A Godly Grief. “Have you ever done something you said you’d never do? If your answer is yes, you aren’t alone.”
Does the Day End in Night, or the Night End in Day? HT to Challies. “Every day ends in night, and every night ends in day. These cycles have been circling for longer than anyone can remember, and they will continue long after our own lives are forgotten—but they cannot continue forever. Someday, the cycles must finish. And will they finish with an everlasting day, or a never-ending night?”
The Real Reasons We Don’t Read the Bible, HT to Knowable Word. “If we’re honest with ourselves, a lot of modern American excuses boil down to one: I’m just too busy right now. Really? Am I really too busy to hear from God? Am I too busy to have my soul revived by his living and active word? Am I too busy to receive the wisdom I desperately need in all of my busyness? Am I too busy to have my dim eyes awakened again to ultimate, spiritual reality? Am I too busy to have my easily distracted mind focused on the most important things? Am I too busy to taste the sweetest honey and receive the finest gold?”
Could Your Devotional Material Be Hindering Your Spiritual Growth? HT to Challies. “The danger is not that Christians read devotionals. The danger is that we begin to treat them as a substitute for reading Scripture itself. The danger is that we slowly become content with someone else’s digested thoughts about the Bible, while rarely learning to feast on the Bible for ourselves.”
What’s Really Holding You Back? A Biblical Look at “Limiting Beliefs.” “In the self-help world, it is common to hear the term “limiting beliefs.” Limiting beliefs are defined as any negative thoughts or assumptions that are holding you back from the life you want. More and more, however, I am hearing this phrase on the lips of Christians. And I have some concerns.”
Scattered. “It’s a strange feeling when you shift from having a tight little family unit that moves through the world together to this scattered collection of human beings who wave to one another from a distance. In some ways it feels like I’m picking up pieces of a former life I once knew and trying to make them fit into a new puzzle. Those pieces don’t connect anymore, and my brain is trying to keep up with the change.”
3 Helpful Instructions on Keeping a Journal. “Having written a couple hundred pages of theologically-dense teaching on God’s providence, [John Flavel] closes with a simple plea to Christians to maintain a journal that records specific instances of God’s compassion and care. He does not advocate a tell-all diary, but a prudent, humble, and appropriate record of our experiences and observations of God’s providence. He suggests that keeping this kind of journal can benefit and enrich not only ourselves but also other believers.”
The deepest waters I’ve had to go through have taught me the deepest lessons.–Elisabeth Elliot
Here are some good reads for the first weekend in March.
The Great Danger is to Assume We Are All Headed for Heaven, HT to Challies. “For every American who believes they’re going to Hell, there are 120 who believe they’re going to Heaven. This optimism stands in stark contrast to Christ’s words in Matthew 7:13-14: ‘…wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it.’”
The Sacred Mundane, HT to Challies. “What about the ordinary and mundane tasks of the homemaker? Can they possibly be more than they are? the making of breakfasts, of lunches and dinners, the folding of laundry, wiping of counters, changing of diapers, the picking up, and the dropping off. Can these have meaning beyond the day after day ‘sameness?’”
All My Heroes Are Broken. “Disappointment. Once again, a Christian leader has fallen off the pedestal. Of course, I should never have placed them on it. But in my mind, they are not what they once were. Maybe they never were. I need good examples–role models who live out what it means to walk by faith and reflect God’s glory. My heart cries out for inspiration to live for God day by day. Can I really do what God made me and saved me to do? How have others done this before me?”
A Congregation Is a Voting Body. I share this because it never occurred to me anyone would think otherwise until a few years ago, when I heard someone say that they didn’t have the church vote on things because there was no instance of it in Scripture. But there is.
You Probably Won’t Get a Book Deal. But We Still Need You to Write, HT to Challies. “It’s difficult to be published. Unless you have a large following, or catch a break, you may face an uphill battle in getting your book published. And yet, I would argue, it’s still important for you to write for at least a couple of reasons.”
The Three Lost Pieces of a Good Romance, HT to Challies. “Today, I’ll be discussing the three essential elements of a good romance novel that have gradually been vanishing from mainstream romance tales, and why these three elements are necessary for a good story.”
