light clearly seen

But whoever does what is true comes to the light, so that it may be clearly seen that his works have been carried out in God.

John 3:21

Light and darkness are a recurring theme in the gospel of John. This theme begins with the Word (Jesus) being the light that the darkness (the world) did not comprehend. And yet the light shines in the darkness. And those who believe the gospel, who come to know and trust that Jesus is the Savior of the world, who accept that His death and resurrection are our only hope, who bow to Jesus as Lord of heaven and earth… these are the people who come out of the darkness and into the light.

And those who come into the light of Christ live very differently. Their lives are lights all their own reflecting His light. It is, as John says here, “clearly seen” that God has changed them and is empowering them to do good works that shine out of the darkness pointing to Jesus. And their lives shine as beacons as well, calling those in lost in darkness to come to the life-changing light of Christ!

Lord Jesus,

You are the light of the world. And I see the depth of the world’s darkness by Your light. Your light is the life of all who believe You. And so I pray, shine in me. Be clearly known. May others see genuine good in me that I know is only attributable to Your light shining through.

Amen

by the stream

“Blessed is the man who trusts in the LORD,

whose trust is the LORD.

He is like a tree planted by water,

that sends out its roots by the stream,

and does not fear when heat comes,

for its leaves remain green,

and is not anxious in the year of drought,

for it does not cease to bear fruit.”

Jeremiah 17:7-8

By the stream

I am planted

nourished through

God’s hand

Near the streams of living water

life flows in

refreshed by

my Master’s plan

I can flourish.

I can grow.

I can yield pleasing fruit.

Into His river

I am rooted

His supply

never wavers

Heat may threaten

I am cooled

still green and growing

no fear in my Savior

Anxious drought

for others

yet my roots

are cool and wet

I will keep maturing.

I will know Him…

…the wise God Who cultivates me.

how to spot a life filled with God’s wisdom

But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere.

James 3:17

God gives good gifts and one of the highest of His gifts is His wisdom. The way it is described by James is appealing. He simply lists out all the things God’s wisdom is to us. And really, it is how God changes us. Can we spot them? There are eight benefits that the wisdom that comes from God brings to us:

• Wisdom is pure. It is innocent, modest, and clean. It is free from any fault.
• Wisdom is peaceable. That’s a description in short supply these days! To be peaceable is to be peace-loving. God’s wisdom brings peace. It settles conflict.
• Wisdom in gentle. This is also a term seldom seen. It means to be patient and fair.
• Wisdom is open to reason. Literally this terms means “easily obeying”. It carries the sense of being quick to settle a controversy, to listen well, to seek solutions, and to calm difficulties.
• Wisdom is full of mercy. This is the word used to describe the kindness and good will of God in saving sinners and providing the means for their forgiveness and salvation. It does not wait for sinners to be better, but provides the means for them to find true forgiveness. When we are full of mercy, we seek the same thing in our relationships when sinned against.
• Wisdom is full of good fruits. The wisdom of God WILL be seen in our actions. It will bear positive, visible results. It isn’t hidden. The life rooted in God’s wisdom will be embarrassingly laden with attractive and joyful actions and results.
• Wisdom is impartial. It is not ambiguous or uncertain. It does not play favorites. Wisdom is fair in assessments of actions and relationships.
• Wisdom is sincere. God’s wisdom is not hypocritical. It never hides in a disguise, pretending to be caring, but secretly hating. God’s wisdom speaks to real life in real ways with real transforming grace.

untamed

…but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison. With it we bless our Lord and Father, and with it we curse people who are made in the likeness of God.

James 3:8-9

My untamed tongue gets me in trouble. And in world where “free speech” is considered a human right, we experience the mass effect of millions of untamed tongues spewing flames like so many cigarette lighters in a dry forest. Sinful words wreck havoc. James says the tongue sparks destructive fires (James 3:5-6). Free speech may have a positive impact for social discourse, political dialogue, and personal understanding, but free speech that does this is NOT unrestrained speech. It operates in safe limits. Words still have consequences. For instance: libel, purgery, and inciting insurrections with words are still punishable offenses. We can’t just say what we want. We are held accountable to certain limitations.

Increasingly though, I have found another verbal lack of restraint to be prevalent as a fire-starter. It’s the concept of “saying what I feel”. And some people wrongly dump such verbal diarrhea, making it sound noble by excusing it with: “Hey, I’m just being honest here”. Letting words give full vent to feelings however is a very bad idea. Why? Our feelings rise up from sinful and twisted hearts. Our feelings are often wrong. In fact, the Bible teaches that feelings can be evil. They aren’t just neutral. “Venting” our feelings can wound… can hurt…. can curse people that God wants us to see as created in His image. It is not “honest” to say what I feel. It isn’t noble. It is quite the opposite. It is manipulative, combative, hurtful, and often hateful. Instead, let’s just see that fiery strategy for what it is: unrestrained sinful speech that comes from the poisonous tongue’s reservoir of restless evil.

