The God who Weeps

Readings for today: Jeremiah 5-8

“My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me. Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" "Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?" "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people! Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.” (‭Jeremiah‬ ‭8:18-22‬, 9:1-3)

Admittedly, I am pushing into tomorrow’s reading with today’s devotional but this passage from the end of Jeremiah 8 is one of the most poignant in all of Scripture and it bleeds into the beginning of chapter 9. Most English translations put these words in Jeremiah’s mouth. Primarily because of how uncomfortable we are with God experiencing deep, heartbreaking grief. As Western Christians we are heavily influenced by Platonic thought whether we realize it or not. We tend to believe God is fundamentally distant. Fundamentally different. Fundamentally beyond all human experience, including emotions. We believe He is untouchable. Unmovable. Unchangeable. We associate emotions with feelings of change. Instability. Unpredictability. And these things cannot be true of God...right? 

But what if we were willing to embrace a different understanding of emotions? A deeper understanding? Again, it is without question that God experiences emotions. Love. Anger. Frustration. Joy. We read about them over and over again and they are not simply anthropomorphisms. (A way for God to express Himself in human terms we can understand. Ex. “The arm of the Lord...”) What if our understanding of God could be expanded to include the full range of emotions? What if us having emotions is part of being made in God’s image? What if our “emotionalism”, which breeds the feelings of instability and unpredictability, is actually a result of sin and brokenness? What if God, because He remains untouched by sin, is able to experience all emotions without being driven by them? 

This brings us back to the passage cited above. God is expressing the deepest, most heartbreaking grief possible.  ”My joy is gone; grief is upon me; my heart is sick within me.” God is experiencing an incredible sense of loss. His people have betrayed Him. They have abandoned Him. And then they have turned around and blamed Him. “Behold, the cry of the daughter of my people from the length and breadth of the land: "Is the Lord not in Zion? Is her King not in her?" They refuse to bow the knee. Refuse to repent and return to Him. Refuse to humble themselves before Him. Quite the opposite. They brazenly continue in sin. "Why have they provoked me to anger with their carved images and with their foreign idols?" This is a stiff-necked people. A foolish people. A rebellious people. They take their relationship with God for granted. They are entitled. They are spoiled. They assume God will come to their rescue despite their unwillingness to walk in His ways. "The harvest is past, the summer is ended, and we are not saved." 

The perspective shifts back to God. “For the wound of the daughter of my people is my heart wounded; I mourn, and dismay has taken hold on me. Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the health of the daughter of my people not been restored?” “Oh that my head were waters, and my eyes a fountain of tears, that I might weep day and night for the slain of the daughter of my people!” Again, one pictures deep, heavy sobs. God weeping a flood of tears. God experiencing unimaginable pain. Because He has freely joined Himself in an unbreakable covenant with His people, their wounds become His wounds. Their pain becomes His pain. Their heartbreak becomes His heartbreak. Things get so bad, God wishes He could leave. Abandon them to their fate. Leave the Temple in Jerusalem and return to the wilderness. To the time when He tabernacled with them on the Exodus journey. “Oh that I had in the desert a travelers' lodging place, that I might leave my people and go away from them! For they are all adulterers, a company of treacherous men. They bend their tongue like a bow; falsehood and not truth has grown strong in the land; for they proceed from evil to evil, and they do not know me, declares the Lord.” But the Tabernacle is gone. There is no lodging place in the desert God can run to. He is stuck. He is committed. He will endure. This is the great faithfulness of our God! It is costly. It is hard. It is painful. But it remains true. 

Really, God is being faithful to Himself here. Faithful to the promise He has made. To be our God, come hell or high water. This was the message He communicated through the covenant He first made with Abraham in Genesis 15 and sealed through the death and resurrection of His Beloved Son Jesus Christ. His steadfast love establishes the fundamental reality of our lives. The bedrock on which we can build our lives. Without fear. Without shame. Without worry that somehow, someway there will come a day when God will finally lose patience and abandon us. God will not leave us or forsake us for in doing so He would be unfaithful to Himself. Let this truth be your firm foundation today, friends!

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 9-12

The Suffering of God

Readings for today: Jeremiah 1-4

Jeremiah is a hard book to read. Especially if one gets in touch with the pain present throughout. Not only Jeremiah’s pain as he watches his people and his nation struggle and suffer and eventually be destroyed. But God’s pain as well as His people betray Him by chasing after other gods. So intertwined is the pain of God with His prophet that it is often hard to know who’s speaking. For example, Jeremiah  4:19 says, “My anguish, my anguish! I writhe in pain! Oh the walls of my heart! My heart is beating wildly; I cannot keep silent, for I hear the sound of the trumpet, the alarm of war.” (Jeremiah‬ ‭4:19‬) Traditionally, these words have been ascribed to Jeremiah himself because we simply cannot fathom God saying such things. However, when one looks closely at the text, it is clear God is speaking in verse 18 (“Your ways and your deeds have brought this upon you. This is your doom, and it is bitter; it has reached your very heart.”) and in verse 22 (“For my people are foolish; they know me not; they are stupid children; they have no understanding. They are 'wise'—in doing evil! But how to do good they know not.”) Is it possible that we are so uncomfortable with the idea that God might feel pain that we automatically bracket this reading out of the text? 

We’re going to see this dynamic pop up over and over again throughout this book and it forces us to come to grips with how we see and understand God. Classically, the question goes to the “impassibility” of God. The idea that God doesn’t have “passions” or “pathos” which has to do with suffering. Some have interpreted this to mean God doesn’t have emotions but that’s clearly not true. God expresses a whole range of emotions all throughout the Scriptures. More specifically this idea has to do with the suffering of God. Can God suffer? Does such suffering suggest a change in God? Does it threaten the immutability of His nature and character? Historically, the answer has been “yes” which then forces us to find other explanations for what we read in texts like the one before us today. But what if God suffers? What if God chooses - in His freedom - to be the kind of God who moves towards suffering? Who embraces suffering? Who welcomes suffering without it changing who He is? Is this not the heart of the gospel? Is this not part of the mystery of the Incarnation? Eternal God choosing to take on human flesh? With all its weaknesses and struggles and hardships? Is this not the heart of the passion of our Christ? God suffering with us and for us even to the point of death?  

It seems to me that we lose nothing by embracing the pathos of God if we understand God has embraced such pathos according to His own will and good pleasure. Certainly, suffering is not forced on God. It doesn’t take God by surprise. It doesn’t enact a change on God’s experience. God is beyond all these things. He truly is immutable or unchanging. He is the same yesterday, today and forever. There is no shadow or turning in Him. But at the same time, God has revealed Himself in a particular, one might even argue, peculiar kind of way. He is a God who embraces a broken creation. A God who covenants with a broken people. A God who is steadfast and faithful and loyal and true even in the face of evil. He is a God who likens His relationship with His people to a marriage and the faithlessness of His people to adultery. He frequently uses the language of betrayal and heartache and pain to express His dismay over the sinful choices His people make. No one forces God to remain faithful. No one makes God forgive. No outside force can drive God to do anything He Himself has not already chosen to do in complete freedom. Which makes passages like the one we read today and others like it throughout the book of Jeremiah so intriguing. 

What if God is in anguish over us? What if being in relationship with us breaks God’s heart? What if God’s choice to love us from before the foundations of the earth involved Him choosing unimaginable suffering? Would this change how you relate to Him? Change how you see Him? Change how you experience Him? Change how you love Him?  

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 5-8

Apocalypse Now

Readings for today: Joel 1-3

We live in apocalyptic times. If you listen to the media or to the conversations happening on social media feeds, it seems like the world is coming to an end any day now…unless we vote for their candidate. All politics and social policy is now cast in terms of good and evil. We’re fighting a zero sum game in a never-ending culture war. “Re-elect President Trump and the world goes to hell.” “Elect Vice President Biden and the world goes to hell.” Or so we hear. America’s perch as the world’s leading superpower is being threatened by China and Russia. The great American experiment in democracy seems to be teetering on the brink. Capitalism which has driven wealth-creation on a scale never before seen in human history is broken. Any trust we once had in the institutional strength of the checks and balances of the different branches of government is gone as we watch Congress continue to flail about. It’s hard to live in the twilight of an empire. Compound it with a global pandemic, ethnic strife, and a complete lack of any kind of godly leadership and we end up resonating with what the prophet Joel was going through as he watched the sun set on the southern kingdom of Judah…

“What the cutting locust left, the swarming locust has eaten. What the swarming locust left, the hopping locust has eaten, and what the hopping locust left, the destroying locust has eaten.” (‭‭Joel‬ ‭1:4‬) King Josiah was dead. The brief flicker of hope had gone out. The locusts were on the march. The Babylonians were on the move. No one would escape. Swarm after swarm. Army after army would march through Israel, burning everything to the ground. Jerusalem would be destroyed. The Temple razed. Not a stone would be left on top of another. So what are the people of God to do? Send out a Twitter blast? Riot in the streets? Overturn the government? Burn down the establishment? No…

