babbling fools

The wise lay up knowledge,

but the mouth of a fool brings ruin near.

Proverbs 10:14

When fools speak it is never a good thing. Proverbs ten is the “opener” to the section of the book of Proverbs that is a loosely organized collection of the wise sayings of Solomon. One unique subtheme only found in this chapter is the character known as the “babbling fool”. The statements here underscore the damage done when fools use words to get their way.

We can deduce three things from what is said about “babbling fools”:

1. Their babbling ruins them (Proverbs 10:8). Wise people know when to share and when to keep knowledge to themselves. Babblers gush it out to their own shame and folly.

2. Their babbling is provocative (Proverbs 10:10). Gossip and secrets are their stock and trade and that draws people into their circle of ruin.

3. Their babbling ruins others (Proverbs 10:14). They bring ruin to all who will listen to them. It is the “gift” they bring to any gathering. They leave a wake of misery and destroyed relationships in their path.

How should we respond then to a babbling fool? First, turn the spigot off on their stream of verbal diarrhea. Some fools need to be confronted straightforward and with blunt concern. “I don’t think this is right for you to talk about right now.” “You need to share this only with the people involved.” “I have no desire to hear this… it is wrong of you to share it with anybody! Just stop it!”

For those who use provocative tone or insinuate things slyly, don’t click their click bait! They need to know that dressing up their “bad talk” as a “prayer request” or as “seeking help” is both sinful and foolish. Offer to pray right then and there, not for their tale against another, but for them: “Lord, I pray you will go with this person as they seek to talk to another person about this concern. Convict them of their need not to share this with others.”

Some babbling fools need to be cut out of your life altogether. A pattern of constant babbling will leave ruinous relationships behind. This destroys marriages, erects unnecessary barriers in families, perpetuates lies, rips apart churches, misunderstands boundaries, and is exploited by political parties for divisive power grabbing. Stay far away from a babbling fool who creates chaos in their path. Warn them, confront them, and wisely refuse to give them a platform in your life for their ruinous rambling to continue destroying what is good.

beyond our questions

But who are you, O man, to answer back to God? Will what is molded say to its molder, “Why have you made me like this?”

Romans 9:20

We may not enjoy our circumstances, but a sovereign God is at work to create the good He desires from them. They may be difficult experiences, but they are not bad in the sense that God is somehow not in control over them. God uses even the worst moments to bring about His purposes. Human sin and worldly sorrows complicate this perspective while we live upon the earth. But God is moving, shaping, and creating good even from the very worst things.

Political upheavals, economic downturns, natural disasters, wars, man-made catastrophes, famines, and pandemics all bend to be molded by God’s hands to shape people to believe the gospel, trust Him, and prepare for a future that makes all things new from every bit of this current mess. 

And that is good! It is more than wishful thinking. It is a certain hope. The clay is molded. It is fired in the oven. It emerges to be exactly what the potter wanted to make for his use. We must trust in this certain and sure hope… a future history much better than what we now know.

Like Tolkien’s brilliant and thoughtful insight of a question: “Is everything sad going to come untrue?”… we will know a day where all life’s pains and miseries melt into a forgotten past in a bliss beyond our current imagining. Until then, we are the clay lovingly sculpted. Our lives are the grand tapestry God weaves. We should not question His wise designs for us. We wait only for when all the sadness will become untrue.

in the house of Lady Wisdom

I, wisdom, dwell with prudence,

and I find knowledge and discretion.

Proverbs 8:12

There are four roommates in the home of wisdom that Proverbs invites us to get to know.

WISDOM. It literally means “good sense”. Wisdom is the skill of living. It is a word used to describe skill that is combined with being smart, shrewd, and ethical. And it is wisdom, personified as an attractive woman, that calls out particularly to the young person to come listen to her and be her friend and companion. Wisdom is the theme of the book of Proverbs. Each individual proverb is meant to show one fact of all that wisdom is, does, and provides for those who seek her and live with her.

