Your Shot Is Our Shot; You Score....We Score!

I have a theology degree from Bible college and a master’s degree from seminary, but not until now, at age 40!, have I ever really understood how rich is the truth that we are in Adam, and why that matters. 

When I was watching my kids’ YMCA basketball games yesterday, I saw a tiny picture of what it might mean.  When my teammate gets fouled, he/she gets 2 foul shots.  We watch what will happen with anticipation and hope! 

Will the ball go in?!  Will “we” get the extra points?!

When the one on the foul line makes the shot--we cheer!  Not just because that individual made a basket but because “we” scored points. 

Your shot is our shot.  You make a basket; we score.  Your points get credited to our team.

“Therefore, just as sin entered the world through one man, and death through sin, and in this way death came to all men, because all sinned---” Romans 5.12

Adam is on the foul line, if you will.  He shoots!  He misses!  In Adam, he sinned and we all sinned.  He got death and we all got death.  We all get his score, so to speak.  We all get death because Adam did not obey.

“Death reigned from the time of Adam to the time of Moses, even over those who did not sin by breaking a command, as did Adam, who was a pattern of the one to come.”  Romans 5.14

It doesn’t seem fair to us as individualistic Westerners that he sinned, not me, yet I get identified with Adam.  Yet why, in a basketball game, do we want our teammate to make a basket?  Because it effects my score--my victory.

Malachi shoots foul shot: YMCA basketball

Why is this such GOOD NEWS!?!?!  Why does this make me do sideline cheerleading flips?!?!

Because Romans 5 shows us how Christ’s victory over sin and death is our victory!  When Christ obeyed, we who are in Christ obeyed!  When Christ was declared righteous, we who have faith in Him were made righteous. 

“Consequently, just as the result of one trespass was condemnation for all men, so also the result of one act of righteousness was justification that brings life for all men.”  Romans 5.18

My mind is blown!

My heart is lit aflame!

Do you see what I am seeing?!  Look at the end of Romans 5.14: “Adam...was a pattern of the one to come.” 

Adam is the head of humanity, the first of the human race.  What he did affected countless numbers of us.  His disobedience is our disobedience.  His “missed shot” is our “missed shot”.  We are all born onto “Team Adam.”

Luke shoots foul shot for his team

It doesn’t seem fair that one man’s sin brought me death.

But this is good news!  Here is why....Because if one man’s sin is my sin, then one man’s righteousness can be my righteousness!

“For just as through the disobedience of the one man, the many were made sinners, so also through the obedience of the one man, the many will be made righteous.”  Romans 5.19

When we trust Christ as our Savior and Lord, when we are “in Christ” through faith, then all that is true of Christ is true of us! 

Pastor Tim Keller, puts it this way: “Our union with Adam as our federal head is physical, but our union with Christ as our federal head is by faith. God unites us with Christ when we believe in him. This is why Paul can later say “we died” with Christ, we “were … buried” with him, and we “were raised” with him (6: 2-4, 8). Until we are united to Christ by faith, all that is true of Adam is true of us. But once we are united to Christ by faith, whatever is true of him is true of us!” (Keller, Romans For You, p. 131).

When we join “Team Jesus”, if you will allow my basketball metaphor to continue, then Jesus shoots, he scores, WE get the victory!!

When Jesus obeyed, we obeyed in Him.  His righteousness is our righteousness.  Instead of death through Adam, we get life in Christ!

My question to you is this: Whose team are you on?  Are you on “Team Adam” or “Team Jesus”?  We are all born onto Adam’s team, but we can be born again through faith onto Jesus’ team!

Theologian John Stott says it this way: “So then, whether we are condemned or justified, whether we are spiritually alive or dead, depends on which humanity we belong to--whether we belong to the old humanity initiated by Adam, or to the new humanity initiated by Christ.  And this, in its turn, depends on our relation to Adam and to Christ” (Stott, Men Made New, 1966, p. 28).

What is your relation to Christ?  All humans are in Adam by birth, “but not all men are in Christ, since we can be in Christ only by faith.  In Adam by birth we are condemned and die.  But if we are in Christ by faith we are justified and live” (Stott, p. 28-29).

I don’t think I will ever again see someone shooting foul shots and not think about how our union with Adam is good news, because it points us to our union with Christ. 

My longing is for everyone who reads this to embrace Christ in faith, and to join me in singing and celebrating the gift of grace, righteousness and eternal life!

Me Jumping for Joy to be on "Team Jesus"!

Adam and Jesus: Similarities:
--Pattern of events: many people have been affected by one man’s deed

Adam and Jesus: Dissimilarities:
--Motive for deeds: Adam’s was a deed of sin--asserted himself; Christ’s was a deed of grace--sacrificed himself
--Effect of deeds: Adam’s deed of sin brought condemnation and death; Christ’s deed of righteousness brought justification and life
--Nature of deeds:  Adam disobeyed the law; Christ obeyed the law (source: John Stott 1966 Men Made New).

“...just as sin reigned in death, so also grace might reign through righteousness to bring eternal life through Jesus Christ our Lord.” Romans 5.21

BONUS:  This Rap is the PERFECT conclusion to my blog post...Please have fun listening to this guy...I don’t know him from Adam (haha!), and his name is literally Adam, but I found him on Youtube one day, and I love this!

Come, Let Us Sing!

I brought Psalm 95 along with me on a solitude retreat this past spring with the desire and intention to memorize it and to meditate on it.  But as I started to recite verse 1 audibly, “Come, let us sing for joy to the Lord...” the words stuck in my throat: “Come let us sing....”  “Come let us sing....” 

Every time I tried to speak those words it didn’t seem fitting.  How could I ignore the call, even a command?, to sing?!  So I began to sing the words instead.  Soon a full Psalm 95 song was born, and I have since been singing this to God in worship, as I wash dishes, as I drive along, and when I wake up. 

This past summer as I stood atop the Great Sand Dunes in Colorado I needed some way to express my awe and worship to God as the vast, spectacular sight spread in 360 degrees of beauty around me.  Psalm 95 was ready to flow out of my heart and lips:

“...the mountain peaks belong to him...and his hands formed the dry land.”

In high school, I was taught by a mentor to read one Psalm a day.  That was a life-changing practice, and I have been through the Psalms dozens of times, which God has used to cause me to love them. 

A few years ago, I was taught to pray the Psalms, in an excellent little book by Donald Whitney, “Praying the Bible.”  This was refreshing because he teaches how to pray 5 Psalms a day, skipping every 30 for every day of the month (example: Psalm 1, 31, 61, 91, and 121).  Though I had read through the Psalms dozens of times, I needed a fresh way to interact with the Psalms, and this way of prayer has become one of my favorite ways!

Yet are the Psalms only meant to be read and prayed (both good things)? Think of it, Psalms are songs!  What if we gathered up all the songs we sing in church, whether choruses or hymns, and put them all in text form in a book.  Then during our devotional time we just read the lyrics silently to ourselves, every day for years.  How dull would that become!  Of course some hymns are rich poems, but how much more enjoyable to meditate on the words when put to melody and sung!  This is akin to what I had been doing for years, just reading the Psalms, but not singing them!

I was on another solitude retreat in January (which I totally recommend you make part of your rhythm if you don’t already....), when I set out to consider William Law’s book, written in the 1700s!, “A Serious Call to a Devout and Holy Life” (1729).  I was captivated by the chapter on prayer, but was completely intrigued by Chapter XV--”Of Chanting or Singing the Psalms in Private Devotions.”  This godly man of wisdom outside our century had me riveted and challenged!

163: “The difference between singing and reading...whilst you only read it, you only like it, and that is all; but as soon as you sing it, then you enjoy it, you feel the delight of it; it has got hold of you, your passions keep pace with it...
...If you were to tell a person that has such a song, that he need not sing it, that it was sufficient to peruse it, he would wonder what you meant; and would think you as absurd as if you were to tell him that he should only look at his food, to see whether it was good, but need not eat it; for a song of praise not sung, is very like any other good thing not made use of.”

Not singing the Psalms is like only looking at our food, according to W. Law.  This was a new challenge for me! 

Without writing many more paragraphs summarizing William Law’s instructions for chanting the Psalms, and even an answer to excuses for not chanting the Psalms, I will close by inviting you to listen to the song God gave me for Psalm 95 in the hope that you will not only listen to me but join me in singing the Psalms! 

