the beauty of God

But you, O Lord, are a God merciful and gracious,

slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness.

Psalm 86:15

Thinking carefully and deliberately on what this verse describes as the character of God, I cannot help but worship now. What is true about God in this psalm is true for me right now. 

God is merciful. He forgives sinners. He provided not only the mercy to truly forgive us, but always has provided the means for us to receive that great mercy. That is known through Jesus’ birth, life, death, resurrection, ascension, and coming again to rule our hearts and lives. I am in awe of the much needed mercy of God.

God is gracious. Mercy spares us the punishment our sins deserve, but grace lavishes gifts on us purely from the extravagant love of God’s heart for us. There are daily graces that I know. And even in what has felt like the worst of times in 2020, God’s grace truly keeps me. I am thankful... quite deeply thankful.... for the grace of God.

God is slow to anger. This facet of His mercy gives me time to be convicted by His Spirit, instructed by His Word, moved to repentance by my conscience, all so that I might confess sin, trust the grace of the gospel, repent, believe and find God’s smile on me. God now views me through the redemption provided in the blood of Jesus. I’m quick to rejoice in God’s longsuffering forbearance.

God abounds in steadfast love. His grace is faithful. His heart is for me because He sees me in Christ by the merits of His Son. And that faithful, constant love never leaves me. I may stray. God NEVER loses sight of me or ceases to care for me.

God is always faithful. For half a century now God has been the consistent, unchanging, constant Lord of my life. He has remained faithful to me, even when I have not felt or acted faithfully. And I will trust Him, believe Him, follow my Savior, and worship my God as long as I have breath. And in the day He takes me to the eternal home that Jesus has prepared for me, it will be because He was faithful!

a legacy of bones

So Elisha died, and they buried him. Now bands of Moabites used to invade the land in the spring of the year. And as a man was being buried, behold, a marauding band was seen and the man was thrown into the grave of Elisha, and as soon as the man touched the bones of Elisha, he revived and stood on his feet.

2 Kings 13:20-21

This account of the legacy of the prophet Elisha is a record of the power of God in the life, and the death, of His prophet. Elisha’s prophetic ministry was marked by the miraculous. God used Elisha to heal, help, and even to raise the dead, so that God’s Word would be received by God’s people. Even in death, God chose to leave a miraculous legacy in the bones of the man of God. There was still power at work in prophetic ministry. The prophet had power to point of God’s truth in life. And even from the grave God kept getting the glory for His servant’s work among His people.

This is quite humbling as I ponder it. Elisha did not move those bones! He was long gone to his reward. God chose to use the prophet both in life and in death. God chose to keep a miraculous legacy in this last miracle in the story of Elisha. God made the touch of bones brings life. God creates, calls, uses, supports, and gets the glory from the people He shapes to His service. Any legacy they may leave is ONLY and COMPLETELY the Lord’s doing.

And so, I repent of thinking I am in charge of my own legacy... my own ministry... my own life. It is foolishness to fall for this! God uses dead bones if He so desires! I am nothing special. God may choose to use me. I must be yielded to His Lordship for that to happen. I must let my Savior live in me. I mess it all up when I try to do it all. I know this, sadly, on a fairly regular basis when I screw it up. Instead, I choose to be whatever God wants to make of me. I will be dry bones if that is what God wills to use. I will be nothing so God can be everything. Gladly do I trust that a legacy of bones will give God my Savior all the worship and credit only He deserves.

Day of Atonement

For on this day shall atonement be made for you to cleanse you. You shall be clean before the LORD from all your sins.

Leviticus 16:30

God made yearly provision for Israel for a unique annual emphasis on repentance, obedience, and atonement for sin. On that day, if all the proper sabbath respect was observed, if the priest offered the prescribed sacrifices, and if all Israel honored the Law, the sins of the nation would be forgiven for that year. This was a temporary atonement. Every fall, in the tenth month of the year, this all had to be observed carefully again. This kept Israel always aware of their need for God to forgive them. It made the sacrificial law a necessary part of their regular obedient worship. A cycle of sin and sacrifice, repentance and worship dominated life in Israel as they kept the covenant, constantly aware that blood had to be shed to forgive their sins.

In one day, sin for a year would be atoned. But then because it was temporary, the cycle would need to keep going. This was the case until one day God sent His Son into the world to be the Lamb of God Who would atone all sin... one time... for the world... forever!

Christmas is the celebration of the monumental gift that redefined human history. God sent His Son into the world to redeem us from sin once and for all! That’s miraculous. No more yearly Day of Atonement was needed. There were no more altars to be built, no more animals to die on them, no more yearly requirements to temporarily put a halt to sin’s disease. Once for all God sent His Son. Once for all the sins of the world would be atoned. Once for all those who love Jesus, trust Jesus, believe Jesus, call out to Him as Savior, and trust Him with their lives obeying Him as Lord have their sins forever forgiven! Jesus brought our Day of Atonement. Praise the Lamb of God!

Live in me

Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly, teaching and admonishing one another in all wisdom, singing psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, with thankfulness in your hearts to God.

Colossians 3:16

O word of Jesus live in me!

I want to know You richly.

I want Your words to lead me.

Word of Christ, live in me.

Word of Jesus teach me.

