His Gifts of Beauty

"See how the lilies and wildflowers of the field grow; they do not labor nor do they spin, yet I say to you that not even Solomon in all his glory and splendor dressed himself like one of these" (Matthew 6:28-29).

"You will go out in joy and be led forth in peace; the mountains and hills will burst into song before you, and all the trees of the field will clap their hands" (Isaiah 55:12) 

"But ask the animals, and they will teach you; or the birds in the sky, and they will tell you; or speak to the earth, and it will teach you; or let the fish in the sea inform you. Which of these does not know that the hand of the Lord has done this? In his hand is the life of every creature and the breath of all mankind" (Job 12:7-10).

 

Prayer for October

 Father, October is one of the most beautiful months of the year here in the Northern Hemisphere. It's also a month now wholly overshadowed by its final day. 

In my childhood, and even my children's, the eclipse wasn't yet total. Now the stores, the costumes, the yard decor, the party planning, have swallowed October whole. The witchy vibes, the Samhain celebrations, the coven gatherings, are more plentiful and open than they've ever been. Isaiah 60 describes our day when it says, "See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples" (60:2a NIV). Jesus has vanquished death, therefore His spiritual enemies deceive people into reviving it, and whether those people are innocent or intentional, few realize how they are being used. 

Why do they celebrate death and destruction? Why turn their October lawns and gardens into graveyards? Because, as in the song "Graves into Gardens" by Brandon Lake, Your Jesus does exactly the opposite. Because, in the absence of faith in the Messiah You gave us, they must either try to gain mastery over death themselves or whistle in the dark concerning it. It's as if they're compelled to partner with it, like victims of Stockholm Syndrome. Because without You, it's our default future, and without You, we have nothing that can change that. 

Father, we thank You for the beauty of October. The colors (and my favorite, the magenta of the sumac!), the breezes, the apples, pumpkins, squash. But physical beauty alone can't withstand the darkness. Only You can do that. Isaiah 60:2 continues: "But the Lord rises upon you and His glory appears over you." Only You can break the deep darkness that covers the peoples. 

So we ask for extra light in October, knowing that means "extra You" but not knowing exactly how that will look. Honestly, that is Your business. We ask, You give. We ask in Your will, we receive. So many, many gravitate to "dark" now--dark in general. But You are light, and in You is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5b). I want to walk in the light, and pray that many more will desire the same, so that we will not walk in darkness, but have the light of life. Amen.  

And it Came to Pass

 

I love words and phrases that plainly--or covertly--express meanings we usually overlook. I mean, the word "discover" means "take the cover off of," right? I like noticing that the word "because" contains the word "cause"; compactly conveying the meaning "the cause is that..." When the Bible says "it came to pass," do we see what's really being said there? The idiom means "it happened." But what the words are really saying is that it came...and then it went. The event arrived in our present, only to pass into history. 

Nothing in our world is permanent, another saying goes, except God's word and people. Even the heavens and earth that are now will pass away, and a new heaven and earth will replace them (Revelation 21). (This is how we know the earth isn't going to die because of pollution or climate change; this planet isn't going anywhere by any means other than these words of Scripture "coming to pass.") The phrase, then, speaks more truth than we realize. Everything about this world system and the material things we value has or will "come to pass." It comes. It goes. Almost as if it comes for the purpose of passing. 

"And it came to pass" is saying to us that the only permanence rests in God's kingdom. The new heaven and earth, the life, the rewards, each other, and God Himself in Three Persons. All of that, when we are in Jesus Christ, comes to stay. 

Questions About Questions (Questions #4)

 

Did you ever have so many questions that your questions had questions? That may be a bit of an exaggeration for me; long ago, as a high-achieving child, I thought the smart people weren't the ones with the questions but the ones with the answers. (In a similar vein, I had a like-minded friend who wouldn't use pencils that had erasers, because erasers were only for people who might make mistakes. O Lord, have mercy. Seriously.) But compared to spouting answers, isn't knowing what questions to ask perhaps the greater skill? 

I've found that sometimes questions are just lovely in themselves. It occurs to me that some are to be pondered, some enjoyed, some even perhaps forgotten, and others pursued to answers. But not necessarily rushed to answers. How wonderful, even luxurious, is time given to think, research, pray, and "wisdom" them through, those that call to us. For example:

• Lord, what questions do You want me to ask You today?

That's kind of what I mean about questions having questions. We often hear of the importance of asking the right questions. This concept of "right questions" may be puzzling at first. What's wrong with any question we may have? Often, nothing. The encouragement that "no question is a stupid question" is valid, especially when learning something new. Yet in many circumstances, asking the right questions during a discussion or exploration can lead us to the point, instead of beside the point. It can make the difference between solving and not solving a problem. It can even reveal motive and character. Our spontaneous or formulated questions can tell on us, and reflect either well or poorly.

The Pharisees and Sadducees asked Jesus a lot of questions that were meant to trap Him. "Should we pay taxes to Caesar?" "Which commandment is the greatest?" "If a woman's husbands keep dying so that she ends up marrying an entire family of brothers, how is that going to work if there's a resurrection of the dead?" When the Scripture says in Matthew 22:43 that no one dared ask Him any more questions, it means they stopped asking Him questions designed to trip Him up, because the answers Jesus gave only exposed their scheming and made them look ignorant. 

We can still ask our real questions.

Even so, some questions might be frivolous, or ones He's already answered (He might be silent on those), or might lead us away from what God would really like to say. So let's go back to the question above:

Lord, what questions do You want me to ask You today?

I've been asking it. I haven't heard a lot yet. But the realization that it could add a wonderful dimension to prayer time has quickened my spirit.

Lord, what questions do You want me to ask You today? 

Without a Vision

 

"Without a vision, the people perish" is one of those partial Scripture verses people quote from time to time. I don't remember when I first heard it, but it was long ago, and my first understanding of it was very modern-day American: If you don't have an inspiring plan for your future, your life will turn out numb and meaningless. 

Well, plans are good. Stepping out to pursue something you believe God is leading you toward is even better. But what's wrong with my initial interpretation is that it's so me-centered, which is to say, individualistic. Let's look at several translations of the verse in Proverbs 29:18, because the wording varies in interesting ways.

