The Impact of Righteousness

Readings for today: Isaiah 31-33, Philippians 1

Our world is a mess. On this point just about everyone agrees. Our world is full of pain and suffering. Violence and oppression. Abuse and anger. Hatred and deceit. It’s hard to hold onto hope. It’s hard to see any way out. It seems like the harder we work, the worse things get. The more we strive, the less we achieve. Every action results in an equal and opposite reaction with diminishing returns. Each generation is convinced they have the answer only to watch their plans turn to dust just like the plans of those who came before them. What’s the problem? Why is it so hard to make progress? Why do we find Eden so elusive?

There are many answers out there, of course. Many people out there who claim to know the truth. But humanity has consistently failed to complete this project. Their strength gives out. Their wisdom is not up to the task. No matter how many technological advances we make or how hard we try to socially engineer our environment or how often we attempt to correct Mother Nature; we ultimately fall short. Our best laid plans go to waste. Our condition worsened by unforeseen and unintended consequences. This is as true in the church as it is in the world today. We have all forgotten God.

This is why I loved the words from Isaiah this morning. “The effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.” (Isaiah‬ ‭32:17‬) Of all the things I strive for in my life, I have to admit righteousness is not always at the top of the list. I strive for success. I strive for significance. I strive for influence. I strive to make a difference in the world. These are not sinful strivings per se but they are not what the Lord has required of me. He wants me to pursue righteousness. He wants my church to pursue righteousness. He wants my community to pursue righteousness. He wants my nation to pursue righteousness. And when we do, He promises us peace. Quietness. The restoration of trust. It’s a beautiful vision of God’s Kingdom come to earth. And it is a byproduct of seeking Him. “The Lord is exalted, for he dwells on high; he will fill Zion with justice and righteousness, and he will be the stability of your times, abundance of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge; the fear of the Lord is Zion’s treasure.” (Isaiah‬ ‭33:5-6‬) We do not know the pathway to peace. We do not know the road to righteousness. We do not know the way to salvation. We are lost. Blind wanderers in a world that is not our home. Only God can direct us. Only God can set our feet on the narrow way that leads to a life of blessing and honor and shalom. So we must go to Him. We must seek Him. We must pursue God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. And once we find Him - and the great news of the gospel is He delights in being found! - we will find what our hearts so long for. We will find righteousness, justice, stability, peace for these are the gifts that come from being in His presence.

You say, “Okay, preacher. I got it. Seek God with all my heart. But what about my life? What about those I love? What about the world in which I live? Aren’t I to seek the good of those around me as well?” Absolutely. “He who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.” (Isaiah‬ ‭32:8‬) God has placed a noble heart inside you. As such, you will find yourself longing to make a difference. You will find yourself longing to be part of God’s mission. You will find yourself longing to spread the good news of His Kingdom. The call to seek God is not a call to inactivity. It is not a call to complacency. It is not a call to passivity. It is a call to action. Righteous action. The kind of action that can only come as we stay in step with the Holy Spirit and walk with Jesus through all of life. Flip over to our reading from Philippians. Listen to how the Apostle Paul describes it, “For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain…Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel…” (Philippians‬ ‭1:21, 27‬) Clearly Paul is calling for righteous action. He is calling for those who have been made “noble” through the gospel of Jesus Christ to strive for the faith of the gospel and live in a manner worthy of the gospel so that the world will stand up and take notice.

It’s a stirring vision. Can you imagine a world where the church is known for righteousness? A righteousness born not of rules or regulations or winning the culture war but of love and peace and joy and grace? Can you imagine what might happen if the church laid aside her pursuit of political power or social platform? Can you imagine what would happen if the church would lay aside her addiction to personal wealth and cultural privilege? Can you imagine what would happen if the church would engage in a life of humble service, mutual submission, and radical sacrifice for the sake of others? Would it not change things? Thankfully, you can see this happening all over the world today. So many churches in so many places bearing witness to the power of the gospel. And each day presents an opportunity for us to link arms with them as well. Will we make mistakes? Of course. Will we fail and fall? Absolutely. Will we say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing at times? Sure. But thankfully our hope is built on nothing less than Jesus’ blood and righteousness. And like the Apostle Paul, I am confident “that he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.” (Philippians 1:6)

Readings for tomorrow: None

Spiritual Battle

Readings for today: Isaiah 29-30, Ephesians 6

“Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.” (Ephesians‬ ‭6:10-12‬)

I am blessed to walk among giants. Men and women who make amazing sacrifices in the face of incredible adversity, persecution, and hardship. I think of a young couple I know who serve the poorest of the poor in the streets of La Paz, Bolivia. Every day they work with a community of people who wear masks to hide the shame of their existence. Their work is costly. It takes a toll. And yet they continue to faithfully serve. I think of a South Korean Pastor I know who risks his life to save North Korean refugees. He is known as the “Asian Schindler” and has been involved in running an Underground Railroad from North Korea through China to Southeast Asia in order to repatriate North Korean refugees into South Korean society. It is a ministry fraught with danger. There is a price on his head in North Korea. He has spent many months in a Chinese prison. Still he continues to faithfully serve. I think of another young man I know who serves in Central Asia. He works in countries where it is illegal to preach Christ. Illegal to share your faith. Illegal even to practice your faith on some level. He has to change his name when he is abroad. He cannot share the name of the country where he works. It’s hard. It’s a struggle. And yet he continues to faithfully serve. I think of a pastor I know who serves a small church nearby. It’s a church that used to be much bigger. The pews and the offering plates were full. But now the sanctuary is mostly empty on Sundays. Each month is a struggle to make ends meet. The community around the church has changed dramatically which only increases the challenge of it all. Still the pastor faithfully serves. Though each of these dear friends serves Christ in radically different contexts, they are all engaged in the same spiritual war. They all recognize we aren’t fighting flesh and blood. Our earthly context doesn’t matter. No, the war we are fighting is ultimately spiritual. Our enemy is greater than any human adversary we may face. And that’s why we need to put on the full armor of God if we are to prevail.

The greatest trick the devil ever pulled was to convince the world he doesn’t exist. You and I live in a culture that largely ignores the spiritual realm. We ignore the spiritual forces of evil arrayed against us in the heavenly places. We pretend these things don’t exist. We arrogantly assume we are beyond such things. We believe such things are for the superstitious. The primitive. The ignorant. But the Bible clearly acknowledges the spiritual realm. The Bible clearly declares that there is a great enemy of our souls and he is actively seeking to rob, kill, and destroy. And we must take him seriously.

Every day is a spiritual battle. From the moment we wake up to the moment we go to bed, we are actively being attacked and influenced by our enemy. He wants to discourage us. He wants to sideline us. He wants to tempt us to compromise our deeply held convictions. More than anything else, he wants us to live selfish lives. Lives wrapped around our own well-being. Lives focused on getting as much as we can for as long as we can to make life as comfortable as possible. Frankly, he wants us to pursue the American Dream rather than God’s dream and when we do, we suffer. The world suffers. And the enemy gains a foothold.

Be strong in the Lord and in the power of His might. Resist the temptation to live for yourself. Resist the temptation to live a life of achievement and accumulation. Resist the temptation to hoard God’s blessings. Instead, put on the whole armor of God. Resist the devil that he may flee. Engage the battle. Wrestle with the spiritual forces of evil. Don’t give in! Don’t sell yourself so cheaply! Don’t compromise with the enemy! Don’t give him an inch in your life! Live for Christ. Dedicate your whole life to Christ. Seek Christ with all your heart, soul, mind, and strength. As you do, God will do great things through you for His Kingdom.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 31-33, Philippians 1

A New Day

Readings for today: Isaiah 27-28, Ephesians 5

“In that day...”

• The Lord will punish and slay Leviathan

• The Lord will plant His vineyard

• Israel will blossom and bear fruit

• The Lord will gather all His people from where they have been exiled back home to Jerusalem

• The Lord will be a crown of glory to His people

• The Lord will restore justice to the land

These are just a few of the promises gleaned from the reading today. God acting on behalf of His people. God bringing mercy out of judgment. Peace out of conflict. Honor out of shame. God not passing over the iniquity of His people or allowing sin and shame to pass but instead purifying His people through righteous judgment and holy discipline that He might restore them once again.  

The heart of the reading for me today is Isaiah 28:15-18. Here God confronts His people with a powerful Word. “Because you have said, "We have made a covenant with death, and with Sheol we have an agreement, when the overwhelming whip passes through it will not come to us, for we have made lies our refuge, and in falsehood we have taken shelter..." I think about our own culture. The covenant we too have made with death. Abortion on demand. Suicide. Euthanasia. I think about the lies we believe. Our seeming inability to sift through what’s true and false. Our tendency to naively accept whatever fits our ideological worldview rather than pursue honesty and transparency. I grieve our propensity towards violence. School shootings. Racially-motivated hate crimes. Sexual abuse. I grieve our morbid fascination with self-destruction. Legalization of marijuana and other harmful substances. Addiction to opioids and other pain-killers. All in an attempt to numb our pain. I grieve the fact that we continue to seek refuge in the lies we tell ourselves and in the falsehoods we cling to at all costs. If I were not a Christian, I would despair. 