“Come let us sing for joy to the Lord;
let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.
Let us come before him with thanksgiving
and extol him with music and song.
For the Lord is the great God,

the great King above all gods.”
Psalm 95.1-2 

Click here to listen to Psalm 95

Be Our Shepherd

I was not expecting God to speak to me, much less sing to me.  To be honest, when I sat in church on Sunday and found out the sermon was going to be about “Leadership," I was very disinterested.  I have heard and read many things about leadership before, and there were dozens of other topics I would rather have heard about that day.

Yet I checked my heart and prayed silently: “God, if you want me to learn something from Your Word, let me listen.  Let me hear You speak, even if I don’t feel like hearing about leadership.”

I had learned before that when we go to church we are not going to critique the speaker or to be entertained by a funny preacher.  We are going to hear from God Himself.  Was I ready to hear from God through His Word?

I diligently listened to the introduction of the sermon, addressing the problem of leadership.  I was afraid the solution was going to be to point to examples of great leadership in the Bible and to tell us how to be like them.

Instead, part two illuminated the promise of leadership found in the Old Testament that a Messiah would come in the line of King David.  I remembered my Bible College days of marking all the messianic promises in colored pencils in my Bible, and I started to pay more attention to see if Jesus would be on display.

Then suddenly, as Scripture was spoken, the words radiated off the screen like a rainbow, arching straight to my soul!  Light filled my heart, and I saw Jesus:

“He will stand and shepherd his flock
in the strength of the Lord,
in the majesty of the name
of the Lord his God.
And they will live securely,
for then his greatness
will reach to the ends of the earth.
And he will be their peace.”
Micah 5.4

I wish you could see what I saw!  How I wish this verse could be as rich to you as it has become to me!  I am at a loss to explain to my reader how powerful this verse was when it struck my heart, and why it is so important to me. 

Though I would have to write a whole chapter to explain the deep significance of this verse and that moment in church, I want to share with you the result of that experience:  The Spirit of Christ has given me a song!

Be Our Shepherd--Listen Here

I hope you can listen to this song and even sing it with me!  Here are the lyrics and the verses from the Bible that connect (I would be so happy if you looked up all the verses to see for yourself!):

Be Our Shepherd

1.  God has been my Shepherd
All my life to this day (Genesis 48.15-16)
We are his people (Psalm 100.3)
and as his sheep we pray....we pray:

A.  Look after us
Rescue us
and bring us back to God (Ezekiel 34.12-13)
for we all like sheep
have gone astray,
Each of us has turned
to his own way (Isaiah 53.6)

[Chorus]:
Be our Shepherd
and carry us forever
Save your people
and bless your inheritance
Be our Shepherd
and carry us forever (Psalm 28.8 &9)

2.  I am the Good Shepherd (John 10.11)
I will search for every stray (Ezekiel 34.16)
My sheep listen to my voice (John 10.3-4)
I call my own by name....by name

3.  I will bind up the injured
And strengthen the weak (Ezekiel 34.16)
I am the Good Shepherd
I lay down my life for my sheep....for my sheep (John 10.14-15)

[Bridge]:
He will stand and Shepherd his flock
In the strength of the Lord,
In the Majesty of the Name
Of the Lord His God (Micah 5.4)

B. His greatness
to the ends
of the earth will reach
And He
will be
He will be our peace
He will be our peace (Micah 5.4)

Be our Shepherd and carry us forever

4. The Shepherd is the Lamb (Rev. 7.17)
Now seated on the throne
He will gently lead us (Isaiah 40.11)
and safely guide us Home....guide us Home!  (Mi. 5.4b; Ps. 23.3 & 6)

Post Script: For bonus material, the teacher in me would like to share how this song was formed, so that you might be inspired to try singing the Bible too, and that you also will want to trace themes in the Bible to see how they all fit!  I also invite you to ask the Lord to speak to you through His Word today!  Maybe He has a special verse just for you!
 
Backstory:
It was in fact one whole year ago when I was sitting in a hammock at family camp with my kids.  I have a practice of singing the Psalms when I pray, and I was just randomly making up a little diddy to sing to the Lord from Psalm 28.9: “Be our Shepherd and carry us forever.”  I really liked that line, and my kids and I ended up singing that on repeat through the summer of 2018.  It was that melody, which became the chorus to my recent song. 

I really needed the Lord to be my Shepherd that summer.  When I felt weak and alone, I remembered that He would carry us.  When I felt like the only leader in my family, I remembered that I had a Good Shepherd.  When I needed strength, I sang out in prayer: “Be our Shepherd and carry us forever!”

I did this Bible study last summer, looking for all the verses about God as our Shepherd.  It seemed like there was more to the song, but the rest of the song was never born.  I put it on “the back burner”, as they say, but in spiritual terms, I waited upon the Lord to give it to me.

We fast forward a whole year later, when just this past Sunday I was sitting in church and the Word from Micah 5.4 arched off the screen as a rainbow to my soul!  There it was: “He will stand and Shepherd his flock in the strength of the Lord.”  Again, the strength I needed and the Leader I wanted was Jesus Christ!  He stood before me in majesty and greatness and power!  Yes!  This is the Leader I want and need!

Then I remembered the chorus from Psalm 28, and it made me curious: “Do you want to give me the rest of the Shepherd song, O Spirit?”  Yes!  He wanted to, and He did!

That same Sunday afternoon during quiet time, I devoured my Bible, raking it for every gem about the Shepherd.  If you would like to join me, here are some of the top verses I copied out into my journal (though there are many more!!):

Micah 5.4 (“He will stand and Shepherd his flock...”)
Isaiah 40.11 (“He gathers the lambs...”)
Psalm 28.8&9 (“The Lord is the Strength of HIs people...Be their shepherd...”)
Genesis 48.15-16 (“The God who has been my Shepherd all my life....”
Psalm 23 (“The Lord is My Shepherd, I shall not be in want....”)
Psalm 78.70-72 (“...And David Shepherded them...with skillful hands he led them.”)
Jeremiah 23*
Ezekiel 34** (“I myself will search for my sheep and look after them...I will rescue them...”I will search for the lost and bring back the strays.  I will bind up the injured and strengthen the weak...”)
Ezekiel 34.31 (“You my sheep...are people, and I am your God...”)
Psalm 100.3 (“...We are his people, the sheep of his pasture...”)
John 10.11 (“I am the Good Shepherd.  The Good Shepherd lays down his life for the sheep.”)
Isaiah 53.6 (“We all like sheep have gone astray...”)
John 10.14 (“I know my sheep and my sheep know me...”)
Revelation 7.17 (“For the Lamb at the center of the throne will be their Shepherd, he will lead them to springs of living water...”)
1 Peter 2.25 (“For you were like sheep going astray, but now you have returned to the Shepherd and Overseer of your souls.”)
1 Peter 5.4 (“And when the Chief Shepherd appears...”)
Psalm 95.6-7 (“We are the people of his pasture, the flock under his care...”)
John 10.3-4 (“The sheep listen to his voice.  He calls his own sheep by name and leads them out...”)
Hebrews 13.20 (“...Our Lord Jesus, that Great Shepherd of the sheep....”)
1 Peter 1.19 (“...but with the precious blood of Christ, and lamb without blemish or defect...”)

I soaked in these Scriptures like a sponge and feasted on the green pastures of promises.  I literally circled the words in Green pencil about the Shepherd, and all about us in purple (I have a color coding system for Bible study).  Then I wrote out two columns, making lists from all the verses I read, of “The Shepherd: HE IS and HE DOES” and a list of all the verses say about “The Sheep”.

This Shepherd
HE IS:
Strength
Majesty
Greatness---reaches to the ends of the earth
HE IS OUR PEACE!
God (Bonus: If God is Shepherd, and Jesus is the Good Shepherd, then Jesus is God.  G=S & J=S...Therefore J=G)
Good Shepherd

HE DOES:
tends
gathers
carries
gently leads
save
bless
carry us forever
searches
looks after
rescues
brings us
gathers us
tends us
binds up
lays his life down

THESE SHEEP:
“the flock”
the lambs
those that have young
his people
your inheritance
the lost
the strays
the injured
the weak
astray
turned our own way

After all that Bible study, I wanted to capture these ideas in the song like a conversation between the Shepherd and the Sheep:
He IS
We are
We pray/we need
He does

Then came the intense part of synthesizing an abundance of words and insights into a poetic form suitable for singing.  That process is hard to explain, and it is all a gift from the Lord, but when the song was finally done and all the chords and keys fit in a pleasing way to my ear (and I trust to the Lord’s ear), I gave thanks to God for the gift of His Word and this communion and encouragement I received from His Word.  I share it with you today desiring that you, too, will be encouraged and will hear the voice of our Good Shepherd. 

