Not every

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Whether you’ve noticed or not … it’s been a while, haha.  I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus from writing for the past five months as God has led my wife and me through a new season professionally.  It has been an amazing experience and in His monumental goodness, I am as fulfilled professionally today as I have ever been.  Only God can do that, and only our obedience to Him can result in that.

But now I am back.

Over the course of the past five months, I have not only changed jobs professionally, but my wife and I had an opportunity to take a month to travel together.  Beyond the delight of visiting new places the time she and I had together was beyond our wildest expectations.  We realized during that time that over the course of 27 years of marriage, we never had a season where we were together 24 / 7 for an entire month.  It was as joyous as it was adventurous.  We’ve always loved adventure (or at least our flavor of it), and this seemed to kick into another gear our love for it.

And yet, life always continues as usual, doesn’t it?  I’ve been reminded a few times over the past week or so about the finite nature of life, unfortunately as a result of the passing of a couple friends I’ve known for quite a long time.  The same was true during the month that we were traveling, during the months since then, and of course during all the time before that.  I think it’s why the bible teaches us in Psalms 90:12 …

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.

Some may internalize that verse as depressing or bleak in light of it pointing to the short time we walk on planet earth.  Rather, I see it as empowering and encouraging.  It’s a bit like a quote from one of my top-five favorite movies, Braveheart.  If you know me very well, you know that if Braveheart is ever on tv, I basically stop and watch.  The fact that I’ve probably done so over 100 times has nothing to do with it.

Near the end of the movie, during which the protagonist, William Wallace dedicates and ultimately sacrifices his life to try to achieve the independence and freedom of his native Scotland, he is finally captured and doomed to execution by the king of England.  The king’s daughter-in-law, who falls in love with Wallace during the story, visits Wallace while he is in the dungeon being held pending his execution and attempts to convince him to proclaim loyalty to the king to avoid the harshness of the torture Wallace will undergo, and maybe even to preserve his life.  During the scene, she unsuccessfully pleads with Wallace, who concludes that turning away from his calling in life might result in keeping his life, but not a life worth living … and which would denigrate a life that while finite, was full.  The capstone quote says it all, “Every man dies.  But not every man really lives.”

Viewing that quote considering the admonition God gives us in His word, particularly in Pslams 90:12, amplifies what I believe to be a crucial perspective.

At the risk of sounding morbid, each time I hear about a friend or family member passing (especially those that are relatively young), it’s a bit of a shock to the system.  I guess I can sometimes forget the inevitability of death for all of us.  Every single one of us has a last moment here on earth.  The “brevity of life” applies to each one of us.  As Wallace said, “every man dies.”

But does every man … do you and I, specifically … “really live?”  What does that even mean?

It means living for God.  It means living on purpose.  For a purpose.  For more than just to survive but to thrive.  The bible teaches us that we are “fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalms 139:14), that God has a plan and purpose for our lives and that it’s a good plan (Jeremiah 29:11), and that when we align our hearts to His as it relates to those plans, He will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalms 37:4).  So, to “really live” means to live in alignment with His definition of really living.

I’m convinced so many of us are proceeding through life seeking what is within arm’s reach but being fully unaware.  We’re blinded by the lies of Satan and the lies of society and what they tell us life should be about.  Neither of which fulfill in any meaningful, lasting way, and both of which leave us nothing but dead when we, like every man, die.  When we breathe our last someday, will we be able to say we really lived?

Of course, no pursuit in life will allow us to “really live” if we don’t know Jesus, and if we don’t accept His free gift of salvation, won by His death on the cross, and eternally secured by His conquering of death the third day after.  We can “really live” even after we die, but only through Jesus.  He said in John 14:6, “I am the way, the truth, and the life.  No one can come to the Father except through me,” and in John 10:10, “my purpose is to give them a rich and satisfying life.”  In John 6:37, He promises, “those the Father has given me will come to me, and I will never reject them.”

In some of his final words, William Wallace referred to really living as pursuing the calling of God on his life, even to the point of death.  On this side of heaven, that is really living for you and me, too.  We “really live” when we live for God.  Tragically, “not every” person does.  You and I can only choose for ourselves.  Let’s pray that God will speak to each of us and clearly delineate what it means … in His view … to “realize the brevity of life,” and then let’s ask for Him to grow us in wisdom so we can really live by vigorously pursuing what He intends for us to do.

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

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Keep running

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It’s been a while.  I love running but several months ago I took a bit of a spill and injured my knees.  So, it’s been a while.  Even during the early times when I first got injured there was a sense of loss.  I know, that sounds a little extreme and a little pathetic.  And let’s be clear, I was neither running particularly fast nor for particularly long distances.  But I ran.

However, the injury caused a more-than-temporary pause in my running and although I’m back at a place to get running again now that the injury has healed, it brought to mind an admonition for life from which we can all benefit.

You see, when I have run regularly there is no doubt that I draw a sense of energy even as I exert it, and there is an huge feeling of accomplishment when I’m done.  But there are often times in the midst of my runs when I get to a point of exhaustion.  For longer runs, that’s called hitting the wall.  It’s a point when both physically AND mentally we get to a place when we just want to stop.  Like a point when I feel like I can’t take another step, and I don’t want to take another step.  When you hit that place both physically and mentally, it’s a pretty daunting impediment, and it’s super tough to keep running.  But that’s exactly what we should do.  Keep running.  In life, too.

We all have seasons in life when things get difficult.  Really difficult.  Like difficult to the point that it feels too difficult to just get up in the morning and move on.  I can think of many of my friends, including some of you reading, who have trudged through unimaginably difficult times with health, family relations, financial peril, and the like.  The magnitude of courage you had to simply arise in the morning and get on with the day can’t be overstated.  I have to admit, I haven’t (yet) been there.  But I guess most of us will, at some point.

