God's Delight in Us

 

Photo by Marcia Salido FreeImages

"The Lord your God is in your midst, a Warrior who saves. He will rejoice over you with joy; He will be quiet in His love [making no mention of your past sins], He will rejoice over you with shouts of joy" (Zephaniah 3:17 AMP 2015).

"The steps of a [good and righteous] man are directed and established by the Lord, and He delights in his way [and blesses his path]" (Psalm 37:23 AMP 2015).

"The Lord delights in those who fear Him, who put their hope in His unfailing love" (Psalm 147:11 NIV).

"For the Lord takes delight in His people; He crowns the humble with salvation" (Psalm 149:4 NIV).

"...the Lord will take delight in you, and your land will be married. As a young man marries a maiden, so will your sons marry you; as a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you" (Isaiah 62:4b-5 NIV).

"...You do not stay angry forever, but delight to show mercy" (Micah 7:18b NIV).

When we are His people, humble and righteous in Christ, fearing Him and hoping in Him, God delights in us. He pours it over us unsparingly, to overflowing; He gives us His best because we are worth it to Him. And when we will delight ourselves in Him--with extravagant, scrumptious delight--he will give us the desires of our hearts (Psalm 37:4).

Jesus and Psychology

 

Think about the religious people you've known in your life. Even those who considered themselves Christians. Even the actual Christians. If your experience was anything like mine, you knew a lot of people who believed they had to do good to gain heaven. Who believed that when they died, God would weigh their deeds in some scale, and if the good outweighed the bad St. Peter would open the gates, and if the bad outweighed the good, they'd be sentenced to the fire. And most of them had no inkling what their fate would be. 

Does that mess with your head, or what?

How do people handle life in the face of this? Some walk away, deciding to believe none of it--which means illogically believing their decision makes it true. This is the equivalent of plugging their ears and singing, "Nananana." Others shrug and figure the scale will tip in their favor because they're good people. But they can't be sure, so they don't think about it much. Still others will decide that whatever "better place" comes next, we all go there and pretty much deserve to. Again, betting their life that this arbitrary belief is true. And then there are those who knock themselves out doing good deeds, because they want to please and appease a God who's looking for reason to club them over the head (this angry God who needs to be placated is probably the attitude I most encountered in childhood). 

And what does all this do to us? It traps us in worry, striving, and uncertainty. Or it causes otherwise logical people to plug their ears and sing "Nananana" concerning their eternal destiny. Or to adopt beliefs that have no basis--which we try not to do in the rest of life--because they soothe. (Ironically, this is often what unbelievers accuse us of doing.) Will those who are working for the reward be good enough for it? Even if they are, can they keep it up? Will they fall into a cycle of feeling good about themselves and then horrible about themselves? Does any of this sound like decent mental or spiritual health?

The fact that God accepts us in Jesus Christ and therefore we do good works out of joy and security is the exact inverse. We serve Him because He loves us, not to make Him love us. Security in Christ is the key to freedom from the angst caused by religion as performance. For example, we don't use our hobbies, talents, and occupations to earn points, but to serve others. We don't go to church to be seen, but to gather. We don't do good to our neighbor because it will place a chit on the "good" side of our scale, but to genuinely help in Jesus' name--in other words, really loving our neighbor. We don't chase a full slate of earthly activities to feel good about ourselves or be seen as do-gooders, but as gifts from God that we can share. And we do this from a position of rest in the finished work of Christ. Life without Him is simply nerve-wracking.

Doesn't faith in God, then, shift human psychology? I think it does. My prayer is that some of the mental health crises in our world can be improved or avoided simply by more people coming to Jesus Christ. I believe it would make a bigger difference than we dare hope. 

Of Flipping Through the Bible and Psalm 91

 

When my husband and I were new Christians, we joined a home fellowship that, unbeknownst to us, was a wee bit radical in certain ways. The wonderful thing about this group, besides the introduction to other believers, was its central focus: "We don't care what a denomination teaches if it doesn't match Scripture. We want to know what the Bible says!" Getting thrown in the deep end, as far as the Bible was concerned, was the best thing that could have happened to me.

Some of the people, some of the time, practiced what they called "breaking Scripture." If they had a question, faced a decision, etc., they opened the Bible at random and took advice from whatever passage their finger landed on. Of course, the temptation to misuse this didn't take long to rear its head, and soon the exercise was jokingly called "Bible roulette." 

And of course, I tried it. Once in a while? Used judiciously? Marvelously apropos answers came forth, words that made my breath catch with their relevance to my need. Too often? Used routinely? The passages "received" bore less and less relation to my concern, and I understood that these attempts to hear from God were trying to shortcut the building of relationship. God can and sometimes will speak this way, but He doesn't use formulas and the Bible is not a crystal ball. 

I do still open the Bible at random, though. Not because I'm looking for a sign to help me choose between Fork A or Fork B on the road of life, but maybe because I want to read the word but I'm not sure exactly where. Or because I just want to dive in somewhere. Or because I want to see where God will draw my attention. I opened the Bible at random just now, and--kind of tied in with all the foregoing--landed on a chapter I prayed through with someone just yesterday. When God repeats Himself, I have learned to pay attention. 

I'm speaking of Psalm 91, which I think of as the protection psalm. I've known people who prayed this for their soldiers every day and they returned from tours of duty unharmed. One man in the aforementioned home group claimed it as his insurance policy--seriously--in lieu of health insurance (and perhaps other kinds; I never asked) for his family. Granted, this was back in the days before "in-network" and "out-of-network" and before every single dealing with a doctor was cost-prohibitive. But you know what? Nothing ever happened to them, either. And they had eight kids.

Just what is the power of faith in His word, if we will exercise it?

Father, I pray the promises of Psalm 91 over all who read these words. May we dwell in Your shelter and rest in Your shadow, simply for the joy of living there and not only to gain the other benefits. But we do ask Your promises to apply to us: safety from the fowler's snare, pestilence, terror, attack, and destruction. Cover us, and let Your faithfulness be our shield. Let Your protections extend to our families--all who live in or are from "our tent." Thank You that Your angels protect us--even us--when we aren't aware of it. Thank You for victory over the lions and cobras of life, and help us choose to overcome them when they threaten and not give in to them. We are those who love You, know Your name, trust in You, and call upon You, and we receive Your rescue, Your answers, Your presence, Your honor--honor, Lord, for us!--Your length of life, and all the good things You have for us who stay the course on the narrow road to life. We set our love on You, Lord, as verse 14 says, the Hebrew indicating a type of love that "hugs tightly." We hug You tightly, knowing that since we have a Savior who can make it through a storm at sea sleeping on a cushion, we are never outside Your care when we are in Your presence. Amen.