“Consecrate a fast; call a solemn assembly. Gather the elders and all the inhabitants of the land to the house of the Lord your God, and cry out to the Lord…Yet even now,” declares the Lord, “return to me with all your heart, with fasting, with weeping, and with mourning; and rend your hearts and not your garments.” Return to the Lord your God, for he is gracious and merciful, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love; and he relents over disaster.” (Joel 1:14, 2:12-13) The appropriate response is always repentance. Always humility before the Lord. Turning to Him with all our hearts. Relinquishing any sense of control. Letting go of our anger. Refusing to cling to whatever power and privilege we have left. Resisting the temptation to play the blame game. Looking in the mirror to see how we have contributed to the mess we are in. Honestly acknowledging our sin. Yes, it feels like disaster is on the horizon. Yes, there is so much fear and anxiety in our world. Yes, we have become prideful and arrogant and entitled and spoiled. We have forgotten our first love. We have abandoned true worship of God in favor of idols. We have taken all the blessings God has given us for granted. We deserve our fate. And yet…

“I will restore to you the years that the swarming locust has eaten, the hopper, the destroyer, and the cutter, my great army, which I sent among you.” (Joel 2:25) There simply is no end to God’s grace. No matter how many times we fall. No matter how many times we fail. No matter how corrupt and selfish and greedy we become, God is quick to forgive if we will be confess our sin before Him. If we will express but grieve over what we have done or what we have left undone. God’s mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is great. His love never fails. This is our hope! This is our joy! This is our peace! But God doesn’t stop there. He doesn’t just restore us, He actually sends us out to declare this same gospel to the nations…

“And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my Spirit on all flesh; your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, and your young men shall see visions.” (Joel‬ ‭2:28) God’s grace is not something we keep to ourselves. It is a gift designed to be given away. A blessing we offer to others. Something we share with the world around us. God poured out His Spirit on His people at Pentecost. It’s like He turned on the faucet and left it running for two thousand years. There is no end to the Spirit of God which is why billions around the world today call on His name. If you are a Christian, you have been drenched in His life-giving flow. You have been indwelt by His life-giving power. You have been filled by His life-giving presence. This sets you apart. This makes you different. You are now the salt of the earth, called to help preserve her from all evil. You are the light of the world, called to help put an end to darkness. Our hope, friends, is not in the coming election but in the Spirit of God working through the people of God to proclaim the gospel of God to a dead and dying world.

Readings for tomorrow: Jeremiah 1-4

A Conversation with God

Readings for today: Habakkuk 1-3

Sometimes it’s easy to miss the forest for the trees. We find ourselves deep in the weeds when we read and lose sight of the larger message. Today’s book is a good example. Habakkuk is an obscure prophet. Not much is known about him. There is no biographical information listed. This is the only work attributed to him. But careful study of the book suggests he was living in Jerusalem around 612 B.C. which locates him towards the end of the reign of King Josiah. The Babylonian (Chaldean) empire is on the rise and will soon sweep in to destroy Jerusalem thus fulfilling the prophecy given to Hezekiah who pridefully showed off the treasure of his nation to Babylonian envoys decades earlier. This whole book is a prayer. A conversation between God and his prophet. As such, it represents an invitation. God inviting us to engage in a similar conversation with Him over our nation today.

“O Lord, how long shall I cry for help, and you will not hear? Or cry to you “Violence!” and you will not save? Why do you make me see iniquity, and why do you idly look at wrong? Destruction and violence are before me; strife and contention arise. So the law is paralyzed, and justice never goes forth. For the wicked surround the righteous; so justice goes forth perverted.” ‭‭(Habakkuk‬ ‭1:2-4‬) I don’t know about you but I can relate to these words. I look around at the brutality and racism so many of my friends of color endure. I see the abuse heaped upon law enforcement as they try and stand between rioters and the destruction of private property. I watch as our leaders incite violence by their actions and inaction. I watch as evil is called good and good is called evil. It does feel like the law is paralyzed. It does feel like justice is not just delayed but denied. It does feel like the righteous are an ever-dwindling number. What is God’s response?

“Look among the nations, and see; wonder and be astounded. For I am doing a work in your days that you would not believe if told.” ‭‭(Habakkuk‬ ‭1:5‬) God is at work in our world. He is raising up His church in places like South America and Africa and Asia. Millions are coming to Christ in these places and the center of Christianity is shifting. It is dying in the West. Europe is fully post-Christian. America is quickly hastening in the same direction. Thankfully, God doesn’t need us. He moves on. He moves in and among a people who will seek Him with all their hearts. And while it’s heartbreaking to live through times of decline. Times when it seems like our spiritual heritage is being squandered. It is nothing new. Christianity has always tended to “die” when it achieves cultural dominance and it tends to grow exponentially in places where it is persecuted and oppressed. This has been true throughout history.

“Are you not from everlasting, O Lord my God, my Holy One? We shall not die. O Lord, you have ordained them as a judgment, and you, O Rock, have established them for reproof…I will take my stand at my watchpost and station myself on the tower, and look out to see what he will say to me, and what I will answer concerning my complaint.” (Habakkuk 1:12, 2:1) Habakkuk accepts God’s judgment. He doesn’t fight it. He understands God’s ways are higher than his ways. God’s thoughts are higher than his thoughts. God’s purposes transcend the fate of nations…even the fate of Israel! God’s judgments are always righteous and true. So rather than fight or complain or question, Habakkuk simply and humbly and faithfully takes up his post. He is a watchman for Israel. He will warn them of the coming judgment. He will stand as witness of the wrath to come. Most importantly, however, he will be a beacon of hope for he knows God will keep faith with Israel and redeem them in the end.

“And the Lord answered me: “Write the vision; make it plain on tablets, so he may run who reads it. For still the vision awaits its appointed time; it hastens to the end—it will not lie. If it seems slow, wait for it; it will surely come; it will not delay. Behold, his soul is puffed up; it is not upright within him, but the righteous shall live by his faith…For the earth will be filled with the knowledge of the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea…But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth keep silence before him.” ‭‭(Habakkuk‬ ‭2:2-4, 14, 20‬) God will never abandon His people completely. He will never break His covenant of faithfulness with us. He loves us which is why He disciplines us. He cares for us which is why He refuses to let us persist in our sin. He is passionate and fierce and jealous for us so He will not let us wallow in our own mess. His judgment is always right. The pain and suffering He allows is intended to purify. Sanctity. Bring us back to Him. At the end of the day, God cares most for His glory. The mandate issued at creation will be fulfilled. The earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord! The earth will bow in silence before Him as He enters His temple!

“Though the fig tree should not blossom, nor fruit be on the vines, the produce of the olive fail and the fields yield no food, the flock be cut off from the fold and there be no herd in the stalls, yet I will rejoice in the Lord; I will take joy in the God of my salvation. God, the Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet like the deer’s; he makes me tread on my high places.” ‭‭(Habakkuk‬ ‭3:17-19‬) This is why Habakkuk ends with a song. He sings praises to His God. He knows God is faithful. God is true. God is good. God is glorious and will bring His will to pass on the earth. Habakkuk doesn’t need to worry. Habakkuk doesn’t need to be anxious. Even as he watches God’s judgment come on God’s people, Habakkuk knows God’s love never fails.

We are living through such challenging times. Like Habakkuk, we look around us and it seems like the fig trees aren’t blossoming. There is no fruit on the vines. The harvest has failed and our flocks are dying. People are getting sick. Businesses are closings. Savings are drying up. Retirement funds are disappearing. Everything we have spent our entire lives working for is being lost. So what do we do? Will we rejoice in the Lord? Will we take joy in the God of our salvation? Will we rely on God who is our strength?

Readings for tomorrow: Joel 1-3

Spiritual Renewal

Readings for today: 2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35

Josiah is one of my favorites. So much so, I named my son after him. His heart is pure. He seeks the Lord. He humbles himself when he hears God’s Word. He obeys God’s commands. He purges the land of idolatry and evil. He re-institutes right worship. It’s amazing. His faithfulness to the Lord spawns a revival in the land. The people follow his lead. And Israel staves off disaster for yet another generation.

As a pastor, I’ve been blessed to part of such spiritual renewals. I saw it in seminary when I worked in New Jersey State Prison. The inmate church loved the Word of God. They had godly leaders like Nathan and Philip and Rich and Sam and so many others. Black, white, and brown. All passionately committed to the Lord and the results were incredible. I saw it in my first church in Mobile. A group of people who loved Jesus and His Word and loved each other and who were willing to take the risk to follow a young, naive preacher into some crazy ministry. They had godly leaders like Buddy, Daisy, Bill, Sissy, Deb and so many others. All passionately committed to the Lord and the results were incredible. I’ve seen it in my current church. A people who love the Word of God and each other and our community. We have an unbelievable number of godly leaders from all walks of life. All passionately committed to the Lord and the results we’re seeing are incredible.