Devotion to Jesus through Scripture Memory

“Who is he who will devote himself to being close to me?” Jeremiah 30:21

I am afraid some among us resist scripture memorization because they fear it is too pious, too religious.  They view it as just an external exercise for racking up Bible knowledge points. 

Yes, indeed, Jesus warned the religious people against this use of Scripture: 

“You diligently study the Scriptures because you think that by them you possess eternal life.  These are the Scriptures that testify about me, yet you refuse to come to me to have life.”  John 5.39-40

But is resistance to religiosity a reason to throw out Scripture memorization altogether?  Or can we devote ourselves to knowing Jesus and loving Jesus through memorizing His Word?
In that same speech to the legalists, Jesus also said, “You have never heard his voice nor seen his form, nor does his word dwell in you.”  John 5.38

I want to be a church of whom can be said: “His Word dwells richly in those people!”  Let us hear His voice in the Word, and let us come to know Jesus through these Scriptures that testify about Him.

Instead of resisting Scripture memorization for fear of religiosity, let us rather resist praise from men for our Scripture memorization. 

Jesus said, “I do not accept praise from men, but I know you.  I know that you do not have the love of God in your hearts.”  John 5.41-42.

I am continually praying, “Lord, help me to love your Word!  Give me Word hunger.  Let me draw closer to Jesus through memorizing your Word.  Let me enjoy communion and fellowship with your Spirit as I quote and review the passages that I have hidden in my heart!”

Pride is always a temptation.  For me, I often have reverse pride: I don’t want to share what I have learned because I am afraid people will think I am bragging or showing off.  But I want to honor the Lord and lift up His Word, so I am learning to not fear men either way, whether to hide my knowledge or to display my knowledge.  Let it be for the praise of God!

I want more people to love His Word and to memorize it too!  I have found a treasure, and I can’t keep it to myself!!

What better model do we have than our Lord Jesus, who quoted Scripture three times in his battle against Satan during the temptation of the wilderness.  How do you think Jesus had those words ready on his lips? He devoted himself to memorizing them.  He was ready in the day of battle. 

“The Word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.”  Deuteronomy 30.14

Is His Word in our mouths?  Are we letting it flow over our tongues and past out lips?  Is His Word in our hearts?  I know no better way than to memorize it, except of course to sing the Scripture (my favorite!!). 

Pastor Bob preached a sermon Sunday about half-hearted devotion to the Lord (based on Joel 2:12-13).  He unpacked what whole-hearted devotion includes, which I would like to apply to Scripture memorization:

 1. Volitional--a return to the Lord.  By an act of our will and to show our whole-hearted devotion, let us continually make the decision to do it, whether one verse a day, one verse a week, one verse a month, or even one verse a year!  Whenever I fail, I just return to the Lord and repent, crying out, “Please make me hungry for your Word!  Please forgive my half-hearted devotion to your Word, and restore to me the joy of your salvation!”

2. Emotional--this is not just a mental exercise.  It is a form of worship involving our hearts and souls.  Remember Jesus said of the Scripture-quoting Pharisees: “you refuse to come to me to have life” and “you do not have the love of God in your hearts.” (John 5:40 & 42).  LIFE!  LOVE!  These are not just intellectual disciplines, but Spirit-filled fruitful acts of worship.  Come to JESUS through his Word.  Ask the Spirit to bring life to every verse you memorize.  Cry out for love for Jesus through His Word, and let your time in quoting and reviewing and hiding His Word in your heart be a sweet time of fellowship and communion of your soul with His Spirit!

3. Personal--I like to make scripture memory personal through prayer and of course living it!  Janet Pope, an author of one of my favorite books on memorizing Scripture said in answer to the question: “What is the hardest part about memorizing Scripture”.....Answer: “Living it!”  Yes, and amen!  So I pray the Scripture back to God, and I make that my prayer for my life. 

For example, this month I was working hard to memorize 1 John 4.  I said it over and over, I practiced and I worked, even as I listened to sermons to make my understanding more rich.  But I could NOT get it smooth!  It was hard for me to straighten out all of John’s “live in him....he in them...he in us....live in love...live in God...”  It was going in circles and I needed help!

So I asked God, “Lord, help me understand.  Help me to see wonderful things in your Word.  Let me love 1 John 4.  Let 1 John 4 become part of my life--let me abide in you, and be loving like you are loving.” 

I have never learned a Scripture better than when I have put it to song!  I asked the Sprit for a song, and he gave me one!  I will share it with you in hopes that you are encouraged to meditate on His Word day and night until songs of love spring up within you!



Listen to my Song on 1 John 4

Memorizing Scripture is not a commandment, but it is a gift.  If you don’t memorize, ask the Lord to search your heart to know why.  Is it because you fear being religious or pious, because in that case we would not want to pray or give or fast (see Matthew 6).  Let us ask God for right motivation and devotion to see Jesus through the discipline.  Is it because it is too difficult?  Start simply and faithfully, and see what the Lord does (and feel free to ask me for ideas).  Is it because you don’t see value in it?  Consider Psalm 19.

“Who is he who will devote himself to being close to me?” Jeremiah 30:21

Eternal Winter?

I’m cold.  And I’m ready for spring.  I am tired of driving on the slippery snow and being squished in my driving lane because piles of snow crowd the sides of roads.  If it snows one more time, I’m not sure my shoulders have strength left to heave the snow onto the mountains beside my driveway.  Will it ever end?

It is March in Nebraska, but Sunday the news reported that we set a record for its “lowest high temperature” on that day in history, topping at 9 degrees (previous record set in 1978 and tied in 2002).  Will I ever feel warmer?

In February the local newspaper announced that, “Omaha’s February was the snowiest and one of the coldest on record.”  We received 27 inches of snow in February, setting a record, which was previously at 25.4 inches in 1965.  Will spring ever come?

My older boys are really into the Narnia movies these days.  I think it is interesting and fitting that Narnia under the white witch’s rule is frozen.  What if it was winter forever?

The feeling of no hope is dreadful to me.  I know spring will come in Nebraska sooner or later.  I literally choked up with tears the other day when I saw a flying V of geese soar past!  Come back birds!  Will I see more signs of spring?

I feel dread when I imagine an eternal winter.  It is dark with gloom and no light.  It is cold and isolating; people are staying inside, social plans are cancelled, fun outdoor fellowship is non-existent.  What if hell is more like winter than we think?

I read a headline on a tabloid at Target: “How I Escaped From Hell”.  The subtitle described an actress who escaped from an abusive relationship.  I am so glad she escaped, and I know abusive relationships can be horrendous and life-shattering.  But Hell?  Is that really hell?  Can we ever escape from hell?

The words kept ringing in my heart: “Escape from hell.”  How sobering to face the cold truth: There is NO escape from hell.

I have quoted Hebrews from memory dozens of times, but I don’t recall ever seeing, until now, the connection between 12.25 and 2.3:

Hebrews 12.25: “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks, for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we, if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?”

Hebrews 2.3 “...how shall we escape if we ignore [neglect] such a great salvation?”

ESCAPE.  We all want to escape.  Escape from winter by flying south.  Escape from reality by binging on Netflix.  Escape from . . . .  What do you want to escape from? 

Whatever you and I want to escape from, let nothing be more urgent and vital than our desire to escape in the sense we read about in the Bible.

What does the Bible want us to escape from?

Job 15.30 “He will not escape the darkness...”

Jeremiah 11.11 “I will bring on them a disaster they cannot escape.”

Genesis 7.7 “And Noah and his sons and his wife and his sons’ wives entered the ark to escape the waters of the flood.”

Matthew 23.33 [Jesus speaking to religious leaders]: “You snakes!  You brood of vipers! How will you escape being condemned to hell?” 

Luke 21.36 “Be always on the watch and pray that you may be able to escape all that is about to happen, and that you may be able to stand before the Son of Man.”

Psalm 68.20 “Our God is a God who saves;
from the Sovereign Lord comes escape from death.”

Let’s make a list, based on the above verses:

“What the Bible wants us to escape from”:
--darkness
--disaster
--destruction of creation (by flood...or fire; see Heb. 10.27)
--being condemned to hell
--all that is about to happen.
--death

I read this list, and my heart is heavy.  This is not a popular message.  We do not like to look at these truths from the Bible.  We want to close our eyes and close our Bibles. 