Jesus

Isn't it just amazing that life can be summed up in one word: Jesus. And not just summed up, but contained. 

"For He has rescued us and has drawn us to Himself from the dominion of darkness, and has transferred us to the kingdom of His beloved Son, in whom we have redemption [because of His sacrifice, resulting in] the forgiveness of our sins [and the cancellation of sins' penalty]. He is the exact living image [the essential manifestation] of the unseen God [the visible representation of the invisible], the firstborn [the preeminent one, the sovereign, and the originator] of all creation. For by Him all things were created in heaven and on earth, [things] visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities; all things were created and exist through Him [that is, by His activity] and for Him. And He Himself existed and is before all things, and in Him all things hold together. [His is the controlling, cohesive force of the universe.] He is also the head [the life-source and leader] of the body, the church; and He is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, so that He Himself will occupy the first place [He will stand supreme and be preeminent] in everything. For it pleased the Father for all the fullness of deity--the sum total of His essence, all His perfection, powers, and attributes] to dwell [permanently] in Him (the Son), and through [the intervention of] the Son to reconcile all things to Himself, making peace [with believers] through the blood of His cross; through Him, whether things on earth or things in heaven. And although you were at one time estranged and alienated and hostile-minded [toward Him], participating in evil things, yet Christ has now reconciled you [to God] in His physical body through death, in order to present you before the Father holy and blameless and beyond reproach." 

(Colossians 1:13-22, AMP 2015)

In Jesus, all things hold together. 

If a coin appears in a fish's mouth because He said it would, if a crowd can be fed on five loaves and two fish, if a storm swamps our boat yet Jesus can sleep--what need can't He supply? What doesn't owe its existence to Him? Worry, where is your sting?

Jesus. The Way, the Truth, the Life. The Word. The Blood. The Resurrection. The Ascension. 

Jesus. 

Thank You, Father, for blessing us with the name of Jesus. 

God's Yes and God's No

I was reading in Isaiah and came across a place where I had written NO! in the margin. It was at Isaiah 39:2, where King Hezekiah had shown his entire treasure house to envoys from Babylon. "No, Hezekiah," I had wanted to shout--and laughed, because I now wanted to shout it again. "Do not show everything you've got. Do not cast your pearls before pigs (Matthew 7:6). Do not spread your nets in view of all the birds" (Proverbs 1:17). In short, some things are only between you and God (Matthew 6; Luke 2:19; Romans 14: 22; Proverbs 2:11, 11:13, 17:27). 

Hezekiah was an interesting king, and not necessarily one we think a lot about. He was one of the most upstanding kings of Judah during the time of the divided kingdom. His story is told in 2 Kings 18-20, 2 Chronicles 29-32, and Isaiah 37-39. Perhaps ironically, he successfully repelled a threat from Assyria (the nation that had already conquered and exiled Israel) while inviting Babylon (the nation that would later conquer and exile Judah) into the henhouse, so to speak. Now hindsight is 20/20, so this may be understandable on that basis, but there's another, much bigger difference.  

Hezekiah avoided capture by Assyria mainly by appealing to God. His prayer in the temple (Isaiah 37:14-20) not only asked God's help, but acknowledged that the threat was against God Himself, and concluded with a plea to save the nation so that the whole earth might know He was God. This wasn't just "get us out of this jam so we'll be okay." It was "an attack on Your people is an attack on You, and it questions Your power and even Your existence, so for Your own glory please reveal Who You are." God answered through a prophecy by Isaiah, in essence saying to the king of Assyria that he'd been a tool in God's hand all along and he would not even enter the city. This was followed by an angel of the Lord killing 185,000 soldiers in their camp. In other words, Judah didn't even have to go to war.

By contrast, the king of Babylon sent messengers and presents to Judah. Perhaps Hezekiah did what many of us do: seek God when there's a direct threat, but not when something supposedly good happens, as if we need God only in crisis. Pride, too, was operating. "Look at all my stuff!" Hezekiah was saying, a stark difference from his previous "Look at our God!" mindset. Isaiah then told him a time would be coming when all of that and more, plus the people, would be captured and carried off to Babylon. Hezekiah's indiscretion wasn't the sole cause of the exile, because Judah committed plenty of outright evil (as other kings including his own son would). But this is where God's pronouncement was made. This is where the exile became a sure thing. And then Hezekiah put the cherry on top: He didn't say a word about God's reputation in the earth this time, but agreed that God's judgment was good because it wouldn't happen in his lifetime. "That'll be my kid's problem," was his attitude. Yes, Hezekiah, and your kid is evil. 

It's very interesting what the Scripture records between these two encounters with Assyria and Babylon. Hezekiah had gotten fatally ill; God told him he would die. He prayed to be spared and God added fifteen years to his life. Had God taken him when He originally planned, would the whole Judah/Babylon conquest and exile have happened? Probably; there were other reasons for it. But Hezekiah lived to play a part in bringing it about and received God's edict concerning it. Besides the pitfalls of pride and not seeking God in everything, we have to ponder that it's important to surrender to God's will in situations we don't have full insight to understand. Sometimes we pray and God gives us our way, even when it's not His best (Israel wanting a king like all the other nations, for example). The most important lesson might be to receive His "no" answers with full trust, and His "yes" answers with full humility. 

Year One is Done, or Prayer for a Bible Student

Finals are done, the year went faster than fast, and I am halfway to a bachelor's in biblical studies. The path ahead, appearing before me as I step carefully and bend the brush aside, is one I never expected to walk. And it's better than the one I once wanted. So much better. 

Father, help me concentrate on not just the written word, but the Word--Jesus. Help me go far beyond head knowledge of a topic, so I can see and hear You, Your imprint, Your handprint, Your whisper, Your intentions, on every page. In the books of the Bible we've already covered and the books still to come, show me every hint of Jesus that I may have missed before. Help me resist the temptation to consider a passage read, a paper written, or a blog post composed, "my time with you," so that I am still prioritizing getting alone with You without agenda--and without concern for a grade. Help me see the jots and tittles and the grand narrative and never lose sight of either. Jesus, in You all things consist, and in You all things hold together. Thank You for the blood, the Name, the book, the victory. Amen.  