PRUDENCE. Alongside Lady Wisdom dwells prudence.  And this antique-sounding word is in short supply in a lewd and selfish world that just says whatever it wants, whenever it wants, today. Prudence is the quality that makes wisdom so attractive. It is not loud… it is subtle and quiet. It is laid back and coy. You might say prudence appeals with the truth from the corners. You get yourself away from the noise and clamor, and there she is, a quiet and vital truth ready to calm and lead your soul. Prudence is the opposite of “click bait”. Prudence is thoughtful yet necessary truth.

KNOWLEDGE. Knowledge also lives in the home of wisdom. More than mere encyclopedic facts, this knowledge has personal impact. It is not trivial. It is more than information. It is a kind of knowledge that creates an in-depth understanding of what is true. These facts sink deep, impacting and changing the soul. It is the stuff we REALLY need to know. It is the content of the scriptures meant to go far with us in life and beyond.

DISCRETION. This word is a little harder to translate. The idea of discretion is that it is a plan. And wisdom creates direction with discrete plans. These plans promote what is good and lead us in a righteous way. We see purpose and direction begin to form in our lives when committed to God’s wisdom. And discretion leads us to choose the right course of action.

Ultimately these four companions (wisdom, prudence, knowledge, and discretion) don’t just inform us. They remake us and lead us to live in a way that pleases God. In Christ are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge (Colossians 2:3). By His Spirit we can learn and be led as we dwell in the house of wisdom.

Spirit Led Sons

For all who are led by the Spirit of God are sons of God.

Romans 8:14

An acrostic for Spirit-led sons:

S - saved by grace through faith, the basis for all that is good in my life

P - power to live like Christ is mine by the Spirit living in me

I - internal transformation as the Spirit of God informs the Word of God specifically for me

R - resurrection power from the life-giving Spirit of God

I - intimate love is my experience as the Spirit indwells me and God moves within

T - truth made known to me each day as God’s Spirit illumines God’s Word

L - learning from Jesus as His Spirit leads me to follow Him

E - eternity awaits with future glory as I am God’s beloved and accepted child

D - dedication to God’s use as His Spirit enables me to live a holy life.

S - sanctified by Christ’s righteousness as the temple of the HOLY Spirit within me

O - opportunities abound daily to walk in the Spirit, not in my old selfishness

N - New life of such joy and purpose that points to what forever will be for me

S - Serving God in holiness and truth as an active participant in advancing Christ’s kingdom

starts in the heart

… a heart that devises wicked plans,

feet that make haste to run to evil,

Proverbs 6:18

It all starts

in my heart

good plans or evil schemes

from within me will stream

What my heart will think

eventually will sink

from plan to step

the pattern is kept

Every day from inside me

my actions, experiences guide me

the heart is the core

from which I do more

Sin originates in my heart

I will do just what I want

the heart always leads

and hands and feet proceed

My mind devises plans

that show who I really am

even disguised with piety

my motives will betray me

So the only way to change

is to turn from this heart strange

fill with God’s truth my broken brain

transformed to honor His holy name

In my heart can come good

if I’ve dined on godly food

Spirit’s leading… Scripture’s wisdom

promotes actions in Christ’s kingdom

Help my heart, Lord

to honor Your holy Word

hands and feet now to serve You

holiness driving all I do

My heart is Yours, Holy Spirit

to live in truth as I hear it

move me forward in my story

to think and do what gives You glory

Wretched man that I am!

Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?

Romans 7:24

“Wretched” is just not a word that gets a lot of common use these days. The meaning of the word in the original Greek is something like “miserable due to suffering by trial”. It is a feeling of joyless misery, mixed with despair and pain. It isn’t a happy word. It is the proper feeling to have about our struggles with sin.

But honestly, do my struggles with sin leave me feeling strongly wretched? Usually they don’t if I am honest. No… quite the opposite is where my heart goes… I entertain longing thoughts about sins. I may dwell on sinful aspirations, clinging to them idolatrously. I may treasure iniquity by means of human moral logic. I rank my sin with thoughts like: “This isn’t as bad as I could be.” “It isn’t like I will be arrested for this.” “Nobody will be hurt.” Meanwhile my heart secretly schemes with delight: “This person was inconsiderate… I will ignore them.” “You hurt me, I’ll hurt you.” “I’m tired of being ignored… this should get me some attention.” “Nobody will know if I do this… I deserve it… It will stay hidden… after all, it makes me happy and that is good for my mental health.” And the wretched list of my heart’s duplicity goes on and on.