What about Winter Weather Warnings?  We are glued to our news reports and weather apps to find out, “Will school be cancelled?” (I can say I am checking!).  “Will we need to stay home?”  “Should we get more groceries in case we get stuck at home?”

We prepare for winter weather, but are we prepared for what is to come?

1 Thessalonians 5.2-3  “For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”

Will we heed the warnings?  Will we pay attention to the news reports of the Bible?

Hebrews 11.7 “By faith Noah, when warned about things not yet seen, in holy fear built an ark to save his family.”

Or will we ignore the warnings?

Hebrews 2.3 “How shall we escape if we ignore such a great salvation?”

Hebrews 12.25 “See to it that you do not refuse him who speaks, for if they did not escape when they refused him who warned them on earth, how much less will we if we turn away from him who warns us from heaven?”

Jeremiah 11.7 “From the time I brought your forefathers up from Egypt until today, I warned them again and again, saying ‘Obey me,’ but they did not listen or pay attention:  Instead, they followed the stubbornness of their evil hearts.”

I am heavy-hearted to think that some reader may be inclined to put God on trial:
“God, how can you bring death, destruction, darkness and disaster?”

But in truth, we are on trial, and God is Judge.  It is God’s kindness, and tolerance and patience that causes him to give us this truth in advance and warn us, so that we CAN escape, WHILE THERE IS STILL TIME.
Romans 2.3-4 “So when you, a mere man, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?  Or do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, tolerance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness leads you toward repentance?”

Escape from what?

Judgment.

Whose Judgment?

God’s.

Why are we judged?

SIN. 

Romans 2-3 is chilling!  I have spent more than a year storing up Romans chapters 1-3 in my memory and heart.  I challenge you to read them, and even join me in memorizing those chapters.  What I have learned is incalculable.  God’s Word sends soul shivers, but it also lights fires!

This is what it melts down to: 

“There is no one righteous, not even one;
there is no one who understands,
no one who seeks God...
There is no fear of God before their eyes.”
Romans 3.10-18

To the stubborn and hard-hearted (who is likely not even reading this far!), I say to you: fear God, before it is too late.  For you I pray, "God melt this heart by the light of your truth."

To my religious friend, who has [false] assurance of escape from God’s judgment based on your religious works I say to you: your works will be burned up in the fire, “all our righteous acts are like filthy rags” Isaiah 64.6.  Only the work of Jesus and His righteousness in our place can save us!  Turn to Jesus and find escape!

To my friend who says hell is only for the sons of darkness or the really evil, let me urge you, please read the Bible in full.  Please let the Holy Spirit shine the light of truth in your heart.  I ache for you to know that the doctrine of sin may feel dark, but it makes the doctrine of Christ shine more beautifully.

To my friend who says there is no hell, you are ignoring the weather warnings, but a storm is coming.  Review the story of Noah.  (See also Matthew 24.36-51).

To my friend who is angry at God, feels hurt by God, or does not like the picture of a Judging God, I say to you, please see his kindness and love!  “But when the kindness and love of God our Savior appeared, he saved us...because of his mercy.”  Titus 3.4-5.  I ached in my own suffering, but I learned that it was a kindness because God is sparing me from eternal suffering.  Join me in faith and hope in his kindness, love and mercy, I beg you!

And to my friend, my brother or sister in Christ who says, “Yes, and Amen” to every word written in His Word, I say: “Therefore, since we are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken, let us be thankful and so worship God acceptably with reverence and awe, for our ‘God is a consuming fire.’” (Heb. 12.28-29)

What does Eternal Winter look like?  Cold is a metaphor for relational distance between people.  For example: "The love between them grew cold," or "He gave her a cold and icy look," or "He gave her the cold shoulder."  In that sense, hell is cold:

2 Thessalonians 1.8-9 “They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power.”

We can never shovel our way out of hell.
BUT JESUS has warned us and provided a way of escape from the eternal winter:

Hebrews 9.27-28 “Just as man is destined to die once, and after that to face judgment, so Christ was sacrificed once to take away the sins of many people;  and he will appear a second time, not to bear sin, but to bring salvation to those who are eagerly waiting for him.”

Hallelujah!  Oh Lord, let us not ignore such a great salvation.  You, O Sovereign Lord, are a God who saves!  From you comes escape from death!  Hallelujah!

Will you join me and the spring birds in singing His eternal praises?!

(I invite you to view my song from Hebrews 12:15-29).

New Years Repentance

Oh!  Weeping!  I can’t stop weeping!  I was so struck just now as I was reviewing my scripture memory how pathetic is my memorization work! 

Some people think I have memorized a lot of Bible verses, chapters and books, and some even call me the “memorizing queen," but I am completely pathetic.

I spent my day of solitude writing a list of all the chapters in the Bible I have memorized solid, all the chapters that I need to make a more intentional plan for reviewing and keeping fresh.  I had just reviewed my highlights from a book by my memorizing mentor, Janet Pope, “His Word in  My Heart.”  In it she quotes from Kent Shaw, Executive Director of Harvest Bible Fellowship.

“I couldn’t live without it!  Memorizing the Word is one of the best of all spiritual disciplines because it combines meditation, prayer, and the study of God’s Word...I believe actively and aggressively meditating on the Word will radically change your life....I memorize one verse a day....So far, after ten years, I have memorized the Sermon on the Mount, the Gospel of John, Romans, 2 Corinthians, Galatians, Hebrews, James, and several chapters in Psalms and Proverbs.  I try to give myself two hours in the morning to spend in the Word.”

I got out my Bible and my calculator to add up those chapters.  Sermon on the Mount (+3), John (+21), Romans (+16), 2 Corinthians (+13), Galatians (+6), Hebrews (+13), James (+5), Psalms & Proverbs (+ unknown how many chapters he memorized). 

That is 77 chapters PLUS some more from PS. and PR.!!!  That’s a  lot of chapters, but that is also a lot of months.  More math:  10 years =120 months, so 77 chapters is 0.642 chapters a month.  A little more than half a chapter per month, which could be 10-20 verses, less than a verse a day!

I recall that the first chapter I memorized was Hebrews 11 in high school.  That was roughly 1997.  Then I memorized the book of 1 John in 1998 (5 chapters).  In college I memorized Hebrews (13 chapters). 

THAT WAS 20 YEARS AGO!!!!  Pathetic!  Don’t get me wrong!  I LOVE Hebrews, so much that I have camped out in it, reviewed and re-memorized it (see my post "How I Memorized Hebrews"), and I will never lose it again, you can be sure of that!!!  I have learned my lesson! 

But if Kent Shaw can memorize more than 77 chapters in 10 years, what have I memorized in the last 20 years?

I have solid today, and can quote with pretty good accuracy:
Hebrews (13 chapters)
Titus (3 chapters)

1 Peter (5 chapters)
Romans 1
1 John 1-2
Psalms 1, 19, 23, 63, 73, 119.1-24, 121, 139.

That is 32 SOLID chapters.  And WHAT A TREASURE, believe me!!!  BUT ONLY 8 PSALMS?!?!!?  I started crying and grieving when I listed the ones I used to have, the ones I have spent time memorizing that I LOST!

I once had:
Habakkuk (3 chapters)
Ephesians (6 chapters)
Colossians 3
And this list of Psalms... is what got my tears flowing: PSALMS I LOST: 3, 42, 46, 67, 86, 91, 100, 103, 117, 130, 131, 138, 143, 147, 150. 

Now, I could probably sing parts of all those Psalms, I could scrape together a very good sampling of verses from those Psalms, and certainly the Holy Spirit can speak to me through them since I know they are stored in there somewhere. 

But how could I LOSE so many Psalms?!!?  In life and death situations I need to have these prayers on the ready!  In battle I need this sword sharp.  Oh, what a dull sword I’ve got collecting dust!  I must clean this up and sharpen it up and get serious about this battle for my heart and soul!  No more pathetic excuses!!

What was I doing all year??  It feels like I am always memorizing something, I am always carrying a scrap of paper in my purse or pocket with my coded letters on it.  My brain often feels full.  My brain is tired and I don’t want to do the hard work of sharpening my sword. 

But I started sobbing once again when I reviewed my journals from 2018, where I keep a record on the last page of all the scripture I have reviewed or memorized. 

WHAT?!?!?!  January 4, 2018 “Romans 1.1-17”.  I only did one chapter the whole year?!?!  THAT IS LIKE LISTENING TO THE SAME SONG ON ITUNES FOR ONE WHOLE ENTIRE YEAR!!!  There are tons of other songs and notes and instruments to hear in the Bible.  (And yes, I often listen to the Bible on CD or Audible, and I do read it daily, but this is something different and the most rich thing I have ever done!). 