Do Nothing for Show, and Other Matthew 5-7 Thoughts

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A month or so ago I posted on Jesus' final week--what He chose to say and do during that week. It's just as instructive, I think, to look at what He said and did in His first lengthy teaching. I'm referring to the Sermon on the Mount, recorded in Matthew 5-7. What are its main takeaways? I think these:

• Thoughts are as powerful as deeds
• Intentions matter hugely
• Do nothing for show
• Avoid sin at all costs
• Be the salt and light of the world
• Whatever good you might see done by the world, you're called to more and better
• Persist in prayer
• Do as you would be done by
• Beware false teachers

To me, the first four are the most striking. "If you thought it, you did it." Jesus was speaking to people who had spent their lives watching the Pharisees' meticulous and too-often hypocritical obedience to the letter of the law. "Meticulous" wasn't wrong, but if we aren't careful people can catch the idea that outward observance and compliance are enough--or the only important thing. Jesus meant to disabuse them of this notion; He was interested in the integrity of the whole individual. A thousand years earlier, David had realized that God desired truth in the inward parts (Psalm 51:6). Almost every deed first starts with a conscious thought. I've found that if I keep the Scriptural reminder to bring every thought captive to Christ, my thought life improves noticeably. I pray this before bed and have even experienced changes in the things I dream.

Thoughts lead naturally to intentions. There's a claim running through our culture today that intentions do not matter. I will certainly agree that protesting, "But I meant well!" when we have caused offense isn't good enough. Good intentions don't mean we're excused from taking responsibility for our careless behavior; that is centering ourselves at the expense of the person we hurt. Saying those good intentions are worthless, though, is running off the road into the opposite ditch, nor does it make sense, nor is it true. Should we prefer ill intentions? Didn't we just say that the quality of our thoughts usually determines the quality of our deeds? The most important point: the claim that intentions don't matter runs contrary to Jesus' teaching. Intentions matter hugely.

"Do nothing for show" is possibly better rendered "Do nothing just for show." There is nothing wrong with beautiful appearances (in fact, I believe peacocks were created expressly to display the beauty of God's design). Excellence in all things, inner and outer, honors Him, but it's wrong to (a) be prideful or puffed up about appearances, and/or (b) slap them onto the surface of a rotten interior so things look better than they are and expect credit for that. The Lord desires purity, not in the sense of some sort of prissy behavior, but in the sense of lack of mixture or compromise. Our aim is to be Godly through and through.  

Avoid sin at all costs. Of course Jesus doesn't mean to literally cut off our hand or pluck out our eye, but the illustration is no less powerful for that realization. Whatever is causing us to sin, we should spare no cost in forsaking that thing; eternally, even our bodies are not worth our souls. The wages of sin really are death. The unsaved person becomes more entrenched in his path to destruction the more he sins, and the saved person becomes entangled again and is often worse off than before, at the very least losing reward he could have gained (1 Corinthians 3), and making it less likely each time that he will repent and turn back. That pet sin we keep sent Jesus to the cross. What we need to do, He says, is rip, cast, thrust, erase, and "cross" it out of our lives. Habitual sinners deceive themselves if they believe they have seen or known Jesus (1 John 3:6).

In all things, may we attend to the inside as much as the outside. Let what we show to others on the outside be the real deal.  

Prayer for May

Father, the promises of nature are like human promises: fairly certain, well-intentioned, definitely goals, but they are not rock solid, infallible, without a doubt. Will apples bud here? Very likely. Apple blossoms are the "promise" of apples. Will they get to fully ripen, and will we get to eat them? Not a sure thing at all. Last year, as You know, we went zero for fifteen.

The only rock-solid, infallible, without-a-doubt promises are Yours. Help us not brush them off as too good to be true, but rather be receptive toward them. You are a sure thing; therefore so is every word You speak. All Your promises are to us Yes and Amen through Christ, the Yes being the guarantee and Amen the finality or "so be it." 

We ask You to help us experience Your promises by remembering Whom we believe, that You are able. Be with us wherever we go, uphold us with your righteous right hand, be our refuge and fortress. Supply our needs according to Your riches in glory, give us hope and a future, make our paths straight. Leave us your peace, give the weary and burdened rest, guard our hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. Forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness, may your mercies be new every morning, and let nothing separate us from the love of God. We look to You and seek Your face, Lord. Not the promise, but the Promise-Giver. Where there are conditions, help us meet them.  

Thank You for your unchanging nature--so different from the natural changes all around us--and that You cannot lie. In cases where we must wait for Your promises, help us wait patiently for fulfillment. We hold to Your promises by faith, believing they are ours because You said so. 

With You, there is no "too good to be true," no good > true, because Your truth and Your goodness are equally perfect and infinite. What a magnificent thought to meditate on. 

We praise You, love You, and rest in You. Amen.  

Uh-Oh, Judging (Controversies #13)

 

"Judge not lest ye be judged!"

I imagine you've heard people say this, perhaps belligerently, when what they mean is "I get to do what I want without anyone saying I shouldn't!" I know I have.

Or how about this one: "Only God can judge me!" Well, one day He will, and are you sure you're going to love the outcome of that?  

Is the Bible's message really "Don't judge"? Is Jesus' teaching really "Don't judge"? 

No. It isn't.

Let's start with the verse most people are referring to when they say, "Don't judge!" Usually they're referring to, or can quote, Matthew 7:1 only. "Do not judge, or you too will be judged" (NIV). But there's an entire teaching that follows, telling us that it's hypocritical judgment we're being warned against. Jesus is not saying to ignore wrongdoing. He's saying to avoid unwarranted or unjust criticism and nuisance faultfinding. He's saying that the more we point the finger, the more we can expect the finger pointed at us, and that God Himself will see to it that "with the measure we use, it will be measured to us." But He's also saying that if we deal with our own sin first--especially the sin we're accusing someone else of--we do have a basis for addressing the wrong in a fellow believer. He ends that particular discussion by saying, "Do not give dogs what is sacred; do not throw your pearls to pigs. If you do, they may trample them under their feet and then turn around and tear you to pieces." This means, I believe, that we have to make a judgment about whom to share truth or confidences with. It's knowing whom to focus on when we share spiritual or personal things, not unlike Jesus' instruction to the disciples to shake the dust off their feet when leaving an inhospitable house or city. So the passage ends with an example of a right judgment.

That phrase "right judgment" calls to mind John 7:24. Jesus said, "Stop judging by mere appearances and make a right judgment." (He was speaking to Jews who were angry with Him for healing on the Sabbath.) So judging according to how something will look is also what we're warned against. But realizing that if it's legal to circumcise a baby on the Sabbath, then it's legal to heal a man's entire body on the Sabbath, is an example of a right judgment, Jesus is saying. There are right judgments, and we are to make them.