Does it mean there aren’t challenges? Of course not. Spiritual renewal never progresses in a straight line. It’s not always up and to the right. Not everyone accepts it. Not everything goes well. There are always setbacks along the way. Fighting idolatry is hard. Fighting ingrained behavior is hard. Fighting the naturally selfish and sinful heart is hard. But if godly leaders remain faithful to the Lord. Preach and teach His Word. Obey His commands. Revival comes. Renewal comes. Not always in the way we expect. Not always according to our measures for success. But it comes nonetheless because God shows His favor on those who passionately seek Him.

This has wide implications not only for us as individuals or for the local church. Josiah is the leader of a nation. His example sets the tone for all of God’s people. He uses his influence to change hearts and minds and lead his people to a closer relationship with the Lord. The same could be true for every community. Every city. Every county. Every state. Even for our entire nation. But we need godly leaders to show us the way. Godly character is the most important quality in an elected leader. A heart after God. A heart that is committed to Him with a passion to serve Him and to see all peoples be blessed in His name. This is what our world needs and it begins with each one of us. Are we such leaders? In our homes? In our schools? In our neighborhoods? In our places of work? Are we such leaders in our churches? In our communities? In our world? How are we leveraging our godly influence in order to bring spiritual renewal to our land?

Godly Humility

Readings for today: Zephaniah 1-3

I once met a man who gave up a six figure income in the US to return to his native country of Rwanda where he did not draw a salary for three straight years. He went from being in the top 1% of the world’s wealthiest people to the bottom 1% of the world’s poor. He gave up security and safety to live in danger and place his family at risk. He gave up power and influence and privilege in one of the world’s most significant NGO’s to work among those who have been forgotten. When I expressed my admiration for such a sacrifice, his response was confusion. “What sacrifice?” he said. “My life is not my own. My life has never been my own. My life is in the hands of God to do with as He wills.” This, friends, is godly humility. 

“But I will leave in your midst a people humble and lowly. They shall seek refuge in the name of the Lord...” (Zephaniah‬ ‭3:12‬) It is hard to overstate the importance of humility to the Christian faith. Humility is what keeps us grounded before the Lord. Humility is what keeps us dependent on Him. Humility is what opens our hands and our hearts, allowing us to release those things in which we too often place our trust. Wealth. Health. Power. Privilege. Status. Authority. Pride. We are fools to place our trust in these things and yet it is so hard to resist temptation. We who have so much actually fall prey to our own desires. Our ability to gratify those desires instantaneously only serves to tighten our bonds. Thinking we are free, we choose to become slaves and there’s nothing more pitiful than a free man or woman choosing to remain in bondage. Nothing more heartbreaking than sitting in a cell with the door wide open, refusing to leave. This is the state we find ourselves in today. Our culture has made “Self” a god and the result is entitlement. Narcissism. Selfishness. Greed. Self-protection. Far too many of us worship at this altar and it is leading us to destruction.

So how do we resist this temptation? How can we uproot Self out of the center of our lives and re-focus our devotion around God? Humility. The fundamental recognition that my life is not my own. My future is not mine to determine. My hopes are not set on the limited horizons of this world. My happiness does not come from chasing temporal pleasures. Humility honors God as sovereign over all of life, including my own. Humility submits. Humility surrenders. Humility bows before the God of the universe and willingly entrusts Him with all that we are and all that we have. This is the secret that my friend understood. He owned nothing. Not his house. Not his salary. Not his job. Not his family. Not his lifestyle. Not his degrees. Not his professional success. Not his future. None of it was his to hold onto. All of it came from God and all of it was used by God as He wills for His good pleasure. So when God called him to leave Colorado Springs and move to Kigali to help his people recover from the genocide, he went. No questions asked. The Master called. My friend answered. The King issued a command. My friend obeyed. The Father made an appeal. My friend responded in faith. Though life has been much harder. Much more difficult. Much more painful and heartbreaking. He has no regrets.  

Humility. Not just an attitude of the heart. Not just a thought process in the mind. But a way of life. It means holding onto the things of this world loosely, knowing the Lord may require them at any time. It means holding onto our hopes and dreams loosely, knowing the Lord may change course at any time. It means holding onto even our pain and heartbreaks and suffering loosely, knowing the Lord often leads His people through such experiences to teach them of His sufficiency. It means holding onto our strength and safety and security loosely, knowing the Lord may demand even our lives at any time. 

Now all this may sound very scary. Very frightening if this has not been your path. Here’s the good news. God doesn’t ask for blind obedience. He doesn’t require us to step into the great unknown. He gives this promise to all who walk humbly before Him...“The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing. I will gather those of you who mourn for the festival, so that you will no longer suffer reproach. Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes," says the Lord.” (‭Zephaniah‬ ‭3:17-20‬) God can be trusted. God is true to His Word. His faithfulness never ends. His love never fails. Simply believe and let God take you by the hand today. 

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 22-23, 2 Chronicles 34-35

Jealous God

Readings for today: Nahum 1-3

“Behold, I am against you, declares the Lord of hosts, and will lift up your skirts over your face; and I will make nations look at your nakedness and kingdoms at your shame. I will throw filth at you and treat you with contempt and make you a spectacle.” (Nahum‬ ‭3:5-6‬)

Some things you can’t unsee. Like the time I ran my first Bolder Boulder several years ago and saw the male belly dancers around mile four! :-) On a more serious note, now that I’ve become aware of the “honor/shame” dynamic running through all of Scripture, it seems like it’s everywhere. Why does God judge Nineveh with such harshness? Why is He not just content to have the victory but goes further, grinding them into dust? Why does He put their nation to open shame? Lifting their skirts. Exposing their nakedness. Demonstrating before the whole world their powerlessness? Why does He go as far as to throw excrement at them and make them a spectacle? Because God is a jealous God. Jealous for His honor. Jealous for His glory. Jealous for His name. 

The nation of Assyria has enjoyed their time in the sun. Their chariots have rolled all over the Middle East like an ancient blitzkrieg. Their empire is great. Their power limitless. Their military without equal. But they’ve grown proud. They’ve exceeded the limits God set for them. They’ve become drunk with their success. Though they served as the rod of God’s anger against the northern kingdom of Israel, He must now bring them to heel. He must again demonstrate His sovereignty over ALL the nations. Remember the words of the Assyrian commander to King Hezekiah when they besieged Jerusalem? How they dared to compare Almighty God with the small tribal gods of the pagan nations? It’s worth going back and re-reading the story from 2 Kings 18 again. Such disdain and disrespect draws God’s ire. Not because it hurts His ego but because it offends His sacred and holy honor. God will not be mocked! The Creator will not allow His creatures to treat Him this way. They will learn to honor God. They will learn to respect God. They will learn to submit to God. He will bring them to their knees one way or the other because there is one thing God cares about more than the creatures He made in His own image and that is Himself. His glory. His honor. His fame. His name WILL be great upon the earth!

“The Lord is a jealous and avenging God; the Lord is avenging and wrathful; the Lord takes vengeance on his adversaries and keeps wrath for his enemies. The Lord is slow to anger and great in power, and the Lord will by no means clear the guilty. His way is in whirlwind and storm, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. He rebukes the sea and makes it dry; he dries up all the rivers; Bashan and Carmel wither; the bloom of Lebanon withers. The mountains quake before him; the hills melt; the earth heaves before him, the world and all who dwell in it. Who can stand before his indignation? Who can endure the heat of his anger? His wrath is poured out like fire, and the rocks are broken into pieces by him.” (Nahum‬ ‭1:2-6‬) Assyria will learn this lesson in spades. As will the other nations who dare defy the Living God. 

But what about God’s people? What is our response to this God? How should we approach this God? With fear and trembling? On some level, yes. With humility and submission? Certainly. With terror and dread? Absolutely not! Why? Because our God is also good. And He loves His people. He is faithful to His people. “The Lord is good, a stronghold in the day of trouble; he knows those who take refuge in him.” (Nahum‬ ‭1:7‬)

So...are you living a life of humble submission before the Lord? Or prideful rebellion? Is God an ever-present reality in your life or does He seem distant? Someone to call on in case of emergency? Do you seek to love God with all your heart or are you apathetic towards His commandments? What about His honor and glory? Do these things cross your mind when you work? When you parent? When you’re among friends? When you relate to your husband or wife? When you vote? When you engage in the public square? Is your worship focused on praising God and pleasing God or are you more concerned with your personal preferences? These are critical questions, friends, in light of what Nahum shares with us today. It is indeed a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the Living God!

Readings for tomorrow: Zephaniah 1-3

Rationality of Evil

Readings for today: 2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33

No one sets out to be evil. No one wakes up in the morning thinking to themselves, “How many bad things can I get away with today?” No parent raises their child to love evil. No child sets out to stick it to their parents by becoming as evil as possible. No one starts out loving evil and no one makes evil their life goal. So why then is evil so prevalent in our world today?