But then I read these words, “Therefore thus says the Lord God, "Behold, I am the one who has laid as a foundation in Zion, a stone, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone, of a sure foundation: 'Whoever believes will not be in haste.' And I will make justice the line, and righteousness the plumb line; and hail will sweep away the refuge of lies, and waters will overwhelm the shelter. Then your covenant with death will be annulled, and your agreement with Sheol will not stand...” Once again, I am overwhelmed. God does what I cannot do. God does what we cannot do. God does what no government or business or church or non-profit agency - no matter how pure and righteous their motives - can do! He annulls the covenant we made with death! He sets aside our agreement with Sheol! He lays a foundation in Zion. A sure foundation built on tested and precious stone on which we can build our lives! He doesn’t ask us to rescue ourselves. He doesn’t ask us to clean up our act. He doesn’t expect us to find a way out of the mess we’ve made. He simply steps in. He restores justice. He restores righteousness. He sweeps away all the lies and falsehoods. He destroys death. He robs the grave. And He grants His people new life...abundant life...in Him!

Will we still sin? Yes. Are we still a rebellious people? Absolutely. Will we still run from God? Crawl off the altar? Try to build our lives on shifting sand? All that and more. But thankfully God is patient with us. “Therefore the Lord waits to be gracious to you, and therefore he exalts himself to show mercy to you. For the Lord is a God of justice; blessed are all those who wait for him.” (Isaiah‬ ‭30:18‬) And because God is faithful, we can be sure a day is coming when...

• We will weep no more

• We will see Him face to face

• We will know His ways and walk in them

• We will tear down every idol in our lives

• Our brokenness will be bound and our wounds healed

• We will sing a new song in the night

• We will keep the holy feast

• We will witness the victory of the Lord our God

Friends, that day is coming and is already here! In the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ the new day has dawned! God has laid His cornerstone! God has set His foundation in Zion! God has annulled our covenant with death! God has set aside our agreement with the grave! God has given us the victory! All we have to do is trust. Believe. Have faith. Place our lives in His hands. He will never let us down.  

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 29-30, Ephesians 6

The Honor of God

Readings for today: Isaiah 24-26, Ephesians 4

As I seek to understand more about the Scriptures, I find myself reading and researching about honor/shame cultures. It helps me not only understand the world of the Bible but also the world of places like Africa where I often minister. Consider this passage I ran across recently in a book titled, Ministering in Honor-Shame Cultures, by Jayson Georges. “The world equates humility with shame and pride with honor. But God inverts this social matrix. Pride ultimately produces shame, and humility is the counterintuitive path to genuine honor.” It resonates, does it not? All of us have probably experienced this on a personal level at some point in our lives. 

What’s true for us as individuals is also true for our families, communities, tribes, even nations. Think about what we read yesterday about Tyre and Sidon. Two of the great commercial trading centers in the ancient near east. What was their sin? Pride. Tyre saw itself as “the bestower of crowns, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the honored of the earth...” (Isaiah‬ ‭23:8‬) Sidon enjoyed tremendous wealth and privilege. “And on many waters your revenue was the grain of Shihor, the harvest of the Nile; you were the merchant of the nations.”(Isaiah‬ ‭23:3‬) In their pursuit of worldly honor and riches and power, they forgot the Lord. They dishonored God. And they paid the price. “Wail, O ships of Tarshish, for Tyre is laid waste, without house or harbor! Be ashamed, O Sidon, for the sea has spoken...” (Isaiah‬ ‭23:1, 4‬) 

But it’s not just Tyre and Sidon who make this mistake. Isaiah points out that the whole earth has forgotten God. The whole earth pursues wealth and power and honor and glory apart from God. The whole earth seeks to exalt itself rather than humble themselves before their Creator. Therefore, the Lord will bring His righteous judgment. No one shall escape. “Behold, the Lord will empty the earth and make it desolate, and he will twist its surface and scatter its inhabitants. And it shall be, as with the people, so with the priest; as with the slave, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be utterly empty and utterly plundered; for the Lord has spoken this word.” (Isaiah‬ ‭24:1-3‬) And why does the Lord speak such a harsh word? Why does the Lord render such a harsh judgment? Because the Lord is jealous for the glory of His Name. He is jealous for His own honor. He will not rest until the whole earth sings His praises. “They lift up their voices, they sing for joy; over the majesty of the Lord they shout from the west. Therefore in the east give glory to the Lord; in the coastlands of the sea, give glory to the name of the Lord, the God of Israel. From the ends of the earth we hear songs of praise, of glory to the Righteous One.” (Isaiah‬ ‭24:14-16‬)

Human beings were made for one glorious purpose...to bring honor to their Creator. To enjoy God and to worship Him forever. To praise God for all eternity. This is the great work we were designed for. This is the great work we were made for. And it is to our abiding shame that we neglect this great task and forget our God. It is to our great shame that we “exchange the truth of God for a lie and worship and serve the creature rather than the Creator, who is blessed forever!” (Romans‬ ‭1:25‬) We pursue worldly honor and worldly wealth and worldly power to our own destruction. Because we have turned away from God and gone our own way, He has “given us up to a debased mind to do what ought not to be done. We become filled with all manner of unrighteousness, evil, covetousness, malice. They are full of envy, murder, strife, deceit, maliciousness. We are gossips, slanderers, haters of God, insolent, haughty, boastful, inventors of evil, disobedient to parents, foolish, faithless, heartless, ruthless.” (Romans‬ ‭1:28-31‬) And God simply will not allow such evil to stand. So He brings judgment. He lays low the proud. He shames the arrogant. He dishonors the honored among all the earth. “The Lord of hosts has purposed it, to defile the pompous pride of all glory, to dishonor all the honored of the earth.” (Isaiah‬ ‭23:9‬)

This is why we must consider carefully the priorities of our lives. Why do we do the things we do? What drives us? What gives us purpose and fulfillment? Are we truly seeking to honor God in all we say and do? Or are we trying to steal a bit of that honor for ourselves? Are we truly seeking to glorify God in our homes, neighborhoods, schools, and places of work? Or these just means we are using to justify our own ends? Prayerfully consider these things, friends! Be honest with yourself! Get real! And then humble yourself before God lest you fall under His judgment.  

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 27-28, Ephesians 5

The Unsearchable Riches of Christ

Readings for today: Isaiah 21-23, Ephesians 3

One of the most common stumbling blocks to faith is the exclusivity of Christ. Why would God provide only one way to heaven? And why a 1st century Jewish peasant named Jesus? And what happens to all those around the world and throughout history who never get the chance to hear His name? Surely if God desires all to be saved and come to a knowledge of His truth, He would provide as many pathways as possible? All these questions make sense to me. They are questions I’ve wrestled deeply with myself. But as I dug down, I found myself grappling with an even deeper question. Why would God choose to save us at all? Why would a perfectly holy, righteous, and just God choose to save an imperfect, unholy, and unrighteous people? Why not wipe us out and start the whole project over? This question brought me face to face with the mystery of God’s grace. The mystery of God’s love. The mystery of Christ which Paul talks about in today’s reading out of Ephesians 3.

“This mystery is that the Gentiles are fellow heirs, members of the same body, and partakers of the promise in Christ Jesus through the gospel…” It’s tough to overstate how challenging this idea would be to Jewish believers. For generations they had been taught that the Gentiles were beyond the pale. Beyond salvation. Beyond the reach of God’s love. For generations they had been taught that they were God’s chosen people. They were God’s treasured possession. They, among all the nations of the earth, enjoyed God’s favor. They wholeheartedly embraced the exclusive nature of their relationship with God and rejected any idea of the universality of His grace. In fact, this was -at least in part - why their leaders had Jesus crucified. They simply couldn’t get their minds and hearts around Jesus eating with sinners. Dining with prostitutes. Hanging out with Samaritans and other Gentiles along the way.

Paul was a product of his culture. In fact, if you know anything about his life, he was the standard-bearer for the exclusivity of the Jewish faith. So zealous was he for the faith of his ancestors, he persecuted the early church. Dragging followers of Christ from their homes. Throwing them in prison. Even rejoicing in their deaths. But then he met the Risen Christ on the road outside of Damascus and everything changed. He came face to face with the unsearchable riches of Christ. He went eyeball to eyeball with the Lord in all His glory. The grace and love of God that surpasses all human wisdom and knowledge and understanding utterly and completely transformed him from the inside out. Listen to how he describes it…

“To me, though I am the very least of all the saints, this grace was given, to preach to the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, and to bring to light for everyone what is the plan of the mystery hidden for ages in God, who created all things, so that through the church the manifold wisdom of God might now be made known to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God. Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians‬ ‭3:6, 8-10, 15-21‬)

So back to my original questions. If you were to ask Paul why God only provided one way to heaven, I think he’d give you a strange look. After all, the mystery he was called to preach was that God had provided a way for everyone to get in. Jew and Gentile alike. No one was left out. If you were to ask Paul why God chose to reveal Himself in this way through a 1st century Jewish peasant named Jesus, I think he’d walk you through all the prophecies of the Old Testament so you could see how this was the fulfillment of God’s plan from the beginning. If you were to ask Paul what happens to all those throughout the world and throughout history who never get the chance to hear the name of Jesus, I think you’d see his eyes light up and passion fill his voice as he shared with you the urgency of his mission! The mission to proclaim the good news of the gospel! I think he’d go on to tell you it’s why he dedicated his life to planting churches all over the known world so that the gospel could go to the ends of the earth. And I think he’d encourage you to trust the goodness of God. Trust that while Christ can use us as His messengers, He’s certainly not bound to us. People come to faith all the time through dreams and visions. I’ve seen it myself.