"Where there is no vision, the people perish: but he that keepeth the law, happy is he" (KJV).

"Where there is no revelation, the people cast off restraint; but happy is he who keeps the law" (NKJV).

"When people do not accept divine guidance, they run wild. But whoever obeys the law is joyful" (NLT).

"Where there is no vision [no revelation of God and His word], the people are unrestrained; but happy and blessed is he who keeps the law [of God]" (AMP 2015).

Notice the difference between "perish" and "cast off restraint" or "are not restrained"--these would seem not to be that close in meaning. My study suggests that "perish" is the less accurate of the two renderings; this verse is not, for example, meant as a call to evangelism. Taking several translations side by side reveals that "vision" isn't referring here to an individual's specific dream for their own life, but a revelation to an entire people of what God requires. The focus is society, or community. Think about this in terms of American society today. Have we cast off restraint? We absolutely have. There is nothing new under the sun, because the ominous ending of the Book of Judges describes us well: "In those days there was no king in Israel; every man did what was right in his own eyes." We are no longer united under God as king, nor are we united politically (both parties declare "Not my president!" when someone from the other party is in office), nor do we allow anyone to tell us what to do. Our lifestyles, short of stealing and killing, are our own business. 

We turn individualistic and throw off restraint when we see no vision for us as a people. And then perhaps we begin to see where the perishing comes in. Freedom is only freedom with some restraints in place. A toddler who can run with glee all over a fenced-in yard will soon not be so gleeful if the fence is removed and they can run full-tilt into a parking lot, pond, or street. 

Without divine guidance, we run wild. And as a society, have gotten much, much unhappier. "But whoever obeys the law is joyful," says the NLT, and suddenly we are back in the singular. No matter what else is going on, no matter who is doing what, when we stick with God and His ways, even in the midst of community chaos, we can, as individuals and as the body of Christ, experience joy in Him. 

Prayer for the Lukewarm

 

Dear Lord, You say You will spit them out of your mouth. 

I think it surprises us. We would expect being cold to You would be worse. But not.

Father, I think it's that "cold" is not deceptive, because it's definite. Like "hot," it's extreme. Unmistakable. Those who hate You, want nothing to do with You, don't believe in You, even blaspheme You, can turn. So can the hot who are hot in the wrong way; and maybe such people can be hot and cold at the same time. Saul, after all, hot for the Pharisees yet cold for Christ, became Paul.

But the lukewarm have that little bit of warmth. They are neither/nor, and that is deceptive. Also comfortable, something You've never promised following You will be.

Perhaps they've checked a box. "I believe in Jesus; I'm going to heaven," but no desire to please You is evident in them. No picking up their cross, no saying no to the things You say no to, continuing to live with their own plans and opinions as their guide. Or perhaps they're philanthropic, giving to the poor, honest in their dealings, affirming every lifestyle, labeled a "good Christian example" by the world, when what they're really doing is approving of sin (Romans 1) and preaching a different Jesus. Or perhaps they attend church regularly as part of their weekly schedule, and believe that makes the difference, thinking membership in an institution determines who reaches heaven. Or perhaps they say they try to obey Jesus' teachings, which they interpret as being a good person and judging no one, when they have no real idea of the hard things Jesus taught, when judgment applies, or that the main point isn't the teachings but the death and resurrection they need for themselves. 

Lukewarmness is the temperature mostly likely to lull people to think they're "in" when maybe they're not; lukewarmness is noncommittal, unbothered, trying to be two things and achieving neither. Hot and cold are far less easy to mistake, including for the hot or cold person in question. In a very real sense, hot and cold are both closer to You than lukewarm is, because lukewarm is the place of stuck. The place of oblivious. The place of "I didn't know anything needed to change" and "But I'm fine--aren't I?"

Father, help us all--hot, cold, or lukewarm--because none of us will ever reach a place where we can say, "I got this, God." But I pray especially here for the lukewarm, the ones who don't realize or don't care to face that merely being Jesus-adjacent in some way might still cost them their soul. Oh Lord, there are too many of them on the wide road to destruction. You said the way is narrow and few find it. Oh, I believe the new heavens and new earth will be full of people who are Yours--yet a fraction of all who ever lived. Jesus said no one can come to Him unless You draw them. Draw them, Father. In these last days of grace, draw them.

I've prayed a lot about them. May I never be so proud that I think it's "all those others" who don't have You. But Father, given the choice of hot, cold, and lukewarm, I choose hot. Help me, every step of the way, to make that choice true. 

The Road Back

 

Delayed obedience: disobedience

so they say

for love of a soundbite.

Jesus taught, of two sons,

the one who said no

but later took heed

and worked the vineyard anyway

was the son who obeyed his father

and the chief priests knew it too.

The first assignment: tend the garden

fulfilled till it wasn't

should have been their life.

Loss of the garden was loss of

everything

yet beautiful things grow still

among thorns and thistles

and when we tend them

we say yes to our Father.

Delayed obedience: disobedience

perhaps.

But Jesus, full of grace;

Father, full of patience;

Spirit, full of wisdom

are not mocked

and justly discern

when delayed obedience:

repentance.

Prayer for a New School Year

 

Dear Father, it's school time--for most people ages 5-22, of course, but also for me. My first prayer isn't going to be that everyone will learn their lessons well, get good grades, or graduate. Or find their passions, make friends, learn to cooperate with classmates and teachers, or decide to finally get extra help in those areas where they're struggling.  

No, my first prayer is going to be that what we learn is truth. Because it's possible to learn untruth.

Learning isn't the first thing. Truth is. 

When I was a young adult, fresh out of four years of college during which I may have thought about You twice, if that, I prayed a prayer and asked You for the truth. Not "the truth about_____" fill in the blank, but general, free-floating truth. Fundamental, global truth, I guess. And over the following two or three years, You gave me Jesus. The Way, the Truth, and the Life. The Truth in Whom all things hold together. 

We can almost stop right there. I imagine that in eternity we'll stop right there for a long, long "time." Just gazing at Him. Because we need nothing that is not found in Him.

But there's also the written word that is true, that explains to people 2000 years later Who He is, what He did, and why. The word that is an extension of Him--the Truth. The Scripture.

