Grace poured out

Your body torn,

The wounds displayed,

The crowd that mocked you to your face,

The tears that streamed down your eyes,

The cries that shook the sky,

The forsaken one, My God why? My God why?

Grace was being poured out,

The greatest of all sacrifices was made,

The blood of the lamb was spilt,

Humbly we bow down, Glory to His name,

You bore the nails,

The thorn crowned brow,

The stripes torn through saved my soul from Hell,

The source of living waters thirsted now,

Darkness filled the sky,

The cross of shame alone would bring life,

Grace was being poured out,

The greatest of all sacrifices,

The blood of the lamb was spilt,

Humbly we bow down, Glory to His name.

Lovingly they took you down,

Tears are flowing freely now,

Holding in their hands the lifeless one,

Burying the precious holy lamb in the tomb,

He is risen now the angel’s song,

No longer just the lamb but King of Kings,

Grace has freely been poured out,

The greatest of all sacrifices was made,

The blood of the lamb was spilt,

Humbly we bow down, Glory to the King.

How Long?

Psalms 13:1-4 ( ESV )

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¹ How long, O Lord? Will you forget me forever? How long will you hide your face from me?

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² How long must I take counsel in my soul and have sorrow in my heart all the day? How long shall my enemy be exalted over me?

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³ Consider and answer me, O Lord my God; light up my eyes, lest I sleep the sleep of death,

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⁴ lest my enemy say, “I have prevailed over him,” lest my foes rejoice because I am shaken.

     This week I took a break from the book of Colossians and wanted to do something else. Did the Lord ever give me a SOMETHING ELSE moment. All I could say was, WOW!! I thank Him every day for His Word and how precious it has become to me. This Psalm really spoke to my heart as I sought His face this week. David really spills out his heart as he prays to His God.

     Notice His quiet desperation as he asks the question that so many of us are fearful to ask. In just two words you can feel his heart cry out. HOW LONG? I know, what you are thinking, what would people think of me if I asked the Sovereign king of the universe this question. Yet, David asked it and the Lord was still pleased with His servant. This wonderful savior of ours wants us to above all to be real in our conversations with Him. We do not need to pretend to be happy around Him. What good does that do as He already KNOWS our hearts? He wants us to be real around Him. Don’t get me wrong we are not to treat Him as our Buddy or as the flavor of the week. He does not want us to be blasphemous in our approach to Him. Yet, He does want to hear what we truly are going through and about our struggles. This is what David does throughout this Psalm.

     Maybe some of the following struggles have happened to you in your life. Maybe you are even going through some of them now. I know that they have been some of mine in my journey.

·          The struggle of how much longer will this trial last? Consider Joseph in the land of Egypt. Though Joseph became only second to Pharaoh in power he was locked in a dungeon for years. Moses, as a prince who had people serving him daily. For forty years he would watch over sheep in a desolate land. Job sitting on a pottery pile in physical pain beyond belief while his “friends” counseled him and told him of his, “sins” before God.

Maybe you are going through a trial in your life in which you feel like it will never end. The same God who watched over these men is the Eternal one and He knows just how much time it will take and what we can handle through the power of His Spirit.

·          The struggle of Are you there? This I believe is one of the hardest of all. I am reminded of David’s cry in Psalms 22:1, “My God, My God, why have you forsaken me?” Some might think what a terrible and ghastly thought. Yet, these very same words would be used by Jesus upon the cross. God forsaken of God, a concept that I will never be able to understand. Yet, it was at this moment that the Son of God took upon the filth of my sin and bore it upon a cross that He did not deserve.

Like David we might even feel this way at times. Yet, it is during those times when I am reminded of the words of John when we are told that He has sent His Spirit to live within us. Despite our feelings, we are comforted by these words that He promised never to leave us and that we are never alone. When the darkness covers us, He has promised that He will be with us through the storm and through the night.

