enjoyment

And I commend joy, for man has nothing better under the sun but to eat and drink and be joyful, for this will go with him in his toil through the days of his life that God has given him under the sun.

Ecclesiastes 8:15

God loves it when we find joy in life. He is the Giver of all good things. And this wisdom from God’s Word is commendable and to be put into practice. God wants us to enjoy our lives! And what brings delight to us will also bring delight to Him.

Now to be clear, there is a difference between everlasting joy as God has made it for us to experience, and brief sinful pleasures. And there is a pure delight in God and His world that is vastly different than selfish pursuit of a sinful passion. The best way to see this is in the area of sex, where sexual expression between a husband and wife can be this amazing pure joy given by God, but seeking pleasure selfishly or beyond marriage through sex brings only temporary pleasure and ultimately disappointing heartache and pain.

Other life pleasures can be celebrated in God’s design. We have the capacity to thoroughly enjoy food and drink, socializing and entertainment, music and culture, nature and beauty, all within the balance of love and the worship of our Creator. He has given us lots of pleasures to enjoy wholeheartedly as His gifts to us, even in a tough, less-then-perfect world marred as a result of sin’s curse. We have such an enormous capacity for joy! We should experience it.

Personally, I choose joy. I find it in conversations with people. I find it in a mountain view... on a beach at sunset... in a stream releasing a healthy fish... or in the sheer quiet enjoyment of a good book by a warm fire. It is known most in the joy of sins forgiven and life set free in Jesus. Joy is God’s gift and I will celebrate it in worship of the One Who gave it!

#trending

Be not overly wicked, neither be a fool. Why should you die before your time? It is good that you should take hold of this, and from that withhold not your hand, for the one who fears God shall come out from both of them.

Ecclesiastes 7:17-18

The warning here is that two lifestyle choices tend to burn a person out. To give in to all of one’s deepest wicked desires is a path to destruction. To foolishly live by one’s own principles outside the wisdom of God’s truth is another path to a short life. It is best to avoid these selfish choices. Instead, the promise here is that the fear of God steers a person clear of unproductive, selfish burnout.

If ever there is a time to heed the wisdom of Solomon on this matter it is now. King Solomon literally pleased every desire conceivable, and he found them all unfulfilling. And we can get caught in the same lie today. The planet reels from billions of people on a foolish path to self-seeking flameout! And the speed with which these kinds of things sweep across human society is breathtaking. Social media trends roll across the globe in worldwide waves in under an hour. The newest and latest gimmick can be here and gone in under a week. News cycles on major stories used to last for days. Now they last under a few hours before the next thing captures short attention spans. People with the weirdest wickedness can gather in online communities rolling their foolishness together in a false sense of empowerment.

And the call to be one who fears God is still the best balance to all this. Solomon’s quiet call to wisdom in submission to God can carry us beyond this high speed internet version of the rat race. The gospel of Jesus Christ is still the only life-giving way to find true personal satisfaction, community, and peace.

perfect Christmas gift

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him should not perish but have eternal life. For God did not send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but in order that the world might be saved through him.

John 3:16-17

In all my years of journaling through the Bible, I can’t believe I’ve never paused to journal on this passage, but here I am, reflecting on John 3:16, on Christmas Eve, 2019. It seems the perfect timing. I am always blessed in worship during Advent. The time of anticipation for Christmas, combined with the hope in the gospel proclaimed in the birth of Jesus are wonderful worship, whether in a church service with God’s people, or in private quiet times.

Yet this reminder in the gospel of John could be no more powerful. That baby born in Bethlehem that shepherds visited, angels proclaimed, and wise men sought, was God’s way of invading our broken world to fix it all. He was a gift of God’s love for the world... the perfect gift. He was the Giver of eternal life in a world dark with death.

And Jesus did not come to tell us how bad we are! He didn’t come to march us all to Hell without our suppers. Jesus came to save, and the hope of salvation is not restricted... “the world might be saved through him.” God loves every soul on the planet in the saving work of Jesus. He came to live, to die, and to beat death in an empty tomb... for all of us! God blessed us everyone! Now to worship and to share the joy of the hope of the gospel in a Merry Christmas.

questions

For who knows what is good for man while he lives the few days of his vain life, which he passes like a shadow? For who can tell man what will be after him under the sun?