Evil is what happens when we set our hearts on something other than God. As soon as we displace God in our hearts, evil becomes far more rational. For example, as soon as I set my heart on loving someone other than my wife, adultery becomes rational. As soon as I set my heart on achieving some position or some promotion, lying about other candidates becomes rational. As soon as I set my heart on wealth, greed becomes rational. As soon as I set my heart on political power, corruption becomes rational. With me so far? Any time we set our sights on something lower than God. Something lesser than God. Something other than God, we are opening the door to evil. When we set our hearts and minds on God, we naturally follow God’s will because we know it is the only way to arrive at God’s purpose for our lives. To pursue any other end. To chase any other dream. To set any other goal means we must find another way. We must take another path. We walk a different road. And that road - by definition - leads to sin and evil and death.

Consider the case of Manasseh. A young man raised by a godly king in the lap of luxury in Jerusalem. He became king at the very young age of twelve. He reigned for over fifty years. And during that time, he engaged in all manner of evil. Why? Why would a young man, raised on the stories of his faithful father and the miracles God had wrought, turn to idolatry? One clue comes in 2 Kings 21:2 where it says, “Manasseh did what was evil in the sight of the Lord according to the despicable practices of the nations whom the Lord drove out before the people of Israel.” You say, why would he want to do that? Perhaps he could sense the coming demise of his own kingdom. Perhaps he looked around at some of the other nations and coveted their power and wealth. Perhaps he wanted to fit in. Wanted to be esteemed in the eyes of his royal peers. After all, his father had this fatal flaw, right? Showed the Babylonian envoys all his wealth in order to impress them? Whatever it was, I seriously doubt Manasseh got up one day after being crowned king and did a U-turn. I doubt he set out to do evil. I doubt he thought to himself, “How can I become the most evil king in Israelite history?” Again, no one sets out to do evil. Evil is what happens when you’re on your way to somewhere else.

So where is your life headed? What are your life goals? If someone were to challenge you at whatever stage of life you find yourself in to write them down, where would God fall on your list? Seriously. Be honest with yourself. No senses in hiding. It’s not like God doesn’t already know. If someone were to look at your calendar. Look at your checking account. Look at your social media feed. Look at the way you vote and the causes you advocate for and why you advocate for them. If they were to interview your spouse. Your children. Your close friends. What would they find? What would these sources reveal? Would they show a strong commitment to the Lord or would they tell a different tale? Remember, “evil” is defined by God as putting anything before Him in your life. It’s not just a term reserved for the Hitlers of our world. So where do you stand? If you find yourself on the “evil” side of the ledger, don’t lose heart. Manasseh repented and God answered his prayer. Trust me when I say God will answer your prayer as well if you but turn to Him.

Readings for tomorrow: Nahum 1-3

Potter’s Hand

Readings for today: Isaiah 64-66

I have this vivid memory from two years ago when Kristi and I got the opportunity to eat dinner with some new friends at a rooftop restaurant overlooking Kigali in Rwanda. It was a beautiful evening spent eating great food and having great conversations. Jason and Kimberly Peters were our hosts that week. Jason serves as the CEO of Hope Haven and lives there off and on with his family. Pastor Jimmy and his wife Sharol lead Potter’s Hand Church in Kigali and Pastor Jimmy was instrumental in helping build Hope Haven due to his civil engineering background and experience in construction.

During the course of the meal, Pastor Jimmy shared his story with us and it has stuck with me. He is a trained civil engineer who has worked all over Rwanda. He has advanced degrees from more than one university. He has not only led many projects but consulted on many more and is very well-respected. In fact, prior to getting involved in ministry, he had an opportunity to go to work for some large construction firms in overseeing some of the key infrastructure work in his country. However, God had a different plan for Jimmy’s life. At the same time his professional career was taking off, he was serving part-time as an assistant pastor in his church. They had a crisis of leadership. It was extremely painful and resulted in many people leaving, including several of their key leaders. Jimmy was asked to fill the gap. He had a decision to make. Should he take the exciting, lucrative job offer from the government or take the difficult, low-paying job of helping his church recover? As he prayed, God led him to verses like this one from Isaiah 64:8, “But now, O Lord, you are our Father; we are the clay, and you are our potter; we are all the work of your hand.” 

Jimmy knew the call had come. He was to serve the church. He gave up his position and power and wealth and political influence to serve a church broken by conflict. A church struggling to make ends meet. A church that was coming apart at the seams. He gathered the elders and leaders together and shared the verse God had given him. They renamed the church “Potter’s Hand.” I wish I could tell you some great story of success. Some great story about how God has honored Pastor Jimmy’s choice by bringing prosperity and rapid growth to the congregation. What I can tell you is the story Jimmy shared with me. The story of God’s abiding faithfulness to a small group of people hungry for the gospel with a passion to serve God’s Kingdom. Pastor Jimmy has led his congregation well. Much healing has taken place. The church is growing. God is moving. But it is long, hard work. There are leadership challenges. Financial challenges. Ministry challenges. And yet, the verse God gave Pastor Jimmy before he stepped into this ministry continues to guide them. He is the Potter. We are the clay. The clay doesn’t ask the Potter, “Why have you made me like this?” The clay doesn’t question the Potter’s plans for it’s life. The clay doesn’t worry because the Potter knows what He’s doing. He is shaping us for His own glory.  

It’s an ancient insight that still holds true today. What was true for the prophet Isaiah has held true for Pastor Jimmy. CEO Jason. Pastor Doug. And everyone who calls on the name of the Lord. God is the master potter. We are his clay. He has us right where He wants us...on His wheel...and He is shaping us to serve His purposes in this world. We have no need to ask Him, “Why?” No need to question His plans. We simply are called to trust and obey. To let the Potter do what the Potter does best. What is the Potter doing in your life today? How is He shaping you? How is He forming you? Where is He at work in you? Give Him thanks no matter what season you find yourself in.  

Readings for tomorrow: 2 Kings 21, 2 Chronicles 33

The Hope of a Redeemer

Readings for today: Isaiah 59-63

I don’t know about you but when I opened my Bible this morning and began reading chapter 59 of Isaiah, I could not help but read it as a Word from the Lord to our nation today. Yes, God’s hand is not shortened. God’s ability to save has not diminished in the slightest. God has not grown hard of hearing. His eyes are not blind to our suffering. So what is He waiting for? What stays His hand of salvation? What keeps Him from stepping in? God is waiting for repentance. He is waiting for us to turn to Him. Waiting for us to relinquish our wicked ways. Waiting for us to stop embracing sin as a means to our own selfish ends.

“Behold, the Lord’s hand is not shortened, that it cannot save, or his ear dull, that it cannot hear; but your iniquities have made a separation between you and your God, and your sins have hidden his face from you so that he does not hear. For your hands are defiled with blood and your fingers with iniquity; your lips have spoken lies; your tongue mutters wickedness. No one enters suit justly; no one goes to law honestly; they rely on empty pleas, they speak lies, they conceive mischief and give birth to iniquity. Their feet run to evil, and they are swift to shed innocent blood; their thoughts are thoughts of iniquity; desolation and destruction are in their highways. The way of peace they do not know, and there is no justice in their paths; they have made their roads crooked; no one who treads on them knows peace. Therefore justice is far from us, and righteousness does not overtake us; we hope for light, and behold, darkness, and for brightness, but we walk in gloom. We grope for the wall like the blind; we grope like those who have no eyes; we stumble at noon as in the twilight, among those in full vigor we are like dead men. For our transgressions are multiplied before you, and our sins testify against us; for our transgressions are with us, and we know our iniquities: transgressing, and denying the Lord, and turning back from following our God, speaking oppression and revolt, conceiving and uttering from the heart lying words. Justice is turned back, and righteousness stands far away; for truth has stumbled in the public squares, and uprightness cannot enter. Truth is lacking, and he who departs from evil makes himself a prey. The Lord saw it, and it displeased him that there was no justice. He saw that there was no man, and wondered that there was no one to intercede…” (Isaiah‬ ‭59:1-4, 7-10, 12-16a‬)

When will we tire of the petty games we play? When has outrage, anger, hate, or violence ever produced anything positive? When has wealth and power not corrupted the human soul? When have all the lies and conspiracies and falsehoods and deceit led to truth? When has anything manipulative or controlling or underhanded or abusive ever served the common good? And why - after thousands and thousands of years - have human beings not progressed beyond such things? We are morally deformed. Spiritually bankrupt. Hypocrites one and all. And the never-ending social media news cycle simply reveals the darkness that lies in every human heart.

So where can we find hope? Only in God. Listen to how God responds to the evil in our world. Listen to how He describes the Redeemer who is to come. “Then the Lord’s own arm brought Him (the Redeemer) salvation, and His righteousness upheld Him. He put on righteousness as a breastplate, and a helmet of salvation on His head; He put on garments of vengeance for clothing, and wrapped Himself in zeal as a cloak. According to their deeds, so will He repay, wrath to His adversaries, repayment to His enemies; to the coastlands He will render repayment. So they shall fear the name of the Lord from the west, and His glory from the rising of the sun; for He will come like a rushing stream, which the wind of the Lord drives. “And a Redeemer will come to Zion, to those in Jacob who turn from transgression,” declares the Lord.”