“But tho’ there is much to be puzzled about, there is nothing to be worried about.” –C. S. Lewis
There was quite a bit of good reading posted this week:
The Power of Prayer, HT to Challies. “Sometimes, to protect a passage of scripture from the abuses it receives from those who twist it, we add so many qualifications that we eliminate not only the false teaching but also the profound truth it communicates. We find one such passage in the Sermon on the Mount where Jesus says, ‘Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you (Matt. 7:7).'”
The Missing Years, HT to Challies. “We were preparing for our daughter’s wedding when she called me one day in a slight panic, ‘Mom, I have no pictures of myself from 2009-2011! What happened?’ ‘What happened’ was, I was in the “desert years’- both literally and spiritually.” This is a lovely piece of writing as well as a comforting truth that God can redeem our “desert years.”
Too Much Times, HT to Challies. “Everyone experiences what I call Too Much Times,’ perfect storms where our most demanding challenges meet our most significant weaknesses and can lead to our lowest moments. Too Much Times are days, weeks, or whole years marked by too many demands, responsibilities, and burdens and not enough internal and external resources to keep all the balls in the air.”
On a Christian Approach to Education. “A materialistic worldview reduces education according to its usefulness in the here and now. But as Christians, we walk by faith and not by sight. We believe in the ‘deeper magic,’ the unseen things that are often more true than the seen things.”
Counseling Children Who Have Already Professed Faith in Christ. “I asked my children if they had any prayer requests. One of them responded, ‘Daddy, pray for me, that I would believe in Jesus and be a Christian.’ This wasn’t the first time that my son has mentioned this request. Like many children who’ve grown up in a Christian home, my son professed faith in Christ at an early age. But, like so many other young people who profess faith early, he struggles with doubts.”
Raising a Leader: 3 Leadership Qualities Your Kids Need. “Regardless of our personal style or our leadership resume, as mothers, we sit in the seat of influence with our kids. How we respond to their initiative, their creativity, and their all-pervasive energy in our home goes a long way in defining our children’s confidence.”
You Are an Influencer, HT to Challies. I appreciated this thoughtful, reasonable take on influencing, curating, and social media.
Don’t Complain; Be the Light. “Instead of moaning about the darkness, look to the light. The solution to a dark, crooked, perverse generation is not to complain and argue with them, but to keep being the light. To keep on being pure and blameless and harmless. To keep living in your identity as a child of God.”
Going to the Party. “Christians faced with terminal illness or imminent death often feel they’re leaving the party before it’s over. They have to go home early. They’re disappointed, thinking of all they’ll miss when they leave. But the truth is, the real party is underway at home—precisely where they’re going. They’re not the ones missing the party; those of us left behind are. (Fortunately, if we know Jesus, we’ll get there eventually.)”
Monday, the US celebrates Memorial Day to honor those who have died in the service of their country. On Sunday evenings before Memorial Day, I enjoy watching the National Memorial Day Concert to be reminded of what this day means.
Our debt to the heroic men and valiant women in the service of our country can never be repaid. They have earned our undying gratitude. – President Harry S. Truman
We take this day to mourn for those Who suffered fates of ills and woes, For those who fought until the death, Who gave this nation their last breath. To these passed on—we now salute. Their legend we will ne’er dispute, And as they sleep let us bestow The highest honor that we know.
Here’s my latest set of interesting reads discovered this week.
The Courage of Confession. “The gift of repentance only comes to the penitent heart, providing the courage of confession. Yet instead of coming to God in sorrow and humility, we come bearing an armload of excuses for our sin, finding true confession and subsequent forgiveness difficult.”
The Gospel of Self-Forgiveness, HT to Challies. “Can you point me to one example of someone forgiving themselves in the Bible? There is no category of self-forgiveness in the Bible. And that is a freeing truth! Your shame and guilt is not dependent upon your ability to forgive yourself.”
