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Hope Found in Four Little Words

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Half-hearted dedication stinks. We crave whole-heartedness – true devotion! Something in the soul of human beings longs for passion. Mediocrity is not attractive to us in any arena of life; and the reason is a simple one. The God who made us designed us for fervent worship. Mediocrity does not bring good results in sports, careers, relationships, studies, or any other area. It is repulsive in much the same way a mediocre relationship with God is abhorrent to Him. Our lives are designed to be all-consumed. We feel right when we are completely used up for God’s sake. I am content when my efforts have been spent, my words have been spent, my emotions have been spent, my body has been spent, and my intellect has been spent for the purpose of Someone greater than me. That Someone is the transcendent, personal God of the universe. I want to live a life of zeal for my God.

Perhaps this is why the words of Revelation 3:15-16 can sting so badly. Let us consider our lives – not in the broad sense – but in the everyday moments of living. Let’s think about our deeds: the way we arise in the morning, the look on our face when we meet someone before our first drink of coffee, the conversation we have over lunch, the way we approach housework, the way we approach our career, the goal we have in human encounters, the way we entertain ourselves, and a myriad of other actions. Are these things done rightly from a heart of passion that puts God’s glory at the forefront? Or are our deeds sadly reflecting a heart that has lost its fervor for God’s purposes in all things?

Picture a thermometer. The top line represents a red-hot relationship with Jesus Christ, the kind of relationship where His glory is your goal no matter the cost; you are consumed by an incomparable love for the Lord. The bottom line represents a quite dead, cold relationship with Jesus Christ. In fact, an affiliation this icy could hardly be considered a relationship. Now, on that thermometer, where would you place your relationship with God? At the very top line? At the very bottom? If you are like most people, you probably will not put it in either of those places, but somewhere in between. Perhaps you may even choose a level close to the top, but most likely – if we are honest – not at either extreme.

Given that assessment, let’s now hear the words of Jesus in Revelation 3:15-16 (NIV), “I know your deeds, that you are neither cold nor hot. I wish you were either one or the other! So, because you are lukewarm – neither hot nor cold – I am about to spit you out of my mouth.” Yikes! This does not sound good for people who are “in the middle somewhere.” Jesus sees exactly where we are, and He is disgusted at a lukewarm heart. The Lord is so disgusted; He informs us that He would vomit us out of His mouth. Though I would not want to be a part of any regurgitation process, I most certainly would not want the Lord of my life to be repulsed by my heart’s status. Sadly, I know there have been times in my life when I was on the receiving end of this horrifying rebuke.

My hope is found in four little words of verse sixteen, “I am about to.” The New International Version seems to render the Greek word most accurately. The original word means “to be on the point of doing something; to intend; to have in mind.” In other words, Jesus – because of our repugnant lukewarm status – is ready to vomit us out of His mouth, but He has not yet done so. This is tremendous! I deserve to be spit out, but Jesus is giving one window of opportunity with those four all-important words, “I am about to.” Let the words roll through your mind. Say them aloud, “He is about to.” He has not yet, but He certainly will unless we turn around. Thank God, we can!

Verse twenty of the same chapter informs us that Jesus is standing at the door of the lukewarm heart and knocking. He is taking the initiative; He believes we may just let Him in. If a man or woman opens the door, He will come in to have genuine, passionate relationship with that person. O blessed day, when Jesus comes in to make one who should be spit out into one who dines with the God of the universe!

Four life-changing words spoken by Jesus – “I am about to.” I love those words. A window of hope.

The Day the Earth Runs

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When a person is most sure of his conclusion, we may hear him say, “I’m as sure as the ground I’m standin’ on.” To which I might reply, “Really? Because the ground we are all standing on is not as secure as you might think!”

Despite its relative smallness when compared to the vastness of the known universe, earth is a pretty big deal to us. It is our planet. The terrain feels solid beneath our feet. The power of its natural laws keeps our activity within God-ordained boundaries. We have a well-deserved respect for earth, such a mysterious place. And though this orb may seem tiny compared to billions of galaxies, it is quite overwhelming to the countless humans residing here.