What is worse, I see that the whole month of January 2018 I was stuck in Romans 1.1-17.  I reviewed Hebrews once.  February and March, are BLANK!  And then what happens in the journal in April??  Romans 1.1-17!!!  How could I be stuck for so long in that one place? 

I open the next journal, hoping that I have moved along.  Yes, I reviewed Hebrews once more.  I reviewed 1 Peter and Psalms 1 and 23.

I turn the page to May 17, 2018: “Romans 1. 1-18!”  ONE NEW VERSE IN FIVE MONTHS!!!  I have wasted so much time!  I have not treasured and stored up more than one new verse. 

You may think I am being hard on myself, but I will tell you who TOTALLY challenged me to take memorizing more seriously:

700 teenagers in communist Russia in the early 1950s.

This story, written in Nik Ripken’s book “The Insanity of God” really struck me to the core:

“At the beginning of the conference [with the 700 Russian youth], the young people were given an interesting challenge.  None of them had owned a Bible.  They had never had hymnbooks or songbooks or recordings of religious music.  So in an off-handed way, the three pastors decided to determine how much Bible truth was present in that group of young people.

They said, ‘This will be like a game.  Every day this week, we want you to gather in small groups.  And we want to see how much of the four New Testament Gospels---Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John--you know and have memorized.  In your groups, see how much of the Gospels you can recreate.  And then do the same thing with songs and hymns.  Let’s see how much of that can be reproduced by memory.’

At the end of the conference, when they compared and combined the efforts of all the different small groups, the young people had recreated all of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John with only half-dozen mistakes.  They had also recreated the lyrics of more than twelve hundred songs, choruses, and hymns of faith from memory.

It became clear to me in an instant why and how the Christian faith had survived and often thrived under decades of communist oppression in the Soviet Union.  I also understood what had enabled so many Russian believers to remain strong and faithful.

On the day I heard the story about that conference, I was able to visit with some young people. ....I asked the grandchildren of the men who had so proudly told me how much Scripture and how many lyrics the young people in the house churches had been able to reproduce back in the 1950’s:

‘Tell me, how much Bible do the young people in your churches know today?’

They looked at each other and rather sheepishly admitted, ‘Not much.’”

Friends, this story illustrates how people with little access to God’s Word know the value of it.  They treasured it and stayed alive in suffering because of it.  It also shows how with increased freedom and increased access, the Bible becomes a lost treasure. 

How true for us today with all the versions we could ever want at our fingertips on a smartphone!  But are we ready for battle!?  Are our swords sharp!  Will this Word be planted deeply in us, or will it remain in megabytes in the cloud?

What will I do with the next decade of my life???

My great regret of 2018 is that I was so lazy and made so many excuses for why I didn’t memorize the Word more.  And believe me, I am in total agreement with Janet Pope: “The goal of memorizing should not be confused with the ultimate goal of knowing God and loving him (p. 27)....For me, memorizing Scripture has become an act of worship.  It ushers me into God’s presence and keeps me spiritually renewed each day (p. 29).”  Yes, and Amen!  I agree 100%

I will receive that grace, to acknowledge that even without memorizing much in 2018, I still did walk with Jesus every day, I sang His praises and I did meditate extensively on Romans 1!  (a tough chapter to swallow).  But I also give myself that challenge, to be more intentional in 2019 and to repent of the ways in which I have neglected God’s Word, I have been lazy, or I have wasted time that could have been spent in fellowship and communion with Him through memorizing His Word. 

I am making this raw journal-feeling post public, to keep myself accountable.  You can ask me how it is going!  And don’t pat me on the back for memorizing so much scripture (“Wow, you memorized the whole book of Hebrews!), or patronize me for my pathetic progress in 2018 (“It’s really not so bad, you are being hard on yourself”). 

NO!  PLEASE PRAY FOR ME!!!!

AND BETTER YET:  JOIN ME!!!

To my readers who may be comparing themselves to me, please don’t!  Compare yourself to yourself.  Just ask yourself (and Jesus), "What is my capacity for meditating and memorizing God’s Word, and what challenge can I give myself for 2019?"  If you memorized ZERO verses in 2018, then maybe start with Psalm 1 (6 verses; that is 1 new verse every two months for a year)!  If you have memorized 1 chapter, then maybe try to memorize a book (such as Titus or Colossians)! 

Let us become an army together ready for battle:

“I’ve got Hebrews and 1 Peter!  I can encourage you in suffering and help you stand firm in your faith, looking to Jesus as our Cornerstone and High Priest!”

“Over here, I’ve got John and Revelation!  I can remind you of the Great I AM and the power of Jesus, the Victorious Resurrected King, Coming soon to gather us and to judge the living and the dead!”

Another believer in Jesus stands sword-ready: “I have stored up Romans and Galatians!  I am ready to remind us of the Gospel and to refute legalism or licentiousness.  My sword is sharp on the doctrines of sin and salvation and sanctification!”

I will never memorize all 66 books of the Bible, but let me not waste the next 66 years of my life (that brings me to age 105!  Haha!!). 

“The grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the Word of the Lord stands forever.”
1 Peter 1.24

“For the Word of God is living and active.  Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow, discerning the thoughts and attitudes of the heart.”  Hebrews 4.12

Christmas in One Word=Destruction...?

As a mama to 3 young, energetic boys, (and 1 girl!), the word “destroy” is not a foreign concept in our home.  I get variations on a theme when I hear:
“Mom! He destroyed my tower!” or “You broke it!’.  Two brothers left their Stratego game unfinished on the living room floor, and the other one accidentally kicked over the pieces, “Mom, he messed up our game!”

Not only do the kids speak of destruction at times, I find myself speaking against destruction.  “Don’t destroy!” I urge.  “Don’t break, fight, rip, throw, tear, or damage anything!”  On my worst days, I have even lifted up myself on the podium of “non-destroyer” saying: “I work hard to solve problems, fix things, keep order.  Don’t mess it up!”  (Translated: I don’t destroy, so neither should you! Hm!”).  Yikes, life can get messy.

Sometimes, I find myself playing, “Finish the Verse” game with the kids:  “The thief has come to steal and kill and....WHAT?”  They reply: “DESTROY!”  I continue: “Jesus has come to give us....WHAT?”  They chime in: “LIFE!”  (John 10.10).  Brush my hands, and the answer is clear!  Of course we won’t destroy anything!  That is the Enemy’s mission.  Jesus doesn’t destroy.

Then the Gospel shook me up. 

“The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the devil’s work.”  1 John 3.8

Woah!  Say what?!  The Son appeared to DESTROY?  I am sure I’ve read that before, but the word meant more to me as a mama of boys.  Suddenly, I had to figure this out. 

I’ve long known that Jesus is my Savior.  Jesus is Lord.  Jesus is the Good Shepherd.  Jesus is my Friend.  Jesus is Love.  Jesus is the Son of God.

But only in recent months have I really begun to investigate what it really means that Jesus is a Warrior King.  There is not space to share all the amazing things I have been learning about the rider of the white horse, but today I will tell you: he makes war. 
“I saw heaven standing open and there before me was a white horse whose rider is called Faithful and True.  With justice he judges and makes war.”
Revelation 19.11

With Christmas just a week away, I am celebrating in a way I never have in years past; I am celebrating the Victory of the “Landed Invasion” of Jesus, who came to destroy the devil’s work!

We love to sing of Emmanuel at Christmas=God With Us, but here is where the name came from...Isaiah 8:
“...O, Immanuel!
Raise the war cry, you nations, and be shattered!
Listen, all you distant lands.
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!
Prepare for battle, and be shattered!....
for God is with us.”
Isaiah 8.9-10

I heard an amazingly helpful sermon, entitled “Landed Invasion”, in which the pastor quotes 1 John 3.8 and says, “That is Christmas in one Word=Destruction!”  My attention was riveted.

He goes on to say:
“The reason for the season is destruction.  The reason we celebrate Christmas is because God wanted something destroyed.  LIBERATION REQUIRED DESTRUCTION” he preached.

We talk about Jesus coming to “save”, but that assumes something is being held captive.
We say Jesus came to bring “peace on earth”, but that entails that there was prior chaos.
We say Jesus came to heal, but that implies there is sickness and disease.

What is the work of the devil?  SIN.