Another example is given by Paul in 1 Corinthians 5. This chapter records an incident of a man having sexual relations with his stepmother. Put him out of the fellowship, Paul says (v. 2). I have already passed judgment on him, Paul says (vs. 3). Hand him over to Satan, Paul says (v. 5)--and I'll bet none of us have gone quite that far. I have firsthand knowledge, though, of an incident where a man left his wife and took up with another woman, insisted on continuing this situation regardless of gentle and prayerful confrontation, and his pastor had to ask him to leave the fellowship. A lot of churches would shy away from or flat-out not dream of doing so--I've been a member of those churches, too--but it is the biblical response (1 Corinthians 5:2, 13). And it is judgment. Paul goes on to elaborate that we don't judge those outside the church, but we do judge those inside. What's more, in chapter 6 Paul talks about the church's future as judges of the world and of angels (in the kingdom of God, Revelation 20:6) by way of saying they really should be able to settle (judge) their own comparatively trivial cases in the here and now. 

So yes, we judge. We make judgments every day about whom to steer clear of, what places or activities to say no to (regardless of whether or not someone thinks we're judging them when we decline to participate), about whether a given action is right or wrong, and we need to. If we don't, we're in danger because our wisdom is eroding and our ability to discern sin is losing its edge. And if someone responds to this with "Don't judge me," it may be their own defensiveness, even guilt, speaking. What we want to avoid is unnecessary criticism, malicious finger pointing, lack of humility, a faultfinding spirit, and trying to correct someone when we are guilty of the same problem. At times like these, it's definitely appropriate to say, "Don't judge." 

In the Beginning was the Verb

 Father, You created.

From nothing material but not from nothing.

From Your will, Your word, Your goodness.

Your character.

Bereshit bara Elohim, word for word:

"In the beginning, He created, God."

Formed, fashioned, brought to be

not plain

colorless

serviceable

neutral, 

but art, beauty elemental to You,

inextricable from You,

Your world Your, our, decor. 

 

Made in Your image, we create too.

Yet with tools we asah and with earth yatsar

from material and not from nothing.

Our humble efforts press toward beauty,

our wish to honor a God like ours.

Every stitch, pattern, word, object, 

every way of craft,

sing of, embody, prophesy

Your splendor,

even to those who sniff, "Trivia!"

Open their eyes to the fullness, 

the completeness,

the beauty

of the ways of our God.  

Why are Christians "Worse" Than the World?

The world expects believers in Christ to be--what, exactly? Well, different. More moral than the norm. To obey Jesus' teachings (even if the world is shaky on what Jesus taught and why Jesus came). To be faithful to their spouses. To "not judge" (which is a whole other topic to come). To treat people kindly, decently, graciously, and generously. And all of this is more than fair. 

So why do we often seem not only no better or different, but actually of worse character than people who don't claim Christ? I suggest the reasons fall into two categories: cultural/sociological and theological. 

Most of the time, good character is apt to be a result of being raised in a loving, functional, stable family, regardless of that family's religious practice or lack thereof. And often (not always) these are the people who grow up handling life on their own. They know how to behave, they've been taught the importance of preparing to find meaningful and remunerative work, they've had healthy family life and friendships modeled for them and are likelier to be able to build the same for themselves. They are also likelier to feel they are basically good people (with their share of foibles, they will admit), and that it's up to them to make their own way in life.

Contrast this with those who grew up in more chaotic, unsafe, disadvantaged, or undependable environments, who learned unhealthy patterns of relating, didn't feel loved, didn't have their needs met, or had all they could do to just survive. Often (not always) it's those who grow up more broken than whole who know they need God because they can't make it otherwise. Jesus said He came not to call the righteous (those who think they're good on their own) but sinners (those who know they need Him). Jesus told the Pharisees (self-righteous) that the tax collectors and prostitutes (repentant sinners) would enter the kingdom ahead of them. It starts to make sense, then, that the church might be a little messier than the world is when it comes to propriety. Cleansed by the blood though they may be, the wounds inflicted by their backgrounds will usually heal only gradually as they walk out their saved lives with fear and trembling--and that's only if they allow God to work in those areas. So, from the world's point of view, the church may indeed contain more riffraff, to be blunt. Of course, we who know we are ragged have opportunity for greater character growth in Christ than the temporal world can offer or attain.

What about the theological reasons? Why can the world system produce any good solid people at all, and where do they get any moral standard by which they can evaluate moral standards? Four principles, I think. First, least palatable, but still true, is that we have a spiritual enemy who knows where we're weak and is going to go after Christians harder. Why? Because the unsaved world is already on its way to hell without him having to lift a finger, and because he hates God and will try to discredit Him by discrediting His people. This is not an excuse for "The devil made me do it!" at all, as the choice to "do it" was ours, but when he tempts vulnerable people who haven't fully healed from trauma, sometimes stuff happens. Second, and second least palatable, is that we have wolves among the sheep, meaning some of this sin "in the church" is committed by people who aren't actually the church. Jesus and Paul both warned that false prophets and teachers and "grievous wolves" would infiltrate us, and we'd be foolish to think a time will come when they won't be here. Fortunately, they are at times discovered and rooted out, but this can cause so much damage that through it we gain a better understanding of the parable's admonition to let both the wheat and tares grow until the harvest. 

The two other principles are (a) God made all people in His image, and (b) the human race is sinful. We have both "universal image of God" and "universal sinfulness," to borrow phrasing from author Timothy Keller in his book The Reason for God. Scripture says real Christian behavior will be approved by general culture (Matthew 5:16; 1 Peter 2:12), which can be explained by the fact that God's image resides in every human being. If all bear God's image, then we can reasonably expect unbelievers to be "better people" than their unbelief would suggest, and if all are universally sinful, then believers will likely be "worse people" in practice than their belief would suggest. So, though our respective eternal destinies couldn't be more different, down here on Earth we often look more alike than we'd think. 

Made in God's Image (His Mysteries #6)

 

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What does it mean to be made in the image of God?

I'm not sure this is something we grasp all at once. Or grasp in its entirety. Because, like everything with God, it's deeper and grander than we think, and may dawn on us in glimpses and aspects over a lifetime. The word "mean" can also be considered in two ways: What defines us as being made in God's image, and what are the consequences to us of being so made? 