The bible acknowledges times such as these in life, and speaks to the importance of mustering the will to keep running.

Romans 5:3–5

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they help us develop endurance.  And endurance develops strength of character, and character strengthens our confident hope of salvation.  And this hope will not lead to disappointment. For we know how dearly God loves us, because he has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love.

James 1:2–4

Dear brothers and sisters, when troubles of any kind come your way, consider it an opportunity for great joy.  For you know that when your faith is tested, your endurance has a chance to grow.  So let it grow, for when your endurance is fully developed, you will be perfect and complete, needing nothing.

Now, there are some common elements in both of these passages, and they warrant both mention and comment.  The Romans passage says we should “rejoice” when we hit these hard times.  James says those are opportunities for “great joy.”  Huh?

Living here in Central Texas, there’s about four months of the year where, when I run no matter the time of day, the weather makes it really difficult.  I literally get to points when I’m so out of gas that I don’t want to keep running, no matter what.  So, saying that in times of great difficulty and trial in life we should “rejoice” or have “great joy,” is like saying that in the moments when I totally feel crushed and with nothing left in the tank – hot, sweaty, thirsty, and in pain – I should be giddy about it.  It makes no sense, and I can assure you it’s the last thing on my mind in those times.

But we have to read the entire passage for each of these to understand why we should “rejoice” and have “great joy.”  Paul tells the Romans that we should keep running because in those times the decision to do so helps us develop endurance.  Not just endurance, but successively, character and hope.  James says similarly; our endurance “has a chance to grow,” to the point of completion.  That is, the more we keep running in those moments, the more we will be able to keep running in later, possibly harder, moments.

In my running, I’ve learned that.  When I finish a tough run, or a long run, I can literally think in a later difficult one about how I got through the prior ones.  In a way, knowing that I did, helps me to feel more confident that I can.

God wants us to know the same thing.  The challenges and struggles we face are not punishment or purposeless.  They’re providential and preparatory.  When God ushers us through them by His grace and through our persistence and perseverance, He “develops strength of character” in us, and reminds us “how dearly God loves us.”  When our “endurance has a chance to grow,” and “is fully developed,” then we have the ability to rely on it in our next trials, knowing we’ll be perfectly prepared, “complete, needing nothing.”

Please know, I am not trying to minimize the really hard times in life.  There are real-life situations when what we really need is professional help and support.  I acknowledge and support that.  Yet, the significant majority of the challenging seasons in our lives don’t rise to those levels.

In my times running, what I now try to do, is when I hit the hard spots, I keep running.  Maybe not at the same pace, and I guarantee it isn’t much of a sight to see, but I keep running, slowly but surely.  It’s because of the times in the past when I chose to keep running, that I can have greater confidence for the present, and hope for the future.

We should do the same thing in our everyday lives.  Those rough spots will hit, and we’ll be tempted to stop.  But we need to press on.  Even if we slow down.  Just keep running.

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

And …

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For all of us, I suspect there are times when it seems God is silent, and maybe even absent or busy with other things. Many of us make choices in life that are, let’s just say, less than stellar and maybe less than God-honoring. Maybe even for some of us, those not-so-great choices have been recurring or for long seasons of time. It’s natural, then, for us to think we’ve taken God’s patience past the brink, that we’ve pushed Him even beyond His limits to a point where, honestly, there are just more worthwhile members of His creation for Him to consider.

And yet, that is NOT Who God is. And that is NOT what God does.

How do we know that? Well, scripture is replete with examples, but there’s one in particular that hinges on a single, powerful little word … AND.

Mark 16:1-7 …

When the Sabbath was past, Mary Magdalene, Mary the mother of James, and Salome bought spices, so that they might go and anoint him. And very early on the first day of the week, when the sun had risen, they went to the tomb. And they were saying to one another, “Who will roll away the stone for us from the entrance of the tomb?” And looking up, they saw that the stone had been rolled back—it was very large. And entering the tomb, they saw a young man sitting on the right side, dressed in a white robe, and they were alarmed. And he said to them, “Do not be alarmed. You seek Jesus of Nazareth, who was crucified. He has risen; he is not here. See the place where they laid him. But go, tell his disciples and Peter that he is going before you to Galilee. There you will see him, just as he told you.”

Did you see the AND? Okay, in fairness there were a few of them. But I have to wonder if the one I’m speaking about in particular may be one of the most important ANDs in the Bible. It certainly was for Peter.

“… tell his disciples and Peter …”

At this point, you’re probably shaking your head wondering what in the world I’m talking about. Well, in order to truly understand, we need to go back a couple of chapters to Mark 14 (and the parallel passages in Matthew 26, Luke 22, and John 18) to better understand the supreme importance of the AND.

Here’s the context from Mark 14:26-31 …

And when they had sung a hymn, they went out to the Mount of Olives. And Jesus said to them, “You will all fall away, for it is written, ‘I will strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered.’ But after I am raised up, I will go before you to Galilee.” Peter said to him, “Even though they all fall away, I will not.” And Jesus said to him, “Truly, I tell you, this very night, before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” But he said emphatically, “If I must die with you, I will not deny you.” And they all said the same.

Sounds good enough, doesn’t it? Peter is like many of us, who set out close to Jesus and poignantly, boisterously commit to staying that way. Whether it was weakness, Peter’s nature, a character lapse, or a real-life monumental degree of pressure under which any of the rest of us would have collapsed … it wasn’t long when later in Mark 14:66-72 …

And as Peter was below in the courtyard, one of the servant girls of the high priest came, and seeing Peter warming himself, she looked at him and said, “You also were with the Nazarene, Jesus.” But he denied it, saying, “I neither know nor understand what you mean.” And he went out into the gateway and the rooster crowed. And the servant girl saw him and began again to say to the bystanders, “This man is one of them.” But again he denied it. And after a little while the bystanders again said to Peter, “Certainly you are one of them, for you are a Galilean.” But he began to invoke a curse on himself and to swear, “I do not know this man of whom you speak.” And immediately the rooster crowed a second time. And Peter remembered how Jesus had said to him, “Before the rooster crows twice, you will deny me three times.” And he broke down and wept.