However, the earth will one day have to flee. Revelation 20:11 makes clear, “Then I saw a great white throne and him who was seated on it. Earth and sky fled from his presence, and there was no place for them.” Amazingly, this earth and the heavens surrounding are incredibly unstable when compared to their Maker. When God steps to the throne as Judge, not even this miraculous sphere will survive His magnificence. Earth and sky are suffering the same conundrum that sinners are; they are on the path of ruination because of sin. They must flee until the time of their remaking. All things must be perfected for the people God has saved.

To be sure, the Great Architect – God Almighty – will perfect the earth and heavens in keeping with His promise of a home of righteousness for His people (II Peter 3:12-13). The new Earth and New Heavens will function properly: no disasters, no obstacles to harvest or discoveries, no killer species, no deadly or damaging virus, and no decay.

The remaking will happen after the earth infused with sin has flown appropriately from its Holy Judge. God will deal with the old earth in His time. Therefore, I put no stock in this firm ground beneath my feet. As the old hymn rings out, “On Christ the Solid Rock I stand; all other ground is sinking sand.” Or, shall we say, “Fleeing turf”?

Do not trust in anything but the Holy Judge who will ultimately destroy what is wrong and rebuild to make right. Earth seems dependable, but it will answer to God in the end. Put not your trust in what you see, but in the God who is unseen and infinitely greater than what He has made.

The question remains, how will I stand on that day when even the earth has to run? I will stand because – unlike earth and sky – I have already been remade! II Corinthians 5:17 boldly declares, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!” The old earth flees, but I am already new in my heart!

Take heart. The Bible says, “If anyone is in Christ. . .” Choose to be found in Christ today. Then – and only then – will your footing be sure.

Self-Deception vs. Doing Right

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How easy it is to convince ourselves we are right. How often we try to persuade our hearts that we are the people we ought to be. If each human being were the one responsible for determining right and wrong for himself or herself, we would be in a mess most miserable.

I think of times when I have worked hard to tell myself that I was doing the right thing. What I really longed for was an excuse – a way to get out of doing the difficult work of righteousness and justice. And every single time I refuse to do right – whether justified in my own mind or not – someone somewhere gets hurt. The ripple effect of unrighteousness is occasionally obvious and at times hidden. It may be ten or twenty or one hundred people down the line from my injustice that finally feel the pain of that selfishness. One thing is for sure, when we do not live justly, pain will ensue. How do I know? I see it experientially in everyday living, and God has made it clear in His Word that His way of righteousness is how things were meant to be. Rebellion against the Creator’s way always brings heartbreak, for He is the Designer of how things ought to be.

Proverbs 21:2 makes clear that though we may convince ourselves we are right, God Almighty weighs our hearts. There is a transcendent God who sees us for who we really are. He is not swayed by our persuasive rhetoric and excessive pride. He knows what we are really about. His assessment comes from the outside – from the unbiased perspective of perfection – and He will assess rightly.

This transcendent God has said in Proverbs 21:3 that “to do righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.” Wow. The offering of sacrifice in the Old Testament was the heart of the “church” in that day. Is God implying that the action of doing right is more important than pretentious church activity? Remember the context is the deception of one’s own heart for selfish reasons. Yes, it is more important to actually do right as God has commanded than to try to feel right by performing outward “religious” actions that we think will compensate for our disobedience.

My friends, nothing will compensate for a heart that is bent to be unjust through its own self-deception except for one thing: the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. The problem is that we have to actually quit trying to convince ourselves we are right long enough to admit we are a mess at the core, so that we can accept Jesus’ sacrifice on our behalf.

Those who know the Lord Jesus Christ will do well to actually go about doing the hard stuff of righteousness and justice. We must quit playing the religious angle to excuse our refusal to hunker down and do right.

It can be difficult to live with integrity. We must tell the truth, not allow the innocent to suffer if we can help, intervene when it is within our sphere of influence to correct injustice, protect others though it cost us our strength, work with those who have been pummeled by life though we do not see reward just yet, expose wicked plans that they may be thwarted, stand up for the ones who have not a voice to be heard, and love even when it hurts.

We must do more than think about our own hearts. We must yield them to our transcendent God for His inspection. We should allow His Holy Spirit to “weigh our hearts” to prevent self-deception and its consequent unrighteousness.