The fact that I do battle with sin means that I too, like Paul, am a wretched man. I too have a deadly problem with sin. I too need deliverance from this body of death. There is only one hope for this wretched man.

Condemned by the presence of sin in me, I must look to my righteous Savior. I must accept what only Jesus provides. I must put off these wretched thoughts and attitudes, plans and schemes, and see myself remade and repurposed with the righteousness of Christ. Life in Him, led by His Spirit, informed by His truth, and obedient to His Word is what this wretched man needs.

Lord Jesus,

Wretched man that I am, I lean on You for my salvation. You deliver me from this deathly existence. You empower me to live rightly, not wretchedly! Forgive the easy attitudes that enable sin to rule me! Convict me to be truly wretched about my sin so that I might love Your righteousness.

Amen

doom scrolling or “the scroll of wisdom”?

he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;

he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,

guarding the paths of justice

and watching over the way of his saints.

Proverbs 2:7-8

The book of Proverbs provides so much clarity! There are a million clamoring voices every day in the world. God’s wisdom raises a louder voice if we will listen. 

Social media has become a cacophony of short-term memory grabbing nothingness and ludicrous foolishness. The classic example: The Facebook reel. In no more than thirty seconds, often less than ten seconds, something we will not remember even five minutes later arrests the viewer’s attention. Maybe it is meant to inform, amuse, or just shock you. It just doesn’t stay long enough to help you! It is fleeting foolishness. The content creator hopes it might be impactful. It isn’t. You can waste so much time and energy scrolling through an incessant stream of what is for the most part unsound human foolishness and AI generated nonsense. I know this because I have fallen for it. :-( 

Foolishness might at times have an appeal that seems worthwhile (“I wonder what this is?”) but later proves itself quickly to be a waste of time, intellect, and attention. And sadly it leads to more than wasted time. The data shows that people who spend copious amounts of time scrolling the wasteland of meaningless content suffer from depression and have difficulty connecting in meaningful relationships. You see it in public when a couple is glued to their phones at a restaurant or coffee shop. They might hold up their phones to each other. But the rest of the time their heads are down. There is no personal connection. That scrolling is I think both a symptom and a cause. It is brutal. It is foolish. It is evil used for destruction. Doom scrolling is not a path to wisdom.

God is our source of sound wisdom. A few minutes in the Book of Proverbs will make you wise. It is the opposite of mindless doom scrolling. It is mindful impact and soul changing truth from “the scroll of wisdom”! The wisdom of God helps us live upright lives. The wisdom of God leads to choices that when followed lead us to live lives with integrity in a crooked world. Wisdom helps us feel for what God feels, strengthening our consciences. We see His ways of justice. We love the truth. And God in turn watches over His saints who will search out sound wisdom.

Lord,

Arrest my attention with the bright wisdom of Your Word. The world offers only that which leads to my moral, intellectual, and spiritual decay. May Your wisdom be my delight. May I search for Your wisdom like precious gold… carefully and mindfully mine Your truth like silver!

Amen

Resurrection

For if we have been united with him in a death like his, we shall certainly be united with him in a resurrection like his.

Romans 6:5

A resurrection is my future

all that’s dead will be remade alive

I cling to this truth so sure

thinking of what’s hard in life

There have been loved ones in my story

gone now, but believers that Jesus saved

and I know they reside in glory

awaiting that resurrection day

These frail vessels easily shatter

mortal ways we all will know

in resurrection that won’t matter

as new creation God will bestow

My own body grows more frail

pains anew… powers diminish

death as well one day will prevail

yet that is never the true finish

United with Jesus by His death

I am forgiven and set free

and when taking my final breath

to heaven with Him I will flee

Also united for a future shining

a resurrection awaits these old bones

a new heavens… new earth finding

with resurrected body I will be known

Resurrection: saints headed home

to an eternity of joy and peace

Resurrection: a brilliant true hope

my heart’s hope… my soul’s relief

Saved by him from the wrath of God

Since, therefore, we have now been justified by his blood, much more shall we be saved by him from the wrath of God.