Now go back up and look at the AND from Mark 16! Do you see why it’s a gigantic AND??? That that AND is restorative? How that AND demonstrates the immensity of God’s grace, mercy, and love??? I think that AND is mind-blowingly powerful for you and for me.

By any measure, Peter completely blew it. To be fair, so have you and I. But objectively, Peter was with Jesus day-in and day-out for a few years. He looked Jesus square in the eye and said in effect, “I will never, ever deny you, even if all these knuckleheads do. Even if I have to die! Never, ever!” And within mere hours, Peter completely blew it. In fact, Luke 22:61 points out that right after Peter’s final denial, from across the courtyard Jesus looked, lovingly, over to Peter as if to almost empathetically forgive him in that moment (my conjecture, of course). If it was me, and he completely stabbed me in the back like that, I don’t know if I would have forgiven him. And I can assure you, my look across that courtyard would probably have been a little more scornful.

AND!

The AND of Mark 16:7 tells all we need to know about the powerful, matchless, endless love of our Lord and Savior. Just a couple days after Peter denied Jesus so regretfully, the angel made a point to tell Peter that Jesus still loved and cared for him and forgave him. That nothing could shake Jesus’s love for Peter. That nothing was beyond the reach of the crucifixion. Jesus wanted to make sure that Peter knew directly and personally, his foul-up wasn’t beyond Jesus’s ability to forgive him. Specifically.

Folks, that AND is also for you and me. No matter where you are with Jesus at this moment, no matter how far He may seem, no matter what you may be doing, have done, or may yet do, if you reach out to Him, He is there. If you’ve accepted Jesus’s free gift of salvation, then you have the unabated, undeterrable, unending benefit of His AND. He promises us that He will never leave us or forsake us (Hebrews 13:5), and that nothing and no one can snatch us out of His hand (John 10:28-30).

AND!

He sees us, He loves us, He desires to walk with us. He forgives us. If we run to Him, He’s there. Yes, we like Peter can mess up, royally. But Jesus wants us to know AND.

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

Welcome mat

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I wonder at what point in history the welcome mat became commonplace.  A cursory web search suggests that they may have started roughly 6,000 years ago in Mesopotamia, but who knows?  (I guess you can’t necessarily believe everything you read on the internet???)

Regardless of its origin, I quite love the notion of a welcome mat.  In this day, it seems we less frequently tend to visit others at their homes, opting instead for the ubiquitous coffee shop or restaurant meeting place.  Perhaps it’s my perspective only, but I remember during my childhood it seems far more typical that folks would pop by the house, even unannounced, to pay a visit.  In fact, my recollection of those occasions is fond … I actually enjoyed the impromptu stopover from friends and family.  The only time someone wouldn’t be definitively welcome is if we happened not to be home.

Whether or not we had a literal welcome mat at our house then, we certainly had a conceptual one.  A welcome mat at the doorstep says, in effect, “Thank you for coming and for allowing us the opportunity to host you.  Please come back again, often.  You are always welcome.”

There’s a bible story that speaks of a welcome mat, though not one at a front door.

Mark 2:1-5

When Jesus returned to Capernaum several days later, the news spread quickly that he was back home.  Soon the house where he was staying was so packed with visitors that there was no more room, even outside the door.  While he was preaching God’s word to them, four men arrived carrying a paralyzed man on a mat.  They couldn’t bring him to Jesus because of the crowd, so they dug a hole through the roof above his head.  Then they lowered the man on his mat, right down in front of Jesus.  Seeing their faith, Jesus said to the paralyzed man, “My child, your sins are forgiven.”  But some of the teachers of religious law who were sitting there thought to themselves, “What is he saying? This is blasphemy! Only God can forgive sins!”  Jesus knew immediately what they were thinking, so he asked them, “Why do you question this in your hearts?  Is it easier to say to the paralyzed man ‘Your sins are forgiven,’ or ‘Stand up, pick up your mat, and walk’?  So I will prove to you that the Son of Man has the authority on earth to forgive sins.”  Then Jesus turned to the paralyzed man and said, “Stand up, pick up your mat, and go home!”  And the man jumped up, grabbed his mat, and walked out through the stunned onlookers.  They were all amazed and praised God, exclaiming, “We’ve never seen anything like this before!”

The paralyzed man’s buddies approached the house and perhaps saw a welcome mat, but not a welcome set of circumstances for another group of people to enter the already packed house.  Not only were his friends undeterred, but Jesus was unrelenting in His welcome of the devoted group of guys and their paralyzed compadre.  The mat the paralyzed guy was laying on was just as welcome as if he’d entered in a more conventional way.

When it came to those in need, Jesus always had a welcome mat around Him (and let’s be clear, they were – and we are – all in need of Jesus).  And just as I internalized about welcome mats as a kid, the welcome mat didn’t solely welcome someone into His presence, it said demonstratively, “Thank you for coming and for allowing Me the opportunity to host you.  Please come back again, often.  You are always welcome.”  Perhaps Jesus’s welcome mat would say more than “Welcome,” it would say, “Always Welcome.”

You see, I suppose many of us think of Jesus as someone who “did” things previously.  At some ancient time in the long-ago past.  Or that He was someone who did some things “for those people” … you know, the ones in the Bible.  The ones that were part of the stories.  Or maybe we see Jesus as someone who did things back then for other people but wouldn’t or couldn’t do things for us today (like heal us, care for us, be concerned about our issues, etc.).