·          The struggle of God are you Listening? How many times I have heard these words through the years. “We have prayed over and over again and it feels as though we are just talking to ourselves.” The real struggle here is simply, “Does God hear my prayers?” The answer will always be Yes a thousand times over. He does hear our prayers. Once again he may not answer as soon as I want Him to. He may also choose to answer us with a No.

As a child I always wanted my Father to give me what I wanted. Many were the times when He simply did not answer me at that moment. I would get discouraged and even whether I want to admit it or not I got angry with him. He had heard me but would not always answer right away, or even say no. Even though I did not understand, now as a man I truly believe that he wanted to do what was best for me. Our Father in Heaven is far greater than our earthly fathers so why would He act more differently? The big issue is that He as the perfect Father hears us and will always do what is best for me.

·          The struggle of our enemies. Yes, even as Christians who are commanded to love one another and to live for others. We will have enemies. It’s a part of life that is still hard for me to accept at times. I want everyone to just get along. The world though does not play that way and unfortunately neither do believers at times.

You maybe have been lied to or lied about. You may have even had a moment when a friend has acted like a Judas in your life. Out of the blue the pain comes and the hurt feels like a knife that has dug deep within your heart. Your sorrow seems to never end and you might even see your enemy prevail. Like David it feels as though the very light of your life is gone. There may even be joy in their faces as they see your defeat.

Listen, my beloved He is the author of life. While we struggle and hurt He is there cheering us on in the battle. He is there, binding our wounds. He is there telling us to get up and go and to fight on. He breathes into us life and light in the midst of the darkness and even as we struggle on.

     In the midst of the struggles of this life I love how David ends this Psalm. It has encouraged me and I hope that it will encourage you.

Psalms 13:5-6 ( ESV )

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⁵ But I have trusted in your steadfast love; my heart shall rejoice in your salvation.

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⁶ I will sing to the Lord, because he has dealt bountifully with me.

     Here are the words that stood out to me so much this last week. I thank Him for these timeless truths in our lives. Truths that give me hope and joy in the struggle of life. I pray that they will do the same for you.

Ø  He is a God who shows His Steadfast Love-I can trust Him in that in everything that He does for me is because He LOVES me. His love is immovable. In the words of an old Cathedral Quartet Song, “His love is a boundless love and it reaches out and touches me.” His love is that of the faithful groom who will love His bride to the very end. I may doubt that love but His Word is true when it says that He loves me. During those struggles of life I need to TRUST in His undying love.

Ø  He is a God who HAS and WILL give me Salvation-He will walk with me through my struggles in life and will one day set me free. It may not even been today but He will set me free. He did this for me when He saved my soul and He will deliver me through my trials. He will pull me out of the fire or He will walk with me through the flames.

I still love the story of Daniel when his friends were thrown into the flames. Nebuchadnezzar was convinced it would be the end of them. Yet, when he looked in upon them he would say these words, “But I see four men unbound, walking in the midst of the fire and they are not hurt; and the appearance of the fourth is like a son of the gods.” Listen, don’t miss it in the midst of the fire they were UNBOUND, they were FREE. If that is not enough, God was with them in the flames.

Ø  He is a God who has dealt bountifully with me. Don’t forget what He has done for you in the past. He has freed you from the bondage of sin. He has saved you. He has given to you life. Don’t forget what He is doing for us even now. He has given us health. He has given us food. He has provided many of us with friends and family who care. He has given us shelter. He is daily watching out for us. He has given us His blessed Holy Spirit. Don’t forget what He has in store. Life eternal. No sickness, no more pain, no more sorrow. A home with Him throughout all of eternity. Truly our God has dealt bountifully with me and I will rejoice!!

THE BIG EMPTY

 Last night I really enjoyed our Christian Worldview class at Calvary Community. It feels strange not to be on the teaching end of things as I have just been sitting in on the class. The instructors of the course have done a great job week in and week out discussing and defending the faith. It has been a pleasure.