From the start, I recognize that a Trinitarian point of view is basic to my understanding. If God is eternal in three persons, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, this means they have been together in a loving, united relationship without a beginning. "Without end" is much easier to imagine than the idea of something having no starting point, no before. If God weren't three persons, I can immediately think of a couple of things that would be tougher to explain. First, our human threefold nature--spirit, soul, and body--wouldn't match God's image as well. Second, the phrase "God is love" would have a less rich meaning. Father, Son, and Holy Spirit were in loving communion and agreement for eternity before humans were created. If God were unitarian, we'd have to ask when love got its start. Was it not until humans were made? At any rate, until something was made? Do we think love had a beginning? I say no, because if so there would have been a period--an eternity--when God was not love. But I don't want to get too far into the weeds here. I think perhaps the first way we are made in God's image is that we are triune like He is.

Another way is that we are made for relationship, inwardly and outwardly. Our spirit, soul, and body communicate within us, and we reach out to others. Both God and we are persons, which also means consciousness, identity, reason, and moral agency. Deny it though some will, our sense of right and wrong is built in. No matter how much individuals and cultures may disagree on some of the particulars, for mentally healthy people there are acts too heinous to commit and lengths to which they won't go. Even people who do unconscionable things sometimes think they are doing them for a good reason; thus a sense of right and wrong, even if twisted, is operating. Our personhood, capacity for relationship, and inherent moral code are all ways we are made in God's image.

Being made in the image of God also means we are creators--small c--like He is. Though we think of ourselves as creating from created materials while God created from nothing, there's a further point to consider. Proverbs 18:21 says life and death are in the power of the tongue. James says the tongue is a fire that can cause a destructive blaze. Our prayers, curses, oaths, and vows have power and produce results. Just because we can't say "Let there be a planet!" and poof there's a sphere in the sky doesn't mean our words don't create any number of situations and paths. As beings in God's image, we create, and our speech produces both life and death.

One more, and this idea comes from Francis Schaeffer in his book The God Who is There. Schaeffer contends that the Bible teaches we are "...made in the image of God as a personality who can make a free first choice." The phrase free first choice is important. It would mean we aren't programmed, not by our biology, psychology, nor by God Himself. We are neither machines nor animals. There are those who would claim we are "human animals," but we are not. The image of God in us is an unbridgeable gulf between humans and animals. 

What do we do with the fact that we're created in God's image? First, we regard all other people as fellow image-bearers, and if we can get this truth down in our spirits it should raise our respect for everyone--and ourselves as well. Also, we're to love our brothers and sisters in Christ (yes, our enemies too, but that's beside the point here), not just because it's a good idea but because we're to model the Trinity's love among its three persons. And we can take courage that when even unbelievers see our good deeds and moral excellence, they will (generally) glorify God (Matthew 5:16) because they are made in His image and have that "stamp," "compass," or conscience in and on them. We can also realize that being made in God's image helps make sense of the Incarnation. People sometimes say--and I have thought--that Jesus deigning to become a man must be akin to a human being deciding to become, say, an ant, to die for an anthill. But it isn't the same. Ants are not made in humans' image. Because we are imago dei, there is a tie between God and humans that doesn't exist between any other pair of beings. Because we are imago dei, we are meant to be His family. Because we are imago dei, He purchased salvation for us and only us, whereas we can't, and needn't, for anyone. 

This is surely not exhaustive, but it's what I have. God having made us in His image speaks louder, and quieter, and in many more ways, than we think. It's one of His mysteries. 

It's Literally Greek to Me

 

Nerd alert: 🤓🤓🤓

To supplement my Bible college journey, I have decided to teach myself Biblical Greek. As I write this post, I'm on Chapter 4 in my beginning Greek textbook/video series, which almost certainly means I've learned just enough to be dangerous. 🤣 But I got SO EXCITED today when I realized I could read aloud, and translate, this sentence from my text:

ό Θεὁς αγαπη ἐστἱν

This says "God is love," and is taken from 1 John 4:8. Phonetically, in Koine Greek, it sounds like "haw thee-aws ah-gah-pay es-tin," and left to right it reads, "The God love He is." As a complete aside, this is why I don't take sides in the "word for word" versus "thought for thought" debate in Bible translation. Maybe I'm being rigid in my definition of word for word (or maybe I'm not; I'm not sure), but if the New Testament were literally translated word for word into English, it would be filled with sentences like this--an especially big problem in English because the language relies so much on syntax (word order) to determine meaning (which Greek does not). I would argue that all translations are in essence thought for thought, because the whole point is to convey the true meaning of the original in a form that readers of the target language can accurately decipher. Unless syntax is identical in the two languages, a word-for-word translation will "twist words out of order," sentence after convoluted sentence, meaning readers will become confused and bogged down at best and mistakenly infer inaccurate meanings at worst. 

Anyway. I'm grateful to God for giving me the opportunity to unleash my inner scholar in a way I'm not sure has happened before, even though I once earned a degree with honors way back when. I pray He will receive whatever glory there is to be had from this, in whatever form He desires. Meanwhile, I must cop to the fact that this is my idea of fun. 😍  

Today's Thoughts

 Life may be a test, but it's an open-book test. 

Rebellion is as witchcraft because both are rooted in control. 

Beauty is a bridge to the wonder of significance. 

Threshold

 The fourth month blows in on the four winds

opens the year's door

sweeps the air clean

and gives it a shower.

Yet slate sky

dun grass

taupe trees

pewter river

speak not of winter nor of spring,

suspend the land in a timeless between.

But a threshold is a place of contending

and a gate, even if unlovely,

always beckons you through.

Prayer for April

Father, thank You for the physics and geometry of rain. The dailyness and faithfulness of Your principles of creation. That You speak through everything, everything.

Thank You for water, that the soil might store up moisture and become rich for spring plantings. May the land we walk grow lush and green, not parched and dangerous to life. 

I pray those who need the rain will cheer and welcome it, even rush out and stomp in it, toss umbrellas aside and raise their faces to it. 

I pray those who don't need any more of it will be spared, that You will calm the storm, let the rising waters ebb, sweep the clouds away and make Your sun shine on them. 

I pray those who are saddened by it will not see weeping as much as they see freshening and the final banishment of snow. I pray those who have no shelter from it will receive such shelter from You--knowing that it does come from You even if through human effort, provision, or circumstance--to their joy and great surprise and to Your glory and praise. 

Let April be a month of hope for many, in many different ways. A time when death loses its grip. When new breezes stir. When relationships mend and deep healing happens and the promises of God overtake the lies of the enemy. When paths that have looked figuratively or literally muddy become, if not flawless, clear. 