One would think we should cower in fear. Tremble at the coming of the Redeemer. This passage, along with many others, convinced many in Israel that the Redeemer would come in power to execute judgment on the enemies of Israel. This is what was so confounding about Jesus. He came as the Suffering Servant. He took God’s vengeance on Himself. He turned aside God’s wrath at His enemies. He repaid the debt of humanity. He satisfied God’s justice once and for all. Such amazing grace! It is why the name of the Lord is lifted up from the East to the West! It’s why His glory rises like they sun! And one day soon He will return. Like a rushing stream. Like the winds that blow. He will come to Zion and He will sit in judgment over the earth. On that day, every knee will bow before Him. Every tongue will confess that He is Lord. All the games we play will come to an end and He will render to each according to His sovereign will. Those who love Him will be saved. Those who hate Him will be destroyed. The Kingdom will come to earth and all things will be made new.

If you have yet to place your trust in Jesus, friends, now is the time. Today is the day of salvation! Don’t let another moment slip by for we do not know the time of the Redeemer’s coming! Though He has tarried thus far, it may be that today is the day of His return. Spread the news! Share the gospel! Tell everyone you know about Jesus!

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 64-66

Gospel in Action

Readings for today: Isaiah 54-58

“Why can’t you just stick to preaching the gospel?” I can’t tell you the number of times I’ve been asked this question over the last twenty years. Usually it comes after particularly challenging sermons preached to particular issues in particular contexts. Racism. Classism. Nationalism. Economic and social privilege. Human sexuality. Pro-life issues like abortion or the death penalty. The assumption behind the issue is that Jesus never engaged in social justice or structural reform so why should His followers? But such a perspective fails to take in the whole counsel of God revealed in the Scriptures. Further, it shows a lack of understanding of just how threatening Jesus was to the social and political order of His day.

At the same time, I do appreciate the sentiment behind the words. We must preach the gospel. We must preach the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus. Only Jesus saves. Only Jesus redeems. Only His death on the cross pays the full penalty for our sin and satisfies the demands of God’s justice. Only His resurrection defeats the power of sin and death and offers us victory. Only by the Word of God becoming flesh and blood and moving into our world are we given access to the Kingdom. Self-help. Social movements. Political organizations. These things simply cannot achieve what only God can do. Only those who have received Christ can give Him away. Only those who have been delivered from the kingdom of darkness can give forth light. Only those who have been set apart for God’s purposes can promote His Kingdom values of justice and righteousness and peace in our world. It’s the same point an ancient prophet named Isaiah once made to the nation of Israel…

“Is not this the fast that I choose: to loose the bonds of wickedness, to undo the straps of the yoke, to let the oppressed go free, and to break every yoke? Is it not to share your bread with the hungry and bring the homeless poor into your house; when you see the naked, to cover him, and not to hide yourself from your own flesh? Then shall your light break forth like the dawn, and your healing shall spring up speedily; your righteousness shall go before you; the glory of the Lord shall be your rear guard. Then you shall call, and the Lord will answer; you shall cry, and he will say, ‘Here I am.’ If you take away the yoke from your midst, the pointing of the finger, and speaking wickedness, if you pour yourself out for the hungry and satisfy the desire of the afflicted, then shall your light rise in the darkness and your gloom be as the noonday. And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong; and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail. And your ancient ruins shall be rebuilt; you shall raise up the foundations of many generations; you shall be called the repairer of the breach, the restorer of streets to dwell in.” ‭‭(Isaiah‬ ‭58:6-12‬)

Jesus says, “If you love Me, keep my commandments.” If you love Me, follow in My footsteps. If you love Me, do not only as I say but also as I do. Show compassion to those who are lost. They are slaves to sin. They walking in darkness. They are blind and do not see. Do not be surprised when they embrace all kinds of selfishness and greed and anger and violence. This is to be expected from those who live in bondage. Hold accountable those who are found. Judgment begins at the house of the Lord. Those who have been set free should not turn and use their freedom for their own gain. They should not submit again to a yoke of bondage and act according to their former ways. They must relinquish the underhanded, manipulative, power-hungry ways of this world and instead pursue the way of Jesus. They must be salt, preserving all they can that is good and righteous and pure and true in our world. They must be light, exposing all that causes evil and suffering and pain and heartbreak. They must serve as agents of God’s justice and God’s righteousness and God’s peace not only individually but corporately in the systems and structures of our world, be it political or economic or social.

To who much is given, much is expected and we’ve been given the gift of the gospel! We’ve been given the greatest gift one could ever receive so with it comes the greatest responsibility a person could ever bear. To bring hope and peace and joy to a world full of despair, conflict, and deep sadness. Thankfully, we do not do this alone. Jesus has not left us alone. He has sent us His Spirit. And when the Holy Spirit comes to dwell in our hearts, we find ourselves longing for the same things God longs for. Salvation. Justice. Righteousness. Peace. These are the values of the Kingdom of God that the world so desperately craves. So…Christian…it is time to answer the call! It is time to move to the front lines of our current cultural conflict! It is time to march! It is time to speak up and speak out! It is time to loose the bonds of wickedness! It is time to set the oppressed free! It is time share our bread with the hungry! Bring the homeless into our homes and into our lives! To clothe the naked and reconcile with our families! As we give ourselves way for the sake of the gospel - both individually and corporately as a nation - here’s God’s promise…

Our light will break forth like the dawn. Our nation will experience healing. Righteousness will go before us. The Lord Himself will have our back. When we cry out to the Lord, He will answer. When we stop oppressing, stop blaming, stop acting in selfish, greedy, power-hungry ways, then the Lord will satisfy our every desire and make us strong. He will make us a fruitful garden. He will rebuilt our ancient ruins. He will provide a foundation for future generations. But only as we seek to follow Him. Only as we seek to repair the breech and restore our streets and lift up the poor and powerless. This, friends, is the gospel in action.

Suffering Servant

Readings for today: Isaiah 50-53

One of the great blessings of my life has been to meet people like Bishop John Rucyahana of Rwanda. Bishop John writes and speaks powerfully on the subject of the genocide that horrified a watching world in 1994. He wrestles deeply with the question, “Where was God as over one million people were being slaughtered?” And he comes out the other side with this answer, “Where was God when a million innocent people were being butchered? Where was God when priests and pastors helped massacre the people in their churches? I’ll tell you where God was. He was alongside the victims lying on the cold stone floor of the cathedral. He was comforting a dying child. He was crying at the altar. But He was also saving lives. Many were saved by miracles. God does not flee when evil takes over a nation...God is the giver of eternal life, and He can bring great good out of any situation. He raises the dead; He can also raise the broken. He can restore their hearts and minds and lift their spirits to renewed life. In my country God is doing this today by the thousands. There is so much pain here, so many real tears, and so much guilt that our ministry is like preaching hope from the top of a pile of bones. From atop a mountain of mutilated bodies, we are stretching a hand upward to proclaim a message of transformation and recovery.” (The Bishop of Rwanda ) 

I cannot fathom the journey so many in places like Rwanda have endured. The horror. The pain. The suffering. It’s immense. Indescribable. Beyond words. And yet, I would argue the forgiveness and reconciliation they have found is equally, if not more, profound. When I was there two years ago, I asked a woman if she was ethnic Tutsi or Hutu. “Neither” was her reply. “Here we are all Rwandan.” She went on to describe some of the hell she and her family had been through and the freedom they had found through forgiveness. Only Jesus could provide such grace. Only Jesus could give them such strength. How can I be so sure? Because Jesus knows the depths of human suffering. He experienced the absolute worst this world has to offer. He knows evil intimately and through his death defeats it once and for all. Listen to how the ancient prophet Isaiah describes the suffering of Jesus, some hundreds of years before His death and resurrection.

“He was despised and rejected by men, a man of sorrows and acquainted with grief; and as one from whom men hide their faces he was despised, and we esteemed him not. Surely he has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted. But he was pierced for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities; upon him was the chastisement that brought us peace, and with his wounds we are healed...He was oppressed, and he was afflicted, yet he opened not his mouth; like a lamb that is led to the slaughter, and like a sheep that before its shearers is silent, so he opened not his mouth...Yet it was the will of the Lord to crush him; he has put him to grief; when his soul makes an offering for guilt, he shall see his offspring; he shall prolong his days; the will of the Lord shall prosper in his hand...Therefore I will divide him a portion with the many, and he shall divide the spoil with the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors; yet he bore the sin of many, and makes intercession for the transgressors.” (Isaiah‬ ‭53:3-5, 7, 10, 12‬)

The same God who bore the sins of many. The same God who makes intercession for the transgressors. The same God who loved His enemies so much He died for them is the same God who is alive and active in our world today. Bringing about reconciliation through forgiveness. Preaching hope from atop a pile of His own bones. From atop His own mutilated body, He is stretching a hand upward to proclaim a message of transformation and grace. It’s truly incredible and it is available to all who would place their trust in Him. Friends, if God can bring about reconciliation between the victims and perpetrators of genocide in Rwanda can He not accomplish the same in our lives as well? Can He not bring together husband and wife on the verge of divorce? Can He not bring back together children and parents who’ve been estranged? Can He not help Democrats and Republicans find common ground? Can He not heal the racial tensions in our own country?