Most of all, I think Paul would be confused by our line of questioning. He would wonder why we kept focusing on the exclusivity of Christ when the reality is the opposite. Christ represents the universality of God’s saving grace. Jew and Gentile. Male and female. Slave and free. Rich and poor. Black and white and brown. Gay, bi, and straight. Republican and Democrat. Progressive and conservative. You name it. In Christ, we see the breadth and length and height and depth of God’s love. A love that breaks down every barrier. A love that crosses every boundary. A love that knows no bounds and has no end. When we embrace Christ, we become rooted and grounded in this love ourselves and bearers of this message of good news to the world.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 24-26, Ephesians 4

The Sovereignty of God

Readings for today: Isaiah 16-20, Ephesians 1-2

“For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven…” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭3:1) 

I think of this verse every time I read through the prophets. On the one hand, God is bringing His righteous judgment against a people who have forgotten Him. A people who have earned their fate by bringing shame upon themselves and their communities and their nations through their actions. Cush shall be cut off. Egypt shall fall. Babylon will be destroyed. The desert tribes of the Kedar scattered. Not even God’s chosen people will be spared as Jerusalem is laid low. At the same time, there are signs of future hope. In a stunning display of grace and mercy, God reaches out to the enemies of His people and draws them close. “And the Lord will make himself known to the Egyptians, and the Egyptians will know the Lord in that day and worship with sacrifice and offering, and they will make vows to the Lord and perform them...In that day there will be a highway from Egypt to Assyria, and Assyria will come into Egypt, and Egypt into Assyria, and the Egyptians will worship with the Assyrians. In that day Israel will be the third with Egypt and Assyria, a blessing in the midst of the earth, whom the Lord of hosts has blessed, saying, "Blessed be Egypt my people, and Assyria the work of my hands, and Israel my inheritance." (Isaiah‬ ‭19:21, 23-25‬) There truly is a time for everything under heaven!

One of the keys to understanding and interpreting the prophetic texts is to try to place yourself in Isaiah’s shoes. He is the court prophet. A godly politician. A man who is familiar with world events. He speaks to kings and princes and the rulers of his day. He knows the intricate plans they’ve laid. He knows the complex challenges they face. He knows the struggles and hardships and burdens that come along with leading a nation at a time when one is surrounded by far more powerful neighbors to the north (Assyria), to the east (Babylon), and to the south (Egypt). Israel has always sat at the crossroads of the Middle East. They have served as a highway for invading armies for centuries. And yet, as Isaiah prayerfully ponders all these things, the Holy Spirit opens His eyes. He takes a step back and surveys the ever-shifting political landscape from God’s perspective. He begins to see how God is at work orchestrating the course of human events. Sovereignly directing the rise and fall of empires. Bringing all things together in order to accomplish His divine plan. 

Now think about our own context. The rise of social media makes us all “court prophets” of a sort. All of us are given total access (seemingly) to the best laid plans of our political leaders. As we watch certain events unfold, we are confronted with the complex challenges of a globally connected world. If Twitter is to be believed, the world is either coming to an end or its best days are ahead. Depending on one’s political affiliations, we are in for the best of times or the worst of times. Depending on one’s personal convictions and religious/social leanings, our politicians represent the anti-Christ or are being used by God to righteously bring about His will. Would that we would follow Isaiah’s example! Take a step back! Prayerfully ponder what over what we are seeing and ask the Holy Spirit for divine wisdom to interpret the signs. God is at work, friends! He is still on His throne! He is orchestrating the course of human events. He is sovereignly directing the rise and fall of human empires. He is bringing all things together in order to accomplish His divine plan. As Christians we should know better than to place our trust in kings or princes or presidents or prime ministers. We should know better than to place our trust in the uncertainty of a free market economy. We should know better than to believe our nation is somehow exempt from the volatility of human history. We should know better than to place our hopes in the next worldwide summit or peace treaty or trade agreement. Instead, we should place our confidence in God alone. Under God, every challenge becomes an opportunity to grow in faith. Every crushing disappointment an opportunity to learn more about the sufficiency of grace. Every victory and success an opportunity to praise God and to give thanks. 

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 21-23, Ephesians 3

The Danger of Self-Promotion

Readings for today: Isaiah 13-15, Galatians 6

There may not be anything more dangerous to our mental health than self-promotion. Recently, Facebook completed an internal study of the impact of Instagram especially on teenage girls. The results were not good. 1 in 5 girls reported Instagram makes them feel worse about themselves. 32.4% of them reported Instagram made them feel worse about their bodies specifically. Significant percentages reported increased rates of anxiety and depression as well. This squares with an earlier finding in Britain that measured the impact of mental health across all social media platforms. All of them reported similar increases in rates of anxiety, depression, and even physical illness. The greater the usage, the greater the impact. So here’s the big question…why? What is it about social media that drives us to despair? Social media is literally designed to create a self-reinforcing feedback loop. It activates the brain’s “reward” center by releasing dopamine with every “like” or “follow” or engagement. As such, it becomes addictive and like all addictions, you rapidly reach the point of diminishing returns. Simply put, you find yourself craving more and needing more to get the same dopamine effect. The results of the study show that - consciously or subconsciously - people are using social media to boost their self-esteem. Polish their self-image. Promote themselves and their accomplishments. They do this to create a greater sense of belonging in their social circle. When their posts receive a lot of attention, the pleasure centers in their brain fire up. Dopamine is released. They feel great. When their posts go unnoticed or are seemingly ignored, the pleasure centers of their brains remain dormant. Dopamine is not released. And just like any addict, when they are denied what they crave, they grow anxious and depressed.

This is not a new problem. Human beings have been struggling with this issue from the beginning. There is something innate within us that craves attention. We long to be recognized. Long to be loved and admired and respected. Call it pride. Call it arrogance. Call it the “idol of Self.” It is rooted deep within our sinful nature and it is impossible to resist. We see a great example of it from our reading today in Isaiah. “How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, ‘I will ascend to heaven; above the stars of God I will set my throne on high; I will sit on the mount of assembly in the far reaches of the north; I will ascend above the heights of the clouds; I will make myself like the Most High.’ But you are brought down to Sheol, to the far reaches of the pit. Those who see you will stare at you and ponder over you: ‘Is this the man who made the earth tremble, who shook kingdoms, who made the world like a desert and overthrew its cities, who did not let his prisoners go home?’ All the kings of the nations lie in glory, each in his own tomb; but you are cast out, away from your grave, like a loathed branch, clothed with the slain, those pierced by the sword, who go down to the stones of the pit, like a dead body trampled underfoot. You will not be joined with them in burial, because you have destroyed your land, you have slain your people.” (Isaiah‬ ‭14:12-20‬)

Traditionally, we believe this passage has a double-meaning. In human terms, it refers to the Babylonian king. The man who set himself up as ruler of the world. The man who believed himself to be greater than any human or god. He set up images of himself. He demanded to be worshipped. He clearly attempted to claim a position that was not his own. In spiritual terms, we also see this as a reference to Satan. Lucifer. The devil. An angel who once lived with God in glory but fell through pride and arrogance as he sought to usurp God’s throne. Regardless of what interpretive stance you hold - and it is possible to believe both - they end with the same result. Those who exalt themselves are brought low. Those who promote themselves are cast down. Those who seek to raise themselves through pride and arrogance to a lofty status end up falling on their faces. They become the subject of derision. They are quickly cast aside and forgotten.

We see it in our own world all the time. How many celebrities rise and fall? How many social influencers come and go? How many politicians get their fifteen minutes of fame? Those with any kind of staying power often have to resort to greater and greater acts of self-promotion in order to remain relevant. They become attention-seekers in order not to be forgotten. It’s shameless and often borders on the absurd. By the way, I see the same thing happening with pastors. The pursuit of platform and performance and self-promotion over faithfulness and a long obedience in the same direction. It’s why so many fall into sin. It’s why so many fall into temptation. They are driven to create content. Driven to create a buzz. Driven by their success to create greater success. All defined by numbers reached. Butts in the seats. Online views. Books published. Conferences invited to. You name it. They become an industry unto themselves. But such fame is fleeting. Such attention is not good for the soul. The pressure to perform is too much which is why so many crater at the end.

So what’s the answer? I think the Apostle Paul sums it up well, “But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.” (Galatians‬ ‭6:14‬) The only Person we should be platforming is Jesus. His is the only name under heaven by which we might be saved and therefore His is the only Name we should be promoting to the world. A famous saint once said, “Preach the gospel, die, and be forgotten.” That sounds about right to me. At the end of the day…if my life is to count for anything…may it be because I pointed people beyond myself to Jesus.

Readings for tomorrow: None

Christian Freedom

Readings for today: Isaiah 10-12, Galatians 5

Galatians is the manifesto for Christian freedom. The freedom we have in Christ. The freedom Christ won for us on the cross. Without Jesus, we are enslaved. Enslaved to our sinful desires. Enslaved to our corrupt thoughts and feelings. Enslaved to the ways of this world. Enslaved by the enemy of this world. It’s why when we look at the world around us, we see such pain. It’s why human beings are often so hurtful. So abusive. So evil. It’s why man’s inhumanity to man often knows no boundaries. Paul knew this. He had experienced this. Before Christ set him free, he was enslaved to his own passions and desires. He persecuted the church. Celebrated their pain and suffering. Rejoiced in their deaths. He relentlessly pursued them. Chased them down. Drug them from their homes and families. He was the chief of sinners. But then Christ came into his life and he was set free. So this freedom of which he speaks is not an abstract concept for him. It is something he experienced deeply, viscerally, and powerfully.