See Me, HT to Challies. “We all have a need–a craving–to be noticed. And in the noticing, praised. Esteemed. Wanted. Loved. But too often our parents disappoint us. And our friends become our competition.”
Squinting for the Glory of God, HT to Challies. “Your greatest weakness may be the kingdom’s greatest asset since it can become an occasion for God to flex his might.”
Your Past Does Not Have to Be Your Future, HT to Challies. “Are you on the sidelines because you messed up? Have you checked out because something went wrong? Do you believe you are damaged goods because of your failures?”
Encouragement for Fainting Disciplers. It’s hard when you work with someone to help them come to know the Lord and grow in Him, and then they suddenly seem to lose interest. This article offers some help for that scenario.
In the midst of Job’s suffering, he remarked, “Man who is born of a woman is few of days and full of trouble” (Job 14:1).
We might sometimes lament, “Why does life have to be so hard?”
God didn’t originally create life to be so troublesome in Eden. But sin affected everything, from the people God created to the earth they lived in (Genesis 3). Humans had work to do before sin entered the world (Genesis 2:15). But it would have been something like working at your favorite hobby with nothing going wrong. However, after sin entered the world, part of God’s curse was that thorns and thistles would spring up and labor would cost sweat and pain (Genesis 3:16-19).
Besides daily work becoming hard, personal relationships would suffer because now everyone would have a sin nature. Misunderstandings, anger, selfishness, pride, and more would war in hearts and against others. The very first person born to Adam and Eve murdered his brother.
And human history went downhill from there.
Each of us has experienced the fallenness of the world.
From early childhood we fall and get scraped up, hear taunts, teasing, and put-downs from other children, get into trouble when we do wrong, feel misunderstood and mistreated.
As teenagers we either strive to get into the popular crowd and then not lose our place, or we lament that we’ll always be on the outside. Then there’s acne, puberty, hormones, questions about the future.
As adults we struggle to make a living against increasing prices. Workplace feuds and misunderstandings crowd out enjoyment in our jobs. Someone else gets the promotion we were due. Someone takes the credit for our idea.
We struggle against our own sin nature and lament the continual pull of selfishness.
As we get older, aches and pains take over our bodies. Sight dims, and we can’t do the things we used to.
Along the way, friends and loved ones get sick and die. Innocent little children get cancer. Car crashes maim or kill loved ones. Murders and wars increase.
We try to share our faith, but people mostly don’t want to hear it. Some will actively persecute us. There are countries where sharing Christianity and handing out Bibles is a crime and conversion is punishable by death.
We have needs. Our families have needs. Friends have needs. Our country has needs and opposite opinions about how to deal with them. Our church has needs. The world at large has needs. Orphans, widows, victims, medical research, so many needs that are more than we can even begin to manage.
When we feel the weight of a fallen world, we’re tempted to just crawl into a corner and wait for it to be over.
But thinking of that weight, Paul says, “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Romans 8:18). In another place he says:
For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison,as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
Once when we came across this passage in a ladies’ Bible study, one of the women had been going through a terrible physical battle. She was a little hurt and angry that the Bible seemed to brush off her heavy affliction as light.
But Paul isn’t minimizing the affliction. He’s saying our glory will be greater than our affliction. Sin, tears, pain, mourning, loss, problems, as weighty as they are, will seem lightweight and short-lived compared to what we’ll experience when Jesus comes for His own. Speaking of that time, Paul tells the Thessalonians, “Therefore encourage [some translations say ‘comfort’] one another with these words” (1 Thessalonians 4:8).
‘Well,” we might be thinking, “that will be great when we get to heaven. But is there no hope and help til then?”
There is.
Just before that section in 2 Corinthians, Paul says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (4:16).
God gives grace and strength to meet every trial. “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble” (Psalm 46:1).
God invites us to cast our care on Him (1 Peter 5:7).
God gives strength in our weakness. “But he said to me, ‘My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.’ Therefore I will boast all the more gladly of my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ may rest upon me.For the sake of Christ, then, I am content with weaknesses, insults, hardships, persecutions, and calamities. For when I am weak, then I am strong” (2 Corinthians 12:9-10).