Ecclesiastes 6:12

From childhood

     I have asked them

     struggling with wanting to know

     curious how things work

     needing desperately to know why

And sometimes people had answers

to the curiosity...

     told me how the sky is blue

     told me how planes fly

     told me where babies come from

But deeper questions were mutually puzzling

even to those who had some answers...

     why do we die?

     what is evil?

     where did we come from?

And in those deeper questions which sometimes

still echo in my soul, I turn to God for answers.

Only God knows...

     How am I redeemed by Jesus?

     Where will my life end up?

     How will all evil be ended?

     When will questions cease?

  

restoring worship

And making a whip of cords, he drove them all out of the temple, with the sheep and oxen. And he poured out the coins of the money-changers and overturned their tables. And he told those who sold the pigeons, “Take these things away; do not make my Father's house a house of trade.”

John 2:15-16

That sweet little baby lying in the manger? He grew up to be this guy! The way in which worship motivated Jesus was a lot different from what we might see in a house of worship today! Jesus saw the awful way in which people were profiting and abusing the poor in the name of God’s worship and He could not let it stand.

Sacrificial animals that were inferior to the standard of the law were being sold at high profits. Money changers were ripping off people who could only pay temple fees in Hebrew shekels, reaping enormous transaction fees from traveling pilgrims with foreign currency. Those who sold pigeons, the cheapest sacrifice available for the very poorest of the poor peasants, were chastised for their calloused capitalism.

There was a rebel streak in Jesus when it came to standing against sin that was entrenched in false worship and sanctimony. A whip and an intense, muscular action drove Jesus to restore the heart of worship in the temple. A cross and nails drove Him to do the same for our hearts at Calvary so our lives could now be the temple of God.

old fool

Better was a poor and wise youth than an old and foolish king who no longer knew how to take advice.

Ecclesiastes 4:13

True confession: one of my very real fears in life as I age is that I will become old and foolish like this king that Solomon knew. He thought he no longer needed advice or the help of others in order to live life and rule well. He grew increasingly internalized. That’s a big problem.

There is wisdom in community. There is strength to be found in the advice of godly friends and counselors whose insights and perspectives help move me beyond my warped and limited understandings. I may have lots of experience, but that doesn’t mean I know it all, or that I am making the best choices. I may be blessed to advise other people, but that doesn’t mean I am above the need to seek advice. It is not good for a person to live alone.

It is an honor to be at the stage in my life where many people seek my thoughts, insights, and counsel. But it is extremely foolish for me to think I do not need to do the same. And it is an affront to God for me to foolishly believe a younger person cannot be used by Him to grow me more into the image of Christ. 

Lord,

My sin nature bends me to selfish foolishness. It always has done so and it will still be there as I age. Keep me in Your community. Grow me more like Jesus through the interactive glorious wisdom of Your Word, Your Spirit’s leading, and Your people, the Church of Jesus Christ. I want to complete my race in wisdom and reward, not foolishness and regret.

Amen

faith works

You see that faith was active along with his works, and faith was completed by his works...

James 2:22

It is clear from the careful teaching of James that faith and action both must be together and found in a believer’s life. I do not work to earn my salvation. That comes by faith in Christ alone. But faith that is real will be accompanied by good works that follow in the natural outcome of saving faith. A faith that does not do something after belief is not true faith and is a foreign concept in the New Testament.

There is much that could be said about this truth. But really it is about the need for much to be done with this truth. Faith that trusts in Christ alone begins to live in a way that Christ lives. We look like Jesus in what we do. This is shown by caring for others in need (James 2:14-16). It is shown in active friendship and walking with God (James 2:23). It is shown in sincere and risky hospitality (James 2:25). Faith must show in our actions. We do something in the change that the gospel brings.

