praying too small

...and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 3:19

This is a powerful thought to wrestle with as you are waking up in the morning! Paul’s deep prayer for the Ephesian church to have a full, rich, intense relationship with Christ is very unlike my typical prayers. Paul wants them to know the riches of his glory (Ephesians 3:16). He wants them strengthened with power through His Spirit (Ephesians 3:16). He prays for Christ to dwell in their hearts (Ephesians 3:17) so that they are rooted and grounded in love. And then Paul prays they would know Christ’s love in a way that surpasses knowledge so that they might experience lives filled with God to the brim. It is all quite glorious. And it makes me cognizant of my often “glory-less” prayers.

I read this prayer and I realize that I am guilty of very small praying in deed. I don’t think it is wrong to ask for “daily bread” sorts of things as Jesus taught. But even Jesus ended His model prayer focusing on God’s great kingdom, glory, and power forever! Great and grateful praying should fill my heart with the majesty of the Almighty!

Lord,

Forgive my sometimes petty, and rather selfish prayers. They lack luster when they focus on me. I want the vision of prayer that Paul prayed for the Ephesians... in awe of the wonder of Christ, flowing with the power of Your Spirit, expecting the wonders of the gospel to keep transforming my day to day! Help me to pray with a bigger theology and a praise-filled vocabulary.

Amen

turning my eyes

Turn my eyes from looking at worthless things;

and give me life in your ways.

Psalm 119:37

So much stuff vies for the attention of my eyes. For over two decades now, the onslaught of digital demands has clamored for my attention. It is incessant. It makes me think back almost wistfully to my early adulthood when the only choice was to turn on or turn off a television. But now so many things, and many of them just “worthless things” are grabbing for my attention in a constant barrage. David’s call to God in this passage to help him “turn from looking” is an even greater prayer today... at least it should be.

So seriously... digital demands are now creating physical problems in our world. Doctors report that smartphones have created serious posture and bone spur problems in people’s necks and skulls. Young people are getting texting related carpal tunnel injuries. All this incessant looking is literally hurting us and our bodies are trying to tell us to get it under control. The Christian response is to turn to God’s Word, to prayer, to silence, reflection, and self-control as spiritual disciplines to bring balance.

And I haven’t even mentioned the glut of constant and worthless porn now accessible “free” on smartphones, tablets, and screens worldwide. This is the great spiritual and moral deadener, a destroyer of real relationships, a worship-killing monster idol for many, many men and now even many women. It is the ultimate, alluring, worthless thing that we can put in front of our eyes, often thinking it is a private matter, but it bends and shapes us mentally and spiritually in a destructive way.

It is ironic that this is a blog post, sent out into the world to my network of friends and followers. Yes, not all digital communication is worthless. But if anything replaces what God has made for us to enjoy in holiness, we have a real problem from which we must turn. 

Lord,

Worthless things solely for my entertainment can often be so very destructive. Help me turn from them and turn to You. You will give me true life. Your ways will bring me real joy... not the false temporary pain-killing of digital diversion. I want to always know the rich reward of knowing You, and I do not want to be deceived by worthless things!

Amen

no longer strangers or aliens

So then you are no longer strangers and aliens, but you are fellow citizens with the saints and members of the household of God, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, Christ Jesus himself being the cornerstone...

Ephesians 2:9-20

Jesus came to make the world right through salvation and renewal in His life, death, and resurrection. The preaching of the gospel results in what we see described in Ephesians two: once “banished” groups of people are united together through faith in Jesus. In the case of this passage, the unity is between pagan Gentiles who now worship Jesus, and the early church that found the Messiah of the Jews in Jesus. No longer is there an ethnic barrier. Both are one in Christ.

The church that Jesus began should still look this way. It is a place without ethnic barriers. And this message is much needed today as the divisions between ethnic, economic, and generational groups seems all the more splintered in this age of screaming loud social media controversy. The gospel addresses this. In the church there are no strangers, aliens, outcasts, illegals, or pariahs among those who have truly repented and believed the gospel. All of those who are Christians are one in Christ!

Lord Jesus,

Help me to celebrate the beautiful work You are doing all over the world by building Your church. Jesus, You are the solid cornerstone holding together a truly diverse edifice of people that are the household of God worldwide. May the church reflect this diverse beauty of Your glory so the world may know Your saving love!