1 John 3.8 “He who does what is sinful is of the devil, because the devil has been sinning from the beginning.”

Way back in the beginning, in Genesis 3 the devil slithers into human history masked as a serpent, and deceives Eve into disobeying God and sinning with Adam.  But what does God do?  He declares war, not on the humans but on the serpent:

“And I will put enmity between you and the woman, and between your seed  (singular male pronoun) and hers; he will crush your head, and you will strike his heel.”  Genesis 3.15

Yes, sin was Adam and Eve’s responsibility and the human race was cursed to pain and death, but God was already giving promises of hope that a Messiah would come and crush the serpent’s head....destruction.

Many millennia later, that same ancient serpent slithered into the desert to tempt Jesus into disobeying God and surrendering his rescue mission in exchange for one little thing:

“If you worship me, it will all be yours.”  Luke 4.6
Jesus remains unmoved in his obedience to worship God and to serve Him only.  In the Spirit’s power, he reads and fulfills the scroll of Isaiah: 
“He has sent me to proclaim release for the captives...” Luke 4.18

How did he do it?  "Jesus destroyed the works of the devil by his appearing and by his presence on the cross....when he who knew no sin became sin for us, not by violence, but by taking violence on himself." (See Landed Invasion).

“You were DEAD in your sins...God made you alive with Christ.  He forgave us all our sins, having canceled the written code, with its regulations, that was against us and that stood opposed to us; he took it away nailing it to the cross.  And having DISARMED the powers and authorities, he made a public spectacle of them, triumphing over them by the cross.”  Col. 2.13-15

“...but it has now been revealed through the APPEARING of our Savior, Christ Jesus, who has DESTROYED death and has brought LIFE and immortality to light through the gospel.”
Ti. 1.10

Jesus DESTROYED DEATH by his own death and resurrection.
Jesus has DESTROYED SIN by his perfect obedience and sacrifice of himself in our place on the cross.
Jesus has DESTROYED the works of the devil, by DISARMING their power and making them a public spectacle.
Jesus DESTROYS the DEVIL by becoming God in the flesh: Emmanuel:

“Since the children have flesh and blood, he too shared in their humanity so that by his DEATH he might DESTROY him who holds the power of death--that is, the devil, and FREE those who all their lives were held in slavery by their fear of death.”  Hebrews 2.14

If you are still a captive, being held prisoner, you need to know, this is war.  This life is a war for your soul.  Do not let the enemy, that ancient serpent, deceive you into worshiping him, or anything else that would temporarily satisfy or please you.  Worship the Lord as God and serve him only! 

What must I do to be freed?  How can I be released?  How can I have life and escape final destruction?  Answer=HOPE IN HIM.
 
“Everyone who has this hope in him purifies himself, just as he is pure.” 1 John 3.3

For those who are looking to Jesus as our Hope, let us celebrate Jesus this Christmas as the Strong Victorious Hero:

“The one who is in you is greater than the one who is in the world.”  1 John 4.4

Let us rejoice that we are freed captives, marching in joyful procession in the train of the King:

“But thanks be to God who always leads us in triumphal procession in Christ and through us spreads everywhere the fragrance of the knowledge of him.” 2 Cor. 2.14

“When he ascended on high,
he led captives in his train...”
Eph. 4.8

Christmas is a “Landed Invasion” when Jesus, by his appearing, came to destroy the works of the devil.  One of my favorite lines from the sermon is: "Jesus came to kick some tail and take some treasure."  We are the treasure.  Christmas is destruction.  This is a good kind of destruction, the kind that is like a big strong dude (Jesus) coming to beat up on an oppressor (Satan).  (See the Parable of the Strong Man, Luke 11.21-22).

But I must report that in my study on destruction, I found another kind of destruction, one that has not yet come, and this is something to dread, for those who have not trusted Jesus as King.

“For you know very well that the day of the Lord will come like a thief in the night.  While people are saying, ‘Peace and safety,’ destruction will come on them suddenly, as labor pains on a pregnant woman, and they will not escape.”  1 Thes. 5.3

“He will punish those who do not know God and do not obey the gospel of our Lord Jesus.  They will be punished with everlasting destruction and shut out from the presence of the Lord and from the majesty of his power on the day he comes to be glorified in his holy people and to be marveled at among all those who have believed.”  2 Thes. 1.8-10

If this destroying God-King does not sound gracious to you, then please heed my words: This message is God’s grace to you now, inviting you to cling to Jesus as the perfect obedient sacrifice in your place...before it is too late.  Do not be found this Christmas singing about “Peace and Safety” unless you have trusted Jesus as the One who brings Everlasting Peace and Eternal Safety.

Don’t worry.  My house isn’t too messed up, and we have been learning to pursue peace and not destroy anything.  But the next time my child destroys his brother’s Stratego game, I am going to remember that Jesus came to mess up Satan’s game plan.  But this life is not a game, this is real war.

Set My Surely Straight

I find that memorizing Scripture slows me down to the degree that I notice connections that I would otherwise have missed.  I LOVE finding connections and noticing new things in meditation through memorizing. 

Ultimately, I love drawing nearer to God through His Word and finding my faith strengthened in even such a small word as “SURELY.”

This happened this morning as I was working on memorizing Psalm 73. 

For 10 days I have been slowly acquiring mastery of verses 1-17.  This morning, I was ready to move on to verse 18:

“Surely you place them on slippery ground....”

Having quoted verse 1 for 10 days now:
“Surely God is good to Israel,
to those who are pure in heart”

and verse 13 for 6 days now:
“Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure...”

my mind lit up a connection when I began verse 18:

“Surely you place them on slippery ground...”

I paused and began to wonder, what does Asaph (the author) mean to say by repeating this word, “Surely”?  He seems to be preaching to himself.

“Surely”= “Used to emphasize the speaker’s firm belief that what they are saying is true and often their surprise that there is any doubt of this; with assurance or confidence, without question” (online dictionary).

First he tells himself what he knows to be true: “Surely, God is good...to those who are pure in heart”, but after struggling with envy over the prosperity of the arrogant he questions God’s goodness with another “surely”=”Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure” (v. 13).

How true of humans and of myself!  We do this, don’t we!?  One minute we feel sure of God’s goodness, and the next minute we are almost sure of our doubt. 

Today I have learned in the “Surely” of Psalm 73, that God can set our “surelys” straight. 

How does he do this?  How does God change:
--my “surely” of what I know in my head to be true
--from the doubt of my “surely” in what I question to be true
--to the “surely” of faith that will sustain me?

These words have been underlined in my heart:

“...WHEN I SAW....”

 
The Psalmist, Asaph, was singing the “Surely” of God’s goodness, when he almost slipped and lost his faith foothold.  Why?

ENVY.  COMPARISON.  LOOKING.

“For I envied the arrogant
when I saw the prosperity of the wicked” (v. 3).

Through verse 12, Asaph itemizes his perception of the perfect life of those who are far from God but seem to be prospering.  After comparing his life with theirs his song changes from “Surely God is Good to Israel...” to

“Surely in vain have I kept my heart pure” (v. 13).

No! Asaph!  Don’t think that!  Don’t doubt God’s goodness!  Don’t keep your eyes on envy! 

No!  Self!  Don’t grow weary and lose heart!  Don’t give up on trusting God’s goodness!  You have not kept your heart pure in vain! 

Lord!  Set my surely straight! 

God’s answer:  LOOK.  SEE. 

We have to get eternal lenses.  See past this present age.  Look to something beyond the so-called success of those who seem to have it better then ourselves. 

“When I tried to understand all this,
it was oppressive to me

TILL I ENTERED THE SANCTUARY OF GOD;
then I understood their final destiny.”
Ps. 73.16-17

When Asaph got his eyes on GLORY, his faith was strengthened; his surely was set straight in the sanctuary of God.

“You guide me with your counsel,
and afterward you will take me into glory...

My flesh and my heart may fail,
BUT GOD is the strength of my heart
and my portion forever.”
Psalm 73.24 & 26

The “surely” of God’s goodness turns to the “surely of doubt when we SEE and fix our eyes on envy and temporal treasures.

But our “surely” is set straight when we SEE Jesus and fix our eyes on the eternal unseen reality of what is to come.

“Surely you place them on slippery ground....
Those who are far from you will perish”
Ps. 73.18 & 27

“So we fix our eyes not on what is seen,
but on what is unseen.
For what is seen is temporary,
but what is unseen is eternal.”
2 Corinthians 4.18

When Asaph sees glimpses of God’s glory, he sees the end.  He remembers what really matters: BEING NEAR TO GOD.  Seeing the end strengthens his faith in the present and sustains him once again in God’s goodness:

“But as for me, it is good to be near God.
I have made the Sovereign Lord my refuge” (v. 28).