Father,

Help me to walk with You today, to pay attention to the ways that faith changes me and calls me to live like Jesus. Make my eyes open to opportunities for my faith to care for others. I want to do what faith believes. Make me see, and follow through, with ways my faith will work.... for Your praise and glory!

Amen

Precious Lamb of God

The next day again John was standing with two of his disciples, and he looked at Jesus as he walked by and said, “Behold, the Lamb of God!” The two disciples heard him say this, and they followed Jesus.

John 1:35-37

Jesus was the Lamb of God, meant to come to this world as a willing sacrifice for all sin. John the Baptist knew this with confidence. And when the time came, John the Baptist gladly pointed his own followers to Jesus, encouraging them to enter into a life of following the Lamb of God. John’s entire life focus was to prepare people for the ministry of this saving Messiah and to see the Lamb of God found by His people. 

Just as these two disciples gave themselves to following the Lamb of God, so do Christians follow Jesus today. He is first our Savior. He is first and foremost the forgiver and the forgiveness of our awful sin. He is always our Redeemer. He is the Lamb of God Who takes away the sins of the world.

We are right now eight days from Christmas as I write this reflection. And even as I repulse from the overt commercialism and layers of secular tradition, I stop to marvel that the newborn cradled in a feeding trough was there because Lambs are born in stables. And as the Lamb of God, Jesus came to take away the sin of the world. 

“Dear dying Lamb, Thy precious blood shall never lose its power

Till all the ransomed church of God be saved to sin no more.”

gospel motivated help and holiness

Religion that is pure and undefiled before God the Father is this: to visit orphans and widows in their affliction, and to keep oneself unstained from the world.

James 1:27

Christian faith is much more than just a “personal belief system”... even if contemporary pressure wants to minimize it to this. As James emphasizes: Faith does something. Faith produces good in the person who believes in Jesus, and then that person produces good among the people around them.

The book of James is probably the oldest books of the New Testament. As such it gives us a glimpse into the first priorities of the fledgling Christian church. And the church was committed to living a faith that made not only a “personal”, spiritual difference, but a physical, societal difference. Followers of Jesus genuinely cared for people.

In this verse this kind of “working faith” was visible in two ways: active help and active holiness. The help was directed in loving physical, financial, and personal care for the forgotten people of the First Century social structure: widows and orphans. The Christian Church cared about people that the rest of the world marginalized. Visiting orphans and widows meant providing in every way, engaging in their lives, making them part of the Christian family when they had no family. This was gospel love in action.

The holiness part of the equation was more inward, but not exclusively. Its motivation came from a desire to “do the word and not just hear it”. This was also a radical and deliberate action. Christians who were devoted to loving the unloved kept themselves from the calloused, selfish, unholy preoccupation with the stuff of this earth. And that priority kept them in gospel holiness and gospel help. We still need these attitudes among us to lead to these actions today.

good and perfect gift giver

Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.

James 1:17

This passage comes on the heels of some of the clearest New Testament teaching on how Christians can thrive in difficulty and survive temptations. God is faithful. He will bless us as we stay steadfast under trial (James 1:12). And if we succumb to temptation, it comes from our own desires gone bad, not from God, and even then God is faithful to forgive us if we fall (James 1:13-15; 4:8, 5:16).

And God brings good gifts, even in trial, and even after our failures. His light shines on us constantly, unlike the shifting sun and moon that rise and set, God’s light and love are always upon us. He thus brings every perfect fit at any time, all the time, at the perfect time, for His glory and our good. Faith trusts God for this. Faith is rewarded in His light.

O Lord,

The gift I need is Your perfect gift. And the finest perfect gift is Jesus. Thank You that in Him I am forgiven. Thank You that He carried my sorrows so that I might trust You in difficult moments. Thank You that You are unchanging in Your light and love for me.

Amen

souls redeemed by Jesus

He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.

John 1:11-13

Jesus came to this earth, a baby born to Jewish village folks, in poverty and obscurity, to bring deliverance not only to Israel, but to us all. And even though His people Israel rejected Him, Jesus still delivered them and all among Jews and Gentiles all over the world who receive Him as Savior. Belief in His name, in His saving work, makes anyone a child of God, born anew as a soul redeemed by Jesus, the only Savior.

