Surely

“Surely He has borne our griefs and carried our sorrows; yet we esteemed Him stricken, smitten by God, and afflicted.” (Isaiah 53:4 ESV)

We sang a Lenten anthem this season entitled “Surely He Has Borne Our Griefs"  which is based on this Isaiah passage.  The opening word surely brings me a lot of comfort as it emphasizes the veracity and very certainty of Christ’s actions while making them both personal and universal: He did this for me and for us.   We can be confident in the completeness and perfection of Christ’s sacrifice that it is all we need to gain salvation.

Hebrews 10:14 says,“But when this priest (Jesus) had offered for all time one sacrifice for sins, He sat down at the right hand of God. Since that time He waits for His enemies to be made His footstool because  by one sacrifice He has made perfect forever those who are being made holy.”

Jesus’ suffering, death and resurrection are the only atonement we need to be reconciled to God and to share eternal life with Him. Without accepting His sacrifice, though, we are lost forever. “Whoever believes in Him is not condemned, but whoever does not believe stands condemned already because they have not believed in the name of God's one and only Son.” (John 3:18)

As you reflect on Jesus’ sacrifice this week, remember another surely statement from the Bible, the words of the centurion and Roman soldiers who were eyewitnesses to Jesus’ crucifixion:  “Surely He was the Son of God!” (Matthew 27:54)

Proactive Prayer

“Well all I can do is pray.”

 “There’s nothing I can do but pray.”

I am appalled when I hear myself or one of my friends say those words. As if prayer is a last resort and not a first line of defense. As if we are not praying to the God of the universe who holds together all things by His word.  (Colossians 1:17)

Yet it seems we often wait until there is a crisis to turn to God. We pray diligently during weekly church services and we intend to have a daily prayer time and remember all those requests friends and family give us. But we get tired and distracted. Until some tragedy strikes and stops us in our tracks. Our world is shaken and we expect God to right it for us. He will because He loves us but I wonder how far I am missing the mark when I forget to pray proactively? When I neglect to pray for the ordinary things, for safety and wellness for those who appear safe and well in addition to those I know are not. I seldom overlook the need to pray for those in my life who have yet to accept the saving grace of Christ; but how often do I pray for God to strengthen the spiritual walk and provide growth for those in my life who already claim to be disciples?

I want to remember to pray in the calm before life’s storms, not just during the chaos they cause. In Ephesians 6:18, Paul encourages us to “pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the saints.” I am also striving to become more like the Old Testament prophet Samuel who said, “As for me, far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.”(1 Samuel 12:23a)

Oh How He Loves Us

I really like the David Crowder Band song “How He Loves Us” and after hearing it a handful of times recently, I decided to stop and ponder the lyrics. After all, the Valentine hearts and flowers splashed across my computer screen each time I opened my email reminded me it was the season of love.  But how much more should the season of Lent, which began the day before Valentine’s Day, remind me of how much God loves us?

The David Crowder song starts with the line, “He is jealous for me.” I once heard a celebrity say when she heard that God was a jealous God she changed her beliefs because she couldn’t believe that was true.  While she misperceived God’s own description of Himself as jealous, I see it as a great thing because God is not jealous as man is jealous. He is not envious of our possessions, our skills, or our wealth. He is jealous for our attention, our love, and our devotion because they rightly belong to Him. 

Deut.  6:5: says: “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.” Jesus quotes this verse in Matt. 22:37 when the Pharisees asked Him which was the greatest of the commandments. So why should we give God our undying love? Because His love meant He was willing to die for us so we could spend eternity with Him and so we could enjoy His presence in our lives now.  Here’s how big God’s love is…

God’s love is faithful:  “I will never leave you nor forsake you.” (Heb. 13:5)

God’s love is unfailing:  “I have loved you with an everlasting love; I have drawn you with loving-kindness.” Jer. 31:3

God’s love is generous: “How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!” 1 John 3:1

God’s love is selfless: “This is love: not that we loved God, but that He loved us and sent His Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins.” 1 John 4:10

Sing with me now, “Oh, how He loves you. Oh, how He loves me. Oh, how He loves you and me.”

All Things New

I started a new job this month and when I told my friends, two of them responded, “what a great new adventure!” Instead of being anxious, I am trying to adopt their attitude and decided while I’m at it, that’s a good attitude with which to begin a new year.