     As I go through the course I am reminded time and time again of how we live in a world gone mad. Please be careful with that statement. Some believers are so far removed from the world that God has given them that they fail to enjoy what God has called good. No when I say these words I am dealing more with how the world thinks. The Bible says that it is hostile towards the things of our God. That if we love this world and all of its teachings we are not from the Father.

     What Paul addresses in this passage is how that even as believers if we are not careful we can be taken captive. We literally can become held hostage to the way it thinks. I don’t think something like that happens overnight but rather it becomes like a slow ride into what I call the Big Empty.  For many who are being taken captive they do not even know that they have entered into a Black Hole.

     People fall into the Big Empty when they are convinced that the world’s wisdom is truly the Grand stage. Who are we to say that what someone says is wrong? We want to be accepted by men so much that we forget the lover of our souls.

      One of the world’s many traps is the legendary self-esteem issue. We live in a day when even fellow believers teach this as the Gospel truth. We do not even question its history, its followers and where it will eventually lead us. My heart aches as I see how that we have become an even more ego driven world. We must see ourselves for who we are, rather than who He is has become the chant of this age.

    We forget how that Paul stated that one of the first marks of the end times would be that men would be lovers of themselves. When we must feed self-first, we become those who are marked as lovers of pleasure rather than lovers of God.

     Tolerance has become the accepted word of our world. No longer do we see John 3:16 as the most important verse in the world but rather we take out of context Matthew 7:1 and shout out, Judge not, unless you be judged. As many have observed before me, we are tolerant of all and everything except for the Evangelical Christian who is now pictured as the narrow minded bigot. (Some of us might be, but the majority of true believers are far from this stereotype.)

     What seems so fulfilling in the end according to the Scriptures becomes that of nothing but an empty lie. The same things that drove Adam and Even to fall into temptation drive us often as well. “Has God said, It will open up your eyes and you shall not surely die, “ are still the lies being told and believed today.

     How can we avoid the fall and the big lie? Look at what Paul states earlier in verse 6-7 we are to walk in Him. He becomes the focus rather than self. We need to be those who are marked as being rooted, built up and established in Him. As servants of the most High God our true completion can only be found in Him. He is truly what is more to this life and is the beginning and completion of all wisdom.

Snow

  

   WELL IT HAS BEEN A WEEK IN WHICH I HAVE BEEN DREAMING OF CRAWFISH, FISHING AND SITTING OUTSIDE ON THE PORCH.  NOTE THE KEY WORD HERE, “DREAMING.” I LOOK OUSIDE AND its NUTS. IN ONE NIGHT WE GOT BETWEEN 11-12 INCHES OF SNOW. I’VE GOT TO BE HONEST WITH YOU, NOT A SNOW LOVER.

     AS A KID GROWING UP IN ARKANSAS I DREAMED OF BUILDING SNOW FORTS.  LOOKING INTO THE EYE OF THE ENEMY AND DESTROYING THEM WITH A SNOWBALL.   I'M SLEDING DOWN THE SIDE OF A HILL AND CAPTURING THAT FEEL OF FLYING. WHAT A TRIP! UNFORTUNATELY WE JUST DID NOT GET THAT MUCH SNOW IN OUR STATE.

     I GOT MY FIRST REAL FEEL FOR SNOW WHEN WE MOVED TO MICHIGAN ALMOST TWENTY YEARS AGO. I REMEMBER LOOKING OUT THE WINDOW ON THE FIRST BIG SNOW FALL AND IT WAS BEYOND COOL. HANNAH AND HADDY WERE JUST LITTLE THINGS AND WE HAD A BLAST PLAYING IN IT ALL AFTERNOON.  THEN REALITY CREPT IN.