It’s why he’s so concerned for his Galatian friends. He is in anguish over what is happening to them. Having been set free by Christ, they are submitting themselves again to the yoke of slavery. Having begun so well in the Spirit, they are again seeking to ground their identity in something other than Jesus. Having been saved by grace through the gift of faith, they are now turning to their own work for justification. How often do we make the same mistake as Christians?

So how can we guard our hearts and minds from falling into this trap? Paul lays it out for us in the readings for today. “For freedom Christ has set us free; stand firm therefore, and do not submit again to a yoke of slavery.” (Galatians 5:1) A great verse to memorize and meditate on. A great verse to remind yourself of when you start to feel the pull of temptation. A great verse to cling to when you feel trapped or defeated or depressed or anxious or afraid. You have been set free! Christ has accomplished all you need! Simply stand in this freedom. Rest in this freedom. Trust this freedom and do not return to the old ways of slavery.

“For you were called to freedom, brothers and sisters. Only do not use your freedom as an opportunity for the flesh, but through love serve one another.” (Galatians 5:13) Our world doesn’t understand true freedom. The freedom it offers is an unfettered freedom. A freedom without boundaries. A freedom without restraint. A freedom centered ultimately on the gratification of our own selfish desires. This is not Christian freedom, friends! It is a lie from the pit of hell! It is the path back into slavery! Christian freedom results in service to God and to one another. Christian freedom means offering our lives back to God and to His people. It is a freedom constrained by love. A freedom bounded by grace. A freedom fettered by faith in the Son of God who gave Himself up for us. This is the freedom we were called to in Christ. 

And we gain this freedom as we walk by the Spirit.  “But I say, walk by the Spirit, and you will not gratify the desires of the flesh.” (Galatians 5:16) As we surrender our lives to the Spirit and His sanctifying work, we will not gratify the desires of the sinful nature. We will stand firm and resist the yoke of slavery. We will refuse to go back to the old ways of living. “If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit.” (Galatians‬ ‭5:25‬)‬‬ As we keep in step with Spirit - through daily prayer and Bible study and weekly worship with God’s people - we will find our lives being transformed. Our awareness of the depth and the breadth of the freedom we have in Christ will grow. Our experience of God’s presence will deepen. Our desire to love and serve both God and His people will increase. This is what Paul hopes and prays for his Galatian friends and it is my prayer for all of us as well. 

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 13-15, Galatians 6

Layers of Meaning

Readings for today: Isaiah 7-9, Galatians 4

The prophetic books are difficult to interpret. There are often many different layers of meaning. They serve as a great reminder that while the Bible was written for us, it was not written to us. The people who heard Isaiah speak interpreted things quite differently than we do today. They recognized Isaiah was addressing current events happening all around them in their world and it is only later that they would come to recognize he was also speaking prophetically about what would happen in the future as well. Take Isaiah 7:14 for example, “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.” This is one of the great Messianic texts Matthew picks up in his gospel but it also has immediate implications for King Ahaz. Ahaz is staring down the barrel of a great invasion. His worst enemies, Syrian and Ephraim, have joined forces to conquer his kingdom. Ahaz and his people are rightly afraid. Isaiah 7:2 even says their hearts “shook as the trees of the forest shake before the wind.” In the midst of their fear, God sends Isaiah with a word of comfort. A word of hope. A word of victory. “And say to him, 'Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint because of these two smoldering stumps of firebrands, at the fierce anger of Rezin and Syria and the son of Remaliah...thus says the Lord God: "It shall not stand, and it shall not come to pass. For the head of Syria is Damascus, and the head of Damascus is Rezin. And within sixty-five years Ephraim will be shattered from being a people. And the head of Ephraim is Samaria, and the head of Samaria is the son of Remaliah. If you are not firm in faith, you will not be firm at all.” (Isaiah‬ ‭7:4, 7-9‬) But Ahaz does not accept the Word of the Lord. He cannot believe it. Ahaz has spent his entire life worshipping other gods so it shouldn’t surprise us when he doesn’t recognize Yahweh’s voice. So God takes it one step further. Not only does He give Ahaz a word of promise but also a tangible sign to hold onto so he knows these things will come to pass. “Therefore the Lord himself will give you a sign. Behold, the virgin shall conceive and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel. He shall eat curds and honey when he knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good. For before the boy knows how to refuse the evil and choose the good, the land whose two kings you dread will be deserted. The Lord will bring upon you and upon your people and upon your father's house such days as have not come since the day that Ephraim departed from Judah—the king of Assyria!" (Isaiah‬ ‭7:14-17‬) Some scholars suggest this is Isaiah’s son who appears in the next chapter. Others suggest it is the name given to a baby born in the king’s household, an event unrecorded in the Bible. Whichever it is, the point is that God will bring to pass His will for both Syria and Samaria as the Assyrian Empire rises up, spills its banks, and floods through both regions. This is the immediate meaning of the prophecy. 

But there is an eschatological meaning as well. As mentioned above, Matthew picks up this text and applies it to the birth of our Lord Jesus Christ. The ultimate sign of comfort. The ultimate sign of hope. The ultimate sign of God’s victory on behalf of His people. Jesus is conceived by the Holy Spirit and born of a virgin and enters this world to bring eternal life through His death and resurrection. Because of Christ, we do not need to be afraid. We will not fall before our enemies. We are not left to the mercy of our circumstances. We are no longer enslaved to sin. We are set free. By His great love and mercy and grace. Like Ahaz, we hear these words, “Be careful, be quiet, do not fear, and do not let your heart be faint...” (Isaiah‬ ‭7:4‬) And we are reminded again to place our trust in God. 

I’ve been studying the Scriptures for over two decades now. I read through the Bible every year. I study it in-depth both personally and for my profession. I have spent countless hours meditating and praying over these texts and here is what I’ve discovered. Not only does Scripture have an immediate meaning for those like Ahaz who are hearing it for the first time. And not only does it often have a secondary meaning as it relates to Jesus Christ or future world events. But it also takes on a third meaning. A personal application in my own life. When I read these stories and place myself in Ahaz’s shoes and try to imagine his fear and trepidation; I realize God is speaking to my life as well. My circumstances. My struggles. My fears. How often have I stood face to face with my own enemies? My heart shaking like a tree before the wind? How often has God brought me a word of comfort, hope, and promise in those moments? How many times have I graciously been given a sign? How many times as I have waited on the Lord have I seen Him come through? Deliver the victory? My job is simply to wait. To hold onto faith. To trust. To surrender. To let Him do the work. When I do, I can look back and see the hand of God as He sovereignly directs all things according to His will in my life for my good and for His glory. 

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 10-12, Galatians 5

A Prophetic Call

Readings for today: Isaiah 4-6, Galatians 3

“The vision of Isaiah the son of Amoz, which he saw concerning Judah and Jerusalem in the days of Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah, kings of Judah.” (Isaiah‬ ‭1:1‬)

The book of Isaiah begins with a political statement. Everything he says from this point forward (66 chapters!) must be viewed through a distinctly political lens. Uzziah. Jotham. Ahaz. Hezekiah. You may know their stories. You can find them in the histories of the Kings and Chronicles. We know Uzziah reigned for over fifty years and for the most part remained faithful to God. However, at the end of his life he grew proud and brazenly entered the Temple to offer sacrifices. We know his son, Jotham, reigned for sixteen years and also remained faithful to the Lord but failed to address the nation’s ongoing idolatry on the high places. We know Ahaz reigned for sixteen years and was an evil, faithless king. The entire kingdom suffered under his rule. We know Hezekiah returned to the ways of the Lord, experienced the miracle of healing, but also grew prideful and set his descendents up for disaster when he shows off his riches to the envoys of Babylon. 

Isaiah presumably witnesses all of this. He sees it all go past. He lives it. His prophetic career begins at some point during the glory days under King Uzziah and ends at some point during the reign of King Hezekiah. Through it all, he watches his nation shift its allegiance from Yahweh to other gods. He watches his nation descend into cultural chaos as they abandon true worship and true righteousness. He watches the leaders of his nation attempt to reform and revitalize the country. He sees the ups and downs of their efforts. The successes and failures. I often ask myself what sustains Isaiah? How is he able to find the strength to persevere throughout his life and ministry? The answer, of course, comes in chapter six…

“In the year that King Uzziah died I saw the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up; and the train of his robe filled the temple. Above him stood the seraphim. Each had six wings: with two he covered his face, and with two he covered his feet, and with two he flew. And one called to another and said: “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of his glory!” And the foundations of the thresholds shook at the voice of him who called, and the house was filled with smoke. And I said: “Woe is me! For I am lost; for I am a man of unclean lips, and I dwell in the midst of a people of unclean lips; for my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts!” Then one of the seraphim flew to me, having in his hand a burning coal that he had taken with tongs from the altar. And he touched my mouth and said: “Behold, this has touched your lips; your guilt is taken away, and your sin atoned for.” And I heard the voice of the Lord saying, “Whom shall I send, and who will go for us?” Then I said, “Here I am! Send me.” And he said, “Go, and say to this people: “‘Keep on hearing, but do not understand; keep on seeing, but do not perceive.’ Make the heart of this people dull, and their ears heavy, and blind their eyes; lest they see with their eyes, and hear with their ears, and understand with their hearts, and turn and be healed.” Then I said, “How long, O Lord?” And he said: “Until cities lie waste without inhabitant, and houses without people, and the land is a desolate waste, and the Lord removes people far away, and the forsaken places are many in the midst of the land. And though a tenth remain in it, it will be burned again, like a terebinth or an oak, whose stump remains when it is felled.” The holy seed is its stump.” (Isaiah‬ ‭6:1-13‬)