Jesus sympathizes with our weakness and promises grace to help in time of need. “Since then we have a great high priest who has passed through the heavens, Jesus, the Son of God, let us hold fast our confession. For we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses, but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need” (Hebrews 4:14-16).
Okay, it’s a relief to know we have God’s help to get through this life. But what about joy? Do we just bear with life til it’s over?
No, God gives joy as well. He gives physical blessings: “You cause the grass to grow for the livestockand plants for man to cultivate,that he may bring forth food from the earth and wine to gladden the heart of man,oil to make his face shineand bread to strengthen man’s heart” (Psalm 104:14-15).
He gives comfort in sorrow. “Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning” (Psalm 30:5b).
Joy is one aspect of the fruit of God’s Holy Spirit in believers (Galatians 5:22-23).
He gives us the joy of His presence: “You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy;at your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11). “Then I will go to the altar of God,to God my exceeding joy,and I will praise you with the lyre,O God, my God” (Psalm 43:4).
When the world is too much, we can’t hide our head in the sand. But neither can we solve the world’s problems. We’re not meant to. We only need to walk in fellowship with “God our exceeding joy,” take everything to Him in prayer, and do what He calls us to within our sphere of influence.
As the hymn says:
Pardon for sin and a peace that endureth, Thine own dear presence to cheer and to guide, Strength for today and bright hope for tomorrow, Blessings all mine with ten thousand beside.
Great is Thy faithfulness! Great is Thy faithfulness! Morning by morning new mercies I see; All I have needed Thy hand hath provided. Great is Thy faithfulness, Lord, unto me.
Every Need Is Not a Call. “As we try to discern the often blurry lines between good, better, and best, we should prayerfully consider our passions, priorities, and providential circumstances. When we walk in dependence upon Christ, we can learn to respond to needs faithfully rather than frantically.”
Losses of a Prayerless Christian, HT to Challies. “Though God is sovereign over all things, He ordains the means of prayer. There are some things He will not do unless we pray, though He always does all He purposes (Psalm 135:6). The mystery does not change this truth: You do not have because you do not ask (James 4:2).”
Never Underestimate the Value of Ordinary, Brief, Christian Conversations, HT to Challies. It’s so true that we minister to each other in small, brief conversations and not just in official sermons or lessons. I can still remember comments made in passing decades ago that directed my thinking in certain areas. it’s so important to be in God’s Word and filled with His Spirit so He can use us in those ways.
Is There Such a Thing as Bad Missions? HT to Challies. “Good motives do not overcome bad methodology. Make sure your missionaries know what they are speaking into before they speak.”
Defending Without Becoming Defensive, HT to Challies. “There is a difference between winning an argument and winning a person. Of course, it’s easy to forget this in the middle of a tense conversation. Emotions are powerful when the stakes are high.”
A Little Poetry Improves Life: How Verse Awakens Wonder, HT to The Story Warren. “I ask the class, ‘How do you know that God intends for you to understand and enjoy poetry?’ . . . It is gratifying to see how quickly someone comes up with the correct answer. That answer is that approximately one-third of the Bible comes to us in poetic form.” Leland Ryken dispels misconceptions and shares tips for getting more out of poetry, especially Biblical poetry.
‘Redeeming Love’ Irredeemably Exploits Actors and Viewers. HT to Challies. “Debates among Christians about the presence of nudity and sex in media are certainly not new. But it’s an important topic to continually reengage and thoughtfully consider—especially as the boundaries of sexual content on screen continue to be pushed. The release of a ‘sexy’ faith-based film like Redeeming Love offers a chance to revisit this discussion, albeit from a new vantage point.”
What Happens When a Believer Dies? HT to Challies. “Every person reading this article is dying. Perhaps you have reason to believe that death will come very soon. You may be troubled, feeling uncertain, or unready to leave. Make sure of your relationship with Jesus Christ. Be certain that you’re trusting Him alone to save you—not anyone or anything else, and certainly not any good works you’ve done. And then allow yourself to get excited about what’s on the other side of death’s door.”