What is required? Repentance. Confession. Truth-telling. Courage. Faith. Humility. Most of all, a deep and abiding and enduring trust in the power of the gospel. 

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 54-58

Let God Carry You

Readings for today: Isaiah 46-49, Psalms 135

You have a choice. Either you carry your god or let God carry you. Either you load yourself down with the idols of your lives. Idols that are false. Dead. Cannot save. Or you let God bear you up on eagle’s wings. I love how Isaiah 46 puts it, “Bel bows down; Nebo stoops; their idols are on beasts and livestock; these things you carry are borne as burdens on weary beasts. They stoop; they bow down together; they cannot save the burden, but themselves go into captivity. "Listen to me, O house of Jacob, all the remnant of the house of Israel, who have been borne by me from before your birth, carried from the womb; even to your old age I am he, and to gray hairs I will carry you. I have made, and I will bear; I will carry and will save.” (Isaiah‬ ‭46:1-4‬) The picture Isaiah paints here is of the foreign nations carrying their gods around from place to place. They put their gods on carts borne by beasts of burden. They are heavy loads. The oxen have to strain to keep going. And all for naught as they are dead and empty. So the result is defeat. Exile. Captivity. Contrast this with the Living God of Israel. No idol can depict him. No statue or totem to carry. So strange was Israel’s faith that many of their neighbors considered them atheist! Because they didn’t appear to even have a god! And yet their God is real. Alive. Active. Bears them up from birth even to their old age. They didn’t make him, He made them. They didn’t bear him, He bore them. They didn’t carry him, He carries them. They didn’t save him, He saves them. ‬

You and I are faced with this same choice everyday. Sure, our idols are not as obvious. At least that’s what we tell ourselves. We don’t have statues or totems or anything like that. Instead, we have bank accounts. Homes. Careers. Relationships. These are the things we place our trust in rather than the Living God. We place our faith in ourselves. We worship ourselves. All our energy and resources are directed towards making sure our needs, our wants, our desires are fulfilled. We are told we deserve this. We are told we’ve earned this. We’re told we want this. That we would be nothing without it. Life is not worth living unless you have it all. Such lies place burdens on our shoulders too heavy to carry. They wear us down. They sap us of our strength. All of us know the rat race we’re on is killing us. We cannot maintain the pace. So what’s the answer?

Turn to God. Let Him bear the burden of your life. Trust the One who shaped and formed you in your mother’s womb. Trust the One who gave you breath and life at your birth. Trust the One who endowed you with all gifts and talents and abilities you have. Trust the One who knows every hair on your head. If you’ll let Him, He will lift you up. If you’ll lean on Him, He will give you strength. If you trust Him, He will never let you down. He has made you. He has borne you. He has carried you. He will save you. This is his promise.

I have a dear friend from Nigerian named Nanpak. He is a young man around 24 years of age. He exemplifies what Isaiah is talking about. He has suffered unimaginable tragedy in his life. Boko Haram killed his parents and siblings and tried to take his life. He still bears the scars from the machete wounds on his back. He has a bullet in his side. But God saved him. God protected him. God delivered him. One would think such a man would be bitter and angry. One would think such a man might seek vengeance against those who killed his family. Not Nakpak. The gospel has set him free. And he believes God has a special plan for his life. He believes he’s been called to fight the rise of infectious disease in his country. He has already achieved a bachelor’s degree in microbiology. He will serve the next few years as a teacher in his country as part of a compulsory service program run by the government for those who graduate college. Then he plans on going back to school for a master’s degree. Because his father was a pastor, Nakpak is also considering ministry or perhaps combining the two in some way in the future. His is one story among many that inspires because he shows me what it means to place my trust in God.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 50-53

Created. Called. Consecrated.

Readings for today: Isaiah 43-45, Psalms 80

God made you. He shaped you and formed you in your mother’s womb. He knit you together. Bone by bone. Organ by organ. Muscle by muscle. He gave you talents. Abilities. Gifts. He brought you into the world. It’s worth stopping just to think about this morning. The fact that you are fearfully and wonderfully made by God Himself. A unique, unrepeatable act of creation. “But now thus says the Lord, he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel: “Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name, you are mine.” (Isaiah‬ ‭43:1‬) God knows you inside and out. God knows every hair on your head. God knows every cell in your body. God knows you as intimately as you can be known. And the most amazing thing is He loves you. Loves every part of you. The whole parts and the broken parts. The fully developed parts and the undeveloped parts. The good parts and the bad parts. He loves you warts and all. He calls you by name. You are His child.

God called you. Not only by name but for a specific purpose. You were created for His glory. Created to bear His image into the world. Created to bring Him praise in everything you say and do. “Everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made...the people whom I formed for myself that they might declare my praise.” ‭‭(Isaiah‬ ‭43:7, 21‬) You were not a random act. You were not a mistake or an accident. You were not an afterthought or an add-on. God created you in order to make Himself known through you to the world. God created you in order to have an eternal relationship with you. God created you in order to dwell with you forever. This is why He is so faithful. God will never let us go. “When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and through the rivers, they shall not overwhelm you; when you walk through fire you shall not be burned, and the flame shall not consume you.” (Isaiah‬ ‭43:2‬) God has declared that He will be worshipped by His people and He will not relent until we fulfill our divine purpose.

God consecrated you. Redeemed you. Saved you. Delivered you from the power of sin and death. God died for you. He took your place. Endured the punishment you deserved. Shed His own blood in order to satisfy the justice of God. You are no longer your own. You were bought with a price. He has claimed you. He has adopted you. He has brought you into His family. “Declare and present your case; let them take counsel together! Who told this long ago? Who declared it of old? Was it not I, the Lord? And there is no other god besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. “Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth! For I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn; from my mouth has gone out in righteousness a word that shall not return: ‘To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.’ “Only in the Lord, it shall be said of me, are righteousness and strength; to him shall come and be ashamed all who were incensed against him. In the Lord all the offspring of Israel shall be justified and shall glory.” (Isaiah‬ ‭45:21-25)

God has done what we cannot. He has lifted us out of the pit and set our feet on solid ground. He has given us a new song to sing and a new heart filled with His joy. He has broken the back of our rebellion. Driven us to our knees with His love and grace. Showed us mercy where we have failed. Covered us in His own righteousness. In the Lord we are justified. In Christ we are made new. God shaping us and forming us yet again for His praise and His glory.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 46-49, Psalms 135

A Present Help

Readings for today: Isaiah 40-42, Psalms 46

“God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea, though its waters roar and foam, though the mountains tremble at its swelling. There is a river whose streams make glad the city of God, the holy habitation of the Most High. God is in the midst of her; she shall not be moved; God will help her when morning dawns. The nations rage, the kingdoms totter; he utters his voice, the earth melts. The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress. Come, behold the works of the Lord, how he has brought desolations on the earth. He makes wars cease to the end of the earth; he breaks the bow and shatters the spear; he burns the chariots with fire. “Be still, and know that I am God. I will be exalted among the nations, I will be exalted in the earth!” The Lord of hosts is with us; the God of Jacob is our fortress.” ‭‭(Psalm‬ ‭46:1-11‬)

Our God is present. Our God shows up. Our God is with us though each and every circumstance of each and every day. He is never absent. Never too busy. Never asleep at the wheel. God never steps away from His throne. Never ceases to reign sovereign over all He has made. Never stops being in control. This is true when global pandemics rage. Racism rears its ugly head. Protests turn violent in the dark of night. It’s true no matter who gets elected. No matter who gets investigated. No matter what nefarious plans get put in place. Nations rage. Kingdoms totter. Tyrants fall. The Lord laughs. Mountains crumble. The earth trembles. The ocean roars and foams. None of it touches God. None of it threatens His dwelling place. God is our stability. God is our security. God is our sanity in the midst of this crazy world.

God lives in heaven. The control room of the universe. The world turns at His command. The sun rises and falls according to His will. The winds blow from the east to the west, from the north to the south at His bidding. God prepares storehouses for the snow. God digs reservoirs for the rain. He tills the ground to make it fruitful. He causes the bird and fish and animals to multiply on the earth. He charts the path for every single human being and He sets the course for every human society. Nations rise and fall before Him. Kingdoms come and go. Kings and rulers, prime ministers and presidents are all like the grass that’s here today and gone tomorrow. Only God is forever. Only God is eternal. Only God is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

So be still. Rest in His presence. Be quiet. Let Him speak to your heart. Do not be anxious or afraid. He holds you in the palm of His hand. Do not fear. Your life is kept secure in the city of God. The holy habitation of the Most High. He will be your strength when you face challenges in this world. He will be a present help when you go through trouble. He will be with you when each morning dawns. You do not face this day alone. You are not going through this season alone. Your very life is not your own. God is exalting Himself even now in you and through you. God is making Himself known even now to you and through you. Everything we are facing is part of God’s eternal plan. He will be exalted on the earth. He will be exalted among the nations. He will be exalted in His church. He will be exalted in your life and in my life!