To believe those things would be to miss the glaring welcome mat that He would want us to see.  That is, the Always Welcome mat.  And not only see, but to actually internalize and take in the feeling of welcome He wants us to feel.  Today.  Now. 

He is never “out,” never busy, never in the middle of something else.  He is always home, and He is always thrilled to spend time with us.  More than that, He is always present and ever ready to tend to whatever it is we’re grappling with in the moment.  When it comes to us seeking Jesus, there is always a welcome mat.  Really, an Always Welcome mat.

Moreover, He is not limited to a previous time, to certain miracles, for only certain people.  He is present NOW, in ALL things, and specifically for YOU and for ME.  He is All we need for all we need.  Not only is there always a welcome mat when we arrive, but He tells us, “I’m always here.  Whenever you need me or just want to spend time.”

Of course, in the old days, we were always happy to receive visitors.  But we couldn’t receive visitors that didn’t visit, that didn’t come by.  So, Jesus would invite you and me to remember, He is always home, but you and I can’t experience His hospitality and welcome, His rest and healing, His accommodation and love, if we don’t actually go to Him, to visit Him and to stop by.  The thing is, His residence and His abode is in our hearts (if we’ve accepted His free gift of forgiveness), so in order to visit we don’t have to go far.  He’s readily available and closely local within us, so all we really have to do is approach His presence and He is always at the ready to receive us.  There is not just always a welcome mat before Him, there’s an Always Welcome mat.  And, He is ALWAYS able to care for whatever needs we bring along with us. 

Let’s you and I avail ourselves to His Always Welcome mat!

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

God Can’t

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God is omnipotent.  That’s a fancy word for “all-powerful.”  Meaning, God can do anything and everything.  That’s a place from where most of us draw the greatest sense of comfort as we walk through life as His followers.  Nothing is beyond God’s ability.  The apostle Paul could do “all things through Christ” (Philippians 4:13) because Christ can do all things.  In Matthew 19:26, Jesus says, “with God everything is possible.”

There is power in knowing that God can do all things.  That’s why there are dozens and dozens of verses in scripture that remind us that this is so.

But what if I told you that there are things that God can’t do?  Would that strike you as odd, disappointing or even dismaying?  If there is power in knowing that God can do all things (there is), does it somehow diminish or detract from the power to acknowledge that there are some things that God can’t do?  Perhaps this burst your proverbial faith bubble.  We gain encouragement from knowing that God can do all things, so naturally it would crush us to think that He is not indeed able somehow.  Right?

Actually, I’d argue that there is even more power that we can draw from the things God can’t do.  Confused?  Perfect.

It is precisely the fact that God can’t do certain things that I find all the more comfort about Him and that, to me, make Him all the more praiseworthy.  The very things He can’t do are some of the foundational bedrock that allow me to feel solidified in my most unstable and uncertain moments.  I reckon if we explore some of the specific things God can’t do, we can better unpack the potency of the inability.

God can’t lie.

Hebrews 6:18 …

So God has given both his promise and his oath. These two things are unchangeable because it is impossible for God to lie. Therefore, we who have fled to him for refuge can have great confidence as we hold to the hope that lies before us.

Clear as day … it is not possible for God to lie.  God can’t lie.  This is also demonstrated in other places in scripture such as John 14:6 which describes Jesus as “the way, the truth, and the life,” (emphasis added).

Let’s walk this out a little.  Given that God can’t lie, what does that mean to you and me?  The bible tells us that we are fearfully and wonderfully made by God (Psalms 139:14), that God has a plan and purpose for our lives (Jeremiah 29:11), that even though we are inherently sinful God sent His one and only son Jesus to die for our sins (Romans 5:8), and once we accept Jesus’s free gift of salvation we are secure for eternity (John 6:37).  Nothing can change that.  And since God can’t lie, we can know that we know we are eternally secure, regardless of how we might behave, how we might feel, what the world might tell us, or how the enemy Satan may try to accuse us.

What power there is in the certainty that God can’t lie!

God can’t change.

Hebrews 13:8 …

Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.

Malachi 3:6a …

“I am the Lord, and I do not change.”

Why does it matter that God can’t change?  Because what He has promised us won’t fade.  Who He is, He will always be.  His love will never become conditional.  His power will never diminish.  Those are some of the attributes of God (among many) that we can depend on to counteract the things in the world that do change.  Like our circumstances, our standing with others, our health, etc.  The things that can cause us physical, spiritual or emotional whiplash can ultimately be governed by and rationalized through God’s steadiness.  There are many things in this world and in our lives that we believe we can depend on, only to find that they are fleeting and capricious.  God is the ultimate in reliability.

What power there is in the certainty that God can’t change!

God can’t learn.

Isaiah 40:28 …

Have you never heard?  Have you never understood?  The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of all the earth.  He never grows weak or weary.  No one can measure the depths of his understanding.

The fact that God can’t learn means that He already knows all things.  Things that have already happened, things that are happening presently, and things that will happen in the future.  When you and I go through difficulties in life, we only know our experience now.  God not only knows – already – our experience in the future, but He also knows how He uses our experiences now to grow us, to prepare us, and to bless us.  He already knows because He knows all things.  If He knows all things, then by definition He can’t learn.  Since He can’t learn, we can take solace in knowing that our difficulties are not frivolous, random or surprising to God.  He knows, and He knows what’s best for us … what conveys to us the greatest good while giving Him the greatest glory.

What power there is in the certainty that God can’t learn!

Therein lies one of the most amazing things about our Father in heaven.  We gain comfort and power from Him because He can do all things.  And yet, we can also draw comfort and power because of what God can’t do!