Isaiah has what’s known as an “epiphany.” He comes face to face with the glory of God. In the midst of his deep grief over the death of his beloved king, he receives a vision that will set the course for the rest of his life. It is honest. It is real. It is raw. No holds barred. God essentially tells Isaiah that by answering this call, he will experience a lifetime of futility. A lifetime of failure. He will speak words the people will not hear. He will see things they cannot understand. He is called to the prophetic ministry. Not so much a ministry future-telling as much as a ministry of confrontation. Confrontation not birthed out of anger or frustration but out of hope. Hope for repentance. Hope for a return to the Lord where the people can find grace and healing and mercy. Listen to some of things he says over these first few chapters…

• “Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean; remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes; cease to do evil, learn to do good; seek justice, correct oppression; bring justice to the fatherless, plead the widow's cause. Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord: though your sins are like scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they are red like crimson, they shall become like wool.” (Isaiah‬ ‭1:16-18‬)

• “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: "Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths." For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem.” (Isaiah‬ ‭2:2-3‬)  

• “In that day the branch of the Lord shall be beautiful and glorious, and the fruit of the land shall be the pride and honor of the survivors of Israel. And he who is left in Zion and remains in Jerusalem will be called holy, everyone who has been recorded for life in Jerusalem, when the Lord shall have washed away the filth of the daughters of Zion and cleansed the bloodstains of Jerusalem from its midst by a spirit of judgment and by a spirit of burning. Then the Lord will create over the whole site of Mount Zion and over her assemblies a cloud by day, and smoke and the shining of a flaming fire by night; for over all the glory there will be a canopy. There will be a booth for shade by day from the heat, and for a refuge and a shelter from the storm and rain.” (Isaiah‬ ‭4:2-6‬)

One can easily recognize the parallels to our own time. How many of us lament the state of our nation? How many of us lament the moral drift of our culture? How many of us lament the pain and suffering and sin and degredation we see all around us? We lament the lack of prayer in our schools. The absence of the Ten Commandments in public spaces. The encroaching secularism that threatens to push our faith to the margins. And yet, are we willing to prophetically confront the deeper questions of why prayer doesn’t seem to fill our homes? Why the Ten Commandments aren’t posted and followed in our churches? How we have marginalized our faith by refusing to share Christ with our neighbors, friends, and co-workers? Are we not as guilty as the people Isaiah was speaking to? And are we willing to hear his words as the Word of the Lord to us? Are we willing to repent and return and re-commit ourselves to God’s ways?

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 7-9, Galatians 4

On Earth as it is in Heaven

Readings for today: Isaiah 2-3, Galatians 2

We live in a fallen world. A world full of pain and suffering. A world full of anxiety and fear. A world full of tragedy and heartbreak. Humanity is a fallen creature. Driven by passions it cannot control. Enslaved by desires it cannot constrain. We are our own worst enemies. Over the years, I’ve had lots of conversations with people from all different walks of life. All different backgrounds and culture. Because I am a pastor, they often ask me questions about the meaning of life. Why things are the way they are? Why the world is the way that it is? Why is humanity seemingly so hell-bent on self-destruction? The Bible has an answer. A diagnosis. It’s not an easy one to hear. It’s called sin. Human beings - made in God’s own image and given dominion over all He has made - wanted to play god, wanted to be their own gods, and the results have been horrifying. We’ve made a huge mess of things. We can’t get out of our own way. No matter how hard we try. No matter how many plans we put together. No matter how much we strive and toil and struggle and fight. We tend to relapse into the same evil behaviors. Violence. Greed. Selfishness. Outrage. Hate. This is the fruit of a corrupt nature. We are rotten to the core. And if you doubt the veracity of this statement, go spend time in the slums of our world. Stand at the mass graves of the victims of genocide. Listen closely to the overheated rhetoric of politicians across the world and across the political spectrum. We are as helpless as we are hopeless.

Thankfully, God knows we are poor and powerless. He knows we are weak and feeble and desperately anxious and afraid. So He makes a way where there is no way. He lifts high the deep valleys. He lays low the tall mountains. He makes smooth the rough places and straightens the winding roads. He tears down every dividing wall of hostility and eliminates every barrier that keeps us from His presence. His promise is sure. Our future secure. His vision for this world will come to pass. Listen to how the prophet Isaiah describes it, “It shall come to pass in the latter days that the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be established as the highest of the mountains, and shall be lifted up above the hills; and all the nations shall flow to it, and many peoples shall come, and say: “Come, let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the house of the God of Jacob, that he may teach us his ways and that we may walk in his paths.” For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. He shall judge between the nations, and shall decide disputes for many peoples; and they shall beat their swords into plowshares, and their spears into pruning hooks; nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they learn war anymore. O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” (Isaiah‬ ‭2:2-5‬)

It’s beautiful, is it not? A world full of peace. A world full of righteousness and justice. A world full of grace and mercy. A world where there is no need for self-promotion, self-protection, or self-preservation for God is the inexhaustible source for all we need. And He is more than enough. It’s a world where the nations seek God. The nations serve God. The nations obey God. A world where God’s name is lifted up. God’s house is the center of all of life. And the worship of God becomes humanity’s highest end once again. All things are made new. All things are restored. All things are full of light and life and love. This is God’s vision for His world. God’s vision for humanity. God’s vision for our future.

I love that last line. Verse five. “O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the Lord.” To put it another way, “Let your will be done on earth as it is in heaven.” We pray this prayer with great regularity. Some traditions even pray it every Sunday. It’s the prayer Jesus taught His disciples to pray and it reflects His heart for our world. Jesus wants His people to walk in the light of the Lord. To live as heavenly creatures in this earthly realm. To be a community of life in a culture of death. He wants us to embody our future in the present. He wants us to live as if we were already there in those “latter days.” We are to give people a foretaste of heaven. A glimpse of God’s Kingdom. In our worship. In our fellowship. In our relationships with each other and in our service to the lost and least of these in our world.

What does this practically mean for our day to day? It means we allow no human divisions or distinctions to separate us from our brothers and sisters in Christ. Not politics. Not ethnicity. Not economics. It means we practice forgiveness and pursue reconciliation when we’ve been hurt or wounded. It means the strong lay down their lives for the weak. The powerful seek to serve the powerless. Those in authority exercise it with grace and mercy and compassion. It means we cling to the truth and reject all lies. It means we refuse to let the ends justify the means, especially when those means require ungodly compromise. It means we humble ourselves continually under God’s mighty hand, trusting Him to lift us up in His time and according to His will. And these are just the outskirts of His ways.

Friends, each day presents a new opportunity for God’s mercies are new every morning and His faithfulness is great! Today can be the day of salvation! Today is yet another chance for the Kingdom in your life and in your world! Hear the Word of the Lord! Walk in the light of the Lord! Surrender yourself to His purposes! Let Him use you for His glory!

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 4-6, Galatians 3

Death-Defying Love

Readings for today: Song of Solomon 4-8, 2 Corinthians 13, Galatians 1, Isaiah 1

“Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm, for love is strong as death, jealousy is fierce as the grave. Its flashes are flashes of fire, the very flame of the Lord. Many waters cannot quench love, neither can floods drown it. If a man offered for love all the wealth of his house, he would be utterly despised.” (Song of Solomon‬ ‭8:6-7‬)

I will admit I am partial to these verses. My wife inscribed them on my wedding ring. We’ve been together over twenty-five years now and the words ring more true than ever. Life has not been a fairy tale. We’ve had to weather some storms like all couples do. The loss of a child. The failure of a ministry. The dangerously premature birth of our twins. The battles with our children as they grew older. Facing our own demons as they revealed themselves over the years. It’s been a journey. And there have been moments when I wasn’t sure we’d make it through. In fact, I almost lost my marriage many years ago due to my neglect and workaholism. So we’ve definitely had our ups and downs. Our peaks and valleys. But the biggest lesson we’ve learned is that God’s love never fails.

You may or may not believe that last statement. I remember talking to a friend several years ago who challenged me on this point. She pointed to her divorce as an example of the failure of love. She pointed to the estrangement of her children as an example of love letting her down. She gave me example after example from her own life of the many times she had been disappointed by love. Betrayed by love. Abandoned by love. It was heartbreaking. After listening, I asked her about the love of Jesus. She broke down and wept. Though she had so many negative experiences with human love, she found herself still holding on to the love of God. As we talked further, she slowly but surely was able to recognize how God’s love had sustained her through all the “floods” and “fires” of her life.

In my last devotional on Saturday, I pointed out that the Song of Solomon is not simply a human love poem. Traditionally it has been interpreted by many as describing the love God has for His people. I know this was a new thought for many. Perhaps it even made your reading a little awkward or uncomfortable. Hopefully today it becomes more clear. It is God who sets us as a seal on His heart. It is God who sets us as a seal on His arm. It is God’s love that is as strong as death. His love that is as fierce as the grave. When the devil offered Jesus the entire world in exchange for love, Jesus utterly despised him. God’s love is eternal. Steadfast. Loyal. True. It is the one sure thing in this uncertain world in which we live. 