For, to actually do the formidable work of righteousness and justice is desired by the Lord more than sacrifice.

“Every man’s way is right in his own eyes, but the LORD weighs the hearts. To do righteousness and justice is desired by the LORD more than sacrifice.” – Proverbs 21:2-3

Truly, Where Is Your Trust?

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Just some weeks into the Israelites’ adventure in the wilderness following their miraculous exodus from Egypt, God’s people began grumbling against Moses and Aaron because they were hungry. Recall that these people had watched God send massive plagues (including the plague of death) to ensure their freedom from Pharaoh, they had seen the application of blood over their doorposts stop the death angel cold in his tracks, and they had watched with mouths agape as God divided the sea in half for their safe pilgrimage. And still, the Israelites make the wrong assumption that God has brought them all this way to kill them (Exodus 16:3).

As they continue complaining about their hunger, I can only imagine God’s thoughts. If I were God (and – wow – are we thankful I am not), I would have looked at the lot of them and said, “You ungrateful brats! Don’t you see what I have done? Do you really believe I have rescued you to kill you?” Thankfully, this is not what God says. I, myself, am particularly grateful for this fact; for I am one of the ungrateful, unbelieving brats.

God answers their complaining doubt by saying, “Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you” (Exodus 16:4). God is truly “something else,” isn’t He? It truly is all about Him. Even after I have trusted Him for salvation, I still fail. But God is faithful!

The detail we should highlight here is God’s prescription for the manna. He told the Israelites to collect enough for each day one day at a time. (Exodus 16:4) Throughout the week, they were to collect only enough for the day at hand and not stockpile it for the next day. Moses reiterated, “Let no man leave any of it until morning” (Exodus 16:19).

As we can imagine (because we know ourselves well), some of the people left manna from one day until the following morning. The results were very repulsive. The manna left over for the next day “bred worms and became foul” (Exodus 16:20). Smelly manna teeming with maggots is not what the Israelites had in mind! Yet, this was the result for those who tried to carry one day’s portion into the next day.

The question becomes, “Why?” Why did God do this? The answer is clear and confirmed in many other portions of the Bible. God wants us to trust Him and not ourselves and all our efforts.

People who hoarded the bread for the next day either did not believe God would rain down manna in the morning as He promised, or they did not believe God would give them strength the next day to go collect it. Either way, they did not trust the Living Lord. My friends, He wants us to know that He will be there tomorrow morning with all the provision of food, strength, and sanity that we need. We are not to work by our own efforts to devise a way to survive; relationship with and trust in God are our only ways to survive.

Jesus confirms this emphasis in the Gospel of John, Chapter 6. When large crowds cross a body of water to be with Him, He does not employ “seeker-friendly” techniques. He chastises the crowd by informing them that they have followed Him for the wrong reasons; they have only come because their hungry stomachs had been filled when He had performed the miracle with the fish and bread. Jesus proceeds to tell the crowd, “I am the living bread that came down out of heaven” (John 6:51a).

The crowd was into following Jesus because of His miracles that satisfied their fleshly desires. The people even brought up the miracle of manna in the wilderness of which we have been speaking (John 6:31). But Jesus was sure to emphasize that though the recipients of this manna had eaten it, they still died an earthly death. The physical manna was not the key. The key is trust in the God who gives the manna.

Jesus told the crowd He is the Living Bread. He is letting us know that we should trust the one who never sleeps, never gets ill, never gives up, and never dies. God is alive. God will be there in the morning when we awake to give to us everything we need to live the next day. Do not mistrust Him by trying on your own to make things work and trying to ensure your own destiny. Jesus is alive. If we trust Him, He will provide – one moment at a time.

Be sure of this, any plans or efforts employed outside of pure trust in Him will produce repulsive results, similar to the manna teeming with maggots. However, the person who trusts in the Living God – and follows His instructions by faith – will see provision at all times.

“Then the LORD said to Moses, ‘Behold, I will rain bread from heaven for you; and the people shall go out and gather a day’s portion every day. . .'” – Exodus 16:4 (NASB)

Against All Odds

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For various reasons, it can be difficult at times for people to keep their word. Additionally, people sometimes refuse to keep their word even though they could. Our culture has grown a generation of people who barely know what it means to be a “person of your word.” It seems the days are gone when a simple handshake insures a promise kept.