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 43-45, Psalms 80

Testing of Faith

Readings for today: Isaiah 38-39, 2 Kings 20:1-21, 2 Chronicles 32:24-33

“And so in the matter of the envoys of the princes of Babylon, who had been sent to him to inquire about the sign that had been done in the land, God left Hezekiah to himself, in order to test him and to know all that was in his heart.” ‭‭(2 Chronicles‬ ‭32:31‬)

Life is full of tests. We are tested in school in order to demonstrate proficiency in certain areas of study. We are tested physically when we exercise or participate in sports. We are tested mentally as we develop particular talents and abilities. Our hearts are tested when we enter into relationships with other people. The same is true with faith. Our faith is often put to the test. It could be through pain and hardship. It could be through success and achievement. There simply is no way to go through life without being pushed to your limits. And this is a good thing. It’s actually what makes us stronger. When we work out, we build our muscles. When we work through conflict, we build our emotional resilience. When we practice, we develop our talents and abilities. When we turn and depend on God, our faith grows as well.

Some question why a good God would test His people? Such questions are based on the false assumption that a good God would protect us from all hardship. Protect us from all mistakes. Protect us from all pain. But that wouldn’t make God “good” at all. In fact, such a God would be evil for He would be forever stunting our growth. He would be holding us back. He would be letting us down. God is no helicopter parent. He is not hovering over our lives to protect us from all harm. God is faithful. He knows pain is often life’s greatest teacher. He knows hardship only makes us stronger. He knows tests are important so we grow in our understanding and knowledge not only of Him but of ourselves. How else can we know our limits unless we push them? How else can we fulfill our divine potential unless we are intentionally disciplined? How else can we grow and develop into fully functioning adults unless we are given the freedom to both succeed and fail?

Hezekiah was a godly king. His faith had been put to the test numerous times throughout his life. Most especially in his conflict with the Assyrian empire. Over and over again, Hezekiah passed his tests thus proving his devotion to the Lord. As he entered his later years, he grew sick almost to the point of death. He cried out to God yet again. Asking God for mercy and healing. Once again, God delivers him from certain death. Gives him fifteen more years of life. Hezekiah is healthy. He is wealthy. He is at the height of his powers. And God is faithful. He wants to make sure Hezekiah’s heart stays true. So He sends another test. Envoys from an emerging empire to the east show up. They come bearing gifts for Hezekiah to celebrate his miraculous recovery. Hezekiah is flush with pride. He puts the wealth of his kingdom on display before them. Little did he realize these messengers had a secret mission. To help Babylon plot future conquests. Sadly, Hezekiah fails this final test and the consequences are tragic for those who come after him.

Testing comes in many forms. Make no mistake, success and achievement and wealth and honor may be among the hardest tests for us to pass. Consider the number of bankruptcies for lottery winners. The fleeting nature of fame. The ups and downs of the stock market. The lure of political power. These things test our character in ways we are often not prepared for and that’s why so many fail. It’s all too easy to start claiming the credit for ourselves much like Hezekiah. And in such times, God is faithful. Just as He is faithful to deliver us from pain and suffering, He is also faithful to deliver from pride and success. He will humble us so that we might learn to depend on Him again. Remember, God’s goal for us is not the “good life.” It’s not the “American Dream.” God’s goal for His people is to make us more into the image of Christ. To transform us from the inside out so we will love Him with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. Every test God brings our way is designed with this great end in mind. Embrace the tests as they come, friends! They are a gift! And by passing them, we earn eternal rewards!

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 40-42, Psalms 46

Godly Motivation

Readings for today: Isaiah 36-37, 2 Kings 18:9-19:37, 2 Chronicles 32:1-23, Psalms 76

”So now, O Lord our God, save us from his hand, that all the kingdoms of the earth may know that you alone are the Lord.” (Isaiah 37:20)

The southern kingdom of Judah didn’t stand a chance. Assyria was the greatest empire of her day. Sennacherib, her greatest emperor. Her armies blitzed through the Middle East conquering nation after nation. No one could stand against them. They had the only standing professional army of the time outfitted with the best tech human civilization had developed. They were literally undefeated everywhere they went. And now they stand outside the gates of Jerusalem. 185,000 strong. Hezekiah has no army to put in the field. Not even two thousand soldiers to ride a horse. They are helpless. Hopeless. All is lost. Except for God. When things are at their darkest, Hezekiah cries out to God for help. He cries to God for salvation. He cries out to God on behalf of his nation. And God answers him. Delivers him. Saves him. It’s a powerful story and one of the great miracles in human history.

Sadly, what’s often missed is Hezekiah’s motivation. Note that he doesn’t cry for God to make Judah great again. He doesn’t call on God to be faithful to the people He loves. He doesn’t give God a list of reasons as to why Judah deserves to be saved. He doesn’t talk about their righteous worship or righteous deeds or point to their illustrious history. No, at the heart of Hezekiah’s prayer is a desire for God to get all the glory. A passion to see God’s name lifted high. Hezekiah prays for this miracle - not so much so that Judah will be saved - but so all the world will know Judah’s God stands above all other gods. It’s an evangelistic prayer. Hezekiah wants all the nations of the earth to know the Lord and this is what drives him to his knees on behalf of his people.

We are living through a time of great social unrest. Our country is more divided than ever. More at odds than ever. Our national leaders are at each other’s throats. Different groups have taken to the streets to protest for sweeping cultural change. Some of those groups are violent. They burn. They tear down. They destroy. All of it captured on video for the world to see. There are political forces in play vying for influence, power, and control. Each with a different vision for the future of our country. Each claiming God is on their side. Many believers I know are praying for our country. They long to see God work a similar miracle in our day like He did for Hezekiah. But are we praying with the same motivation?

God loves America but He doesn’t need America. America is loved no more and no less than any other nation on earth. She is not exceptional in the eyes of God. She is fallen. She is sinful. She is broken. She is in need of redemption. Insofar as she aligns her laws and her ways with Him, she will find blessing and hope and peace. Insofar as she departs from Him, she will find judgment and violence and a curse. God will not be mocked. Nations rise and fall before Him. He raises them up and brings them down according to His sovereign will. As we grapple with the sins of our past and present, our only hope is to humble ourselves before Him. To repent of our wicked ways and return to Him. To honestly confess our national sins of abortion and racism and classism and obsession with selfishness and greed and ask for His forgiveness. As we publicly humble ourselves and pray and seek God’s face and turn from our wicked ways, the world will see and know that God alone is Lord.

I pray for our nation every single day. I pray for humility. For repentance. For transformed hearts. I pray for our leaders. I pray they will forsake their wicked, sinful ways. I pray they will lay aside their ambitions and greed and lust for power and instead have a heart to serve the Lord. I pray for an honest reckoning of the sins of our past. I pray for a renewed passion for justice and compassion. I pray grace to replace anger. Mercy to replace vengeance. Love to replace hate. I pray God will do all these things for His glory not our own. I pray He will do these things for the sake of His great name not our own. I pray God will do these things to declare His greatness not our own. In short, I am trying to pray with the same motivation as Hezekiah for it is our only hope as a nation.

Motion Sickness

Readings for today: Isaiah 31-35

I get seasick. Not just a little queasy but over the top, barfing multiple times over the side, green-faced seasick. The first time I realized this I was in Maine and had signed up to go deep sea fishing off the coast. It was a stormy day. We were in a small boat. The wave action was fierce once we moved beyond the breakers. I paid quite a bit of money - for a college student - to go out on this half day trip. I was hoping to catch something big. Have a great story to tell. Alas, all I did for five hours was throw up over the side. It was honestly one of the most miserable experiences of my life. Motion sickness is caused by the disconnect between what we see with our eyes and what we feel in our inner ear. If the two don’t match, you’re in trouble and the symptoms won’t resolve until you find stability. Make it back to shore. Put your feet on solid ground. 

Today, Isaiah describes a form of spiritual motion sickness. There is a spiritual disconnect between what God’s people say and what they do. They worship God with their lips but not from their hearts. The result is judgment. The result is pain. The result is suffering. They are in danger of being exiled from the Promised Land. And it’s not just them. Because Israel abandoned her calling to be the light to the nations, the world has been left in darkness. No one to show the pagan nations how to worship the True and Living God. So they too come under judgment. They too experience the righteous wrath of God. There is no place that is safe. Not Egypt. Not Assyria. Not Zion. All have sinned greatly. All have abandoned true worship. All have brought shame and dishonor to God and treated Him with utter contempt. The result is chaos. Instability. The earth reels and quakes beneath their feet at the sound of God’s voice. 