Ponder the love of God today, friends. A love that will not let you go. A love that will relentlessly pursue you until the day you die. A love that was demonstrated on the Cross. A love that defeated the grave. A love that lives even now eternal in the heavens. A love that is being poured out continually by the Holy Spirit onto God’s people so they will share it with the world. This love is available to us! This love never runs dry! Trusting in this love will save your marriage! It will transform your family! It will deepen your friendships! It will change everything if you let it. If you will simply let go and let Christ reign and rule in your heart. Rest in His love, friends. Let God quiet you with His love. May you walk today in His love and may you experience the blessing that comes from abiding in His love. 

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 2-3, Galatians 2

Intimacy with God

Readings for today: Song of Solomon 1-3, 2 Corinthians 12

The Song of Solomon is one of the most difficult and least understood books in all of Scripture. It’s one we tend to avoid in our sex-saturated culture. The language is far too intimate. The imagery too graphic. We don’t want to picture it much less reflect on how the Spirit might speak to us through it. So we flip through the pages as fast as we can to get to the end so we can avoid any embarrassment.  

But what is this book about? The love of a man for a woman? The love of God for His church? Perhaps both? Are we comfortable thinking about our relationship with God in sexual terms? Or is that a bridge too far? It certainly was for many of the ancient rabbi’s. They put a content warning on this book, restricting it to those who were 30 and over. Then again, the ancient church often read this text as they approached the Lord’s Table. They recognized the deep intimacy God desires to have with us and they affirmed such love by tying this book to the most sacred act of worship. I firmly believe the Bible is inviting us to approach God in the most intimate of ways. The language of the Song is meant to arouse. Meant to touch the deepest places of our hearts. Meant to draw us into intimate embrace with the Father.

Our inability to embrace this book reveals how deep our corruption runs. We are so confused when it comes to human sexuality. We buy the lie that it’s all about our personal pleasure. We depersonalize it through pornography, casual hook ups, and apps like Tinder. We see sex as dirty yet secretly gratifying. Something to be enjoyed yet something to be feared. Our culture boasts of sexual freedom but then seems shocked when such freedom leads to broken relationships, unplanned pregnancy, STD’s, abuse, and violence. We want all the pleasure sex brings but none of the responsibility. If there’s anything the #MeToo movement has taught us, it’s that our sexual appetites are insatiable. Our lusts are impossible to satisfy. Sexuality without restraint is destructive and traumatic.  

And yet, sex is God’s creation. Sexuality is something He instilled within each of us. We are created as sexual beings and when the Bible talks about “knowing” another person, it often uses the most sexually intimate of terms. The same is true for “knowing” God. God designed sex to be the ultimate experience of “knowing.” A way for us to express our deepest affections. Our deepest emotions. Our deepest vulnerabilities. All within the safety of the covenant bonds of marriage between a man and a woman. All within the safety of the covenant bond we share with Jesus.  

So is it possible to see the Song of Solomon as a prayer? As a way to express the deepest desires of our hearts to God? As a way for us to ask for deeper intimacy with Him? Or does our broken human experience of sexuality warp our thinking? Corrupt how we understand this most powerful and primal of drives? Does it poison this well and thus prevent us from fully grasping the depth of relationship God desires to have with us? The Song of Solomon is an invitation. An invitation from God to deeper intimacy. If you find yourself struggling to embrace Him, prayerfully meditate on this book. If you find yourself battling inner demons or shame from your past, let the words of this book assure you and heal you as you read about God’s great love for you. If you’ve never submitted your sexuality to God or never even connected the gift of sex with God, let these words gently convict you and re-shape your thinking.

Friends, there’s a reason Christ calls the church His “bride.” There’s a reason God so often refers to Himself in the Old Testament as a “husband” and Israel as his “wife.” Marriage is the place where a man and a woman become “one flesh” before the Lord and it is designed to point beyond itself to something even greater...the “oneness” God desires to have with His people for all eternity.

Readings for tomorrow: Song of Solomon 4-8, 2 Corinthians 13, Galatians 1, Isaiah 1

Choose Joy

Readings for today: Ecclesiastes 10-12, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

We haven’t talked a lot about Ecclesiastes so I thought I’d recap a bit from the last couple of days. Lost in all Solomon’s talk about vanity and emptiness and chasing the wind in this book is the number of times he encourages the reader to enjoy life. Enjoy the time they have been given. Enjoy the hours and days of blessing. Enjoy the seasons when life is good. Yes, you will experience bad times. Yes, you will experience hardship and adversity. Yes, you cannot place your trust in wisdom, wealth, influence, or a good name. But you can still find joy. Simple pleasures of feasting, friendship, and family. 

“In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one as well as the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭7:14‬)

“And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭8:15‬)

“Go, eat your bread with joy, and drink your wine with a merry heart, for God has already approved what you do...Enjoy life with the wife whom you love, all the days of your vain life that he has given you under the sun, because that is your portion in life and in your toil at which you toil under the sun. Whatever your hand finds to do, do it with your might, for there is no work or thought or knowledge or wisdom in Sheol, to which you are going.” (‭Ecclesiastes‬ ‭9:7, 9-10‬)

“Rejoice, O young man, in your youth, and let your heart cheer you in the days of your youth. Walk in the ways of your heart and the sight of your eyes. But know that for all these things God will bring you into judgment.” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭11:9‬)

To be sure, Solomon is encouraging a “sober” joy. A joy tempered by the realities of hard work, adversity, judgment, and death. A deeper joy that transcends superficial happiness. A joy that springs from a deep love of life and all the blessings God has given. The profound joy that comes from a life lived before God in this world. The joyful life for Solomon is not all bubbles and rainbows and unicorns. It’s an utterly realistic joy. A joy that acknowledges the harsh truth about our broken world. A joy that walks eyes wide open to pain and suffering. A joy that doesn’t run from trouble. 

I’ve been a pastor for almost twenty years. I’ve spent countless hours counseling people from all walks of life. I’ve served congregations on the East Coast. The Deep South. The Midwest. And for the last decade or so, out West in Colorado. A common thread running throughout all those conversations is the universal desire for happiness. A craving for joy. But it’s a joy without hardship. A happiness without sorrow. An unrealistic expectation that life can be lived...indeed should be lived...without pain and suffering. In the most extreme cases, the person seems to believe God “owes” them such a life. It’s why one of the most frequent questions I have to help people wrestle with is “Why, God?” Why did God let this happen to me? Why didn’t God protect me from this tragedy? Why does God allow suffering? Why does a good God allow evil to exist in the world? Such questions, at their best, reveal the longing we all have for the world to come. The world where God will wipe away every tear, end all injustice, and heal every hurt. At their worst, they reveal a deep misunderstanding of the world around us. A false expectation that this life can be lived without experiencing hardship and pain. Solomon is clearly confronting the latter attitude. 

So how do you experience the world? When you wake up in the morning, what’s your expectation? Do you walk into life eyes wide open to both the good and the bad? Are you willing to embrace the ups and downs? Do you understand that life will be filled with pleasure and pain? Accomplishment and adversity? Success and failure? I love how Solomon closes out this book, “The end of the matter; all has been heard. Fear God and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of humanity.” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭12:13‬) Or as Jesus put it, “You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbor as yourself. On these two commandments depend all the Law and the Prophets.” (Matthew‬ ‭22:37-40‬) Friends, you and I were created to love God and enjoy Him forever. May you choose the joy that comes from knowing and loving Jesus Christ!

Readings for tomorrow: Song of Solomon 1-3, 2 Corinthians 12

Handling Criticism

Readings for today: Ecclesiastes 7-9, 2 Corinthians 11:1-15

We live in an age of outrage. We live in a time where personal attack has become not just acceptable but almost virtuous. Motives are impugned. Character is assassinated. People are crucified for the littlest mistakes. These things have real world consequences. People lose jobs. People lose relationships. People lose opportunities. Often because of something careless they said or did years ago. We do not allow for any growth. We do not extend any grace. It is a merciless, pitiless, Darwinian process that tears everyone down.

The Apostle Paul has been pointing us to a different way. The way of Jesus. Throughout chapters 10-13, Paul is answering his critics. People who have personally attacked him. Self-proclaimed “super-apostles” who seem to follow Paul around to correct his theology. They take it on themselves to serve as the theological police of the fledgling early church. They preach that everyone must be circumcised and follow the Law of Moses. They attack Paul’s methods and speaking skills. They attack his character and reliability. They accuse him of being a conflict avoider. They claim to have the same mission credentials as Paul and a better spiritual pedigree. Their CV’s are filled, so they say, with church plants and signs and wonders and visions. This forces Paul’s hand. He has to do what he hates. He has to defend his apostleship by citing his own hard-won credentials. 

As we read, it is important to discern his tone. In our current cultural and political climate, it would be easy to assume Paul feels as we do. It would be easy to read anger and rage into his words as he defends his apostleship. That would be a mistake. Paul says right up front that he is coming to them in meekness and gentleness. Though confident in his authority as an apostle of Christ, he will not “boast beyond limits” nor will he “overextend” himself to make his point. He calls himself a fool numerous times throughout the reading and mocks his former “credentials.” Over and over again, he reminds them of his love for them. Reminds them of his great desire to see them restored in their faith. I love how he ends his letter, “Finally, brothers and sisters, rejoice. Aim for restoration, comfort one another, agree with one another, live in peace; and the God of love and peace will be with you.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭13:11‬) This is Paul’s heart on display. 