And people, lots of people, understand great swaths of it. They compare translations (if they're willing to read more than one); look at study notes, commentaries, and concordances; maybe even look at or read the original languages; ponder it; debate it; argue it; quarrel over it; split over it. Call each other unsaved or heretics over it. We know truth (and, hopefully, Truth) and don't know it--both. We're all of us wrong about some aspect of it.

These very Scriptures are what I'll be studying this school year. And again, I'm asking You for the truth. I don't want to see something that isn't there. I don't want to miss what is there. I don't want to misunderstand something because I'm reading it through the lens of what I've always been told. Help me separate truth from tradition, opinion, and downright falsehood. In cases where simply no one can be sure about something, bless me with the best insight and the most truth I can handle or that is appointed to me. And that will be more than enough, because when we have You--Jesus Christ--we have the Truth. Never leaving or forsaking us. As close as the mention of Your name. 

And we can, in the truest sense, stop right there. 

So we pray in Your name. Take us further into truth by first and foremost taking us further into Yourself. In Your name we pray. Amen. 

Jesus as Israel

 

Scholars and most believers agree that the book of Matthew was written to a Jewish audience. Matthew's main goal was to prove to Israel that Jesus was their Messiah. Primarily, he does this by showing the extraordinary degree to which Jesus fulfilled the Old Testament prophecies about their coming Savior, though Matthew cannot do this exhaustively in one document. To digress a moment, I don't know for sure how many Messianic prophesies the OT contains, but one source says 332. Some count many more. In the 1950s, Professor Peter W. Stoner, chairman of the departments of mathematics and astronomy at Pasadena City College and chairman of the science division at Westmont College, calculated the chance of merely EIGHT of the main messianic prophesies being fulfilled by one individual: 1 in 10 to the 17th power. That is one in 100,000,000,000,000. The chance that one person would fulfill, say, forty-eight of the prophesies, said Stoner, would be 1 in 10 to the 157th power. That Stoner's math was both sound and convincing was attested to by the Executive Council of the American Scientific Affiliation, in a forward to Stoner's book Science Speaks. And Jesus fulfilled far more than a mere eight or even forty-eight prophesies. A conservative number from most sources is 300+.

We accept most of the "facts" we believe on far, far less evidence than this. Put another way, your chances of winning Mega Millions (as of August 28, 2026) are 1 in about 290,500,000. This is approximately 345,000 times BETTER than the odds of Jesus not being the Christ, yet who believes they're going to win the lottery? 

Okay, that was more than a moment's digression. My point is that Matthew set out to demonstrate to the Jews that Jesus was their Messiah. What I mostly failed to see up until now is that Matthew went a step better than that: he presented Jesus as Israel--the way Israel would have been had they obeyed God. 

Jesus was brought out of Egypt (Matthew 2:15), as was Israel. Jesus spent 40 days in the wilderness (analogous to Israel's 40 years), as did Israel. When tempted by sin, Jesus didn't give in but quoted Scripture, as most of us know, but did we stop to realize He quoted exclusively from Deuteronomy? I didn't. It wasn't only that He found those verses fitting to the occasion. Deuteronomy is Moses' final presentation to the Israelites, summarizing the covenant and the law, urging them forward to faithfulness, obedience, and the promised land. The book is legally, historically, and theologically central to the life of Israel. Quoting Deuteronomy is saying, "I demonstrate, model, promote, and stand behind everything that Israel is called to be." Jesus as Israel doesn't mean He is superseding Israel in any way, but that He is completing it, redeeming it, restoring it. This idea of completion is also shown, for example, in His Sermon on the Mount, where He extends the law to matters of inward motivation rather than mere outward compliance. 

Matthew also draws parallels between Israel's deliverer (Moses) and Israel's Messiah (Jesus). At birth, both narrowly escaped government orders that all infant boys be killed. Moses applied the blood of the old covenant (Exodus 24:8); Jesus applied the blood of the new. Moses fasted 40 days on the mountain; Jesus fasted 40 days in the desert. It's also quite interesting that the Pentateuch/Torah is attributed to Moses as author, and Matthew presents a series of five discourses that outline Jesus' major teachings.

For one last example, we can jump to Hosea 11:1, which Matthew partially quotes in 2:15. The NIV says, "When Israel was a child, I loved him, and out of Egypt I called my son." Here, the line between Jesus and Israel is unquestionably blurred. Jesus died as a human being to save human beings, but He also died as Israel to save Israel. No matter our ethnicity or lot in life, Jesus is never "other" than we. He is both fully God and fully man in ways we have yet to grasp.  

The Flowers Declare

 

"The king is enthralled by your beauty; honor Him, for He is your Lord." (Psalm 45:11)

"God saw all that He had made, and it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

"He has made everything beautiful in its time." (Ecclesiastes 3:11)

"Not even Solomon in all his splendor was clothed like one of these." (Matthew 6:29)

"Let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us." (Psalm 90:17)

Prayer for September

 

Dear Father, we thank You for the new beginning that the month of September always seems to hold out to us. I've always felt there are three beginnings in a year: January, Spring, and September. We thank You that there are actually many more than that, because Your word says Your mercies are new every morning. Being born again, indwelled by the Spirit, transformed by the renewing of our minds--all are new beginnings that needn't wait for a time of year but can and do happen any and every day. When we fall, when we sin, when we mess up, when we get off track, if we will return to You we are forgiven seventy times seven, washed clean. Even years eaten by locusts, You will restore.

Lord, we don't know what a day, week, month, or year will bring. Calamities can shatter lives in a split second, and if not shatter then change irrevocably. At times You head off storms, and at other times You shelter us through them. It's all temporal, down here, and we press into the knowledge and belief that Jesus really, really is all we need. The one thing we need is the one thing we can't lose unless we walk away. We thank You that our lives are hidden with Christ in God. And we pray for those who will be cleaning up the aftermath, in more ways than one, of major weather events that will fade out of the news long before their impacts do. We pray for those in the paths of storms yet to happen this year, perhaps this month, who can't at this moment know what's in store. We pray for their protection, and for the knowledge of Jesus Christ and the helpfulness of Your people to flood--in a wonderful way--areas of devastation and leave a much greater and more permanent mark on the people than any natural disaster ever could. 