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

Stirred and not shaken

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I admit that I’m not the hugest fan of the James Bond, 007 franchise though over the years I have, like perhaps many of you, watched my fair share of the movies.  At least, the old-school ones, with Roger Moore and Sean Connery.  I can’t say I have ever watched any of the more recent ones.  Even if you’re not a fan of the 007 franchise, we can all appreciate the entertainment value and there are elements of it that are generally familiar. 

He always had cool gadgets and technology.  He always dressed impeccably … at least according to my admittedly limited fashion sense.  He always caught the significant – if sometimes unintentional – attention of very attractive women.  He always drove pretty cool cars.  And, his drink of choice was a vodka martini, “shaken, not stirred.”  I’m not much of a drinker, and I don’t know if there is any particularly notable merit to a vodka martini that was shaken and not stirred, but apparently the shaken part was especially crucial for 007.  He made sure that shaken was the manner in which his martini was prepared, and everyone around him appeared to know it.

As we have closed out one of the past two … “memorable” … years, I am personally in a season where I feel God beginning to work in my life.  I have a very clear sense that He is preparing me for something substantive and significant in 2022.  A change?  Some growth?  Challenges?  Not sure. Who knows?  Let me state clearly, though, that God is always at work.  And we have ample assurance from scripture that He does all that He does for us in order to bless us (Jeremiah 29:11, Romans 8:28, Ephesians 2:10, among others).  But that doesn’t mean things are easy or expected.

What I’m sharing is that I’m in a season where I truly feel “stirred” by God.  Meaning, He’s giving me a sense that He is bringing some type of new change to bear in my life, on my behalf.  And that’s good, but it can also be a bit scary.  That’s natural.  Being stirred can be scary.

However, what I’ve learned over the years of experiencing God’s presence and walking with Him through other similar seasons, is that I can go through this type of season and be stirred, and not shaken.

Isaiah 46:4

I will be your God throughout your lifetime—until your hair is white with age.  I made you, and I will care for you.  I will carry you along and save you.

Genesis 28:15

What’s more, I am with you, and I will protect you wherever you go. One day I will bring you back to this land. I will not leave you until I have finished giving you everything I have promised you.

Our ability to be stirred and not shaken is dependent on our experience of watching God’s faithfulness in our lives, as well as the bona fide evidence God provides in His word.  The passages above are great examples of both, from the points of view of the Israelites during Isaiah’s day, and Jacob (son of Isaac, son of Abraham).

In the Isaiah passage, this amazing and reassuring word from God to His chosen people through Isaiah comes at a time when, no doubt, the Israelites felt stirred if not worse.  Isaiah was charged with responsibility to call out his fellow Hebrews for their unfaithfulness and idolatry, and he prophesied to the Israelites from God about how God was going to bring correction and discipline to them, partly via exile to a foreign, enemy-led land.  They may not yet have seen the discipline but Isaiah’s job before God was to introduce the forthcoming stirring.  And yet, in the midst of a bleak and jarring message from Isaiah, God reminds the Hebrews that the stirring is not the end of the matter.  He would remain steadfast to care for them, to lovingly bring them to a new and restored place with Him.  Hence, they could take comfort in His promises and their personal experience to be stirred and not shaken.

In a similar way, Jacob had the opportunity to experience miracles and blessings of God as firsthand as anyone in all of history, certainly through his ancestors’ experiences.  He saw God’s fulfillment of promises and he received God’s protection (without being worthy of it).  In this passage, Jacob had just stolen the birthright from his brother Esau and had to flee for safety.  No doubt Jacob felt stirred, either because he had to leave his home under auspicious circumstances or because he felt afraid for his safety since Esau might exact vengeance on Jacob, God makes it crystal clear that though Jacob might be stirred, he ought not be shaken.  God made him that promise directly, and Jacob had seen God’s provision and fidelity in the past.

You and I can stand on the same solid ground as did the Hebrews of Isaiah’s day and as did Jacob.  In fact, on the same ground as innumerable Christ followers of antiquity.  That ground allows us to be stirred and not shaken amid transition, trials, unforeseen circumstances, and unexpected times. 

That ground is the rock-solid recollection of God’s deliverance in our pasts or in the pasts of those around us.  I can know that God will bring me into new and better places, places of growth and places of a greater sense of His love and care, simply because I have watched Him bring me into those places, through being stirred, in the past.  I can know that God will because I can recall that God did.  Perhaps you haven’t walked with Him long enough or closely enough to see that He has.  Consider hearing the stories of other Christ followers in your life, or your pastor(s), life group leader(s) or whoever else in your sphere might be able to convey their experience for your benefit.  One of the reasons God stirs in us during a season could be so that we can help support one another down the road.  We don’t always know what His reasons are, but we always know that He does have a reason.

That alone can help us to remain stirred and not shaken!

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

Walking together

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One of the activities my wife and I enjoy, even here in the midsummer heat of Central Texas, is walking together.  Here in Waco there are a number of places where we can walk and enjoy outdoors, God’s creation, views, and certainly exercise (though I have to admit, the views are not as picturesque as back in southern California … but the positives here outweigh the negatives haha – and I digress).

Yet, what I love about walking together is more than just the exercise and the views.  There is an inherent closeness and intimacy that is borne out of walking together, more so than any number of other activities.  Several guys in my life group also enjoy walking together and a few times we’ve had the opportunity to share times with one another during which we do what guys very infrequently do together.  Talk.  Share.  Emote.  All those things that allow us to grow close with each other.

Walking together is something God values as well, and what He seeks from us.  A closeness and intimacy with Him is what He most desires.  He invites us to talk, share, and emote, as well.  But I fear that many of us may not realize this or few feel comfortable that it’s really true.

Genesis 3:8-9

When the cool evening breezes were blowing, the man and his wife heard the Lord God walking about in the garden. So they hid from the Lord God among the trees.  Then the Lord God called to the man, “Where are you?”