Despite the instability of human nature, I assure you that God keeps His Word. Given the nature of His being, it is impossible for God to change or go back on His Word. For God to be God, He must be perfect. For Him to change His mind or go back on His Word would mean He could somehow possibly improve through a change. God cannot improve. He is infinite and holy. If you posit anything other than a perfect God, you no longer have God. You have someone or something less than our true, self-sustaining, perfect God.

The God of the Bible keeps His Word. We observe that He has kept His Word against all odds throughout history to date. Namely, Jesus has already fulfilled approximately three hundred prophecies concerning Him. I will give just two examples. As I describe the examples, bear in mind that the Bible is not really one book. It is, in fact, a collection of sixty-six books written over a period of 1,500 years by more than forty human authors on three continents and in three languages. This is a vital fact to remember when we discuss fulfilled prophecy.

Micah, the prophet, wrote circa 700 B.C. He prophesied that the Messiah would be born in the obscure town of Bethlehem (chapter five, verse 2). Jesus was born in Bethlehem in the first century A.D. (Matthew 2:1-7). This prophetic detail proved accurate, though the span of time between prediction and fulfillment was 750 or more years.

David prophesied in Psalm 22:16 that the Messiah would be crucified. Though crucifixion did not yet exist at the time of David’s writing (circa 1000 B.C.), the prophecy was fulfilled more than one thousand years later!

The examples above are just two of more than three hundred that could be mentioned. Keep in mind how difficult it is to predict details of the distant future. If I were to predict rain tomorrow and you actually encountered raindrops, you might not think me too amazing. However, if I were to predict rain on the afternoon of April 12 in the year 2053 and it actually happened, you might say, “Wow! Shelli is amazing!” But what if I correctly predicted rain on April 12, 2053, in a 12.5 mile radius of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, at exactly 4:09 in the afternoon for seven minutes and thirty-two seconds? Then you might proclaim, “That Shelli has supernatural ability!” In other words, the more details I add and the longer the time frame spanned, the more difficult – against the odds – the correct prediction of the future becomes.

The God of the Bible has made more than three hundred detailed prophecies concerning His Son, Jesus Christ, which have already come true. Lee Strobel has nicely outlined in his book, The Case for Christ (Student Edition), the findings of Dr. Peter Stoner. Dr. Stoner and some of his students worked to calculate the mathematical probability of fulfilled prophecy. It has been estimated that the probability of Jesus fulfilling in His earthly lifetime just eight of the Biblical prophecies about Him is one in 10 to the seventeeth power. That is a chance of one in one hundred million billion! To better visualize these astronomical odds, picture the following scenario.

Pretend that we cover the surface of the entire earth with 1.5 inch square tiles. We cover not just the state of Wyoming in these small tiles – not just the land surface of North America – but we coat every inch of land on the entire planet. We decide at the outset to mark the underside of just one of these tiles with a gold star. Then, much to his chagrin, we send a young man out to roam the seven continents for the rest of life. As he nears one hundred years old, we ask him to bend over – wherever he now happens to be located – and pick up one of the tiles. The chance of him selecting the only tile marked with a gold star is one in one hundred million billion!

As you begin to grasp by the above example, the chance of Jesus fulfilling just eight of the prophecies about Him defies all odds. Consider that the chance of him fulfilling forty-eight prophecies grows to a staggering one in 10 to the power of 157! This would be like choosing one particular electron out of all the known electrons in all the known mass of the universe! God certainly keeps His Word against all odds.

As if all of this is not exciting enough, we now use God’s track record to remind ourselves that He will continue to keep His Word against all odds. Despite the daily routine of life and all its problems, despite the fact that so many people cannot possibly believe it’s true, and despite the fact that even many Christians do not consider it a vital part of everyday thinking; God will keep His Word on the second coming of Jesus just as He has kept His Word on Jesus’ first coming to earth. The three hundred prophecies that have already been fulfilled by Jesus’ first invasion into space and time inspire us to know that He is coming back again to fulfill all the Bible’s truth!