Lord, we are dependent on You and can do nothing without You. For many, may September be a month of learning to lean on You more, surrender to You more, "fall" into You more, and come up out of the wilderness leaning on our Beloved, as Song of Songs says. Paul counted his losses rubbish, that he might gain Christ. Like these, some of Your words are hard words. But we thank You for breath, for life, for buying us back from destruction at the cost of Your Son's blood, we thank You for the beauty of this world despite its fallenness, and we decide and declare that we belong to You. Yours in Jesus, amen. 

A Fall and a Separation

"If God is good and all-powerful, why is there evil?" is a question we hear frequently from people who struggle with, or reject, faith in God. Often referred to as "the problem of evil," this question makes sense coming from an unbeliever who thinks humankind is evolving in a positive direction, basically good, deserving to inhabit an "I'm okay; you're okay" world. But even some believers, or former believers, struggle to explain why evil exists, and I have to admit I don't really get their puzzlement.

It's because of the fall of man (and before that, the fall of Satan). That's why.

God wanted a real relationship with the human beings He created in His image. Therefore, He made them free to choose or reject Him. Therefore, He created a tree in the garden whose fruit, if eaten, would expand their awareness to "good and evil" instead of "good only." He made it clear that He wanted them to choose Him ("Don't eat of that tree"). But the tree had to be there; if it was not, Adam and Eve would be with Him only because they had no chance at anything else. Our Father didn't want prisoners, even prisoners of paradise. By saying a continual No to the tree, Adam and Eve could have made the decision to choose God every day. It's not unlike marriage; not at all. There are reasons, temptations, opportunities, and just plain dumb delusions that can make one leave a spouse, but unless there are dire circumstances we say No and choose our mate. We choose relationship. 

When we consider the fall, we usually think about our separation from God, the sentences pronounced on Adam and Eve, the fig leaf aprons, the scratching of crops from a hard, dry, thistle-ridden land. The punishments, in other words. But have we really dug deeply into everything that the fall meant--and means? It's not just a fall; it's separation of many kinds.

I recall being taught in high school English classes that literary plots centered on one of three main conflicts: man against man, man against nature, and man against himself. Why man against himself? Separated from God, we no longer have the direct communication with Him that Adam and Eve enjoyed in the garden. We miss that because we were created for it. We can't expect the unbeliever to be much impressed by this idea, though the loss of a great part of our human purpose has an effect on us whether we recognize it for what it is or not. Easier to grasp are the personal problems we encounter: lack of direction, mental issues, low self-esteem, feelings of insignificance, inability to break bad habits, wondering if anything even matters. This is man against himself: separation from what we want to do and be, separation from meaning and purpose. And then at death, the biggie: the soul separates from the body. This was never supposed to be. This was never God's plan. But it has to happen if we are ever to be redeemed from the fallen state. 

Man against man happens at a sociological level. It starts immediately in the garden when Adam and Eve blame each other rather than take responsibility. It spreads to Cain and Abel, to Jew and Gentile, to the church and the world--huge divides between individuals and people groups that don't even take into account differences in ethnicity, languages (the tower of Babel, another sin, brought yet more separation), politics, or economics, none of which would plague us if we hadn't lost the garden. We kill and covet, as James says, because we fell, and for this reason we experience lack, and we try in vain to fix it by going after the other guy and the things he has.   

Too, we have man against nature. Climate extremes, weather patterns, unforgiving ocean currents, treacherous terrain, all manner of poisonous plants, wild animals, deadly organisms. We can no longer subdue and husband the rest of creation the way we were meant to, in the garden. 

It's not just the fall, it's that there are so many separations as a result of it that we and our world are splintered apart compared to what we were meant to be. And the more splinters there are, the more differences we see, and the more reasons for anger, suspicion, self-protection, mistrust, and other-ness. 

Unbelievers struggle with the existence of evil because they don't think humans are fallen (though they may also think we haven't much significance in the grand scheme of things). Believers know we are fallen (but still significant, being made in God's image), and the world is fallen too. 

Why is there evil? We did that. 

What's God doing about it? Jesus Christ.

Escape vs. Life

 

There's a joke in Christian circles that some people only want Jesus for "fire insurance." These folks' position could be summarized as, "I just wanna not go to hell. Going to heaven is the main thing, right?"

And I do think it's the main thing. Miss heaven, and not only will nothing else matter, but nothing you accomplished in life will ever have mattered. Think about that one for a moment.* <Shudder>

1 Corinthians 3 explains how "fire insurance" works. If anyone builds on the foundation that is Jesus Christ (so these are Christians who are being discussed), but their works are found to be of "wood, hay, or stubble" (temporal, hasty or sloppy, scanty, of poor quality, self-serving), the works will burn up, but the saved person will escape, barely, through the fire (3:15). If the person has built with gold, silver, or precious stones (investing in people, getting to know God, seeking God's will and doing it, obeying His precepts), such works will survive the test--which, interestingly, is portrayed as being conducted by fire--and result in a reward (3:14). Again, I am sure arriving in heaven even with one's clothes burned off is infinitely better than not getting there. But is "fire insurance" the gospel that Jesus intended or that Paul preached? I don't think so.

We are invited to much more, and the early Jewish Christians realized this. For them, life was holistic in a way that modern Westerners don't quite grasp. We compartmentalize, not least in our insistence on the separation of church and state (which idea has grown way beyond the original intent of declining to establish a specific state-sanctioned denomination). Think about the picture of early Judaism that the Bible holds up to us: the temple, the sacrifices, the laws, the feasts, the psalms, the prayers, the prophets. The exodus. This was not their religion. It was their relationship with God and His with them. It was their way of life. It was their life. 

In Jesus Christ, we are invited into the life of the Godhead. We are branches in the vine, fishers of men, a royal priesthood. If we hear His voice as He knocks on our door, we can dine with Him and He with us. We can take His yoke and find rest for our souls. We become part of His body, which is called "the church," but which is not an institution made of bricks and marble, pews and a pulpit, but is instead God's blood-bought family. Made in God's image, we are invited to share with Him and each other the love that flows between Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, for eternity, because it pleased Him to create us to share it with Him. This is our life. 