That’s what I celebrate most at Christmas... that Jesus has saved. And that Jesus has saved me... an improbable child of God now whose Scots Irish/German/Native American ancestry puts him far away from any known Jewish roots. But I am one for whom the Messiah was born, lived, died and rose again. I am one of millions of souls redeemed by Jesus and I know this salvation by receiving and believing in Christ alone.

The gospel is the glory of Christmas. A baby born in nowhere to nobody important become the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, and Savior of the world!

disciple-maker, disciple-blesser

While he blessed them, he parted from them and was carried up into heaven.

Luke 24:51

As Jesus was leaving this earth, ascending into heaven, His hands were lifted up in blessing over His disciples. The last thing they witnessed their Master do was an act of blessing upon them. For each of them, as they remembered Jesus, they would hold this in their mind’s eye as a vivid memory of His blessing. He was leaving all the work, all His work, of spreading the gospel to the whole world to them. And He did so confidently, with approving arms that gave blessing to each of them. This led to worship and joy, even in the absence of Jesus (see Luke 24:52-53)

Jesus, the Master disciple-maker, knew the power of blessing. He infused His men with confidence, joy, and worshipful hearts by blessing them. And if I too am called to make disciples, then I must also became a disciple-blesser. I must affirm the powerful, redeeming work of Jesus in those I am called to serve and follow Jesus with every day. Disciples who live under Jesus’ blessing will thrive in good times and in difficult days.

It is easy to point out what is bad in this world. It is easy to keeping focusing on the mistakes that people make. But disciple making works with broken people as they are to get them beyond their hang ups. We certainly don’t tolerate willful sin or direct disobedience to Jesus. But we also must celebrate the way that God displays His power in broken vessels like us for His glory. There is power in blessing. And words of blessing create grace-filled, gracious disciples.

content with what you have

Keep your life free from love of money, and be content with what you have, for he has said, “I will never leave you nor forsake you.”

Hebrews 13:5

So every year at this time my heart is exposed to a deluge of materialism. Gift giving at Christmas is a great and noble tradition. But unfortunately intense marketing and financial strain now come with the tradition every year. In American, millions of dollars in consumer debt will be racked up over the next couple of weeks in pursuit of the perfect gift.

But a heart free from the love of money and living in Christ’s kingdom can celebrate Advent without this strain. Let the constant commercial jingle bells ring... we have known the greatest gift of all — eternal, abundant life in Jesus. And hearts that love Him will not be lulled into debt and greed by the siren song of money. Why? They have the God of the Universe always with them. No sum of wealth may equal that kind of rich life!

Lord Jesus, 

Thanks for being with Your people always... to the end of the age. You will never forsake us. Money will disappoint. The love of this world’s goods will enslave us with debt, maintenance, and deterioration. But you have set us free to worship You with hearts liberated by the contentment that You offer us. Thanks that I may find my soul’s peace, security, and sustenance in You.

Amen

Discipline

It is for discipline that you have to endure. God is treating you as sons. For what son is there whom his father does not discipline?

Hebrews 12:7

A loving Father’s hand

administers discipline

so I might understand

how to live as His son.

Though not easy to accept

this kind of family love

is not what I expect

as I receive trouble from above.

But my Father cares

that I mature and grow

so no discipline is spared

as His concern I know.

A loving Father’s hand

brings me good discipline

and now I understand

I can live more like His Son.

worthless pursuit

Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread,

and your labor for that which does not satisfy?

Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good,

and delight yourselves in rich food.

Isaiah 55:2

It is easy to get caught in the philosophical trap of chasing worthless pursuits. The appeals from the world, the flesh, and the devil are strong. American culture is particularly emphatic, selling college education, career success, home ownership and the “good life” at every turn while hiding the personal costs of burn out, debt, dissatisfaction, and constant maintenance from view until the longing heart is ensnared in the trap. Things will never satisfy.