Lord, I confess that I struggle at times with comparison to others and with doubt in your goodness.  Thank you that when I feel my foot slipping, you hold me by my right hand (v. 23) and you will not let my foot slip (Ps. 121.3).  Please strengthen my heart when it fails, and show me through faith that “earth has nothing I desire besides you” (v. 25).  I pray for those who are far from you and mock you saying “Does the Most High have knowledge?” (v. 11 & 27).  Please open their eyes to see your goodness and the glory to come, and let many more make you their refuge and portion forever, before it is too late!  As for me, it is good to be near to you, and thank you that I am always with you (v. 23 & 28).  You are my strength, my portion, and earth has nothing I desire besides you, Lord!  (v. 26 & 25).  Amen!

“Surely goodness and love will follow me all the days of my life,
and I will dwell in the house of the Lord forever.”
Psalm 23.6

Easter Fools: What Knowing Fool Am I?

I can’t believe Easter fell this year on April Fool’s Day.  Then I thought, “What kind of joke must that have been to those who loved Jesus, who saw him crucified and buried?!” 

“Jesus is Risen!....April Fools!”  Was someone trying to play a trick on everyone?!  Was this some kind of joke?

I imagine I was sitting with the 11 disciples, grieving and mourning the loss of our teacher and friend.  I imagine all the confusion and conversation we must have wrestled with as we tried to recall his words.  Don’t mess with a mourner; don’t tell me he is not dead.  I saw him die.

Some scientific-minded skeptics do doubt the resurrection, and they have worked hard to prove the mis-informed historicity of Jesus’ resurrection. 

But the Bible clearly explains (to those who will receive it as authentic eyewitness testimony) that Jesus was indeed crucified, dead, and buried.  Gospel accounts made sure to include the details about how they sealed and guarded the tomb so no one would try to steal the corpse to claim he had indeed risen.

Yet, the tomb was empty Sunday morning.

What kind of fool am I?  Do I really believe that one who claimed to be the Christ is indeed alive? 

Or maybe there’s another kind of fool....

During our Easter sermon this morning, Pastor Bob made the point that there are two kinds of knowing.  You can know data and facts, or you can have an experiential kind of spiritual knowing.  I never noticed this before in Luke 24:

Two walked on the road to Emmaus discussing all that had happened in recent days.  Though Jesus himself came up and walked with them, they were kept from recognizing him.

“[Jesus] asked them, ‘What are you discussing together as you walk along?’. . . .

One of them, named Cleopas, asked him, ‘Are you only a visitor to Jerusalem and do not know the things that have happened there in these days?’ Luke 24:17-18.

They explain the facts of the prophet Jesus, his crucifixion, and the empty tomb, yet they have the audacity to say to Jesus “Don’t you know?”

We can know facts, but we can miss knowing Jesus, even if he is right in our midst.

What kind of fools are they?

"Jesus said to them, “How foolish you are, and how slow of heart to believe all that the prophets have spoken!” Luke 24:25

Wow!  I imagine I am talking with the resurrected Jesus and he says “how foolish you are...” 

Am I slow of heart to believe too?  Am I this kind of fool, who knows all the facts about Jesus but doesn’t even see with spiritual eyes?

The Proverbs talk about fools too:


“He who trusts in himself is a fool...” Proverbs 28:26

Jesus, before he was killed, had said: “Trust in God; trust also in me” John 14:1. 

A fool is one who trusts in himself and not in Jesus. 

Proverbs says: “The way of a fool is right in his own eyes...” Proverbs 12:15

Jesus once said, “I am the way and the truth and the life.  No one comes to the Father except through me” John 14:6

A fool is one whose own way is right in his own eyes, not the way of Jesus.

Why, then, did Jesus call Cleopas and his friend “fools”?  What kind of fools were they?  Slow of heart? 

They did not see Jesus in all of the Scriptures.  They did not see that Christ had to suffer before glory. 

I am so glad that Jesus is also patient to walk along with us as we journey toward a different kind of knowing.

“When he was at the table with them, he took bread, gave thanks, broke it, and began to give it to them.  Then their eyes were opened and they recognized him....” Luke 24:31

Somehow, this moment of breaking the bread opened their spiritual eyes to see that Jesus was right in front of them.  That it truly was the risen Christ. 

Their hearts burned, on fire with spiritual awakening!  The direction of their lives changed, as they turned a 180 from Emmaus and headed back to Jerusalem:

“It is true!  The Lord has risen and appeared...” Luke 24:34

I love how Pastor Bob pointed out verse 35: “Jesus was known to them when he broke the bread” (ESV). 

Cleopas had asked Jesus, “Don’t you know?” but now it is Jesus who makes himself known to them.

What kind of Easter fool do I want to be?

“For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to use who are being saved it is the power of God.”  1 Corinthians 1:18

Those who know data about Jesus but don’t know the risen Jesus may think I am a fool for believing in one I cannot see, for believing that Jesus is the way and the truth and the life. 

But those who think I am a fool, are perishing.  They are the real fools. 

It will be no joke when Jesus says to some who claimed to know him:  “I never knew you.  Away from me!” Matthew 7:23

I don’t want to be foolish in Jesus eyes for being slow of heart to believe, or a fool who claims to know Jesus but has no saving experiential knowledge.  I want to be foolish in the world’s eyes for staking my life on the Gospel of the cross and the empty tomb.

I don't want to be a knowing fool.  I want to be a knowing fool. 

What kind of Easter fool do you want to be?

Innocent Dies, Guilty Walks Free: I Am Rhonda

Two short lines on a sign can say a lot.  My kids and I stopped at the red light of a busy intersection near our house.  Many times we had waited there, but this time we noticed something different.

A handmade sign poking out of the ground read: “Rhonda killed 3, and gets away free.”  Next to the sign was fresh dirt and 3 white crosses marking the spot where I assumed a car accident had ended three lives.

In the time it takes to sit at a red light, I could imagine the whole story.  One person’s reckless driving had caused grief to many mourners, but the injustice of the final sentence compounded their pain.  In two short lines that rhymed, I could feel the anger and outrage of the family and friends who did not get to see Rhonda pay the just penalty for her wrongdoing.

My kids and I got animated talking about it.  “What does that mean, ‘gets to walk free’?” one asked.  We chatted about the court system and how the judge decides if an accused person is “guilty” or “ not guilty.”

Suddenly, I remembered the book I just read on grief by Jerry Sittser.  How ironic, that the same sign could have been written by him!

In one car accident, he lost 3 generations of his family: his mother, his wife, and his daughter.  As Sittser learned that the alleged driver of the other car was acquitted at the trial, he described the strong feelings he had to find justice and vindication for the suffering he endured. 

“I was enraged after the trial, which in my mind turned out to be as unjust as the accident itself.  The driver did not get what he deserved any more than the victims, whether living or dead, had gotten what they deserved.  The travesty of the trial became a symbol for the unfairness of the accident itself.  I had to work hard to fight off cynicism.”  (Loc 1403). 

In my own story of suffering, loss, and grief, I, too, have felt that sense of injustice at times, for things that didn’t seem fair.  I have wept over the wrongs of others that left me in pain.  A little trail-lawyer rises up inside me wanting to take my offenders to court: “How can he get away with doing this to me?!” 

Suddenly, I remember another guilty man, who got away with murder, and got to walk free.

“Release Barabbas!”  I hear the crowd screaming (Luke 23:18). 

I woke up thinking about that sign: “Rhonda kills 3, gets to walk free,” but I could not get Barabbas out of my mind. 

Here was a guilty man who had been thrown into prison for murder, while an innocent man, Jesus, was simultaneously being falsely accused. 

In a short, upside-down trial, Pilate announces about Jesus, “I find no basis for a charge against this man...he has done nothing to deserve death.”  Yet the voices insistently demanded in unison: “Away with this man!  Crucify him!”  (Luke 23). 

“...and their shouts prevailed.  So Pilate decided to grant their demand.  He released the man who had been thrown into prison for insurrection and murder, [Barabbas]. . . . and surrendered Jesus to their will.”  (Luke 23:23-25).

Now here is a great injustice!  Jesus commits no crime, gets falsely accused, and he gets the death sentence, while Barabbas commits murder and gets to walk free!

Even the criminal crucified with Jesus could see the injustice: “We are punished justly, for we are getting what our deeds deserve.  But this man has done nothing wrong!” (Luke 23:41).