In April, as we are encouraged by nature's newness, let us not settle for same-same in our lives, as if just trudging along, putting one foot in front of the other, living in ruts because they're familiar instead of asking if You have change in store for us. In this new season, what remains or stays the same for us, and what pivots or drops or opens? Give us insight, and willingness to follow where you lead. Give us eyes to see and ears to hear, and may what we see and hear be Jesus. Amen.

He is Risen!

He rose. 

He did it. 

Jesus bought us back, paid the price for our sin, the veil is torn (top to bottom). God's great plan is victorious and human life is worth something.

He did it sinless. 

He did it early, preempting anyone's arrival at the tomb to mourn Him dead. He caused the grave clothes to be folded and neatly placed; sending a message of deliberateness; of "I don't need these anymore"; refuting, by the lack of either jumbled or absent wrappings, that His body could have been stolen in haste. Jesus spoke, in even this way, to those who had eyes to see, ears to hear.

Jesus is risen. It's the most important day in history. The most important in eternity.

Most don't know that, which is to be expected. The road to life, Jesus said, is found by few. 

Thank you, Jesus, that I--even I--could be one of the few, not because of anything I've done or anything I'm worth, but because of You. Thank you, Father, for drawing me. Thank you, Holy Spirit, for indwelling me. 

Thank you, Jesus. Thank you, thank you, Jesus.   

Jesus' Final Week

During Holy Week, we concentrate mostly on Sunday, Thursday, Friday, and Sunday. But what about Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday? Knowing it was His last week, what were the last things Jesus chose to do? Let's look at two events from Monday. 

It was Monday, most scholars believe, that Jesus entered the temple and overturned the moneychangers' tables. John tells us he did so with a whip of cords (John 2:15, although John also places this event earlier in Jesus' ministry--might it have happened twice?). He quoted Scripture, saying, "My house shall be called a house of prayer, but you are making it a robbers' den" (Matthew 21:13; Isaiah 56:7; Jeremiah 7:11). This was not some gentle warning or reasoned explanation. Jesus went in swinging, for several reasons. The animals being sold for sacrifice were priced exorbitantly and sometimes not up to standard, the moneychangers were making excessive profits exchanging Roman money for temple coinage (Jewish leaders required the temple tax to be paid in Jewish money), and apparently general merchants were traipsing through temple grounds hauling their wares as a means of taking a shortcut (Mark 11:16 AMP 2015)! Jesus' message: Corruption in the house of God, and among the people of God, is not tolerated.

It was likely also Monday when Jesus cursed the fig tree. Matthew says Jesus saw a "lone" fig tree, and my first thought was, "Uh-oh. There wasn't another tree to pollinate it?" But my research tells me figs do not commonly need cross-pollination from other trees, and that a lone tree will bear. So expecting the tree to produce fruit was reasonable. Mark 11:13 says Jesus found no fruit on the tree because it wasn't the season for figs, so on the surface His anger seems unfair. Fig season would have been May or June, and this was only March or April. The problem was that the tree leafed out, as expected, but it should also have contained edible fruit buds, as shown in the photo. The fact that it didn't meant it wouldn't produce a crop at the proper time. Jesus cursed the tree, declaring no one would ever eat from it again, to make a point. The next day, when He and His disciples passed the tree again, they saw it had withered from the roots up. Jesus then gave a teaching on the power of prayer, but I think there's another message as well, one that made His choice of a fig tree deliberate. The leafy tree looked good. It was fine for show. But it bore no fruit. There's a parallel danger facing us, that we might walk and talk like Christians but not really belong to Jesus, thus not be indwelled by the Holy Spirit, who is the one who bears fruit in and through us. No fruit = not His. By their fruit, Jesus was saying once more, you shall know them.

The parables Jesus told during the week, the other things He did and that were done to and for Him, are all so full of meaning to be plumbed. The more we read the Bible, the more ways we discover to read it. Studying the accounts of His final week through the lens of "This is what Jesus wanted to get across at the end" is another fresh way to approach the Scriptures.   

Palm Sunday Thoughts

Approaching Jerusalem, Jesus tells His disciples to go on ahead and find a donkey and colt, untie them, and bring them to Him (Matthew 21:2; Mark 11:2; Luke 19:30). Reading this, I'm reminded of Peter finding the coin in the fish's mouth (Matthew 17:27), and I realize something. It's not at all that Jesus "knew these things would be there" (especially in the case of the coin). Yes, He was prophetic (John 4:18-19), but He was so much more than that. The coin and donkey scenarios unfolded just as He said simply because He said so. He spoke them there. See the difference? It was another opportunity, for those who could or would grasp it, to see that He was in fact God. He didn't know these things would be true. He made them true.

How safe we are, as believers in Christ, in the hands of a good God who makes truth.

Some could possibly argue that Jesus just called for the donkey because Zechariah the prophet had predicted the Christ's entry in this way (Zechariah 9:9), and of course Jesus knew the Scriptures. But if they're hoping for evidence against Jesus as Messiah, they overlook that only the Messiah could have obtained the donkey the way He did. First, the donkey and colt were where He said they'd be. Second, when told "The Lord needs them," the bystanders made no objection. An unspoken witness.

Jesus was always, always, telling us by words and actions Who He was. Just as there were messages in every parable for those who would hear, there were clues in virtually every step He took and thing He did, for those who had spiritual eyes to see.

When He rode the donkey down the road, amid the coats and palm branches, the crowd cried, "Hosanna!" This word is variously rendered as "save," "save now," or "save us, please." I believe people are often highly prophetic without even knowing it. What the crowd wanted, of course, was salvation from Rome. (What they failed to grasp, perhaps, was that when their Old Testament showed Israel in rebellion against God, He always allowed them to be conquered by another nation. Being ruled by another country should have been a big clue to return to God in heart, not just by rote.) 

We humans think so small. We want political relief--not a bad thing, certainly, but so very temporal. We concern ourselves with earthly conditions in every area of life. Jesus was here to give the people spiritual liberty now and for all eternity. And by the end of the week they would kill Him. His death and resurrection, of course, being the very means of victory--payment for sin for those who will receive Him, and defeat not only of His contemporary earthly enemies, but of death itself. Period.

You can't make this stuff up. God is only, and exactly, the One Who can. 

Musings and Aphorisms

Unequal yoking with unbelievers also refers to staying in a church that teaches contrary to the essentials of Jesus and the gospel in any way. 

Maybe the reason we'll give account for every idle word we speak is that we are to be perfect as He is perfect, and every single word He speaks counts. 

If believers didn't still struggle with sin, you know what we'd do? We'd start thinking maybe the cross hadn't been all that necessary. 

