover the truth, the divine sense of “oughtness” does not seem to come and my doubts and perplexities continue unenlightened. In addition, my friends differ from me and may oppose my course. In such a case there is nothing to do but to wait until the light comes. I must wait in faith and in an attitude of entire surrender, saying a continual yes to the will of the Lord. If the suggestion is from Him, it will continue and strengthen; if it is not from Him, it will disappear. If it continues, if it troubles me in moments of prayer and disturbs my peace, and if it conforms to the test of the divine harmony of which I have written (see recent devotions), I may feel sure it is from God. Then I must yield to it or suffer an unspeakable loss.

The apostle Paul says that “Whatsoever is not of faith is sin” (Romans 14:23). In all doubtful things, then, I must stand still and refrain from action until God gives me light to know more clearly His mind concerning them. Very often I will find that the doubt has been His voice calling me to come into more perfect conformity to His will; but sometimes these doubtful things are only temptations or morbid feelings, to which it would be most unwise for me to yield. The only safe way is to wait until I can act in faith.

I read these words with delight because of the harmony between the Christian who wrote them and my mind about such matters. This devotional book is more than 100 years old and not only affirms my thoughts about knowing God’s will, it affirms that:

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

He is timeless and His Word is timeless, as relevant today as when first written — incidentally by many human authors who listened and wrote as the Spirit told them, over a period of many years. Truth is truth and because Jesus is “the way, the truth, the life” then I can rely on Him and His Word no matter what the world says about relevance, or the devil suggests about truth being doubtful, or the resistance my flesh has to anything that God says.

As God says, as He reveals it to me, and as this Christian affirmed, when in doubt, wait in yielded faith — He will make it clear.

PRAY: Jesus, we had an event at our church yesterday that was prayed for with hope, not too certain it would draw many people. It was a Heritage Festival to celebrate the many cultures represented in our congregation and that will eventually gather before the throne of God. Faith became sight — the main auditorium was so filled that we could hardly walk. What a wonderful celebration and display of faith becoming sight. As You continue to affirm faith, may all of us continue to grow in it and celebrate Your awesome goodness.

Always the Same

Myself and two other women met on Thursday to pray. Most of our time together was marked with praise. God had answered our prayers for several people and we rejoiced. During that time, one person’s phone rang. It was her husband. He’d heard so many answers to prayer that morning that he had to call and tell her. On my way home, I was filled with joy and humbled by the incredible goodness of God.

Today’s devotional offers the observation that Christians who experience a morning like that can see wisdom, strength, or spiritual riches of one kind or another in which to glory. But when we come down from this “high” into ordinary life, these thoughts vanish as if we had nothing left to glory in. As I read that statement, my reaction was mixed. If I am rejoicing in only the good times and what I can see, is not my focus off God and more about the pleasant blessings He bestows and the comfort of His care rather than the reality that He is good all the time — even when I cannot see it?

When the disciples were out on a boat with Jesus, He was asleep and they were afraid they would drown. Before they started this voyage, He told them they were “going to the other side” but they seemed to have forgotten that, and did not think that He the has power to get them where He told them they would go.

This is what the Christian life is filled with — days and times of total uncertainty. Our situation and feelings go up and down, but that does not mean that our God is bouncing us on a yoyo string. In all of the ups and downs, I am learning that He is unchangeable. What we call “spiritual blessings” are not the same, at least unchangeable to my vision, but they ought to be like that in my theology. Truth pulls the train, faith follows — then emotions. If I let emotions take the lead, then when prayers go unanswered and life is full of uncertainties, my faith falters and what happens to truth? It gets shoved into a corner and I need a rebuke, or a pointed sermon, or some discerning soul to give me (and those emotions) a good boot back to where I should be thinking.

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Hebrews 13:8)

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change. (James 1:17)

If joy is lost, then I’ve forgotten that my joy is in the truth about God. Life may seem as if all is lost except the desire to have my comforts return, yet God is still with me, and still the same as when I am aware and focused on His goodness. He didn’t move; I did.