Originally, Paul came to them in humility. He placed no financial burden on them, preaching the gospel free of charge. Living off the support of other churches, like the one in Macedonia which was extremely poor and yet very generous, he was able to live among them and teach them the good news of Jesus Christ. He didn’t lord his authority over them. He didn’t pass out his resume. He refused to promote his past success. Instead, he came to them in weakness. He shared in their sufferings. He intentionally relinquished his rights in order to build them up as a church. I love how he describes his love for them. “For I feel a divine jealousy for you, since I betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a pure virgin to Christ.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭11:2) “I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls...” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭12:15‬) “For we are glad when we are weak and you are strong. Your restoration is what we pray for.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭13:9‬)

Perhaps the most famous part of this set of readings has to do with the “thorn in Paul’s flesh.” Commentators throughout history have argued over what exactly Paul is referring to here. Is it an illness? An addiction? A persistent temptation? I believe Paul clearly identifies the thorn when he calls it a “messenger from Satan.” In 2 Corinthians 11:13-15, Paul writes “For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, disguising themselves as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for even Satan disguises himself as an angel of light. So it is no surprise if his servants, also, disguise themselves as servants of righteousness. Their end will correspond to their deeds.” The Greek word for “angel” can also mean “messenger” and it is the same word in both cases. Essentially, Paul believes that these false apostles are being used by God to keep him humble and utterly reliant on grace. God is using these evil men and their lies to protect Paul from pride and arrogance. He is using them to remind Paul of his weakness and dependence on Christ. He wants Paul to understand that the power he possesses does not come from him but from Jesus Himself. 

I remember several years ago having a member of my congregation turn on me. For months she would write hate-filled notes and put them in the offering plate for me. When the deacons started to throw them away, she placed them in an envelope with my name on it. Soon that wasn’t enough. She began writing in our pew Bibles, calling for me to be fired. Attacking my character. Her anger and hate festered to the point that she even wrote a message on our Communion table cloth! It was brutal. We tried to talk to her. We tried to confront her. Even told her she would not be welcome if she persisted in her behavior. None of it deterred this woman. Eventually, she passed away. She certainly didn’t want me anywhere near her funeral. I remember the morning of her memorial service sitting in a coffee shop waiting for my next meeting. As I prayed for this woman and her family, the Spirit of God spoke to my heart. “I have used this woman to keep you humble. To remind you of your need to depend on Me. To teach you the truth about grace and unconditional love. You will miss her. You need people like her in your life to keep you trusting in the sufficiency of Christ.” It was a powerful lesson and one I will never forget. 

How do you handle hate? How do you handle unfair criticism? Remember God uses all things for the good of those who love Him and are called according to His purpose. Rather than lash out, take a step back. What is God trying to show you? What is God trying to teach you? Is His grace truly sufficient for you? Is His power made perfect even in your weakness?  

Readings for tomorrow: Ecclesiastes 10-12, 2 Corinthians 11:16-33

Incarnational Community

Readings for today: Ecclesiastes 3-4, 2 Corinthians 9

It is not good for human beings to be alone. From the opening pages of Scripture we hear these words and we know in our bones they are true. We are suffering through an epidemic of loneliness in our country these days. So many people feel like they have no one to talk to. No shoulder to cry on. No one to lean on when times get hard. No close friendships. A few years ago, the surgeon general released a study designating “loneliness” as a major health crisis. It is one of the major sources of depression, self-harm, and suicide. It reduces our life expectancy. Many therapists I talk to tell me that much of their practice is simply sitting and listening to people share about their daily lives. Their clients aren’t seeking therapy so much as friendship. This is not to minimize the very real mental health crisis in our country today only to point out that one of the root causes is a lack of any kind of deep relationships.

Over and against this lonely way of life, the Teacher in Ecclesiastes offers this sound advice. “Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up! Again, if two lie together, they keep warm, but how can one keep warm alone? And though a man might prevail against one who is alone, two will withstand him—a threefold cord is not quickly broken.” (Ecclesiastes‬ ‭4:9-12‬) Now I know we usually reserve these verses for weddings but they apply to all of life. Woe to the one who falls and is alone. Woe to the one who is cold and is alone. Woe to the one who is attacked and is alone. I’m sure we’ve all had these experiences at some point in time and it is painful.

God made us for incarnational community. He created us as relational beings. Cast in His image, we are built to relate to others in the same way the members of the Trinity relate to one another. Our hearts crave deep relationships. Our souls need to be knit together with other people. We all have this longing deep within. Not only that but we were created for a relationship with God! A threefold cord is not quickly broken! As we intertwine our lives with God’s life and with the lives of other people, we find ourselves growing stronger, more confident, and more at peace. With God at our side and our brothers and sisters at our backs, we can withstand anything. This is how life was intended to be but sin separates. Separates us from God. Separates us from one another. So we must repent. Repent of our ungodly impulse to “go it alone.” Repent of the excuses we make that keep us separated from flesh and blood community. Repent of the way we prioritize tasks and activities and technology over face to face interaction with the people we love.

I learned a long time ago that God most often shows up in my life with skin on. He speaks to me and He ministers to me through flesh and blood people. My family. My friends. My colleagues. My church family. I am blessed by these relationships and the more I let them into my life, the more I am encouraged, comforted, strengthened, and inspired to live for Christ. Who is God sending into your life? Who has He sent and what are you doing to grow that relationship? Are you open to new relationships? New people? New experiences? Or do you find yourself pulling back? Isolating? Growing more and more lonely with each passing day? Don’t believe the lie, friends! You were made for community! You were built for relationships! You are hard-wired for connection! Lean into Christ! Lean into your family! Lean into your friendships! Let God fill your soul!

Readings for tomorrow: Ecclesiastes 5-6, 2 Corinthians 10

True Repentance

Readings for today: Proverbs 28-31, Ecclesiastes 1-2, 2 Corinthians 7:2-8:24

John the Baptist came preaching a message of repentance. Jesus came preaching a message of repentance. Paul traveled all over the known world at the time preaching a message of repentance. Clearly “repentance” lies at the heart of the Christian faith. But what is repentance? Is it simply saying sorry to God? An existential feeling of guilt or condemnation? A deep sense that we are wrong? And how does one actually “repent?” Kneel in sackcloth and ashes? Engage in self-harm like the monks of old? Beat oneself up emotionally and spiritually? Subject oneself to rigorous, daily self-examination?

I love how Paul describes repentance in 2 Corinthians 7:10, “For godly grief produces a repentance that leads to salvation without regret, whereas worldly grief produces death.” The key to repentance is the fruit it produces in a person’s life. If your grief - as deep and profound as it may be - produces death it is not from God. On the other hand, if your grief leads to salvation without regret than you can be sure it is from the Lord.

I cannot tell you the number of times I have counseled someone whose grief only produced death. They were sorry they got caught. Sorry for the mess they found themselves in. Sorry for the way life turned out. Sorry for the bad choices they made. But they weren’t sorry enough to make a change. Their sorrow did not lead to repentance. It did not lead to surrender. It did not lead to submission. They still wanted control. Still wanted to be in charge. Still wanted to justify themselves. So we’d scratch the surface of their grief only to find excuses. Blame-shifting. Denial. As a result, their lives seemed perpetually locked in a death spiral.

At the same time, I have had the joy of walking with people through their grief as it produced salvation. Their sorrow was less about them and more about God. They had come face to face with the depth of their sin. The depth of their depravity. They realized no matter how hard they tried, they simply didn’t have it in them to make things right. In their despair, they cast themselves at the foot of the cross where they found freedom and healing. Hope for their journey. And all their regrets. All the guilt from past mistakes. All the shame they carried was washed away. They fixed their eyes on Christ. They surrendered to His love. Submitted to His will. Gave Him control over their lives. Scratch the surface of their grief and you find beauty. Joy. Peace. And they enter a virtuous cycle of living that leads to fulfillment and true happiness.

Where do you find yourself this morning? When confronted by the Spirit over mistakes you have made. Sins you have committed. Ways you have fallen short and let people down. How do you respond? Is your grief grounded in Christ or in the world? Does your repentance lead to a changed life or are you still holding onto past regrets? Let me encourage you to let go of the death-dealing ways of this world so that you may receive the life-giving Spirit of Christ.

Readings for tomorrow: Ecclesiastes 3-4, 2 Corinthians 9

Obscurity. Anonymity. Insignificance.

Readings for today: Proverbs 25-27, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1

Many years ago I heard God speak audibly. It doesn’t happen all that often to me. Most of the time God speaks to me through His Word or through other people but in this particular instance, God spoke directly to me. I heard His voice. He gave me three words - obscurity, anonymity, and insignificance. I was taken aback. These are not normally words I would associate with myself. In fact, my tendency is to go the opposite way. I like attention. I want to be known. More than anything else, I want to make a difference. Do something significant with my life. That’s how I knew these words were from God. They cut against the prideful grain of my heart. They confronted my natural arrogance and called me to a life of relinquishment, humility, and surrender.