We modern Westerners like "fire insurance" because it allows us the "doing our own thing" we insist on (idolize, honestly) while still comforting us that we have eternity covered. I hope too many of us aren't wrong about that; after all, Jesus will say "I never knew you" to some of the people who call him "Lord, Lord." I hope any heavenly regrets are mild; I can't help but think they will be, when the face of Jesus and throne of God make us bow down in worship and forget all else. But will there be regrets about little treasure stored up, scant rewards, "what I coulda woulda shoulda done on earth"? Perhaps. Perhaps so.  

I don't want just fire insurance. I want life. I have eternal life now (1 John 5:11), and I want to live it now, in as much union with the Godhead as I can. I'm nobody special, but I thank God that He's placed this desire in me for life with Him. 

*I can think of one exception: If you're a lost soul who raised a saved child, that matters. But it won't comfort you in the end.

Losing Our Lives to Save Them: Mary

 

One clarification to begin with: I am not Catholic, and those of us who aren't don't venerate Mary in the way Catholics do. That doesn't subtract from the fact that to the coming of the Messiah, Mary was absolutely crucial. 

I wrote some weeks ago here about how Esther laid her life down to save it. But the other day it struck me all over again, and deeper, how Mary did the same.

Mary was a young Jewish woman, I don't know how old, but both young enough and old enough that she was betrothed to Joseph while still being in the preparation period before the actual wedding. As such, Mary was a virgin, because even though the betrothal was legally binding for her and Joseph, unlike our engagements today, the true marriage would not exist until Joseph had taken her to the wedding chamber (which he would have been in the process of preparing for her) and they consummated the union. Sexual relations defined marriage in a very real way (unconsummated marriages are not considered real marriages by many even now, and can at times be annulled, nor does the Bible present them as a viable option), so to have indulged in relations beforehand, with one's betrothed or anyone else, would have "cut the covenant" before its time, made the parties "one flesh" with someone other than their spouse, ruined the celebration of the entire betrothal/preparation/wedding period, possibly created a "mini-marriage" with someone never intended (an explanation for why a man who seduced an unattached virgin had to pay the bride price and marry her, per Exodus 22:16-19 and Deuteronomy 22:28-29), and spoiled the woman's chances of ever marrying anyone else. In plain terms, sex prior to the time the groom arrived to claim his bride and sweep her off to the bridal chamber stood to knock their lives clean off the rails. Mary would have known all this.

And when Gabriel visited Mary and told her she would become pregnant by the Holy Spirit, she couldn't have failed to understand the ramifications. Some would believe Joseph had gotten her pregnant; others would believe she'd betrayed him with another man--certainly Joseph himself would believe that. She would face the anger, confusion, shame, and disappointment of her parents. She would lose not only Joseph, but any other possible suitor. Her good name. Her reputation. Her chance to have children. Possibly all economic support, for life. Not that these losses would necessarily matter, because she would be subject to stoning under Deuteronomy 22:23 unless the authorities happened to believe she'd been ravaged in an open field (22:25-27).  

Did Mary protest to Gabriel about any of this? She did not. She only asked him to explain how a virgin could become pregnant. Like Esther, Mary laid down her entire life as a Jewish woman when she replied, "Behold, I am the servant of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word" (Luke 1:38). Think for a moment how utterly she had to trust God for everything from that moment on. She could never have guessed that Joseph wasn't lost to her, that home wasn't lost to her, that she wouldn't be destitute with a child, that she wouldn't be killed and perhaps the child with her, that God would speak directly to her betrothed and tell him to proceed with the marriage. Only God!

What a kindness Gabriel did to Mary when he told her that Elizabeth, her relative, was currently six months along. Because with Elizabeth, who for different reasons was also miraculously pregnant, Mary could have refuge and, frankly, get herself together. How much Elizabeth's affirmation of her as the "mother of my Lord" (Luke 1:43) must have encouraged and strengthened her! So much so that she remained with Elizabeth for the rest of the latter's pregnancy and sang the beautiful hymn of praise to God that we now call The Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55). 

Mary lost her entire life for God and found it, just as Jesus would later teach. Not only through all of the foregoing, but when Simeon said to her in the temple, at the presentation of Jesus, "And a sword will pierce your own soul, too." 

Is there a mother who would not immediately have understood those words and frozen in horror? The account in Luke doesn't reveal Mary's outward reaction to this, if any, but the loss of Jesus was another price she paid. 

Many, many of us are not called to risk our lives, or our children's, literally, but because people like Esther and Mary were, and trusted God, and were delivered in marvelous ways, we can take courage that when we forsake a particular path in life in order to walk the one God calls us to, He will be there to meet us. And as for life, we will indeed find it.

Of Great Price

 

Lord, help me mine the gems,

dive for the pearls in Your word,

find one, yea more, of great value,

much wisdom above rubies,

the treasure buried in fields

of familiar stories

that others miss.

Though each jewel captivate

with sparkle and luster;

gleam and gloss;

nuggets, facets of meaning;

let its beauty, its richness,

yield to and lead to the light

of Your face. 

Seeing Clearly

 

When Jesus healed people, He never did it exactly the same way twice, which in itself we can be sure was intentional and instructional: "There's no formula for this. A formula is not the point." Mark 8, for example, portrays Him healing a blind man in a unique way, using two stages. I don't think anyone who follows Jesus would seriously believe He didn't get it right the first time. This method, for this man at this time, was also instructional and intentional. The challenge is to try to understand why Jesus used it in this instance. To dig below the surface, to try to uncover in each fresh reading of a passage more and more of the gems the Holy Spirit has left us in His word. To know Jesus better.

To see clearly.

Let's look at the context. Earlier in the chapter, Jesus fed the four thousand. Immediately after this, He and His disciples took the boat to another locale and Mark relates an incident where some Pharisees met Him and demanded a sign from heaven (to prove He was in fact from God). To be fair, they hadn't been in a position to witness the feeding of the four thousand--but we are. We see that a sign was given to the humble people who had come to hear Him speak, not to the self-righteous leaders who demanded it and would not have believed it because their hearts were not receptive. Once again, Jesus and the disciples got into the boat and set out for the other side of the lake, and they had only one loaf of bread with them. 