Yes--more tolerable judgment for Sodom and Gomorrah than for those who reject Messiah, because in so doing you reject the remedy for all the rest.

We can't scientifically prove God, because (a) do we really think our theories, experiments, and equipment could ever wrap around the vastness of any God worthy of the title (regardless of how good and God-given science is), (b) science by definition studies the physical and natural world, not the spiritual, and (c) if we could have this kind of proof, wouldn't it undermine the faith God requires? 

IOW, if we can prove "God," we may have hold of something else entirely, PLUS proof is not in our best interest. 

OTOH, mathematicians have tried to prove Him and say they have come astoundingly close. For certain it can be said they have not disproved Him, and--though I have not delved into this yet--have apparently demonstrated extreme likeliness that He exists. Fair enough. The Scripture says we can seek and find Him, and that He speaks to us through His creation. The Heavens, though physical and natural, do declare the glory of God. 

The Fear of the Lord is the Alphabet of Wisdom

 

A couple weeks ago I posted here about being a poet (one of the meanings of the Greek for doer) of the word. I recently found a line in my Amplified Bible that thrilled me just as much, and the unexpected meaning of a word was included right in the Bible's parenthetical additions to the verse. Quoting Psalm 111:10a--

The [reverent] fear of the Lord is the beginning (the prerequisite, the absolute essential, the alphabet) of wisdom..."

A note about brackets and parentheses: The Amplified 2015 version uses brackets in roman type to include shades of meaning that are present in the Hebrew word but lost in the English translation. Thus, we fear the Lord in awe and reverence, not as scared or afraid. It uses parentheses in roman type to refine the meaning of the preceding word in context of the whole. For example, "beginning" is used here in the sense of "prerequisite" rather than, say, a mere start to something. I'd guess most of us aren't surprised by "prerequisite" or "absolute essential" used as enrichment words here, but alphabet? Amazing!

I love that. It's like saying, "Reverence for God is the ABC's of wisdom." Like "How do you spell wisdom? F-E-A-R  O-F  G-O-D." Like "You can't begin to get a handle on wisdom until you learn and assemble its most basic of basic elements." 

It doesn't matter who thinks they know what. If they're an individual without reverence for God, they don't know the first thing about wisdom. They don't even have the alphabet for it. And if they speak long enough, those who do have the alphabet, and His word, will begin to hear the difference. 

Just Jesus

I've written a lot of words in my life, and am still writing them. This is not a bad thing. Especially if I'm called.

But which word is really important?

Jesus

The more I say, the more my focus is I, I, I. Even if not using the pronoun. 

"I" started this blog saying the focus would be on Jesus. 

Today, think about Jesus. Talk to Him all day long. Repent to Him of anything the Holy Spirit points out. Thank Him for His blood. Thank Him for saving you from an unspeakably awful eternal future. Fix your spiritual eyes on Jesus. Whisper His name on your breath. "Jesus, Jesus, Jesus."

Just Jesus. 

Questionable Quotes

Usually, when we come across quotes by well-known Christians, we either nod and agree, or we react with some form of, "Hmm, never thought about that." Sometimes, though, the quote hits our brain with a clank, and we think, "Hmm, not too sure about that." Consider the following from A. W. Tozer:

"The unbelieving mind would not be convinced by any proof, and the worshiping heart needs none."

My response: "Naw, we have to do better than that." 

It's lazy (oops, did I say that?) to imply that everyone should just believe and that's all the proof you need, and it's snooty to say in a veiled way that if you don't "just believe" first, you can't join the club. This is how cults and secret societies get started. This is the path to drinking the Kool-Aid.

What does the Bible say? "And Paul entered the synagogue, as was his custom, and for three Sabbaths he engaged in discussion and friendly debate with them from the Scriptures, explaining and pointing out [Scriptural evidence] that it was necessary for the Christ to suffer and rise from the dead, and saying, "This Jesus, whom I am proclaiming to you, is the Christ (the Messiah, the Anointed)" (Acts 17:2-3 AMP 2015, emphasis mine). Some translations say he "reasoned" from Scripture and "proved" Jesus was the Christ. This was in Thessalonica. He did the same in Berea, Iconium, Corinth, and Ephesus. In some locations, such as Athens and Troas, he spoke in places other than synagogues. He didn't expect anyone to believe without being convinced through the Old Testament writings. 

There's a well-known verse about the Bereans. "Now the Bereans were of more noble character than the Thessalonians, for they received the message with great eagerness and examined the Scriptures every day to see if what Paul said was true" (Acts 17:11 NIV). The Amplified adds that in addition to being of noble character they were open-minded. This is Luke writing, so he is the one using the words "noble character" to describe people who look (at the Bible for spiritual truth) before they leap. We're always reminded that the Bereans studied Scripture to verify what Paul was preaching (and may I say too too too many Christians today just accept the words of celebrity preachers without critical thinking?), but we seldom notice that they also "received the message with eagerness." They balanced faith and discernment, excelling in both without letting either fall by the wayside. 

C. S. Lewis became a Christian because his friend J. R. R. Tolkien, both of them scholars, challenged Lewis's view that Christianity was a myth (myth used here to equate to false). Over time, Lewis became convinced by this and other collegial discussions. At first, Lewis didn't even want to be converted, but reluctantly conceded that intellectual honesty required it. 

Quotes like the one from Tozer are why people think faith is blind or that you need to check your brains at the church door. As we grow in relationship with Jesus, and learn how faithful and trustworthy He actually is, we can come to a "just trust Him" place, as the apostle Thomas perhaps should have been able to do. But for those who don't yet know, Peter writes in his first letter that we need to be ready to give a reason for the hope that we have.

Random Questions from a Bible Student (Questions #3)

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:

• Is grace always "unmerited favor" if the Bible says God resists the proud but gives grace to the humble?
• Why don't people get that if we could prove God, He wouldn't be God? And if He ever allowed us to prove Him, He'd be diluting the very faith He requires of us; i.e., He'd contradict Himself?
• One verse says not to judge, other verses says to judge, and everybody takes the first one (especially) out of context as a license to do as they please. How do we untangle judging?
• Why can't the devil (and fallen angels) be saved?

The third one sounds like a future post, but I have comments about the fourth one today. It came up in one of my classes. Why can't the devil (and other fallen angels) be saved? 

The entire thrust of the Bible regarding celestial beings is that once they sin, they are permanently evil. There is no evidence to the contrary. I suggest that for God's own reasons they have been created in such a way that they are not capable of repentance or eligible for redemption. It's possible that when we resist this sort of thinking, it's because we consider angels as "closer to human" than to other beings (animals) who also can't repent and for whom Jesus didn't die. But is that valid? Angels, though certainly a different class of beings, are no more human than my cat is. 