When I asked God what He meant by giving me those words, He explained. “I want you to labor in obscurity, embrace anonymity, and pursue insignificance.” Again, this is not my natural way of operating. I was raised to work hard and chase success. My whole life has been wrapped up and even defined to a great extent by what I can achieve. I am naturally competitive. I like to stand out. I like to be honored. I live for the praise of those around me. That’s why God gave me these three words. God knows the sinful tendencies of my heart and He wants to set me free. So He called me to decrease rather than increase. He called me to a life of demotion rather than promotion. He called me to fade into the background rather than step into the limelight. One sees the same dynamic in play today in our reading from the Proverbs…

“Do not put yourself forward in the king’s presence or stand in the place of the great, for it is better to be told, “Come up here,” than to be put lower in the presence of a noble.” (Proverbs‬ ‭25:6-7‬)

“It is not good to eat much honey, nor is it glorious to seek one’s own glory.” (Proverbs‬ ‭25:27‬)

“Let another praise you, and not your own mouth; a stranger, and not your own lips.” (Proverbs‬ ‭27:2‬)

“The crucible is for silver, and the furnace is for gold, and a man is tested by his praise.” (Proverbs‬ ‭27:21‬)

Now why would God do this to me? Or as I have come to understand, why would God do this for me? It’s because He’s after my heart. He is shaping my heart to look like the heart of His Son. “As in water face reflects face, so the heart of man reflects the man.” (Proverbs‬ ‭27:19‬) God wants my heart to reflect His heart. Rather than pride, He wants humility. Rather than arrogance, He wants submission. Rather than striving to reach the top, He wants me to race to the bottom. The last shall be first and the first shall be last. The one who gives up his life shall find it. Jesus did not come to be served but to serve and to give His life as a ransom for many. The Son of God emptied Himself to become a slave, suffering the most humiliating death imaginable. To be made like Jesus is to take a similar journey. We humble ourselves under God’s mighty hand and in due time, according to His sovereign plan and purpose, He exalts us just as He did His Son.

Here’s the strange thing I’ve learned since I first heard God speak those words to me. The more I embrace them, the more He lifts me up. The more I pursue godly humility in my life, the more I find myself exalted in His presence. The more I empty my hands, the more He pours in. The more I let go of my trophies and achievements and honors, the more success He gives. What’s the difference between my former way of living and the way I live today? None of these things have a hold on me. In my former life, they would have become idols. They would enslave me. I would spend so much time and energy protecting them. Guarding them. Making sure everyone knew what I had earned. What I had achieved. What I deserved. Now I’ve been set free. God has unclenched my fists. He has opened my hands. All that I have is a gift from Him. A blessing from above. A grace I can enjoy without any pressure to perform.

Readings for tomorrow: None

Who’s in Control?

Readings for today: Proverbs 23-24, 2 Corinthians 5:1-6:13

Who’s in control? It’s a relevant question. Especially in our current cultural moment. Some argue it should be the government. The people charged to look out for our best interests. Those who have the authority to enforce the common good. But what happens when those same entities become corrupt? Influenced by power and money? Ideologically driven? How much control should they really be given? Some argue it should be the individual. Each person is responsible for themselves. They should be trusted to look out for their own best interests. They should have the power to make their own choices. But what happens when those choices result in consequences that negatively impact others? What happens when the choices we make become abusive, neglectful, irresponsible, or self-destructive? Do we really believe we are not influenced by selfish desire? Vanity? Ambition? Addiction? How much control can we really be trusted with?

The Bible makes it clear that God is in control. Whether we want to acknowledge it or not. Whether we want to accept it or not. God reigns over the universe and all that is in it. He runs things from His control room in heaven. His hand is always on the wheel. His sees all. He hears all. He knows all. And He exercises dominion over all He has made. To be sure, the world He has created exists in a state of rebellion against His sovereign will. The devil and his demons seek to disrupt God’s designs. The human race continually rejects His control over their lives which is why we experience so much suffering and pain. Thankfully, God is patient with us. He refuses to abandon us to our fate. He is constantly at work, taking all things - including the evil of this world - and bending them towards His purposes. He will not give up. He will not let go. He will not rest until all things are set right once again. This includes us. We are God’s chosen instruments sent out to proclaim the good news of what God has done to re-assert His control over the world. In Christ, God has re-staked His claim over the world and over our lives. In Christ, He has rescued us from the dominion of the devil. In Christ, He has redeemed us and set us free.

This is the heart of the message the Apostle Paul proclaims in our reading for today. Listen to his words again…“For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that one has died for all, therefore all have died; and he died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for him who for their sake died and was raised. From now on, therefore, we regard no one according to the flesh. Even though we once regarded Christ according to the flesh, we regard him thus no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come. All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation; that is, in Christ God was reconciling the world to himself, not counting their trespasses against them, and entrusting to us the message of reconciliation. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, God making his appeal through us. We implore you on behalf of Christ, be reconciled to God. For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God. Working together with him, then, we appeal to you not to receive the grace of God in vain. For he says, “In a favorable time I listened to you, and in a day of salvation I have helped you.” Behold, now is the favorable time; behold, now is the day of salvation.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭5:14-6:2)‬‬

What is salvation ultimately? It is the re-assertion of God’s sovereign control over our lives. It is our humble submission to Him as Lord. It is our acknowledgement that He now is our King. Our lives are His to command. Our resources are His to use as He sees fit. Our talent and time and energy and passion are His to direct so that He might accomplish His purposes in and through us. We are no longer our own. We are new creations. We no longer represent ourselves. We are ambassadors for Christ. We no longer get to be in control rather it is the love of Christ that controls us. What does that mean? It means we no longer regard anyone according to the flesh but treat every human being no matter their creed, color, or culture as someone beloved by God. Made in His image. A creature of inestimable worth and value in God’s sight. It means we join Christ in His mission to make disciples of all nations, starting with the people living right outside our front door. It also means the work begins right now. In this moment. For now is indeed the favorable time! Today is indeed the day of salvation!

Readings for tomorrow: Proverbs 25-27, 2 Corinthians 6:14-7:1

Jars of Clay

Readings for today: Proverbs 21-22, 2 Corinthians 4

I have this clay pot on my desk. A friend gave it to me years ago. She bought it in Egypt from a local vendor who literally spent his days forming these vessels out of clay and letting them bake in the sun before taking them to market to sell. It’s simple. Ordinary. Fairly fragile. I imagine if I used it day in and day out like most people over in that part of the world, it would become chipped and cracked. Eventually it break apart altogether.

I think about this pot every time I read Paul’s words to the Corinthians. “But we have this treasure in jars of clay, to show that the surpassing power belongs to God and not to us. ” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:7) You and I are no different than the pot that sits on my desk. Simple. Ordinary. Fragile. It doesn’t take much to wound us. Hurt us. Chip us. Crack us. Break us. And yet God is His unsurpassed wisdom and grace has entrusted to us the treasure of the gospel. Through His Spirit He has deposited Christ into our hearts. And we now carry Him with us wherever we go.

There is a lot of pressure in our world to be perfect. To never let anyone see you sweat. To pretend like we have it altogether. It’s why so many compromise. It’s why so many turn to “disgraceful, underhanded ways” or “practice cunning or to tamper with God’s word…” (2 Cor. 4:2) They are trying to maintain an image. On the flip side, there seems to be just as much pressure - especially among younger leaders - to be “real” and “authentic.” Doubts. Questions. “Deconstructing the faith” has become extremely popular, not to mention lucrative, to many with a platform. They often curate their brokenness on social media in the service of self-promotion. Both views are deeply misguided because they both focus on the pot rather than the Potter. They focus on the jar of clay rather than the treasure hidden within. They flip the script and ascribe power to the person rather than to God which is why all such efforts eventually fall apart. I’ve seen it happen far too many times in my own life. I’ve seen it happen far to many times in the lives of those I love and admire.

We are weak and feeble. We are foolish and ignorant. We are anxious and afraid. Each one of our “jars” is chipped and cracked and broken in so many different ways. But when we see ourselves as Jesus sees us, we see past all the hurts, wounds, and scars to the treasure deposited within. We see the light of Christ shining through all our imperfections, giving light and life and blessing to those around us. We understand the “vessels” we inhabit are ultimately not what’s most important. Rather it is Christ in us that is the hope of glory! So it doesn’t matter what hardships we suffer or what injustices we face. We recognize this world has nothing for us. It is not our home. We can spend our lives in service to Christ. We can wear these bodies out for the sake of Christ’s mission in this world. We can exhaust our resources and our time and our energy. We can leave it all on the field so to speak, trusting there is a greater prize awaiting us in heaven. I love how Paul describes his own life, “We are afflicted in every way, but not crushed; perplexed, but not driven to despair; persecuted, but not forsaken; struck down, but not destroyed; always carrying in the body the death of Jesus, so that the life of Jesus may also be manifested in our bodies. For we who live are always being given over to death for Jesus' sake, so that the life of Jesus also may be manifested in our mortal flesh. So death is at work in us, but life in you.” (2 Corinthians‬ ‭4:8-12‬)

Paul gets it. His whole life has prepared him for this moment. All his training. Upbringing. Wealth. Power. Privilege. All of it is now poured out like a drink offering before Christ. He must die so others may live. He must give away all he has for the sake of those who do not know Jesus Christ. He must surrender all his needs, wants, and desires for the sake of the mission of proclaiming Christ. He understands the true worth of the treasure he carries inside and he lets his life become a living testimony to the surpassing power of Christ.

This is how the gospel spreads from one generation to the next. From one region of the world to the next. Through ordinary men and women who come face to face with the pearl of great price and sell all they have as a response. Ordinary people like you and me who grasp the infinite worth of the treasure we hold and do all we can to give it away to others.

Readings for tomorrow: Proverbs 23-24, 2 Corinthians 5:1-6:13