And today those words that can either heal or hurt are “spoken” most often digitally in a cacophony of public square social media. Our hyper-connected world now lies to us by convincing us 1) that complete strangers we have never met in person are “friends” and “followers”, and 2) that we can say anything in anyway in unrestrained abandon with little to no consequence. The result? We can easily and sloppily let loose words by post or comment that degrade and demean. We tell ourselves we don’t really know the person on the other end of the electronic ether. We might even get laughs and likes when we do so. That reinforces our lack of restraint. And a vicious cycle of this experience is the hallmark of public discourse these days. James is right. A great fire is set ablaze. But know this: that sick little tongue has been what has set the fire.

True God vs idols

But the LORD is the true God;

he is the living God and the everlasting King.

At his wrath the earth quakes,

and the nations cannot endure his indignation.

Jeremiah 10:10

Humans always produce mass quantities of false gods. And God will not compete with a host of pitiful little impotent idols! He beats them every time by proving Himself in power and in judgment. Still… cultures keep cranking out their puny idols for the adoration of any who will follow them. And they can make them damn appealing.

Israel was destroyed for the worship of false gods. Jerusalem was leveled and Judah taken captive for seven decades for the very same reason. God would show Himself to be far greater than any carved image or idol worked from gold or silver. In the end people would see the wrath of the living God was greater than the appeal of dead idols. God’s people would fear Him as the everlasting King as their false gods burned to ash in the remnants of a former deception.

O true God,

You are the living God Who will not stand for my heart to worship a dead idol. Oh I am much too sophisticated to bow to a carved image. There are no Baals of gold on my mantelpiece. Instead, my idolatry is often evidenced subtly in my heart. Lord, help me to see when I enshrine any want, any material thing, any experience in this life in a way that I should not! Purge me of idols, shake my world if You must so that the True God, the Living God, You… the everlasting King… are all of my worship.

Amen

Come and you will see.

He said to them, “Come and you will see.” So they came and saw where he was staying, and they stayed with him that day, for it was about the tenth hour.

John 1:39

Looking for a Savior?

Looking for the answers?

Looking for hope?

Looking for peace?

Look to Jesus…

     Come and you will see.

Looking for perspective?

Looking to find sense?

Looking for real rest?

Looking for the right questions?

Look right at Jesus…

     …and…

          Come and you will see.

Jesus is a Savior Who never disappoints.

Jesus is the answer to all the deepest questions.

Jesus gives hope in a hopeless world.

Jesus gives peace to the broken and hurting.

Jesus gives us insight bigger than our finite view.

Jesus puts all the pieces together.

Jesus provides rests for our souls.

Jesus asks the questions that motivate and change us.

Look to Jesus…

     Come and you will see.

sobering awareness of judgment

For from the least to the greatest of them,

everyone is greedy for unjust gain;

and from prophet to priest,

everyone deals falsely.

They have healed the wound of my people lightly,

saying, ‘Peace, peace,’

when there is no peace.

Jeremiah 6:13-14

God was speaking to His people in their total rebellion. They had ceased to worship Him or regard His covenant. Greed and thievery were the characteristics of both rich and poor, small and great, leader and follower. And even religious leaders were perpetuating this selfish culture. False prophets and greedy priests sought to use religion solely for personal gain. They refused to acknowledge any wrongdoing with one another and instead propped up a false optimistic sugary message of peace, even though the sin of God’s people had already begun to bring upheaval to the nation. They really felt like they’d make it just fine. But God had decreed His fine-grinding judgment.

Jeremiah spoke against this sin and also preached a judgment so thorough that no sinner would escape it. Houses would burn to ash. Families would be split up and destroyed. Leaders would be taken captive and killed. False priests and false prophets would be silenced. Vineyards would be ransacked. Crops would be burned and trampled. The life they sinfully lived for themselves… for greed and selfish ends… it would all be brutally ripped away in warfare, fire, and total ruin.

God would put an end to their shameless selfishness by this humiliation. This would be the final outcome of their deeds, dreams, and devices against God. Because they rejected God’s Word and His loving relationship in the covenant, they would reap all the worst curses of the covenant.

This warning from Jeremiah shows us one clear thing: God takes our sin quite seriously. And His people must worship Him in holiness, love His truth, and never take the grace of His provision and love for them for granted. It is quite sobering as Jeremiah preaches it! And it should be.