Jesus said, "Watch out! Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees and the leaven of Herod" (Mark 8:15 AMP 2015). The disciples didn't know what to make of the word "leaven" except to relate it to bread, which they had forgotten to stock up on. Imagine them murmuring among themselves, "He's scolding us about the bread." At this point, Jesus asked them whether they still didn't understand. They, unlike the particular Pharisees who accosted Him, had seen Him feed the four thousand. The one loaf they had could have been multiplied to feed them for days! "Though you have eyes, do you not see?" He asked. "And though you have ears, do you not hear and listen?" He then reviewed the feeding of both the five thousand and four thousand, asking again, "Do you still not understand?"

Immediately after this, Jesus healed a blind man, spitting on his eyes and laying His hands on him. "Do you see anything?" Jesus asked. And the man said he saw people, but they looked like trees. I'm imagining him being very nearsighted at this point. He can see upright figures walking, but he can't distinguish arms, legs, and hair from branches and leaves. He can see, but he can't see clearly. He doesn't know what's really right in front of him. I don't think we know enough about the blind man to know if he personally needed this lesson, but the disciples did. When Jesus touched the man again, Mark says, "he began to see everything clearly." 

I hope "everything" means he saw Jesus clearly, too. In more ways than one. Jesus then sent him home, saying, "Do not even enter the village." It's as if Jesus said, "Carry this privately for a while. Know that you've seen what you've seen, before the unbelievers confront you and try to talk you out of it."

Right after this, Mark records Jesus asking the disciples, "Who do people say that I am?" The answers vary.

John the Baptist.

Elijah.

One of the other prophets. 

Then Peter gives the true answer. "You are the Christ."

Partial answers, almost answers, "trees walking around," even misunderstandings about bread, finally yield to seeing clearly.

To knowing Jesus. And to knowing Him better.  

Shortcuts

 

When my childhood best friend and I were in elementary school, we had to walk back and forth by ourselves, every day. Ten blocks one way, no matter the weather. (I am a Boomer, which is probably explanation enough.) And yes, "uphill both ways" was involved, since the middle of the route formed a shallow bowl shape. What sloped down on one end had to slope up on the other. 

It didn't take us long to devise a shortcut. If we could get from my friend's house to the top of the bowl "as the crow flies," we reasoned, we should save time and energy, the shortest distance between two points being a straight line and all that. So, instead of using the sidewalks, we trooped up and down the rolling hills across the hospital grounds, tripped and skidded our way through the small woods at their foot, and cheered our victory when we reached the top of the bowl: "Almost there!" By and by, we arrived at school...six times tardy that quarter, as our report cards would later reveal.

Our shortcut was a longcut.

Guess who wasn't allowed to walk to school with her friend for some time.  

Have you ever had seasons of life reminiscent of "forty years in the wilderness" and wondered what God was doing? I know I have. Did you start looking for the shortcut? I know I did. What we fail to realize--or don't want to face--is that God has preparation and character lessons for us along the way. People we need to meet, and who need to meet us. Situations He wants to place us in that need to be developed or arranged before we get there. It's even possible that our imagined shortcuts are longcuts, and when we get to the destination, if we get to the destination, we'll be all out of timing with what should have been there to meet us, and may not be the person we could and should have been when we got there. 

When we don't follow God's path, the destination itself is at risk.

Think of Moses, think of Joseph, languishing on the back side of a desert or forgotten in a prison. When we read their stories, we realize none of it was wasted, but they, living it, didn't have our perspective. We, living it, also lack full perspective. By faith, we want to run the race marked out for us (Hebrews 12:1 NIV), because it isn't just, or mainly, the destination that matters. It's the walk with Jesus. 

August Musings

 

It's not the kings who rule; it's the writers, particularly the storytellers. 

No one can so much as vouch for his own birthdate, and history is beholden to the honesty and fallibility of ancestors. 

When we get beyond the beyond the beyond, He is still beyond.

Why Philemon is in the Bible

 

Philemon is such a specific, personal letter. It's not a book of the Bible that often comes to mind; in fact it's arguably the most obscure NT book, ranking somewhere with a few of the minor OT prophets as far as memorability. But I was doing some reading that shed light on why this book may be very important indeed. 

Philemon is Paul's theology boiled down to a simple, graspable example. It's the theme of Paul's ministry in microcosm. 

Paul brought the gospel of forgiveness of sins and eternal life through Jesus Christ to the Gentiles, absolutely. But that good news would have had no staying power, and would not have spread, had he not been able to formulate a theology that would teach these new converts--think of it: back then EVERYONE was new!--how to live as these transformed beings. How to live like Jesus-people. (In so doing, Paul truly made disciples, not just converts.) Was one of his main messages "eschew sin"? Certainly. Was it "don't let desires of the flesh rule"? Of course. But, in regard to life advice, did Paul have a main main message? I think he did. I think it was: "In Christ, have unity across all categories that the culture says ought to divide you." 

Accepting Jew and Gentile Christ-followers together as "one man" in Christ was the biggie (and that's a lot of what Romans and Galatians are about). Paul called people together whether Jew or Greek, slave or free, male or female (Galatians); it was the membership in Christ's body that erased the lines. He also called for unity in Christian practice regardless of valid diverging individual beliefs about fringe matters (Romans 14). He wrote of "one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of us all" to the Ephesians, whose church members were drawn from a cosmopolitan area of many nationalities, philosophies, economic groups, and political leanings. 

But where do we see this concept of cross-cultural unity in sharpest relief, in a mere two-page letter? In Philemon.

Philemon was a faithful, loving Christian who ministered regularly to his fellow saints, hosted a church in his home, and was a good friend of Paul. Philemon also owned a slave, Onesimus, who had run away and probably stolen from him, as was common for escaping slaves to do. Lo and behold, Onesimus became a Christian at some point afterward, met and began to serve under Paul, and now the two of them realized they had to do the right thing. As a believer, Onesimus needed to return to Philemon and face the music (which could have included imprisonment or death), and Paul needed to not partner with Onesimus behind Philemon's back. 