Yet God in mercy and grace offers abundant life in Christ to those who apply themselves to hear His call in the gospel. We can have peace in Jesus. We can be content under His provision and care. We can delight in a continual feast of God’s goodness. And there are no hidden fees, pains, enslavement, or decaying depreciations!

Who would not want to live this life once they knew this was the experience? Why would I compare myself to those trapped in the rat race? And why would I not join in this invitation from God to share with others this same compelling offer of abundant life?

Chris Taylor captures the pain of worthless pursuit:

Lyrics:

I’ve spent years and years and years…
Chasing the wind out of my very own sails
Time and time again…
I’ve lost the inspiration that got me here

What is worth the life and the living…
The pain of loss- is it worth the giving?
From the moment of our birth…
it’s a worthless pursuit…
of things on the earth

Over and over again…
I’ve worked my fingers all the way to the bone
Possessing the things I don’t need…
I live in a big house but I feel so alone

All that toil and all that grief…
all this gain but still no peace
dust turns into dirt…
the worthless pursuit…
of things on the earth

I’m on my way…
to the end of the world
All along the way…
it’s money that rules…
the kings and fools

I’m on my way…
to the end of the world…
the end of the world!

I had some money for a little while…
Left holes in my pockets and a long paper trail
Everyone’s searching for the meaning of life –
Everyone’s got their own story to tell

All our searching, all our finding…
all our conscience still reminding
We wear it like a shirt…
the worthless pursuit of things on the earth

Still not satisfied… still not satisfied
Still not satisfied… still not satisfied
Still not satisfied… still not satisfied
Still not satisfied… still not satisfied
Are you… are you satisfied?

justice and integrity

Evil men do not understand justice,

but those who seek the Lord understand it completely.

Better is a poor man who walks in his integrity

than a rich man who is crooked in his ways.

Proverbs 28:5-6

Two character traits are exhibited in these proverbs that are growing thin in today’s culture: justice and integrity. I have watched it happen over my lifetime. Truth has become malleable as our culture has abandoned Judeo-Christian foundations in favor of post-modern individualism. The result is that justice is now seen as nothing more than a way to affirm personal freedom. People are excited about living how they want to live, without any moral constraint, as long as they are happy. But if that life violates a biblical standard there is absolutely no mercy for those who might point it out. “Justice” as it is now defined, then turns against God, and is no longer true justice from God.

Integrity is also personal silly putty in the hands of this generation. The current thinking goes like this: Right is what is right for me, as long as there is no law against it or it doesn’t hurt anybody. And if I have to lie or manipulate the facts to get where I want to be in life, there is really “no harm/no foul”. Truth is what I make it. Media is all about interpretation, not fact, and this goes for alternative media as well as for the traditional sources of news. Thus the rise of fake news. Our society has chosen to make up integrity as it goes. It often creates a narrative to support a particular agenda... and there are more agendas than can be counted!

So... in this chaos I will choose to allow God to continue to inform justice in His Word and will wait for Him to sovereignly dispense it. And I would rather be poor with honesty and integrity as my deeply valued commodities, than wealthy under the burden of lies and deceptions. This is the freedom God gives and I trust Him so I might live freely in my soul.

what faith understands

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

Hebrews 11:3

Faith understands the reality that God is intimately involved in HOW the universe exists and WHO we are. He made all that we can experience by the power of His spoken Word. He made all the things that compose what we are and what we will be. By faith I understand this universe is made by God. This powerful truth is foundational. It brings purpose and peace: purpose... because God is my Creator and I answer to Him... peace... because I understand by faith how my life is to be lived for God’s glory.

Thank You, Lord, for the purpose for which all things exist: Your everlasting praise and worship. And as I live as Your creation, I want to give You that glory. Sunday worship with Your saints is one small part of that. You also are worshiped in my work. You are worshiped as I wander through this world, hiking trails, wading rivers, marveling at stars, and praising Your awesome power.

Thank You, Lord, for the peace I have, resting in You as my Creator, following Jesus as my Savior, seeking to show Your love and care for people around me. And Thank You that I have peace in Christ through the cross. It grows deeper in me daily.

Amen