How can we forgive the Rhondas in our lives?  How can we stand the injustice of watching people who cause us pain get away with it?  How can we bear to watch them walking free, while we ourselves are left with the mess their wrongdoing has caused?

I see the key that will set me free:

I am Rhonda.

I am Barabbas.

I am guilty. 

I have sinned against God.  I have not loved him with all my heart and soul.  I have not loved my neighbor as myself.  I have stolen glory from God and have committed spiritual adultery by turning to things other than God. 

I deserve death.

“For the wages of sin is death...” (Romans 6:23).

I think of the injustice of grace.  Why should I get to walk free, while Jesus, an innocent man, died in my place?  Why should I get sentenced to eternal life while Jesus drank the cup of God’s wrath on the cross in my place?  Why should the Father’s only son die just so that I could be adopted as his daughter?

This injustice is mind-blowing!

Suddenly I am glad the world is not totally fair.

Sittser writes: “In such a world I might never experience tragedy; but neither would I experience grace.” (Loc 1419).

“There is no grace in a [perfectly fair world], for grace is grace only when it is undeserved” (Loc 1419). 

Maybe I have suffered loss or pain because of someone else’s wrongdoing. 

But Jesus suffered pain because of my wrongdoing.

Maybe I have experienced injustices because of another person’s sin. 

But Jesus experienced injustice because of my sin. 

Maybe someone who hurt me didn’t get the punishment he deserved. 

And I didn’t get the punishment I deserve.  I get mercy. 

This is the scandal of the cross: 

“He committed no sin...He entrusted himself to him who judges justly. 

He himself bore our sin in his body on the tree,
so that we might die to sins and live for righteousness;
by his wounds you have been healed.”
1 Peter 2:22-24

"Release Barabbas!" I hear the Spirit whisper. 

I am free to forgive, because I have been forgiven.

I am free to release the Barabbas in my life, because I can entrust myself to him who judges justly.

I am free from the penalty of sin because of the mercy of God.

I am free from eternal pain because “by his wounds I have been healed.”

Loss, Shock, Grief....and an Empty Tomb?

I have been processing deep grief for quite a while.  Some of what I thought was healed seems to keep gushing up to the surface, even through small triggers.  Will I ever be healed?

In a footnote to another book I was reading, I learned that there was a man who lost 3 generations of his family instantly in one car accident.  I immediately wrote that book title on my reading list.  In an email from a divorced friend, she mentioned that same book.  I had to get that book.

Jerry Sittser in “A Grace Disguised” has become a fellow traveler with me on my journey of grief.  He knows what he is talking about: subtitled “how the soul grows through loss.” 

I am SO encouraged by this theme he draws out: “This book is not intended to help anyone get over or even through the experience of catastrophic loss, for I believe that ‘recovery’ from such loss is an unrealistic and even harmful expectation, if by recovery we mean resuming the way we lived and felt prior to the loss.  Instead, the book is intended to show how it is possible to live in and be enlarged by loss, even as we continue to experience it” (Loc 154).

What a relief!  On many “stages” of my journey, I felt like, “I’m healed!  I have come so far!” and I felt some resemblance of the former me, the me “before.”  But then, something would happen to trigger depths untold, and I felt like I was regressing and not progressing!  How frustrating!! 

Now I am reminded that maybe I never will ‘recover’.  Maybe there never will be a ‘normal’, and maybe I will never return to the me that once was.  But maybe there will be some way to “live in and be enlarged by loss” especially as it is ongoing and continuing. 

I can get disappointed with myself and I get angry at my weakness.  I struggle with comparison to others: “Why does she get over her grief so quickly?” or “why doesn’t she struggle with that anymore?” or “how did she move on and get so strong?”  Ahh!!  What a snare of compare I can find myself in. 

Again, this author encouraged me greatly: “I question whether experiences of such severe loss can be quantified and compared.  Loss is loss, whatever the circumstances.  All losses are bad, only bad in different ways.  No two losses are ever the same...” (Loc 307).

I am reminded, there is no value in comparing.  This is my own story, and it is unique. 

I am reminded also of Peter and John, when Jesus says to Peter: “I tell you the truth, when you were younger you dressed yourself and went where you wanted, but when you are old you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will dress you and lead you where you do not want to go” (John 21:18).

I relate so much from Peter in this passage, because when I was younger I got to go wherever I wanted to go.  I traipsed through South America, Europe and Asia, flying on hundreds of planes and exploring foreign cultures.  I was strong and fast and used my energy to pour into tons of other people, even in other languages.  But now, how old I feel, how constrained and confined, how foreign it feels not to be that version of me anymore.  Now I have been given an assignment I would not have chosen. 

But Jesus’ words strike me: “Jesus said this to indicate the kind of death by which Peter would glorify God.  Then he said to him, ‘Follow me!’” (John 21:19). 

Here Peter reminds me again of myself, because he turns and looks at John and says: “Lord, what about him?”

Yeah, Peter, I’m with you!  Why do I have to suffer?  What about John? Doesn’t he have to suffer too?

Jesus snuffs out comparison: “If I want him to remain alive until I return, what is that to you?  You must follow me” (John 21:22).

I hear Jesus saying the same thing to me: “You must follow me.”  If he wants other people to have different kinds of loss or different degrees of strength or different kinds of experiences, what is that to me?  Maybe God has some mysterious way that He has planned to receive glory through my suffering.  I must live by faith.

Isn’t it interesting that in one verse we see people living by faith, but such contrasting things happen?

“[By faith] Women received back their dead raised to life again.  Others were tortured...” (Hebrews 11.35)

Some people get resurrection.  Other people get torture!  “You, follow me!” Jesus says.

I think of some other women who followed Jesus all the way from Galilee, who followed him to the cross, and watched him breathe his last.

I think of the grief and shock they must have experienced, for only a few days prior, their same Lord was riding on a donkey in a procession of people joyfully praising God: “Hosanna!”

What was it like for them to watch him get falsely accused, beaten and crucified?  What was it like for them to hear him cry out: “Father, into your hands I commit my spirit”? (Luke 23.46). 

He breathed his last, and did their hopes die? 

“When all the people who had gathered to witness this sight saw what took place, they beat their breasts and went away” (Luke 23.48).

Anguish!  Grief!  Shock!  What a loss!  The man who healed the lame and opened the eyes of the blind!  Dead!  The friend who raised Lazarus from the dead, now lifeless!  On one day, the hopes of Israel were crushed.  With one cry, Jesus breathed his last.

I never before experienced Holy Week through the lens of grief as I do now, having studied more on the human experience of initial shock and waves of subsequent grief and darkness. 

I think of the shock that Jerry Sittser went through as he waited an hour for emergency vehicles to arrive.  Such a sudden instant of life-changing loss, and the shock took days to wear off.

What was it like for those who saw Jesus die?

“But all those who knew him, including the women who had followed him from Galilee, stood at a distance, watching these things.”  Luke 23.49.

What thoughts went through their minds in that moment as they watched these things?  Did it even seem real?  “Is this really happening?  Is he really dead?  What will life be like without him?”

“The women...followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it” (Luke 23.55).

The same women kept following him to the tomb.  I can’t imagine burying someone so soon after he died!  It is a big deal to bury someone.  It is a marking point of the reality of the loss.  “My loved one is not coming back.  He really is dead.” 

Before the sun set on Good Friday, Jesus’ body was wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb.  And the tomb was secured and sealed (Matthew 27.66).

Saturday.  The Sabbath.  Sitting.  Resting.  Crying.  Processing.  Stunned shock.  “What has happened?!”  They must have sat around talking about all these things, remembering all that Jesus had said and done.

I cannot imagine the confusion, shock, stunned experience it must have been to find the tomb empty on Easter Sunday!! 

How can humans go through so many emotions in such a short time?!  Hosanna one day, burial soon after.  From the perspective of grief, the resurrection must have felt like a dream.  One gospel even said the reports of the resurrection “seemed to them like nonsense” (Luke 24.11).

Never before in the history of the world has a man been crucified and clearly dead before the eyes of plenty of witnesses, buried in a sealed and secured tomb, and then found fully alive and resurrected! 

The shock of their lives was not the crucifixion, but the resurrection.

This gives me great hope.  The shock and grief and suffering and loss of my life is not the defining reality of my story.  It is yet to come.

“Listen, I tell you a mystery:...
in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet....
the dead will be raised, and we will be changed”
 (1 Corinthians 15.51-52).

(An original song in the works: "Your days of sorrow will end"(Isaiah 60:20), by Jessica Becker)