What is the thrust of Paul's masterfully written letter, which sandwiches his request between two passages of personal connection to Philemon, past, current, and future?  It's "Philemon, now grow your strong faith in a further way. Recognize that though Onesimus is still your slave and you his master, your brotherhood in Christ supersedes your natural relationship; you may be master and slave but in Christ these distinctions fall away and you are on the same level. Receive him accordingly." 

And that's why Philemon is in the Bible. Because the crux of Paul's theology is so clearly stated, and not just in a formal setting but in personal, everyday relationship. The ease of reading in this letter actually makes a fine entry point to the study of Paul's writings. 

In Christ, societal barriers come down, and the family of God becomes one. In Christ, all things hold together.  

Prayer for August

 

Dear Father, can it be August already--the month when the sun sets on summer? The last frolics through waves and late balmy nights before we buckle down to the business of September?

Lord, it seems You work in seasons. Not just literal planting, growth, harvest, and dormancy, by the calendar, but in seasons of life, too, whose lengths are more variable and entries and exits unpredictable. Whether we are opening, closing, or in the midst of a life season, help us fulfill Your purpose for it, learn from it, and grow closer to You in it. And as we finish out the calendar season of Summer 2026, help us to finish well, completing Your plans for us, making the most of every opportunity because the days are evil, even as we thank You for the beauty of each one as we realize the privilege of waking up each morning. Help us to savor the warmth, the breezes, the flowers, the waves, the clouds, the wistful echoes of long-ago childhoods, the bittersweetness of change. 

But no matter what we leave behind, Lord, there is always new, more, and better up ahead when we live in You. We are, as the curtain closes on another summer, closer to more closeness with You, whether here on this earth or in the eternity that rushes toward us faster than we know. At the same time, let us not draw the curtain closed too fast. We have another month and two-thirds of summer, by calendar time, and we ask You to help us to live them in the moment, learning all over again that now is what we have. Yesterday is over, and tomorrow is not promised. Help us see, really see, what's in front of our eyes, and hear, really hear, what we should not miss, especially Your voice. 

As we squeeze the last of summer out of August, help us do so with our eyes on You, knowing that when seasons--calendar ones or life ones--cannot go onward with us, we are always assured we can go onward with You. Thank you, Jesus. Amen. 

One Fruit

 

One apple yet clings to my apple tree,

including a wormhole, as you can see;

hang on, little apple, till maturity: 

one fruit can make a difference.

One fruit in a garden was all it took,

 a woman gave ear to a serpent's rook;

the couple lost life when they partook:

one fruit can make a difference.

One fruit on a fig tree was all that was needed

to ward off a curse, to block it, impede it;

yet leaves of self-service its vigor depleted:

one fruit can make a difference.  

One fruit in a life, reaching toward nine,

yield to the spirit, obey and align; 

despise not small starts; abide in the vine:

one fruit can make a difference.

The Tree of Life Through Scripture

 

When we think of the tree of life, our minds usually go to Genesis first. After Adam and Eve sinned by eating from the tree of the knowledge of good and evil (thereafter knowing evil as well as good), besides kicking them out of the garden, God had to put a guard around the tree of life. Genesis 3:24 AMP 2015 says cherubim were permanently stationed with a "flashing blade that turned round and round [in every direction] to protect and guard the way (entrance, access) to the tree of life." This was because, had Adam and Eve eaten of this tree after having sinned, they would have lived forever in their fallen state, and this would remain the human condition. There would be no possibility of redemption for us. 

When God acts, even if it feels spoilsport-ish to our flesh, He's acting for our good. He really is.

Every motive, intention, and reason of God's is purely good at every level. Had physical death not been our penalty, we'd live forever as we are now--sinful world, crumbling bodies. Just like the seed in the ground, and just like Jesus our Prime Example, we have to die to live. 

Notice there was no rule against eating from the tree of life before they sinned.  

We may think the tree of life exits the narrative after Act 1, if you will. But no--not only does it reappear in Revelation (which many will realize), but it's a recurring motif all through Scripture. The earthly tree of life became lost to us. But the concept, and some of the comforts of it, have not. 

Proverbs 3:18 says wisdom "is a tree of life to all who take hold of her."

Proverbs 11:30 says the fruit of the righteous is a tree of life, and he who is wise wins souls.

Proverbs 31:12 says, "Hope deferred makes the heart sick, but a longing fulfilled is a tree of life."

Proverbs 15:4 says, "A soothing tongue [speaking words that build up and encourage] is a tree of life." 

How can we experience a tree of life now? By pursuing wisdom (which includes winning souls), by living according to the righteousness we have in Christ, by rejoicing in Godly longings fulfilled (answered prayer--and sometimes blessings we didn't ask for or know we needed!), and by speaking edification and encouragement to others. 

So, we have the temporal, earthly tree of life and the metaphorical tree of life. But the real, lasting, heavenly one (the one on which the Edenic tree was modeled, I'm guessing) is in the Paradise of God, says Revelation 2:7. And if we overcome the world through believing that Jesus is the Son of God, we will get to eat from that tree. 

If humans could play the long game even 1/1000 as well as God does, there's no telling how our lives would change.

But now, let's see the tree! It appears again in Revelation 22 (notice how the Bible pretty much opens and closes with the tree). The tree grows on either side of the river flowing from the throne, and it bears twelve kinds of fruit, yields its fruit every month, and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Whoa. I remembered from several readings of Revelation that the tree bears fruit every month. What was harder to keep hold of, for me, was the fact that it produces twelve kinds of fruit. Twelve kinds of fruit and a fresh crop every month. I am a fruit lover. I cannot wait.

And the tree grows beside the river that flows from the throne of God and the Lamb (Revelation 22:1). Jesus is the source of all this. 

Jesus is our Source. Our sin with a tree made Him die on a tree, and in the end, the tree of life springs forth from Who He is. If we wash our robes in His blood, believing and trusting in Him as the righteous who obey His commandments, we too will receive the right to eat from the tree of life (Revelation 22:14). 

A Few Favorite Aphorisms from the Bible

 

"The beginning of wisdom is: Get wisdom!" (Proverbs 4:7 AMP 2015, no brackets) 

This is my absolute favorite one-liner from the Amplified 2015. Its pointedness makes me laugh. 