Even among the first people ever created, God sought to walk together in close fellowship with them.  In fact, as God walked throughout the garden, He noticed the absence of Adam and Eve.  It mattered to Him that they weren’t able to walk together, both actually and figuratively.  But it was only when Adam and Eve sinned that God moved them out of the garden to sever the closeness.

The Bible talks about numerous people (Enoch in Genesis 5:22-24, Noah in Genesis 6:9, Job in Job 1:8, Moses in Exodus 3:4, and many more), who were described as close to and intimate with God, who enjoyed authentic fellowship with Him.  And here’s the deal … it’s clear from these passages that God similarly enjoyed the fellowship with them.  And with us.

So it’s true that not only can we go walking together with God, but He desires it.  But it’s also true that our ability to do that was obscured because of the fall that resulted from Adam and Eve’s sinful choice to eat of the fruit of the knowledge of good and evil.  The fellowship that God established was destroyed by virtue of that unvirtuous decision.  And yet God so desired walking together with us that He restored the fellowship beginning on a day we now choose to celebrate on December 25 (and culminated on Easter Sunday).  Walking together with us was so important that God sent His Son to serve as an indelible means to do so.

Walking together seems easy enough, but there are conditions that must be true for it to work.  Amos 3:3 …

Can two people walk together without agreeing on the direction?

Another translation renders that verse, “Can two walk together, unless they are agreed?”  I actually like the broader approach to that translation as I think about walking together with my wife or my life group buddies.  See, to go walking together we need to agree on a time and place to start, a direction to go, a pace to walk at, a distance to cover, etc.  There’s a conjoining that must happen both in advance and during the walking in order for it to be together.

There has to be an intentionality to allow for walking together in the spiritual sense.  Time, place, direction, pace, etc. … all are important to establish from the outset.  Here’s the great thing about God in this particular respect, though.  If we simply ask and invite Him to, he is always ready and willing to go walking together.  For the most part, He will join us at a time and place of our choosing, provided we go in His direction.  He’ll adjust to our pace until we can increase it, and He never gets tired so He’ll go walking together with us as long a distance as we desire, though He always desires to go a longer distance with us.  After all, it’s the closeness and intimacy He is after, and He is gracious enough to meet us wherever, whenever, in order to have them with us.

As we think of Christmas, let’s remember that it is not just a day for the giving and receiving of gifts, but a day for remembering we’ve already received the greatest of gifts.  The gift of our heavenly Father sending His only Son to you and me so that we can enjoy walking together with Him.  Failing to do so is like getting a Christmas gift and tossing it straight in the trash.  I would never let anyone I know or love do that.

Walking together is far too fun than to allow that.

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

“And,” “but,” and “or”

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I’ve written many times about how much of my childhood (and if I’m truly honest, a bunch of my adulthood) was shaped indelibly by movies, music, and tv.  As with many of my vintage age-wise, a big contributor to how we learned math, civics, and many other subjects perhaps we should have learned better in school was Schoolhouse Rock.  So many songs from that show still stick in my memory … “I’m Just a Bill,” “Three is a Magic Number,” “Interjections,” and probably the most memorable, “Conjunction Junction.”  (no doubt you’re probably already singing the lyrics to it now … you’re welcome.)

You’ll be happy to note that this post is not about teaching on conjunctions … well, mostly not.  It does entail conjunctions but with an emphasis on their effect on God’s word.  Confused?  I don’t blame you.

To understand what I am talking about, have a look at a portion of the lyrics of “Conjunction Junction.”

Conjunction Junction, what’s their function?
I got “and”, “but”, and “or”, 
They’ll get you pretty far.

Yep, “and”, “but”, and “or” will get you very far.  Very far from the truth.  The truth of God’s word, that is.

You see, “and”, “but”, and “or” are super important to the English language.  I’d dare say that we couldn’t probably get through a couple sentences, let alone a conversation … certainly not a full day … without using “and”, “but”, and “or” somewhere.  And that’s great.  Heck, it’s the reason for “Conjunction Junction.”

But, when you add those to God’s word, it’s damaging.

What I mean is … God’s word is all we need.  It is complete.  2 Timothy 3:16-17 tell us …

All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right.  God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work.

God’s word is all we need to teach us how to live, how to be saved, how to accept God’s free gift of salvation through the sacrifice that Jesus made on the cross for the whole world.  It’s all there.  We don’t need anything else.

So if we decided what we need for truth and life is God’s word and … God’s word or … God’s word but … we mutate the veracity of God’s word.  It’s basically subtraction by addition.  When we try to add anything to God’s word, we subtract from what is absolute about it.  It is true.  It is whole.  It is timeless.  It is all we need.

Why do we bring “and”, “but”, and “or” to it?  In our humanness I suggest we bring each of them for various reasons.

And … anytime we add traditions, behaviors, actions, even sacramental requirements to what the Bible unambiguously says, we are getting very far from the truth.  In the 2 Timothy passage above, it is clear that the Bible is all that we need to guide us through life.  Salvation (John 3:16, Romans 10:9), right living (2 Peter 1:3, Psalms 119:105), even relationship health (Ephesians 5:15-21) – among other things in life – have fulfillment and root in the word of God.  Don’t get me wrong … I am NOT saying that God won’t or can’t speak to us directly or through other people, or that the Bible speaks with specific reference to all the various circumstances in our lives.  I haven’t yet found any passages in scripture to deal with flat tires, for example.  But there are principles of all kinds that apply to all areas of life sufficiently.  And, the Bible speaks very forthrightly about the importance of prayer, listening to God’s voice, the ministry of the Holy Spirit, etc.  What I am referring to in terms of “and” is adding anything to the wholeness and truthfulness of God’s word.  It is enough.