Amen

my counselors

Your testimonies are my delight;

they are my counselors.

Psalm 119:24

One consistent, constant stream of thought has been poured into my life. It began when I was seven years of age and my parents came to faith in Christ. Since that time, the Bible has become a primary source of life wisdom. Later, in my teenage years I made a conscious decision myself to take following Jesus quite seriously. I know it meant getting to know the Bible well. And I distinctly remember a morning in 1981 where I walked down to the corner drugstore, bought a couple spiral notebooks, and determined to begin journaling my way through regular meditations upon scripture.

My life has now been filled with the counsel of the Bible. God’s Word has been my constant companion, my warning when I’ve been often off course, my sustainer when I’ve felt alone, my coach when I’ve needed improvement, my comfort in loss and sorrow, and the great revealer of Jesus to me. As such, the Bible is by far my most passionate delight above any other source of life direction.

The precepts of the Word of God have directed me in my choices. They have often corrected me when those choices have been sinful or selfish. God’s truth has encouraged me, helped me, condemned sin in me, corrected me, and built me up in God’s restorative grace! Thank God that His book can be plainly read, understood, and followed. I have no regrets in doing so, for His testimonies are my delight! God’s Words have been my dearest and most trusted counselors.

All the Money in the World

In the way of your testimonies I delight

as much as in all riches.

Psalm 119:14

All the money in the world

could not buy me wisdom

to match that found

in God’s Word.

All the power in the world

could not match the strength

I have found in following

God’s truth.

All the celebrity of this world

is not enough applause

to equal the greatness

of what Christ has made known.

All that is in this world

will one day pass away

but not the enduring

forever true Word!

All the riches of this world will tarnish and be lost.

All the power of this world will be overturned.

All the fame of this world is fleeting.

But the Word of God lasts forever!

confidence in God’s Word

Then I shall not be put to shame,

having my eyes fixed on all your commandments.

Psalm 119:6

I’ve done a lot of things that I am ashamed of, but trusting Christ, loving Him, and following God’s Word are not among them. There is freedom in obeying and following scripture. God’s truth leads with confidence. Because God does not lie, I can rest in absolute trust that whatever it says, I can do. And I am sure it will not lead to shame, but to joy as I delight in what God says.

Psalm 119 is an epic song all centered on scripture... its benefits and rewards. And I believe the Bible provides the best foundation for my life. I have trusted this since I made a very conscious decision to be serious about scripture when I was 16 years of age, and I am not disappointed now nearly 40 years later. I am disappointed, however, in me when I have made choices contrary to God’s Word. I am disappointed when others have done the same. But scripture as the driving motivator and philosophy for my life has not let me down. People may let me down. Worldly notions have always let me down. My own sin has definitely let me down. Praise the Lord... His Word has never let me down!

Lord,

I will rejoice that the longest song in Your Word is about Your Word. I worship You in it. I will treasure Your Word. I will seek to fix my eyes steadily on what Your Word says so that I may be blessed with a true and careful course through life that leads always to You, Lord Jesus!

Amen

daily crucifixion

But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by which the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world.

Galatians 6:14

A Christian lives with very changed affections. The power of the world system is supposed to no longer have attraction. It is dead. The cross of Jesus is now central in the Christian mindset and not the desires of the world, the desires of the flesh, or the pride of life. That stuff is to have been crucified with Christ as the Christian is raised to walk in new life.

That is what is SUPPOSED to be. But the reality of life is that we do still live in the world. Although all that past stuff died in Christ, we do still live, and so the second part of this little verse is also a reality for the believer. We must dies to the world as it has been crucified to us. We must kill in us any desire for that which pride, materialism, and sensuality may still stir within in us. Anything “not Jesus” needs to be brutally crucified. Jesus and and our sin guilt with Him. Yet in order to know the new life in His resurrection, we must also die to this world.

Lord Jesus,

The world has been crucified to me. This I know in Your cross. I must also be crucified to the world. This I must do by taking up Your cross and following. Help me then to live this way... seeing both sides of my daily crucifixion in Your cross! That shall be my goal. That shall be my hope. That shall be my only boast.

Amen