I don’t often read The Babylon Bee and I don’t know any of these people, but the caption about one-line summaries of classic novels caught my eye. This woman’s father had multiple sclerosis, and in the last years of his life couldn’t do much but read. He set out to read as many classic novels as he could and then wrote these summaries of them. Some are pretty funny, like Dracula by Bram Stoker: “Vampire advantage—immortality; disadvantage—limited liquid diet.” Commenters try their hand at one-line summaries, too.
We might find those in some measure. Some of them are God’s good gifts. Some are a foretaste of heaven.
But none will be perfect. This world is fraught with strife, selfishness, conflict.
And such characteristics are not just out there. They’re in our hearts as well.
Whatever troubles or pleases us about this life, none of it will last. Peter says some day “the elements will melt with fervent heat; both the earth and the works that are in it will be burned up” (2 Peter 3:10b).
If we’ve staked all our hopes and dreams on this earth, we’ll be in trouble.
Since this earth won’t last forever, what should we do? Peter goes on to say, “Therefore, since all these things will be dissolved, what manner of persons ought you to be in holy conduct and godliness, looking for and hastening the coming of the day of God, because of which the heavens will be dissolved, being on fire, and the elements will melt with fervent heat? Nevertheless we, according to His promise, look for new heavens and a new earth in which righteousness dwells. Therefore, beloved, looking forward to these things, be diligent to be found by Him in peace, without spot and blameless” (2 Peter 3:11-14, NKJV).
Others passages echo this truth:
For our conversation (citizenship) is in heaven; from whence also we look for the Saviour, the Lord Jesus Christ: Who shall change our vile body, that it may be fashioned like unto his glorious body, according to the working whereby he is able even to subdue all things unto himself (Philippians 3:20-21, KJV).
For the grace of God that brings salvation has appeared to all men, teaching us that, denying ungodliness and worldly lusts, we should live soberly, righteously, and godly in the present age, looking for the blessed hope and glorious appearing of our great God and Savior Jesus Christ, who gave Himself for us, that He might redeem us from every lawless deed and purify for Himself His own special people, zealous for good works (Titus 2:11-14, NKJV).
And as it is appointed unto men once to die, but after this the judgment: So Christ was once offered to bear the sins of many; and unto them that look for him shall he appear the second time without sin unto salvation (Hebrews 9:27-28, KJV).
Other translations say “wait for” instead of “look for,” but the Greek definitions can be translated either way. We wait with expectation, with eagerness, looking for Him.
Only with Him will we find perfection. Only in heaven will there be no sin, no sorrow, no crying, no pain–none of the negative things that taint life here.
Is this just escapism from reality? No, it’s arriving at reality. We look forward to our true reality, our true home. C. S. Lewis called this life the Shadowlands. In The Last Battle, when the children and animals realize they’re in a new Narnia, the Unicorn says:
I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it til now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia is that it sometimes looked a little like this.
Aslan told the children, “The term is over: the holidays have begun. The dream is ended: this is the morning.”
It was only the beginning of the real story. All their life in this world and all their adventures in Narnia had only been the cover and title page: now, at last they were beginning Chapter One of the Great Story which no one on earth has read, which goes on forever; in which every chapter is better than the one before.
Elisabeth Elliot has quoted George MacDonald as saying, “If you knew what God knows about death, you would clap your listless hands.” I remember reading somewhere that one reason God doesn’t tell us much about heaven is that we would look forward to it so much, we wouldn’t be able to get anything else done here.
I admit, there’s much I still enjoy and look forward to in this life. There’s much I’d like to do. One of the most important things I desire is to be a positive influence in my grandson’s life, and hopefully, at some point, in the lives of future grandchildren. God has given us a strong survival instinct. One preacher once said that one reason our bodies start falling apart as we get older is to ready us to let loose of them. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:16-18).
I need the reminder that this life isn’t all there is. Imagine a rope stretched out east and west farther than we can follow, and let it represent eternity. The piece of the rope in front of us is taped off for a few inches. That taped part would represent the whole of life on earth for all time compared to eternity. Time is short. Eternity is long.
