A Better GPS

 During our last road trip to Sedona, we depended quite frequently on Karl's old Garmin GPS to steer us through unfamiliar cities and through the countryside.  It's kind of reassuring to know something can see ahead, see the whole picture and direct us.

It occurred to me that spiritually we have an even better system.  Psalm 48:14 says, "For such is God, our God forever and ever; He will be our guide, even to the end" (NIV).  In Psalm 23, we are assured that our good Shepherd leads us "beside still waters" and "in paths of righteousness, for His name's sake".  And we have this in 2 Corinthians 2:14:  Now thanks be to God who always leads us in triumph in Christ..."

It is very, very reassuring to know He sees ahead and He sees the whole picture.  I received this little parable some years ago.  When we try to tell God exactly what our situation is, how He should answer our prayers and what is the best solution to our problems specifically, it's like a chipmunk on the ground trying to tell a giraffe what the situation is, and which way to go.  Pretty silly!

Have you ever noticed when using GPS, that it never scolds you when you make a wrong turn, or even make a decision to go a different route than the way it is directing?  It merely "recalculates" and continues to send you the next option.  Sometimes, though, it gets quite insistent, saying, "When possible, make a U-turn".

Our Guide is patient with us too.  When we have gotten off the path He has for us, He always has a way out.  He is Creator God who can create Plan B (or C or Z, even).  Even when we find ourselves stuck because we have stubbornly chosen our own directions, He is always able to lead us back to the right path.  Sometimes, He can be pretty insistent about sending us messages, verses, memories, pictures, people speaking into our lives, and a whole host of other resources He has at His command to push or pull us back to where we should be.  It's like the shepherd's staff with a hook at the end to draw the lamb back into line.

However, our GPS wasn't perfect.  Occasionally, we were out of range and it had trouble connecting with a tower, and lost its signal.  Sometimes, it didn't seem aware of construction ahead, and we had to make detours that we hadn't planned on.  Sometimes its most direct route took us through undesirable areas, or country roads leading through multiple small communities with slow speed limits.  Sometimes, its very first order was sending us in the exact wrong direction, and then in a moment it would figure it out and change its mind.  Not exactly infallible.

But our Guide makes no mistakes.  Even when we wonder what the heck He is up to, His guidance is never wrong.  He never loses connection.  If we follow, He always, always "leads us in triumph in Christ."  His Scriptures and His Spirit within us give us direction.  Sometimes, He speaks to us through people around us, even unlikely messengers.  

Here are the lyrics of an old hymn written by Fanny Crosby, who became blind in her infancy.  She wrote anywhere from 5500 to 9000 hymns, and many had such positive messages that it was hard to realize she couldn't see.  This hymn is "All the Way My Savior Leads Me."

1. All the way my Savior leads me,
   What have I to ask beside?
   Can I doubt His tender mercy,
   Who through life has been my Guide?
   Heav’nly peace, divinest comfort,
   Here by faith in Him to dwell!
   For I know, whate’er befall me,
   Jesus doeth all things well;
   For I know, whate’er befall me,
   Jesus doeth all things well.
2. All the way my Savior leads me,
   Cheers each winding path I tread,
   Gives me grace for every trial,
   Feeds me with the living Bread.
   Though my weary steps may falter
   And my soul athirst may be,
   Gushing from the Rock before me,
   Lo! A spring of joy I see;
   Gushing from the Rock before me,
   Lo! A spring of joy I see.
3. All the way my Savior leads me,
   Oh, the fullness of His love!
   Perfect rest to me is promised
   In my Father’s house above.
   When my spirit, clothed immortal,
   Wings its flight to realms of day
   This my song through endless ages:
   Jesus led me all the way;
   This my song through endless ages:
   Jesus led me all the way.

Trust our infinitely wise, infallible, omniscient God to lead you safely, even until the "Father's house above".

Like Sophie, maybe?