I further suggest this different treatment of angels is tied in with the fact that only human beings are made in God's image. Our position as His image-bearers makes us different before God than the rest of His creation. Obviously, this doesn't mean no one will be eternally lost, but it does mean His love kept Him from wiping the human race out entirely and that He always has a remnant (Romans 11; Isaiah 10:22; Zephaniah 3:12). Jesus died for those created in His image. 

There's a school of thought that says (to oversimplify) angels and living creatures know God primarily as holy and humans know Him as love, and this is why the creatures cry, "Holy, holy, holy," day and night (Revelation 4:8). This seems plausible enough; perhaps it's the case and sheds light on God's use of judgment versus mercy, respectively. Another thought that struck me: We know Hebrews 1:14 defines angels as ministering spirits sent to assist those who will inherit salvation (implying, of course, they don't inherit salvation). What if it were possible that the angels sent to assist us sinned now and then? Could we know and trust what they were leading us into? (Would we, along with claiming "The devil made me do it" say "Angels made me do it"?) Isn't it a relief and reassurance to us that these ministering spirits, the ones God sends to help us, haven't sinned? That their "help" is guaranteed help? I think so! 

Be a Poet of the Word

Reason #23,689 to love Bible college: WORDS.

You may have heard the verse "Be doers of the word and not hearers only." This is James 1:22, and the Amplified renders it as, "But prove yourselves doers of the word [actively and continually obeying God's precepts], and not merely listeners [who hear the word but fail to internalize its meaning], deluding yourselves [by unsound reasoning contrary to the truth]." The Amplified study note goes on to explain that this means receiving the word with a teachable spirit, actively applying it to daily life, and that hearing without applying is self-deception. But here's something I didn't know until a class session a month ago and may never have thought to look up for myself: The little word "doers" is the Greek poietes, which Strong's says signifies a performer, a maker, or a poet. 

Be a poet of the word. Now that's an idea I can get behind. 

I'm sure we usually interpret "be doers of the word" as "follow Jesus' teachings." And fair enough, but not complete enough. What do performers, makers, and poets do? They write. Recite. Declaim. Present. Post. Craft. Create. Poets distill truth into a potent, compressed form that "gets in and gets out" in relatively few words. They aphorize. They write the word on the doorposts, the gates, and the hearts. 

So let's do the word in the sense of service and obedience, of course. But when we perform the word, let's remember the dual meaning as well. We can act and present the word. We can stitch it on our samplers, write it on our blogs, speak it, preach it, paint it, calligraphy it, sing it, and explain it in our own words. All of these expressions are encompassed in being doers of the word.   

Religion vs. Myth (Disparate Things #4)

I enjoy drawing parallels between seemingly disparate things, so here's a question for today. What's the relationship between myth and religion?

I have a feeling many might say either "nothing" or "everything." By this they mean, respectively, "Myths are false and religion is true" or "Religion is fake so they're the same." But we can't answer the question unless we define terms.

What is religion? To start off, I'll be upfront and say I seldom use this word. Why? Because to me it's usually shorthand for "human attempts to appease God using ritual or good works." And Christianity, at least, doesn't fall into this category, because it's top down not bottom up: Christ died for us while we were yet sinners. He initiates; we don't. To be clear, the foregoing isn't my "serious" definition of religion. But I do think it's what many people picture when they hear the word, so I'm reticent to say the word. 

Is religion a set of beliefs about God? No, because this doesn't encompass all world religions either; Buddhism and Taoism, to name two examples, don't believe in a god. Is it belief in the supernatural? No, because that doesn't define, for example, Hinduism. Well then, what even is religion? 

I think it's this: Religion is your master narrative about the meaning of life. Your religion explains who and what human beings are, what business we should be about, and why any of it matters. By the way, this is why it's impossible to extract religion from the public square. Everybody not only has a religion, but it's the most basic thing about them. Religion--something a lot of people think is an optional add-on to life at most--is far more central than we normally consider. Does secular life even exist, really? Or is it something people accept by faith without realizing they do so?

Okay, then, what is myth? This word is even more misunderstood than religion. We think the core definition of "myth" is "false." But this too is a shorthand definition that evolved because most myths are false. It may help to think of the Greek mythology you learned in middle school. Were these gods and goddesses real? Of course not. But what purpose did such characters serve in Greek (and Roman) culture? A mythology is a collection of stories (myths) a society tells to explain natural phenomenon or human relations, often including supernatural elements or characters. The word "myth" does have a secondary meaning as "popular false belief," but again, that derived from the knowledge that most myths aren't factual. So what have we arrived at?

Religion is your master narrative about the meaning of life. Your religion explains who and what human beings are, what business we should be about, and why any of it matters. 

Myths are stories (narrative) a culture tells to explain the world around them and how it works. 

What's the relationship between religion and myth? They are basically the same. 

This is why J. R. R. Tolkien told C. S. Lewis, "Christianity is the only true myth." Christianity is the true narrative about how the world works. We have this one true myth about who and what human beings are, what business we should be about, and why any of it matters. And--oh yes--about Who is God. 

Prayer for March

Father, death gives way to life in the month of March; while snow still encroaches, maybe even rages, it's gone as soon as it comes, anger spent. Though sorrow lasts for a night, joy comes in the morning, and though death has a sting, it's swallowed up in victory because life always, always wins. In the first green shoots it wins, the first hint of warmth in the breeze, the first trickle of water in the downspouts. May we see in these every reminder that the stone was rolled away, that the grave was not robbed--and yet it was. 

Lord, as the first quarter of the year completes, help us move into the prime of the year in earnest, with faith in Your goodness as we face whatever it brings. As the year speeds along, because it will, help us to never just mark time but move outward in your purposes and downward in our rootedness in You. Help us remember that each and every day is both one day more that we have and one day less, to make the most of every opportunity because the days are evil. And they are short. From sunup to sundown, they are short. From now until our eternity, they are short. 

In March, our northern-hemisphere, four-season world is bittersweet, snow and sprouts together not unlike wheat and tares, in a way. But in March, the old has gone; the new has come. If we go out early, we can catch it peeking, see the life. Not unlike how the Marys went to the tomb at sunrise and Jesus was already risen. Father, apart from the promise March always brings, even if it postures and blusters before it gives way, bless each of us with the unique month you have for us, and if we come in like a lamb may we go out like a sheep, hearing your voice and following you anywhere and everywhere. Amen.