But before we look for Him to take us there, we have to look for Him here. Jeremiah 29:13 (ESV) says, “You will seek me and find me, when you seek me with all your heart.” If you don’t have a saving relationship with Jesus, if you’re not sure of heaven, please read here.
We enjoy God’s blessing here. But we know this world isn’t all there is. Like Abraham, we “[look] forward to the city that has foundations, whose designer and builder is God” (Hebrews 11:10).
I have a very short list of good reads found this week, but figured I’d go ahead and share them instead of having an overly long list next week.
Three Reasons God’s Strong in Our Weakness. “Culture teaches us to stay strong and overcome weakness because it just isn’t pretty. Yet, in my heavenly Father’s Kingdom weakness takes on a whole new meaning.”
Kingdom Anticipation. “If we believe that our hearts are longing for something that we haven’t seen yet—a Home that we’ve never even visited—maybe we can expect a little less from this world and hope a whole lot more in the world to come.”
The Song That Was Sharper Than Sting. This is a lovely piece of writing, referencing Tolkien and Lewis and the Bible about songs of Home that encourage us in the darkness.
Redemption May Be Closer Than You Think. “I have learned not to lose heart when everything around me crumbles. God is working. I can trust Him. It may be that what looks dead is about to spring to life.”
The Day I Scheduled God Out of My Life, HT to True Woman. “Your schedule will be different, and you’ll have a choice: to let your schedule dictate the depth of your relationship with Christ, or to let Christ dictate your schedule.”
Carrying a Knapsack, HT to Challies. Thoughts from Galatians 6 about what it means to bear burdens and carry our own load while relying on God’s grace to do so. “Problems arise when people act as if their ‘boulders’ are daily loads and refuse help, or as if their ‘daily loads’ are boulders they shouldn’t have to carry. The results of these two instances are either perpetual pain or irresponsibility.”
Are you enjoying the last few days of visiting with family, as we are? Or chasing end-of-year sales or gearing up to go back to work on Monday? If you have some leisure, these recent online finds have much good to share. Maybe one or two will pique your interest.
A few related to Christmas:
Handel’s—and Jennens’s—“Messiah“, HT to Challies. I didn’t know that Handel only wrote the music, not the words to his famous oratorio, “The Messiah.” Here’s a look at the man who wrote the libretto and why he did.
Competing with Christmas? I like this idea of leveraging the “fun” aspects of the season rather than seeing them as a competition for the spiritual side.
Wise Men: Gentiles Who Sought the Savior. I enjoyed this look at the Magi, the reminder that salvation has always been available to Gentiles, and the contrast between the reaction of Jews and Gentiles at Christ’s birth. I was particularly intrigued by the “bookends” Chris pointed out in the gospels. For instance, myrrh was a gift brought to Jesus at His birth and ointment was poured on Him not long before His death; He was called the King of the Jews by the wise men but not called that again until the crucifixion. I had known those as separate facts but never thought of them as bookends.
A Weary Mom Rejoices. When the world seems too much, it’s good to rest in the only One who can do anything about it.
That Might Preach, But…it might be not accurate, or the main message of the text. HT to Challies. “In our desire to make Scripture ‘preachable’ we import uncertain meanings into the text, while ignoring glorious truths that are actually there.”
A Fragrant Offering, HT to Challies. “It is through our willingness to bear the sufferings of others that people will see Christ. As we do, we become a pleasing aroma to God and the ones we love. The prevailing aroma of Christ pours forth in and through us.”
Still Looking for That Better Country, HT to Challies. Really interesting perspective from a missionary living in a country she’s not a citizen of, comparing that to our living in the world yet being a citizen of heaven, warning herself against the settling-down that can take place as she comes to her own country.
To Serve God in Heaven Will Be a Great Reward, HT to Challies. I’ve often wondered about that phrase concerning serving God in heaven. “Service is a reward, not a punishment. This idea is foreign to people who dislike their work and only put up with it until retirement. We think that faithful work should be rewarded by a vacation for the rest of our lives. But God offers us something very different…”
Stray Thoughts 