Romans 5:9

Jesus saves hell-bound sinners from the wrath of God. That is the gospel not often emphasized these days. You can’t say it with a smarmy smile. It is deadly serious business. And of course there have been harsh excesses in churches overstating God’s wrath. I have felt the oppressive false guilt of too many hellfire and brimstone pulpit-pounding raving preachers who did not match the holiness they claimed to represent. We have seen grace get lost in condemnation by hyper-fundamentalist anger. But that was an error. They got the wrath of God wrong and substituted human anger for it.

How do we then get the wrath of God right? God’s wrath is judicial. It is His holy, abiding anger and judgment decreed against evil. It is what forced the creation of hell for the rebellion of Satan and the fallen angels who opposed the hosts of heaven. It is what led to our own fallen destiny when cursed by sin our first parents were driven from paradise. It is what Jesus taught awaited evil people such as the “rich man” in Luke 15 and those who reject the rule of His kingdom in the Sermon on the Mount. Guess Who preached hell best? It was Jesus.

So wrath is not about an out of control anger. It is about measured judgment and justice that sin and rebellion rightfully both deserve. It is in keeping with the nature of a holy God to have wrath against evil.

But we have Jesus Who has satisfied the wrath of God by the cross. And by faith in His sacrifice we are justified as His blood saves us from the wrath of God our sins deserve. We receive mercy and grace in the moment of faith. We are delivered from a destiny of wrath we rightfully should experience. We are saved by Jesus from the wrath of God! Amen!

“In Christ alone, Who took on flesh

Fullness of God in helpless babe

This gift of love and righteousness

Scorned by the ones He came to save

‘Til on that cross as Jesus died

The wrath of God was satisfied

For every sin on Him was laid

Here in the death of Christ I live”

Imagining a deliverance that never ends

to him who divided the Red Sea in two,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

and made Israel pass through the midst of it,

for his steadfast love endures forever;

Psalm 136:13-14

God delivers His people. He saves them to serve Him. He shows His wondrous power so that we might enter the wonder of worship. He delivers from the impossible situations so that we might know His love and grace! “His steadfast love endures forever”!

That last little refrain ends every stanza of Psalm 136, as Israel sings of the history of God’s work. It is all of grace. Is the refrain of God’s greatness: “His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:1-3)! It is the refrain of the amazing universe of His creation: “His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:4-9)! It is the refrain of His deliverance of Israel from cruel slavery in Egypt: “His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:10-15)! It is the refrain of the gift of settling into the Land of Promise: “His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:16-22)! It is the refrain of the God Who remembers, rescues, and refreshes all mankind by His provision, protection, and purpose: “His steadfast love endures forever” (Psalm 136:23-26)!

If a set of sequel stanzas could be composed that would echo this song through the rest of the revelation of scripture, the music might go on like this:

Who spoke His Word by prophets to correct His people; “His steadfast love endures forever”!

Who promised a Savior to redeem those whom He loves; “His steadfast love endures forever”!

Who sent His Son to preach a kingdom: “His steadfast love endures forever”!

Who gave His life so that we might be forgiven; “His steadfast love endures forever”!

Who raised Him back to life to give eternal life: “His steadfast love endures forever”!

Who will come again to judge and rule us; “His steadfast love endures forever”!

Who calls disciples as His church to proclaim His good news; “His steadfast love endures forever”!

Who leads us one day to joy in His eternal home; “His steadfast love endures forever”!

How faith grows.

No unbelief made him waver concerning the promise of God, but he grew strong in his faith as he gave glory to God, fully convinced that God was able to do what he had promised. That is why his faith was “counted to him as righteousness.”

Romans 4:20-23

Faith has an object… someone or something bigger or more powerful in which trust is placed. It isn’t about an impossible wish. It is, as Abraham’s example here demonstrates, a capacity to trust in a powerful promise of God over an entire lifetime.

Paul’s argument in in Romans 4 is that even though Abraham is the father of the nation of Israel, he was justified by faith before the Law was ever given. He was declared righteous by believing God even before he obeyed God’s command to be circumcised. Abraham believed God. God counted that belief as righteousness (Romans 4:3).