God wants us to enjoy the adventure He has in store for us and the start of a new year is a good time to focus on fresh opportunities God may be leading you toward.  Like the pristine pages of the new planner I get every year, each January provides the opportunity for a fresh start in all areas of our lives. It’s a good time to review the last year and take a spiritual inventory. I like to start each January by seeking God and asking Him to set the agenda for the year, to reveal more of His will to me and to help me make the changes I need to make.  The interesting thing is that God has already remade us and will continue to remake us.  

2 Cor. 5:17 says, “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come!”  While the verb is in the present tense, the context reveals that God has already done this work, that through the blood of Christ, those who are saved have already been made new.  But since we continue to sin daily, despite our best efforts, Paul reminds us we can continue to be transformed by the renewing of our minds. And in Rev. 21:5: Jesus says, “Behold I am making all things new!”  That verb phrase is in the present progressive tense which means that He is continuing to do it and will do it until He is finished.

So this January, believe that God has made and is making all things new and that includes you!

Happy Birthday to Me!

Last year for my birthday I received a herniated disc in my neck but on the one-year anniversary of the beginning of last year’s health crisis, I am reminded of the health problems my Mom endured when she was pregnant with me. Her pregnancy with my older sister was a difficult one and doctors advised her not to have any more children. When she became pregnant with me, the situation was so critical doctors repeatedly encouraged her to abort me. They said if Mom carried me to term, one of us might not survive and if we did, I could be born with extreme mental or physical challenges.

Despite their dire predictions and the trials of ill health, Mom bravely carried me until January 16 when I was born nearly a month early. During her cesarean, a clot formed and lodged in her intestines and when I was six weeks old, she had emergency surgery during which the surgeon discovered gangrene had set up in her intestines. Mom’s heart stopped twice during surgery but God and the doctors revived her and the Lord allowed her to live with us many, many more years. So today, I honor my strong, courageous Momma who fought the odds and trusted God in order to give me life. May I follow her example and always live life with such courage and faith!

“Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you. Before you were born, I set you apart; I appointed you as a prophet to the nations.” Jer. 1:5  

A God of Seconds

2012 was a year of firsts…my first MRI; my first visit to a neurosurgeon; my first acupuncture treatment. (That last one wasn’t nearly as bad as I imagined).  Like my year, maybe you had some firsts in 2012 you’d rather not have endured.  But thankfully, God is a God of seconds.

When Jonah ran 100 miles in the opposite direction, he got a second chance to evangelize Nineveh. Okay, so he spent three days in a whale first. But he still got a second chance and because he did, an entire nation of barbarous, godless people were spared from God’s wrath.

When the angel Gabriel told Zechariah his elderly wife Elizabeth would give birth to a son, he unwisely laughed. His punishment was to be mute for nine months, but he still got a second chance—a chance to raise a son who would become known as John the Baptizer.  

And Paul the apostle? His sins to us seem the most grievous of all—he was a murderer who persecuted the fledgling church. Yet on the road to Damascus, God met him and after three years in the wilderness, Paul became arguably the greatest advocate of Christianity the world has ever known.

So no matter what firsts you have faced in 2012, look forward and know that the God of second chances always has a plan.

Jeremiah 29:11: “For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.”

The Light of Christmas

When the world is filled with darkness, it is sometimes difficult to see the Light. But it is only by the Light, that we can truly see.  That was the reason Immanuel, God With Us, came to be born in a stable to a virgin over 2000 years ago.

“Behold people walking in darkness have seen a great light; on those living in the land of the shadow of death, a light has dawned.”—Isaiah 9:2

It is fitting then that the Light of the world would be heralded this way when the angels appeared to the shepherds in the Judean hills near the town of Bethlehem:

“An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, ‘Do not be afraid. For I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people.  Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you. He is the Messiah, the Lord.’” Luke 2: 9-11

So when life seems its darkest, remember the words from Henry Wadsworth Longfellow’s poem which he wrote during the American Civil War:

And in despair I bowed my head

 “There is no peace on earth,” I said,

 “For hate is strong and mocks the song

 Of peace on earth, good will to men.”

Then pealed the bells more loud and deep:

 “God is not dead, nor doth He sleep;

 The wrong shall fail, the right prevail

 With peace on earth, good will to men.”