But … if I struggle with a particular principle in the Bible, I might say, “I agree with most of what the Bible says, but …”  In essence, I might have a propensity to cherry-pick things in scripture I like or exclude things in scripture I don’t like.  The problem is that the 2 Timothy passage above says the “all” scripture is inspired by God (in another translation it says, “God-breathed”) and so each passage of the Bible must be as validly true as all the passages of the Bible.  The Bible consists of 66 books written by about 40 authors over 2,000 or so years, on three continents, in three languages, and successfully predicts the future in advance (which is revealed even within the Bible), and is both internally- and externally-consistent (meaning it agrees with itself, and it agrees with history outside itself).  Hence, we can’t validly choose some of the Bible without choosing all of the Bible.  That doesn’t mean that the Bible is absent of challenging passages or absent of passages that I can’t quite understand or reconcile.  But it does mean that whether there are challenging passages or passages I can’t quite understand or reconcile, I can trust that God understands, and He promises to give us peace that passes our understanding (Philippians 4:6-7).

Or … when we use “or” it’s often to give a sense of equivalency to God’s word and other belief systems.  While there may be commonalities in philosophies and other religious beliefs, that doesn’t make them equally valid or equally true.  The Bible expresses an exclusive claim on truth (John 14:6) and is very particular in describing God, His attributes, how we are to be saved, how we are to live, and so on.  To the extent that it is indeed true (it is), then anything that differs from it must logically be false.  I am not trying to make any sort of character assassination, I am rather trying to invoke logic.  So, we can’t equate the Bible’s exclusive claims from anything that differs from or disagrees with them.  “Or” is perhaps one of the most concerning of the conjunctions.

Revelation 22:18-19 says …

And I solemnly declare to everyone who hears the words of prophecy written in this book: If anyone adds anything to what is written here, God will add to that person the plagues described in this book.  And if anyone removes any of the words from this book of prophecy, God will remove that person’s share in the tree of life and in the holy city that are described in this book.

I’m not trying to pick a fight.  I’m trying instead to prompt consideration, contemplation, and conversation.  While “and”, “but”, and “or” may get you very far grammatically and linguistically, they can also create slippery slopes of deviance from the truth of God’s word.  God desires His word to truly fill our lives, to complete our community with one another, and to establish a proper and reverential relationship with Him.  If we are not careful, “they’ll get you pretty far.”  Far from God, far from salvation, far from all He truly wants to bless us with, out of the abundance of the love, grace, and mercy that He desires to lavish upon you and me.

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

I disagree

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I disagree with you.

On something.

Phew!  I’m glad I got that off my chest.

Oh, I suspect you disagree with me on something as well.

You know what?  The world didn’t end.  I just basically told you that I disagree with you and acknowledged that you disagree with me, and the world is still going.  I disagree with you and you disagree with me.  But that doesn’t mean I have to hate you.  And hopefully, that doesn’t mean that you have to hate me.

Yet, I fear that’s what the narrative in our society is devolving to these days.  There seems to be some sort of invisible dividing line that dictates that if (really, when) you and I disagree on something, even small or relatively unimportant things, we must be irreconcilably opposed to one another and have license to behave accordingly.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not placing the culpability on any particular side of any particular issue (although I do believe there is culpability … just not human culpability, or at least 100 percent human culpabiility), I am just pointing out that which seems as plain as the nose on my face.  We don’t have to agree on everything in order to be friends or acquaintances.  Sometimes our disagreement helps to fortify the position one or both of us have or helps at least to pressure test the rationale behind our belief. 

If what I believe is so fragile that it cannot withstand you questioning or challenging it, perhaps even be strengthened by it, I have to question the veracity of my belief.  If my character is so fragile that it cannot stand up to you wanting to understand why I believe what I believe or expressing your disagreement with it, then I have to question the depth of my character.  If you and I cannot have a serious discussion, or even a terse conversation, and part closer as friends, then I have to question whether or not I’m living up to the commandments of God to “love your neighbor as yourself.”

As a follower of Christ, we are not called to agree with everyone.  There are many areas of life that are not intended to be objectively true or false, such as the best style of BBQ (Texas-style), the most iconic college football team in the history of college football (the USC Trojans), the European city with the best weiner schnitzel (Vienna, Austria).  But we are called to disagree in an agreeable manner.  Romans 12:16-18 …

Live in harmony with each other. Don’t be too proud to enjoy the company of ordinary people. And don’t think you know it all!  Never pay back evil with more evil.  Do things in such a way that everyone can see you are honorable.  Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.

So, what if we disagree?  We do.  I guarantee it.  We may disagree on some pretty strongly-felt matters like politics, or social topics, or elections. We may even disagree on ALL of those things.  We may even disagree on things that I feel so strongly about that I decide to take a strong stance on them.  What do we do?

Paul’s admonition in the passage above from Romans 12 tells it all.  We’re called to live in harmony with one another.  We’re told to live in humility, not thinking too highly of ourselves.  Our responsibility is to live in peace with everyone, or as another translation renders it, “If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men.”  I dare say, I think more times than not, living in peace with others depends on us more than we’re willing to admit.  Another of Paul’s letters cuts to the chase a bit … Philippians 2:3-4 …

Don’t be selfish; don’t try to impress others. Be humble, thinking of others as better than yourselves.  Don’t look out only for your own interests, but take an interest in others, too.

What I love about this reminder is that it reminds us that we’re to hold other people in higher esteem than our opinions.  Let that soak in for a moment.  Our obligation to care for God’s people trumps our self-aggrandizement and our uber-protective hold on our opinions and feelings.  In fact, Proverbs 18:2 reminds us of how we can be received if all we do is get ugly in arguing about our disagreements …

Fools have no interest in understanding; they only want to air their own opinions.

Don’t get me wrong.  There are things that are indeed objectively true and I am not saying we have to capitulate and agree on everything someone else says to avoid creating a disagreement.  I am saying that we can disagree but the manner in which we disagree matters. 