Every episode in Abraham’s story is evidence of that faith growing stronger. It grew stronger when he left home and family at God’s call. It grew stronger despite his repeated fear that Sarah would be taken from him. It grew stronger despite threats from pagan warrior kings. It grew stronger despite the impatience demonstrated in his choice to father Ishmael through Hagar. It grew stronger despite his advancing years. It grew stronger when Isaac became the son of promise in God’s timing. It grew stronger when God proved Abraham’s faith by asking him to sacrifice Isaac on Moriah. It grew stronger when God provided a substitute on that mountain. It grew stronger when angels talked to him. It grew stronger when Abraham sent his servant to secure a wife for Isaac. It grew stronger when Abraham buried Sarah in a cemetery that was his only possession in the Promised Land. It grew stronger when he closed his eyes and breathed his last air in the land of his sojourn.

God uses all circumstances to grow us in faith and in our capacity to give God praise. Faith isn’t about getting things easy. Quite the opposite… faith is about maturing in our capacity to trust the One Who is using all of the story… all of the challenges… all of the setbacks… even our failures… especially our losses… to draw out a growing, stronger faith. And in Christ, our faith in the gospel, though tested by life situations, credits us with Jesus’ own righteousness! Grow strong and give God the glory! That is how faith grows.

The Hallelujah

Blessed be the LORD from Zion,

he who dwells in Jerusalem!

Praise the LORD!

Psalm 135:21

In ancient ways

You Who dwelt in Zion

on holy days

received sacrifice and praise

A temple built of wood and stone

was where You were found

endless sacrifice would atone

Your people sang Hallelujah!

On Zion’s mount

in grandeur holy

gifts were brought

as You were adored

Lord of heaven’s throne

come to earth

Your presence in holiest place home

blessed was the earth by You

On another holier hill

Your Son journeyed

there His perfect blood to spill

temple curtain on first hill split

For another worship way

was made for us

on that dark day

You redeemed Your people

Declared holy in righteousness of the Son

No hill or temple is necessary

now indwelling everyone

who believes… bodies are temples!

Blessed is the Lord in us

Who has declared us now His home

all built up in the life of Jesus

We sing Hallelujah! I am the Hallelujah!

Praises in worship I bring

to my Savior and Redeemer

Sing perfectly to my King

For has has built this new life, new home

I am the Hallelujah

my life His holy habitation

I sing joyful thanks to You

Jesus entempled in me now.

Indicted by sin… Justified by a Savior.

…God is one—who will justify the circumcised by faith and the uncircumcised through faith.

Romans 3:30

There is one God Who is Lord of all and through the saving work of Jesus Christ, God provides salvation to all people. This was the great truth that Christianity brought to the world. It now is a faith to save the Jews from whom the Messiah came to redeem Israel. It is a faith to save the Gentiles for whom salvation has been offered apart from the covenant of the Law. Christianity preaches a saving hope for the entire world. And there is a way — the only way — to salvation: faith in the saving death and resurrection of Jesus.

We cannot do a thing to justify ourselves. Many people have a vain hope that salvation works like this: “When I face God after death, He will evaluate my good actions and judge my bad ones. And if I have just a little more good than bad, because God is mostly about fairness, I’ll be clear before Him.” But that is not how scripture says it works. We are all sinners. Romans 3 previously establishes that none of us do good to begin with in the eyes of a perfectly holy God:

• None is righteous. (Romans 3:10)
• Nobody understands holiness. (Romans 3:11a)
• Nobody seeks God. (Romans 3:11b)
• We all turn away. (Romans 3:12a)
• We are all worthless in terms of holiness (Romans 3:12b)
• No one does good. (Romans 3:12c)
• We speak evil. (Romans 3:13-14)
• We do evil. (Romans 3:15)
• We create ruin and misery. (Romans 3:16)
• We do not know peace. (Romans 3:17)
• We do not fear God. (Romans 3:18)

But even though we are all this bad, God has provided a righteousness for us. It comes exclusively through faith in Jesus Christ for all who will believe it (Romans 3:22). We all sin and fall short, but by faith can be justified through the gift of redemption in Jesus (Romans 3:23-24)! Thank God that He has made this way for us! In Jesus we all have hope. In Jesus, Christians find forgiveness and are made right to confidently stand forgiven and free.