     IT’S SHOVEL TIME. DO I REALLY HAVE TO MAKE A PATH THROUGH THIS MESS? THE ANSWER IS YES!! NOW I HAVE TO GET UP A LITTLE EARLIER EACH MORNING TO SCRAPE THE WINDOWS OF THE CAR.  REMEMBER, MIKE, DON’T SLAM ON THE BRAKES BECOMES A CRY THAT I WILL HEAR OFTEN. (IT IS MY NATURAL TENDENCY TO DO THIS. WHAT CAN I SAY, I LOVE BRAKES.) I KNOW, IT COULD BE THAT I AM BECOMING AN OLD CANTANKEROUS CRITTER. AGING SOMETIMES DOES THIS TO A MAN. WELL, AT LEAST IT SOUNDS GOOD AS AN EXCUSE.

     HEREIN IS THE BEAUTY TO IT ALL. GOD DOES NOT PLAY BY MY RULES. IN MY WORLD IT WOULD ALWAYS BE GREEN WITH THE TEMP IN THE SEVENTIES. WE WOULD ALL LIVE BY STREAMS WHERE WE COULD GO FISHING EVERYDAY. CHICAGO WOULD GO TO THE SUPERBOWL EVERY YEAR AND WIN IT. I COULD EAT ALL THE CRAWFISH WHEN I WANT AND MY HEART WOULD PUMP LIKE A TWENTY YEAR OLD.

     THE REALITY IS THAT MY GOD KNOWS WHAT IS BEST FOR US. HE KNOWS WHAT WE NEED AND HOW HIS NAME WILL BE BEST GLORIFIED. THIS YEAR THE STATE OF NEBRASKA NEEDS SOME MOISTURE FOR ITS CROPS AND GOD SAYS I’LL DO IT THIS WAY. HE WINDS UP TAKING CARE OF US SOMETIMES IN THE MOST UNUSUAL OF WAYS. I LOVE HIM FOR THAT.

     AS I LOOK OUTSIDE MY WINDOW I AM ALSO REMINDED OF ONE OF MY ALL TIME FAVORITE VERSES. ISAIAH 1:18 “COME NOW, LET US REASON TOGETHER, SAYS THE LORD: THOUGH YOUR SINS ARE LIKE SCARLET, THEY SHALL BE AS WHITE AS SNOW; THOUGH THEY BE RED LIKE CRIMSON, THEY SHALL BECOME WOOL.” NO MATTER WHAT I MAY THINK ABOUT SNOW THE BEAUTY OF IT ALL IS SEEING HOW PRETTY IT LOOKS OUTSIDE. HOW EVERYTHING LOOKS SO FRESH AND CLEAN.

     HIS BLOOD HAS WASHED AND CLEANSED ME. HE ALONE, COULD TAKE THE BLACKNESS OF MY HEART AND CLEANSE AND MAKE ME WHOLE. MY SINS THOUGH LIKE SCARLET HAVE BEEN MADE WHITER THAN SNOW. 

To walk into Heaven and call it home

Shattered lives with no hope and nothing but hurt,

 Dreaming little of the eternal but only of the absurd,

  Like the prodigal I come running into Your arms,

   Covered with the smell of death You keep me from all harm,

    And I’m still amazed that I’ll be able..

To walk into Heaven and call it home,

 To see You, the Holy One on the throne,

  To walk into Heaven and call it home,

   The greatest hope realized that I’ll be Yours alone.

Out in the Sudan holding her child to her breast,

 Tears in her eyes she looks upon his swollen chest,

  His little hand reaches out to her face just once more,

   Her hands reach out to the Heavens as her heart is so torn,

    Crying out to Jesus knowing that he will be able…

To walk into Heaven and call it home,

 To see You, the Holy One on the throne,

  To walk into Heaven and call it home,

   The greatest hope realized that I’ll be Yours alone.

No more death, sorrow or pain,

 No more fears it’s all washed away,

  Forever changed, forever changed

    For He reigns, yes, He reigns,

      As we walk into Heaven and call it home.