Show me how to live obediently.

I truth Your truth implicitly.

Word of Christ, please teach me.

Word of Jesus admonish me.

Set me straight with clear warning.

Confront my immature complacency.

Word of Christ, admonish me.

Word of Jesus enlighten me.

In Your wisdom set me free.

Save me from sin’s stupidity.

Word of Christ, be wisdom to me.

Word of Jesus sing in me!

May Your truth and joy be why I sing.

I want worship to flow in everything.

Word of Christ, lead me to sing!

Word of Jesus live in me.

With thankfulness set me free

from my own selfish tyranny.

Word of Christ, live in me!

little sinner, big Saviour

And when they saw it, they all grumbled, “He has gone in to be the guest of a man who is a sinner.”

Luke 19:7

Jesus was perfectly at home with the sinners He came to save. He simply engaged them, as they were, and saved them to be changed by Him. Zacchaeus is just such an example. He was a short man with an intimidating reputation. We know he was a chief tax collector and that he was rich. The locals in Jericho saw him like we might see a modern mob boss. I picture Zacchaeus played by Joe Pesci. He is rough around the edges but relatable. And Jesus reaches out to Zacchaeus, knowing he was interested in what Jesus was doing in Jericho (Luke 19:3-4). Jesus boldly invites Himself over to the notorious Zac’s house (Luke 19:5). And the little dude gladly jumps at the chance to host Jesus.

Jesus knew what the crowd did not know. Jesus knew that underneath the gruff exterior was a heart that was seeking God. It was that seeking that compelled him to climb a tree to get a better look. And despite being labeled a sinner by the public, Zacchaeus received the Lord and publícly repented. By the time lil’ Zac hustled down the tree to be by Jesus’ side, he had already repented. He gave half his wealth in charity to the poor and he promised to repay fourfold all those who felt cheated by the tax system he had enforced his entire life. He meant business with Jesus.

Jesus went into sinners’ homes. And He left saints behind. He wants to similarly transform lives today. Jesus wants His people, Christians, to not be the grumbling crowd that enjoys name calling sinners. Instead, as He lives in us, Christians should walk the gospel to those who need Jesus. We should count them as friends, know their lives, care for their concerns, encourage them to turn to Jesus, and celebrate at their conversion! Christians should not point fingers in blame, but instead we are to offer outstretched hands of neighborly friendship like Jesus did! That’s what Jesus lived to do, so much so, that it became His reputation and the outcry of His critics: friend of sinners. We ought to be the same.

what God will restore for Israel

And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the LORD their God.

Ezekiel 28:26

This is a promise from God for Israel “when I gather the house of Israel from the peoples among whom they are scattered” (Ezekiel 28:25). There are four facets of this promise that reveal the gracious restorative power of God to us.

ONE: Israel will dwell secure. These re-gathered Jews will safely enjoy the life that God had always wanted for Israel in the Promised Land. No enemy is a threat. It is twice emphasized that their lives are secure. Since this has not been the case yet, (There are Jews scattered worldwide presently; Israel has had to defend her borders constantly since the modern formation of the state in 1948) this seems to be a promise yet to be fully realized, and not just a description of life after the exile.

TWO: They will build and plant. The nation of Israel will be industrious and productive. God would bless Israel with a prosperity and sufficiency that allows them to thrive. God will give the opportunity by protecting the nation. Israel would work safely and with effort. The nation will enjoy the blessing that their hard work and faith in God will bring to them.

THREE: Israel’s enemies will be judged. And this is the reason the Jews will dwell secure and have a thriving economy. God will put an end to all who have hated them. He will keep covenant with His chosen people. He will bring justice. He will silence and eliminate the threats of the enemy.

FOUR: God will be known by all. He will be known by His people. The world will see Israel thrive and know that it is God’s doing. God’s people will rejoice in Him. Redemptive restoration will bring worship of God among the people of the earth. The God Who calls a people to Himself will keep them, bless them, and show Himself to the world so that the world can worship Him.

mortality reality check

The memory of the righteous is a blessing,

but the name of the wicked will rot.

Proverbs 10:7

Mortality has been a huge consideration in 2020. In less than one year, the US has seen three hundred thousand men and women die from COVID-19. That is more than we lost in the four years of World War II. Right now nearly three thousand are dying each die from this pandemic. We are experiencing a 9/11 event every single day in America. So of course I am finding myself wrestling with thoughts of mortality and legacy. Any person with this realization has to be processing this grimly. Death is real. Life is uncertain.

This proverb provides perspective as we are called to simultaneously grieve, yet trust in God. What legacies will we celebrate? The memory of a righteous person will bless those who see and rejoice in their faith. But a wicked life just rots away like the buried body. What God does in us is what determines the difference between blessing or burial.

So as I think about this, one desire pushes me forward. I want to bless people now, by any means necessary, and when I am gone one day, I want God’s blessing to come to those who have truly known me. I can only hope to do this by letting them know how much Jesus wants to be their strength and comfort as He is mine! I can only see God bless in this way by His great mercies. Only Jesus can be my great Blesser, so that He can form me so God’s love will flow to others. That is my hope in these grim days that are filled with reminders to grieve and to trust... to remember God’s work that is a blessing and to bless others.