At His footstool

Exalt the LORD our God;

worship at his footstool!

Holy is he!

Psalm 99:5

I believe that I often have too high an opinion of myself when I worship God. The imagery in the call to worship here in Psalm 99 is very clear: God is exalted. Mankind is debased. God is holy. He is on His throne. We are humble, facedown, at His footstool.

There are certainly postures of worship of various positions in scripture. At times we are called to lift up our hands, to clap in praise, even to dance and shout for the joy of worshipping God our Savior. At other times the call is to kneel, to bow down, before an awesome and holy God. Sometimes silence at His majesty is the appropriate form of praise. We recognize His greatness in all the postures. We emphasize our need of Him and our unworthiness before Him when we fall down at His footstool.

We should not miss the significance of worshipping “at his footstool”. It is the place of the lowliest slave. The Bible uses the footstool to emphasize humility, lowliness, even humiliation. Enemies were made to grovel at a footstool. The one using the footstool is seated far above the footstool… far superior to those at the footstool. To be at a footstool was to be on the ground, dirty, ragged, and debased. The entire earth is said to be God’s footstool, including all of us who reside here right now. Our first position of worship then must be humility. We may end up shouting, clapping, or lifting hands and voices in praise, but ALWAYS we must begin bowed before His footstool.

the One Who justifies

For it is not the hearers of the law who are righteous before God, but the doers of the law who will be justified.

Romans 2:13

Paul here is emphasizing the end result of belief in the gospel. Only those who have done good will be justified. Of course, he is also shrewdly arguing that even those who want to commit to keeping God’s Law still fail at it at some point. And failure to keep even the smallest point of the Law is failure to keep all of God’s Law.

It isn’t enough to only hear or know God’s Law. We can know the right thing to do and that does not mean that we have done it! In order to be justified before God a record of doing God’s Law perfectly must be found when He judges us. And only through belief in the gospel of Jesus Christ, that Jesus’ sinless record is laid over my sinful soul, can I hope and trust to be seen as a doer of God’s Law. I must be forgiven and a sinless Savior must clothe me in His righteousness. Only the perfection of Christ can give me confidence to stand at the Day of Judgment to be declared justified. Otherwise I am a failed hearer of God’s Law.

Lord,

In grateful humility I bow to the perfection of Your Son. His righteousness for my unrighteousness… His life for my death… His perfect obedience for my disobedience… all these are my only hope of salvation. And with Jesus Christ the Righteous I can stand before You, my God, now justified! Thank You for loving the world, and me, in this way.

Amen

joyous song

Make a joyful noise to the LORD, all the earth;

break forth into joyous song and sing praises!

Psalm 98:4

My heart needs the joy of Your song

O Lord let Your praise lead me along

My worship I will bring

to Christ my only King

With melodies of praise

my joyous song I raise

My life knows the healing of Your touch

Past changes, growth and tears… You have loved me much

How can joy not fill this heart?

You have loved me from the start

I adore my caring Lord

as I read His living Word

My soul yearns for the Savior that I know

With longing I sing of the grace He does show

One day in glory I will sing

with saints before me praises bring

Eternity rings with joyous chorus

shaking heaven with song to Him Who died for us

This world needs the joy of Your song

Lord, help me faithfully sing along

Gospel’s glorious story in musical strain

Singing ‘til the day You come again

Hymns and praises now we sing

Joy and grace You always bring

mutual encouragement

…that is, that we may be mutually encouraged by each other's faith, both yours and mine.

Romans 1:12

As I reflect upon this passage I am aware of the ways in which mutual encouragement builds up faith as disciples relate well to one another. Here are just three quick observations:

Perspective. God uses the life experiences and application of His Word as His Spirit leads other people whom I am blessed to know. I deeply benefit from how God works in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ. I am called to encourage many, but often feel I get more encouragement from their stories than they may realize. As other people share their perspectives (in agreement with God’s Word) I find myself confronted, encouraged, challenged and sometimes chastened to better follow Jesus the way those people do! This is a very good thing. Occasionally I hope that my life does the same for them.