I’ve had aches and pains this week, partly related to a cold snap that aggravates these old muscles and bones. This is a distraction from the goodness of God. Why do we tend to relate that to our health? Most of the prayer requests we hear are about health. While I understand the desire to feel good, might I be better to pray for an increased focus on the Lord who never changes? He is still sovereign, still loves me, still using all things for my good — to transform me into the image of His Son. That should make me overflow with joy all the time.

PRAY: Lord, I’ve no idea what the day will bring, but ask that You will allow me to focus on You and Your unchanging goodness and find joy in that. May You be the delight of life, a delight that can look beyond aches and pains, unanswered prayer, and any other discomfort that might come along. Use all things, as You say You will do, to change my life and to be stedfast and faithful to You, just as You are to me.


 

The wonder of Jesus coming here . . .

 

As Christmas draws near, thoughts of what happened in that manger more than two thousand years ago often come to mind. Think of it: God became a man, beginning His time here as a newborn baby. Not everyone has the same concept of God yet His Word says this of Him:

You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning, and the heavens are the work of your hands; they will perish, but you remain; they will all wear out like a garment, like a robe you will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But you are the same, and your years will have no end. (Hebrews 1:10–12)

He is Creator and has no beginning or end. He always is and will never change or vanish. Even as I try to wrap my puny mind at those thoughts, the fact of His coming here to be like us — yet not like us — is staggering. This baby was not a created being. He existed before the beginning of the world . . .

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. (John 1:1–3)

God spoke and His Word, Jesus, laid the foundation of the earth and created the heavens. In the beginning implies that He existed before the beginning as the Scriptures say — He is eternal, and His Word is eternal, God who never changes, yet He appeared here, as a baby, an historical fact. Amazing!

“Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.” (Hebrews 13:8) He did not remain a babe, yet who He is and what He does never changes. The world changes. Our lives endure constant changes. Yet this One who created us is immutable, always the same, always God and always alive to intercede for us.

Consequently, he is able to save to the uttermost those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Hebrews 7:25)

My little children, I am writing these things to you so that you may not sin. But if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous. (1 John 2:1)

Think of it — who or what can condemn those who have received Him as their Savior? “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.” (Romans 8:34)

From birth to death on this planet was a brief time for this baby who grew to be a man and yet He lives forever, not only as our Savior but also as our Sustainer. Our salvation is complete and secure for as long as He lives — and He lives eternally! I stand amazed and humbled at thoughts of this Babe who is God who came to rescue me from sin.

Yes, someday this world will be changed. The Bible says:

The sky vanished like a scroll that is being rolled up, and every mountain and island was removed from its place. Then the kings of the earth and the great ones and the generals and the rich and the powerful, and everyone, slave and free, hid themselves in the caves and among the rocks of the mountains, calling to the mountains and rocks, “Fall on us and hide us from the face of him who is seated on the throne, and from the wrath of the Lamb, for the great day of their wrath has come, and who can stand?” (Revelation 6:14–17)

And Jesus answers this cry with a cry of His own, not the cry of a babe in a manger but the cry of One who died that we might live when He called out, “It is finished.” He secured God’s total forgiveness for those who believe in Him.

Even though the world as we know it will end, Jesus does not end. He will create a new heaven and a new earth and all who love His appearing will be like Him.

Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is. And everyone who thus hopes in him purifies himself as he is pure. (1 John 3:2–3)

PRAY: It seems that the closer that day comes (meaning Your return or the end of my life here) the more excited I am about Christmas and about Your appearance, first as a tiny child, then as a grown man and my Savior. What a wonder that You should come, that You should suffer and die that I can live forever with You. Thank You for being the same always, and for your unchanging plan to save and keep Your followers forever.

PONDER: Read 2 Peter 3 and think how I can remind scoffers that Jesus keeps His promises and will come again. He even predicted that they would scoff! Urge them to pray for grace that they might be ready for life rather than judgment and look forward to His return.