But all hope is not lost! God Himself provides a way where there is no way. A highway for the redeemed called the Way of Holiness. (Is. 35:8-10) It’s a safe way. A secure way. A road for those who love the Lord with all their hearts, souls, and minds. It’s a stable way for those who walk on it honor God for who He is. “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.” (Is.‬ ‭33:5-6‬) It’s a peaceful way because those who walk on it hunger and thirst after righteousness. “And the effect of righteousness will be peace, and the result of righteousness, quietness and trust forever.” (Is. ‭32:17‬) It’s a noble way. A way of honor and glory and respect and privilege. “He who is noble plans noble things, and on noble things he stands.” (Is.‬ ‭32:8‬) And because it is all these things and more, the redeemed rejoice when they find it. “And the ransomed of the Lord shall return and come to Zion with singing; everlasting joy shall be upon their heads; they shall obtain gladness and joy, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” (Is. ‭35:10‬)

It’s a beautiful vision, is it not? Don’t you find yourself longing to walk there? To experience the abundance of peace, stability, justice, righteousness, wisdom, knowledge, nobility and salvation that walking such a road promises? Doesn’t your heart long to sing and rejoice and burst with everlasting joy? Believe it or not, the way is open to you even now! Jesus Christ says “I am the Way, the Truth, and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by Me.” (John 14:6) All the promises of God are hid in Christ. All the riches of God are available to those who trust Christ. All the honor and glory of God is revealed in Christ and is available to those who would place their faith in Him. Those who profess with their mouths that Jesus is Lord and believe in their hearts God raised Him from the dead are saved. And walking in salvation means you are already walking this road! So don’t be afraid to claim that which is already yours in Christ Jesus! To open your hands and heart to receive from Christ all He has promised! All He has won for you through His life, death, and resurrection! 

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 36-37, 2 Kings 18:9-19:37, 2 Chronicles 32:1-23, Psalms 76

Covenant with Death

Readings for today: Isaiah 27-30

“Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you scoffers, who rule this people in Jerusalem! 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…” (Isaiah 28:14-15)

What a time to be reading through Isaiah! To reflect on his words as he spoke to his people. There is much here that feels so familiar. Particularly as we think about where we find ourselves in this cultural moment. We too have made a covenant with death. Abortion. Suicide. Addiction. Violence. Depression. Riots. Police brutality. Racism. Classism. COVID-19. The symptoms are legion and they are further complicated by the lies we tell ourselves. The deliberate spin and falsehoods in which we too take shelter. Our refusal to acknowledge our sin. Our refusal to take an honest look in the mirror. Our refusal to humble ourselves before God is extracting a terrible price. Suffering. Pain. Heartbreak. Grief. Loss. Thousands are dying. Thousands more losing businesses and homes. There is a tidal wave of mental health needs beginning to break on our shores. And the full cost of this time won’t be known for years to come as our children struggle to overcome the social and educational losses they’ve suffered during this time.

It’s a lot to take in and if we aren’t careful, we will quickly be overwhelmed. We simply are not strong enough to meet the demands of this moment. We are not wise enough to chart a path through the pain. Thankfully, God is sufficient for the needs of this hour. His grace is more than enough. His mercies are new every morning. His faithfulness is greater than we can ever hope for or imagine. Israel knew this, of course, but she had forgotten God in her pride. So Isaiah reminds them in the midst of their national crisis to look to God. To return to the Lord. To remember His promises. “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…” ‭‭(Isaiah‬ ‭28:16-18‬)

Only God can annul our covenant with death. Only God can overrule and override our agreement with the grave. Death is the righteous punishment for original sin. Death is the righteous wage we earn as we sin each and every day. Our hearts are corrupt. Our desires disordered. Our loves disoriented. Our souls confused. This is true for us both personally and corporately. Our culture is obsessed with death as well. We see reflected public policy. We see it reflected in the laws we pass. We see it alive and well in our political discourse. So much selfishness. So much greed. So much hate. So much shame. Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely which is why we can never lift ourselves out of this death spiral.

Friends, our only hope is to turn to Christ. To make Him our goal. To make Him our aim. To make Him the telos of our lives and the supreme treasure of our souls. Only by submitting ourselves to Christ is the covenant of death annulled and judgment of death lifted. For He Himself took our place. Bore our sin. Paid the price in full. It is finished. The wrath of God was turned away. The justice of God was satisfied. The power of sin broken. Death was defeated. And all of this is ours through Christ Jesus. He is the foundation God laid in Zion. The precious cornerstone on which the Kingdom of God is built. He was tested and remain true. He was shaken but remained sure. He is the only foundation on which we can build our lives, our nation, and our world.

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 31-35

Fully Devoted

Readings for today: 2 Kings 18:1-18, 2 Chronicles 29-31, Psalms 48

Hezekiah is a remarkable man. The polar opposite of his father. Where his father was unfaithful, Hezekiah was faithful. Where his father was morally compromised, Hezekiah was pure. Where his father was evil, Hezekiah was good. One wonders where Hezekiah learned such faithfulness. What made him turn from his father’s ways? Who taught him the ways of the Lord? How did he know to cleanse the Temple, reinstitute the Levites, and celebrate the Passover? These things had been absent for decades. The Temple had been desecrated. The priests and Levites forgotten. And yet somehow Hezekiah’s heart was not only stirred to seek the Lord in this pagan environment but God provided faithful teachers along the way to instruct and guide him. They remain nameless. Their identities known only to God. But what an impact they make through this great man!

Hezekiah is a great example of what can happen when key leaders seek the heart of God. God doesn’t need our wealth. He doesn’t need our power. He doesn’t need our influence or position or authority. He simply needs our hearts. If we seek to love God with all our heart, soul, mind and strength; His promise is He will use us to make Kingdom-sized impact on those around us. Hezekiah “trusted in the Lord, the God of Israel, so that there was none like him among all the kings of Judah after him, nor among those who were before him.” (2 Kings‬ ‭18:5‬) He dedicated his life to the destruction of idolatry. He tore down the pagan shrines that dotted the hillsides. He destroyed the bronze serpent Moses had made in the wilderness to save the people from poisonous snakes. He cleansed the Temple. He restored true worship. He sent messengers throughout the length and breadth of the nation to invite people to celebrate the Passover meal. And even though the people had forgotten how to cleanse themselves in preparation, Hezekiah interceded on their behalf, calling on God to honor the intent of their hearts. The impact of this time of celebration was so profound, the people asked to stay an additional seven days to keep worshipping! “And the people of Israel who were present at Jerusalem kept the Feast of Unleavened Bread seven days with great gladness, and the Levites and the priests praised the Lord day by day, singing with all their might to the Lord. And Hezekiah spoke encouragingly to all the Levites who showed good skill in the service of the Lord. So they ate the food of the festival for seven days, sacrificing peace offerings and giving thanks to the Lord, the God of their fathers. Then the whole assembly agreed together to keep the feast for another seven days. So they kept it for another seven days with gladness.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭30:21-23) Once the feast was compete, the people - inspired by the worship of the True and Living God and Hezekiah’s example - returned to their homes to continue to purge the nation of its idolatry. “Now when all this was finished, all Israel who were present went out to the cities of Judah and broke in pieces the pillars and cut down the Asherim and broke down the high places and the altars throughout all Judah and Benjamin, and in Ephraim and Manasseh, until they had destroyed them all. Then all the people of Israel returned to their cities, every man to his possession.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭31:1‬) This is nothing short of revival!

I know a lot of Christians who pray for revival. They pray regularly for a fresh movement of God’s Spirit through their lives, churches, communities, and their nation. If that describes you...and I hope it does!!!...I want to encourage you to follow Hezekiah’s example. Don’t wait! Don’t delay! Simply begin to seek God’s face right where you are! If you are a mother or father, seek God’s heart for your home and children. If you are a student or employee, seek God’s heart for your school or place of work. If you are a business, community, or church leader, seek God’s heart for the people you serve. If you are a national leader, seek God’s heart for your country. The secret to Hezekiah’s success had very little to do with his authority as king. It had everything to do with his heart for God. “Thus Hezekiah did throughout all Judah, and he did what was good and right and faithful before the Lord his God. And every work that he undertook in the service of the house of God and in accordance with the law and the commandments, seeking his God, he did with all his heart, and prospered.” (2 Chronicles‬ ‭31:20-21‬)

I want to challenge you to pray 2 Chronicles 31:20-21 for yourself. For example, “Father, I want to do what is good and right and faithful before You. Every work I undertake at my job, in my home, with my friends, at my church I do in accordance with Your commands. I am seeking You, Father. I want to serve you with all my heart. May everything I do prosper in order to bring glory to Your great name.” Now you try. Insert your name. Insert your situation. Insert your circumstances and seek God with all your heart. Put Him to the test. Call on His faithfulness. I trust you will be amazed at what takes place.  

The world has yet to see what God will do with a man or woman fully devoted to Him. Your spouse has yet to see what God will do with a husband or wife fully devoted to Him. You children have yet to see what God will do with a mother or father fully devoted to Him. Your boss or teacher has yet to see what God will do with an employee or student fully devoted to Him. Your community has yet to see what God will do with a church fully devoted to Him. Our nation has yet to see what God will do with a church fully devoted to Him! Consecrate yourelves, friends, to the Lord! Let Him use you for His purposes and His glory in the world! 

Readings for tomorrow: Isaiah 27-30