Here is one thing God has told us about Jesus that we are yet to see: “For the Lord himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever” (I Thessalonians 4:16-17, NIV). Can you even imagine this scene? Thank God for the day when we will rise with new, glorified bodies to be with our Lord in the New Heavens and New Earth! Does this sound too good to be true? Remember, God fulfills His Word though it seems impossible.

Or how about the fact that God has promised the following historical event? “Look, he [Jesus] is coming with the clouds, and every eye will see him, even those who pierced him; and all the peoples of the earth will mourn because of him. So shall it be! Amen. I [Jesus] am the Alpha and the Omega, says the Lord God, ‘who is, and who was, and who is to come, the Almighty’” (Revelation 1:7-8).

If God has kept His Word against all odds – and if He is perfect and immutable (changeless) – then certainly He will keep His Word now and in the future. I trust today the God who said in the first century A.D., “Never will I leave you; never will I forsake you” (Hebrews 13:5b).

Do you believe in the God of the Bible? Pour over Isaiah chapter forty. Refresh your confidence in God’s unchanging and holy nature. If He is truly God, then He can do nothing other than keep His Word. History and mathematics demonstrate His ability beyond the natural realm to be faithful to His promises.

Trust Him for today and tomorrow, for He has a proven track record!

Never

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I have been let down
In, oh, so many ways.
Family, friend, and foe
Have slain my heart.

The reasons are quite clear,
Though the pain is just as great;
One cause is that same curse
I see in the mirror.

As I wrestle with myself
In the continued struggle with my flesh,
Disappointment does abound,
Crushing you and crushing me.

And even when we try
To stop hurting those around,
The nature of our being
prevents ultimate attainment.

We want to cure,
But we can’t heal.
We want to be there, but are prevented
By obligations and constraints.

We want to listen,
But we can only hear one person at a time.
We want to follow through,
But we grow ill and weary.

We want to promise,
But we have no control.
We want to stay,
But we all die.

Thank you, great God!
Sinless, you are;
And truly unlimited.

You can heal.
You can be there.
You can listen,
And follow through.
You can promise,
And you can stay.

You are the One –
The only One –
Who keeps His Word.

Yes, I have been let down
In, oh, so many ways.
And I have let down others
Times beyond number.

But never
Will my God let me down.

Quite the Opposite of a Cop-Out

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I believe the first rule of genuine Christian leadership is a precept some may label a cop-out. God does not classify it this way; God describes this principle as truth. Here is the rule: Your reward is secure with God and will not be fully realized this side of eternity. Corollary to the rule: You will at times feel exhausted and discouraged, but these are only feelings; the truth remains unassailable.

Isaiah 49:4 proclaims, “But I said, ‘I have toiled in vain, I have spent My strength for nothing and vanity; yet surely the justice due to Me is with the LORD, and My reward with My God.’” Interestingly, the prophet Isaiah has done here something for which he is known well. He is speaking generally to the people of his time, but He is also speaking specifically of the Messiah. As it is true of Jesus, so it is true of His servants. We grow weary from all the fury Hell can bring and we grow disheartened from all the loneliness of leadership and its unique responsibility. And yet again, as it is with Jesus, so it is with us. The Father promises to do right in the end. The sovereign Lord is working His plan, and He will bring the reward swiftly and surely.

Do you ever have days where the phrases “toiled in vain” and “spent My strength for nothing” seem all too familiar? If we are only focusing on what we can see with our eyeballs right now, we will no doubt feel empty at times. However, if we focus on a reward currently invisible but nonetheless tangible, we will grasp the sense of the phrase, “surely the justice due to Me is with the Lord, and My reward with My God.”

I am not sure why it is that at times even Christians give into the perception of “pie in the sky stuff” when it comes to belief in a reward in another world. I think part of the reason is a culture foolishly enamored with a definition of success realized by numbers, profit, and popularity. Standing in stark contrast to the belief of many, a reason that God says He is not ashamed of us is that we “desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one” (Hebrews 11:16). Imagine – God is proud of us for desiring the reality of Heaven! This verse does not proclaim God’s pride in us for what we achieve or desire here and now, but He is proud when we desire our heavenly home and all its reward and glory.