"In the mouth of the fool is a rod for his back." (Proverbs 14:3 AMP 2015, no brackets)

The fool's words will, eventually, become his own punishment. 

"...A glad heart has a continual feast." (Proverbs 15:15 AMP 2015, no brackets)

You know--I read that verse this morning and felt an immediate spark of guilt for good fortune. It's not that I'm waiting for the other shoe to drop, because God isn't like that. But I feel, often, that I've not suffered nearly the number nor degree of misfortunes that seem heretofore normal for someone my age. And I'm filled with wonder and thanksgiving because of it. For this and other things, my heart is glad. And the verse tells me a continual feast is the condition of the glad heart. It's as if, in a way, the verse has granted me some sort of permission. No, a better word is freedom. And a promise. If my heart is glad (even if bad circumstances do come, my future with Christ is assured), I can expect a sense of continual feast as a consequence. And gifts from God come with no guilt attached. Verse 19 adds: "...the way of the upright is smooth and open like a highway." Christians are often cautioned to expect a hard road, and we do know suffering is involved in the Christian walk. But some of the time, part of the way, a smooth highway is also our lot, if we have made good choices as much as possible. 

Lord, help those believers who have received more than their share of trouble to live the life of the upright in Christ, and help them experience a smooth highway with You. Amen. 

Giving Jesus the Preeminence

 

Maybe this is just me, but there's a name I've been hearing a lot lately that I would like to see take a back seat for a while (despite the fact that I like the actual name quite a lot). 

PAUL. 

Paul, Paul, Paul. Paul said this, Paul wrote that. I mean no disrespect. Paul was a great man. After his Damascus road experience, the Lord showed Paul what he would have to suffer for His name's sake (Acts 9:16) and Paul accepted the call anyway. He was asked to count the cost and still said yes. Could I have done that? I'm not at all sure. 

But Paul also said, concerning "quarrels and factions" in Corinth, "Was Paul crucified for you? Were you baptized into the name of Paul" (1 Corinthians 1:13b)? If the cloud of witnesses can look down on us ("I'll be looking down on you," my grandma always said), what would he think about the ubiquity of his name in the church? I wonder.

Maybe my thoughts started going this direction when, as part of last semester's class requirements, I had to prepare an oral presentation on Paul's reasons for writing 2 Thessalonians. Other students drew other topics, and the result was a lot of "Paul, Paul, Paul." Fair enough, perhaps; we were studying the New Testament and he wrote close to 60% of the non-gospel portion. (Of the whole, Paul wrote more books, but Luke wrote more words.) And thank God for the Scripture He gave us. But is our focus too often drawn from Jesus to Paul? I wonder. 

I feel the need for a palate-cleanse. I want to fix my eyes on Jesus, read about Jesus, meditate on Jesus, remember Jesus. In other words, just now I want to know nothing except Jesus Christ and Him crucified--which, of course, are words of Paul (1 Corinthians 2:2). 

Thank you, Lord, for anyone and everyone through the ages who has helped us lift up the name of Jesus. And may JESUS, Yeshua, Ἰησοῦν, be the only name we lift high. 

P.S. Since I drafted this post several days ago, God seems to be speaking more to me about Paul. It's possible that in the near future I'll be writing more about him rather than less. :) 

I Never Knew You

 

photo by littlesuz on FreeImages

Those of us who are born again often speak of "knowing the Lord." We state that we know the Lord, or, when asked to pray for someone, for example, may ask if the person knows the Lord. This is meant to identify and encourage a saving faith rather than mere knowledge about God, or religious practice such as church attendance or benevolence, which are different and sometimes separate things. Perhaps more bluntly, it's meant to distinguish as best we can (in the end, only God knows the heart) whether someone is in the family of God, because only the new birth in Christ makes us children of God (all are God's creatures, and all are loved by God, but all are not God's children). And there's plenty of scriptural support for speaking of knowing the Lord. "This is eternal life, that they know You," Jesus prayed in John 17. "We know we have come to know Him if we keep His commandments," John wrote in 1 John. "I want to know Christ, to know the power of His resurrection and participation in His sufferings," Paul wrote in Philippians. These are only three examples.

Still, something struck me recently that is lingering in my mind and heart. Toward the end of the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus speaks about entering the kingdom of heaven. "Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but only he who does the will of My Father in heaven. Many will say to me on that day, 'Lord, Lord, have we not prophesied in Your name, and driven out demons in Your name, and done many miracles in Your name?' And then I will declare to them publicly, 'I never knew you; depart from Me, you who act wickedly'" (Matthew 7:22-23 AMP 2015, emphasis mine).

He doesn't say, "You never knew Me." He says, "I never knew you."  

This is perhaps a lot like 1 Corinthians 13, which in Underground-Scribe paraphrase says, "None of your gifts and deeds, no matter how fancy, matter one bit without love." Similarly, nothing of what we do for the Lord, be it as momentous as prophesy, exorcism, or miracles, will count for eternity if He doesn't know us. Perhaps, since He is the Bridegroom and we are the bride, it's more significant for Him to know us, not unlike Adam knowing Eve. Plus, when people say they know the Lord, they may mean they know of Him, or know what they want Him to be and have knowingly or unknowingly made Him in their image. They may mean they try to "follow His teachings" and stop there; many who admire Jesus will not grapple with the cross. Considering all this, it seems much steadier and more secure to emphasize Him knowing us. A surer relationship. 

Maybe some or all of this is why Paul wrote as he did in 1 Corinthians 8:3--"But if anyone loves God [with awe-filled reverence, obedience, and gratitude], he is known by Him [as His very own and is greatly loved]." In Galatians 4:9, Paul seems almost to correct himself: "Now, however, since you have come to know God, or rather to be known by God..." 

To know God is absolutely desirable and necessary, as shown by the above and other scriptures. But to be known by God--there's a next-level power, humility, and rock-solidness in that. 

My prayer is to love God with awe-filled reverence, obedience, and gratitude, so that I am known by Him, so that I will never hear spoken to me some of the most chilling words in the entire Bible: "Depart from me; I never knew you."