In view of the fact that there is objective truth, anything that comes in contradiction to that must be false by definition.  No matter what stance you and I decide to carry, 1+1=2.  That is objectively and verifiably true.  You and I are free to disagree on that, but no matter how fervently I may believe it, 1+1 can never equal anything except 2.  God is also true, so anything that contravenes Him is not true.  His word is true, so anything that comes in conflict with the Bible is not true.  We don’t have to be flimsy with the truth, we just have to “live in peace with everyone,” “thinking of others as better than yourselves.”  If “your truth” and “my truth” conflict, then one or both of them is not true.  That’s called logic, and it’s objective and inescapable.  But we can talk about “the truth” in a caring, humble, and edifying way.  That’s called love, and it’s what God expects of us, and the key to our society remaining healthy and intact.

Which brings me to an earlier point.  The ugliness resulting from disagreement that seems to pervade our society these days certainly has much of its genesis in our humanness.  We as humans have gotten to a point of some pretty bad behavior on sometimes strongly-felt disagreements.  But we also have an enemy (Satan) who enjoys stirring the proverbial pot, and pitting us against one another.  Why go to the effort of trying to destroy the other army in a war if they are willing to destroy themselves.  I fear perhaps that’s what our society has degraded to.

Let me say with all sincerity, I care about you enough to hear you out when we disagree.  By God’s grace, my heart is to listen to different perspectives and to share the truth when it comes up, and to do that in a way that demonstrates my love for Jesus and my love for you.  I won’t be perfect, and I recognize that you won’t either.  So let’s agree that we can disagree in an agreeable way.

Soli Deo gloria!

MR

The GOAT

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Having just watched the Olympics a month or so ago, not to mention the reemergence of collegiate and professional sports lately, I’m reminded about the incredibly talented athletes we have the privilege to watch execute their crafts.  Clearly the Allyson Felix’s, Tom Brady’s, Katie Ladecky’s, LeBron James’s, etc., are the best at their craft and may indeed be the GOAT (Greatest Of All Time) at them.  Being both old and old school (haha) I have to say that in my day I had the opportunity to observe those that may very well be even more the GOAT than those.  Names like Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan, Nolan Ryan, Carl Lewis, Mark Spitz, Joe Montana, and many others probably have the right to claim the GOAT title in their sports in their day, and have a legitimate claim on the all-time moniker.

We tend to assign GOAT to those most recent in our current awareness, and that’s not necessarily bad.  The 2021 version of the GOAT may indeed apply, but I can also think about Jesse Owens, Lou Gehrig, Wilt Chamberlain, and others and confidently acclaim them with the GOAT title.

It seems there’s something time-bound about the all-time nature of the GOAT designation.  We tend to remember and venerate the achievements of those in our current awareness but we may forget and devalue what others accomplished in years past or before our time.  It tends to call into question those who may or may not be the GOAT.

That tends to be true at times for the true and undeniable actual Greatest Of All Time, our God Over All Things.  It seems we can read the Bible and acknowledge the historicity of the text and the veracity of the words for those times, and yet forget that God hasn’t changed, hasn’t diminished in His ability to be the GOAT for you and me in our here and now.

Lamentations 3:22-24

The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”

Revelation 1:8

“I am the Alpha and the Omega—the beginning and the end,” says the Lord God. “I am the one who is, who always was, and who is still to come—the Almighty One.”

Psalms 33:11-15

But the Lord’s plans stand firm forever; his intentions can never be shaken.  What joy for the nation whose God is the Lord, whose people he has chosen as his inheritance.  The Lord looks down from heaven and sees the whole human race.  From his throne he observes all who live on the earth.  He made their hearts, so he understands everything they do.

The circumstances life can bring about can truly weigh heavily on us.  It is easy, in our humanness, to forget everything but the challenges that weigh us down.  It is also easy in those times to default to a sense of helplessness.  We can make the mistake of reading God’s word and seeing it as historical, but not practical.  As inspirational but not personal.  And in that possible tendency, not only do we misapply the Word of God, but we mistake His very identity.

You see, God is the God Of All Time.  He is the God we need at every moment in time.

God is also the God Over All Things.  He can rescue us from whatever our struggles may be.

The passages above remind us of the truth that God is the same today, yesterday, and tomorrow.  His “faithful love … never ends.  His mercies never cease.”  That means we can have Grace Overriding Anxious Times no matter what or when.

He is the “beginning and the end.”  His power and his might have always existed, will always exist, and exist immutably no matter what you and I are dealing with today.  His Goodness Outweighs Apparent Trials.

God is true and the only truth we can rely on without fail, “His intentions can never be shaken.”  He alone is valid and no other system, thought, or religious philosophies can fulfill our needs, ever.  He is the Guarantee Obverting Artificial Theologies.

The miracles God performed long ago, He can still perform today.  This is the God who spoke the universe into existence.  This is the God who formed and fashioned you and me in our mothers’ wombs.  This is the God who parted not only a sea, but also a river, to provide safe passage for His chosen people.  This is the God who raised the dead, restored sight to the blind, healed those with incurable diseases, and fulfilled over 300 discrete, specific qualifications in advance by offering His one and only Son so that you and I can know Him for eternity.

This is the God who has loved us (past tense) with an everlasting (future tense) love in the present tense (Jeremiah 31:3).

His miracles weren’t relegated for just a specific time and place for only specific people.  God is able today to be the GOAT … the God Over All Things, with Grace Overriding Anxious Times, whose Goodness Outweighs Apparent Trials, as the Guarantee Obverting Artificial Theologies.  Let’s you and I never relegate His accomplishments in the past to mute His ability to help us in the present.

He is truly today the only true GOAT … the Greatest Of All Time for whatever it is we need, whenever it is that we need it.

Soli Deo gloria!

MR