Though all human accolade be withheld, we shall yet stand before God and be delighted by the faces of those who have been greatly or even remotely affected by our service to Jesus Christ. They heard one word we spoke, they watched one godly reaction of ours, they felt our Savior’s love through our hug, they observed a life of passion for eternal things, they benefitted from our offering to the work of God, they heard of Jesus from the friend of a friend of a friend of someone with whom we shared the gospel, or they lived out their life in close proximity to ours as we served the living God.

Though we be misunderstood, unappreciated, maligned, forgotten, or persecuted; our reward is with our God. Peter says of that inheritance, “[it is] reserved in heaven for you” (I Peter 1:4). No small matter is it that the reward is also imperishable, undefiled, and will not fade away.

Discouragement cannot tarnish our reward, economic downturn cannot diminish our reward, human evil cannot debase our reward, and time cannot corrode our reward.

No human may ever fully understand what we have done, are doing, or will do. But, God knows. Our labor for Him is not in vain.

Do you want to be a leader? First and foremost, know where your reward is. The chances of survival in leadership are nil if you are counting on anything other than the living God for your strength and satisfaction.

Malfunctioning Horror Reflex

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Driving down a road in my neighborhood after dark in late October, I was shocked by a sight that forced me to turn around and take another look. The light of the room behind a window in a house made the silhouette I saw stand out rather oddly. Against a big, living room window, I saw the outline of a cat sprawled out across the window screen from top to bottom. The cat appeared to be hanging on to the screen by its paws, and it seemed its fur was standing on end in all directions. The sight of the spread eagle, terrified cat caught my attention.

My first reaction was to assume the disturbing silhouette was a Halloween decoration, for most of the houses in the neighborhood were adorned with a myriad of frightful trimmings: witches riding broomsticks, witches crashing into front doors, skeletons hanging from trees, decaying arms and legs reaching from the ground, tombstones near front doors, giant spider webs on siding, ghosts and goblins floating in yards, and the like. Naturally, my mind had to wonder if this very odd sight were just part of the Halloween décor. What were the chances that an actual pet cat was hanging for dear life to the screen of a window on the outside of a house? Would it not be much more likely that during the fall season this was part of someone’s “festive” Halloween practice?

I turned around because I wanted to be sure this was not an actual cat in danger. If it were, I wanted to help. Amazingly, as I drove past a second time, I saw a young girl reaching for a cat that was now halfway down the screen to the windowsill! A household cat really did – somehow – manage to get stuck outside the house on a large, second floor window. Strange as it was, that feline sprawled out and clinging for dear life was a real cat. Its fur really had been standing on end. It actually had been in danger.

I nearly discounted the danger because of the prevalence of Halloween decorations. During these few weeks in late October, I am so accustomed to odd and gruesome sights that I almost did not take an actual horrifying situation seriously.

Ephesians 5:11 says, “Have nothing to do with fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them.” I fear that we as Christians have grown too accustomed to comfort with sin. We are so willingly exposed to things with which we ought to have nothing to do. We regularly get too close to selfishness, greed, indecent television shows, graphic language, gossip, bitter hearts, godless philosophy, etc. Our refusal to obey Ephesians 5:11 has left us in a place where we are no longer horrified when we should be.

And so the enemy proceeds in slicing away at our vitality. Sometimes we Christians begin to think we are invincible. We are not. These fruitless deeds of darkness are in our own “spiritual neighborhood” – our houses, our hearts, our social circles. Prolonged exposure – which is, by the way, rebellion against God’s Word – leaves us confused and unable to react as we ought. Our “horror reflex” is not activated as it should be. Sin begins to creep in every corner, with all its nasty consequences.

Had I seen the spread eagle cat on the window screen in the month of April, I most likely would have never doubted the immediate danger the cat was in. It was the proliferation of appalling sights at Halloween that made me hesitate.

Dear Lord, please keep me far from fruitless deeds of darkness. May I be so accustomed to Your light and Your truth – and so uncomfortable with sin in and around my life – that I react quickly to the horror rebellion against You brings.

Burst of Brilliance at the Death of Me

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The radiance of autumn leaves
In all their warm grandeur
Strikes at the core of me.

What a burst of brilliance
Comes rushing to the scene
As the air grows cold.