Progress. Looking back on over half a century of life together with other Christians, I find God has used so many different relationships of mutual encouragement over the years to help me mature in my understanding and application of the gospel. Different seasons brought different sets of relationships. Some are still existing decades later. Some have diminished. Some have literally died. But even those past encouragers now in glory continue to provide examples for me to emulate. My life is rich in so many of these relationships… a wealth I have amassed that I already see as treasure in heaven. I will not trade that for anything!

Purpose. Part of what I now live for is to continue mutual encouragement to the next generation. It is what I get to do daily as both a pastor and a counselor. It carries me forward in joy and deep reward. It is my hope to keep calling people to chase hard after Jesus with me… until I draw my last breath in the race. And then I will find joy in eternal significance that our faith has then become sight! Amen Lord! May we “be mutually encouraged by each other’s faith…”

acrostics for my idols

All worshipers of images are put to shame,

who make their boast in worthless idols;

worship him, all you gods!

Psalm 97:7

Here is an acrostic to help me have perspective on the idols my heart will crave:

S - Senseless idolatry abandons my sensible salvation in my Savior.

H - Harm comes to my heart. Hurt comes to my soul when I worship what is not God.

A - Abandoning God for idols is an apostasy sure to be punished.

M - Men make idols of many things. My heart too is tempted to worship many things.

E - Every idol ends in disillusionment and destruction. All idols are worthless.

B - Building idols is a waste of time, energy, and treasure.

O - Over all idols is the supremacy of Christ. He will bring them down.

A - Authority is given to One alone! Jesus Christ is Lord!

S - Slavery to sin is what false worship will demand of me. It is never a good experience to worship what is false.

T - Triumph belongs only to Jesus. All things bow to Him… especially my idols!

Faithful Lord

But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.

2 Thessalonians 3:3

Faithful Lord

I come to You

in my need

weak and unable

to build of this

wounded and broken heart

anything worthy of

Your great name

Yet, Faithful One

You have promised

to establish

in me a greater work

than others may see

that stands in Your

grace until eternity

A Faithful Savior

I have in Christ

Who gave Himself

in willing sacrifice

to take away sin

so that I might

be remade holy

O Faithful Lord

protect this soul

from sin and shame

let me know of

Your power to sustain

me through pain

or through loss

Faithful Protector

guard this life

and turn me from

sin’s tempting lures

to look instead in Your face

and in grace then receive

strength to win the battles

Amen

pondering the Perfect

I will ponder the way that is blameless.

Oh when will you come to me?

Psalm 101:2

There is only One Whose way is blameless. Only one person has ever lived a perfect life. The One Whose way is blameless is Jesus. It is His way we should ponder. It is His life that we should understand. It is His work that saves us. He is what our souls need. Jesus is Who we worship.

My way is not blameless. I am not perfect. Like Paul wrote in Philippians 3:12, I must press on to “make it my own”. And I can only ponder the way that is blameless “because Christ Jesus has made me his own.” There is no other way. I must press on. I must forget what is behind me, my forgiven sins and failures. I must press on to the prize: the upward call of Jesus (Philippians 3:14)! This is the drive of the mature Christian. This is my hope: Jesus is the blameless “way” to God that I ponder, love, and see with all my life.

And I long not to just seek Him, but for Him to seek me. David’s longing was expressed with “Oh when will you come to me?” My heart aches with the same question. When will I see Jesus? When will He come again for His own? I seek the Blameless One and long to see Him. I know He wants to see His people as well.

Jesus made this promise: “If anyone loves me, he will keep my word, and my Father will love him, and we will come to him and make our home with him” (John 14:23). And earlier an even more personal promise: “I will not leave you as orphans. I will come to you” (John 14:18). Oh Jesus, come to us!

O Lord,

You are perfect and blameless. I look to know the perfect life of Christ Jesus and I seek the prize of knowing You, Lord! I want my life found and bound in Your life. And in that longing I believe the promise that You never leave me alone. You will come to me. You long to dwell with me. And one day, face to face with Christ my Savior, I will know You and be known, closer than any friend or lover has ever been to me! I am satisfied in this pursuit. You will forever make Your home with me.

Amen