Reds and oranges and yellows
Demanding to be admired;
We are drawn to their glory.

Burst of brilliance
You come
As death proceeds.

Oh, little leaf of green,
Your color changes
And gushes forth as gold,

Only as you die.

Colors hidden formerly
Erupt boldly on the scene
As the leaves prepare to drop.

Burst of brilliance at death;
As it is with leaves,
So it is with me.

Burst of brilliance comes
When I recede,
And Jesus advances.

Burst of brilliance comes
When I die to self,
And Jesus lives in me.

And for all the burst of brilliance known on earth,
None will e’re compare
To the radiance we’ll see

When death takes us finally.

Color there – indescribable.
Creation there – perfected.
People there – as they ought to be.

God, remind me that both now and then –
the burst of brilliance comes
at the death of me.

The Answer for the Living Dead

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Ultimately, people want to live – truly live. This is quite natural, given that our Creator breathed into humanity the breath of life at the beginning of time.

Sadly, many people who live biologically are inwardly dead. Their lungs are taking in air, and their hearts are beating; but their spirits are dead with the weight of sadness, guilt, hopelessness, futility, and fear.

Medical doctors can work on the body, but it takes an infinitely better Physician to work on the spirit.

The ancient – yet timeless – book of Psalms outlines the process of coming to realize the vitality of genuine living. The writer says of God, “For you have delivered my soul from death, yes, my feet from falling, that I may walk before God in the light of life” (Psalm 56:13, ESV). Here we observe three critical components of a life of vitality.

    1) God delivers the soul from death. No matter how our pride may fight against this truth, it takes God to deliver a soul from death. The wages of our sin brings death – first spiritual, and eventually physical (Romans 6:23). No slick mental tricks or serious psychological manipulation can erase the guilt of a heart in rebellion against the God of the Bible. Once we come to terms with our sinful heart by the conviction of God’s own Spirit, we can ask God to give us life by making our heart new through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ. His blood which was shed on the Cross pays for the guilt of my sin, and His life (evidenced by the Resurrection) provides life to me. Here it is again: His blood pays, and His life provides.
    2) God delivers our feet from falling. Simply amazing is the provision of God for the daily minutes and hours of life. Not only has He given vitality to my soul by the forgiveness of sins and restoration of life, He promises to keep my feet from falling as I walk through this world on a regular basis. This portion of Scripture gets down to the nitty-gritty!

    Real living – beyond the basics of biology – requires the security of knowing that we are being guided and protected by the One who can assure the outcome. Each moment of each day, we can depend on our Savior to keep our feet from falling – into demise, hopelessness, and trial outside the will of God. We can even rely on our Savior to provide what we need in order that we will not fall into sin. Though as humans we will not be perfect until we finally see Jesus face-to-face; there exists no excuse for our sin, because God can deliver our feet from falling.

    3) God allows me to walk before Him in the light of life. Here it is – the culmination of real living. Darkness of soul is gone, and we can live our moments before the face of God without dread. We know that we stand clean before Him because of Jesus, and there is no need to hide. We can now truly relate to others, for we are walking in the transparency of God’s light.

    For those God has delivered, death is swallowed up in victory (I Corinthians 15:54b). Not only can we live before Him with hope now, we know that we will live forever before Him in glory that cannot be fully understood or described this side of eternity.

Do not allow death to stay. Do not allow life to pass you by. Let God deliver you.

Upcoming Event!

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Would you love to see the grace of God through actual events of the Old Testament?

Would you be fascinated to see God’s saving love for us demonstrated in the book of Exodus?

Are you weary in a culture that falsely prescribes a life of “good works” and “trying harder” in order to win the salvation and love of God?

Do you need to be reminded of the grand work of God to genuinely redeem your life and bring to your heart all the hope you need?

Does someone you care about need to hear any of the above things?

Then come hear Shelli share the living Word of God at the Norwin Alliance Church on Friday, November 5. The service starts with worship at 6 pm, and the message begins at 7 pm. No matter what church you regularly attend – or if you don’t attend at all – you are welcome to hear this pivotal message, “The Work of God.”

The Norwin Alliance Church and Hope & Passion Ministries cordially invite you to this great event that can change your life!