 Someone found an abandoned litter of kittens and rescued them, only to discover the next day that one little female had been left behind.  She was also rescued, but how traumatizing her complete abandonment must have been!  Did she wonder if there was something wrong with her that had caused this to happen to her?  

She and her brother were adopted by my son and daughter-in-law.  They named her Sophie.

Sophie moved into her new home, and was cared for, provided for, given a safe environment, and complete freedom in her new surroundings.  But she quickly and immediately scampered away when anyone stretched a hand toward her.  She could not be stroked or picked up. It was a good year before enough progress was made that she would accept love in the form of being held and petted.

I felt the other day that this was a bit of a parable of how we are with God many times.  How He has cared for us, provided for us, sheltered and protected us, showed us His love in so many ways!  

Psalm 23: tells us that "Surely...goodness, mercy and unfailing love shall follow me all the days of my life...(Amplified Version).  "Follow" in the Hebrew is "radaph" which is mostly translated as "pursue" throughout the Old Testament.  So the Good Shepherd's goodness, mercy and unfailing love shall surely pursue me all the days of my life.  "Surely" and "shall" are pretty definite words. so there should be no question about it.

How do I respond?  Do I shy away because of things I have experienced in the past?  Do I blindly accept all the He does for me without seeing it as His unfailing love?  Do I focus on my unworthiness?  Or do I allow His pursuing love to reach me?

When I complained to the Lord after my husband died that I now had nobody who told me every day that he loved me, the immediate assurance I received was, "I still show you every day and in many ways that I love you."  How comforting and encouraging and strengthening that was!

During His last evening with His disciples before His crucifixion, Jesus said, "Just as the Father has loved Me, I have also loved you.  Abide in My love" (John 15:9).  Abide means to remain, stay or continue.

During supper, He had washed the feet of Judas (although He already knew that Judas was going to betray Him) and the feet all the other disciples (even though He knew Peter would deny Him and all of them would desert Him.)  He did this lowly, menial task to show His love in action.  Then He gave them His new commandment.  He had already taught that they should love one another, but now He made it a new commandment in linking it to how He loved them.  "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another; even as I have loved you, that you also love one another" (John 13:34).  As they realized His love for them, they would be enabled to love one another. 

One of Paul's great prayers is in Ephesians 3. He prays "that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ which surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled up to all the fullness of God" (17b-19).  He wanted, not just the Ephesian Christians, but all the saints to know from experience all the dimensions of Christ's love which is beyond mere human knowledge or understanding, so that all would be "filled up to all the fullness of God".  How amazing is that!   

So let's make it our regular prayer that we recognize all the ways our Father shows His love to us.  Let's ask the Holy Spirit to remind us frequently of how completely we are loved, how His love surely pursues us.  Let's focus on the completeness of His love and not on our perceived condition to deserve it or not.  

As we abide in the assurance of His love, we can love on another, and also be filled up to all the fullness of God.

Hark! The Herald Angels Sing

 I've noticed again this year that I have been pretty mindlessly singing a number of Christmas carols, when there is much rich truth there.  Hark! The Herald Angels Sing is one of them.

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King,
peace on earth, and mercy mild,
God and sinners reconciled!”
Joyful, all ye nations rise,
join the triumph of the skies;
with th’ angelic host proclaim,
“Christ is born in Bethlehem!”

Written by Charles Wesley in the 18th century, it uses words and expressions that we don't commonly use in our 21st century English.  How often do you tell someone to hark?  We would say, "Listen!"  To what? The herald angels.  Again, aside from titles for newspapers, we rarely use the word "herald".  It simply tells us the angels are announcing something.  

Their announcement is, "Glory to the newborn King!  Peace on earth and mercy mild, God and sinners reconciled!"  Wonderful news!  Luke 2:14 puts it this way, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, goodwill toward men" (NKJ).  Let us all joyfully "join the triumph of the skies" and "with the angelic hosts proclaim, 'Christ is born in Bethlehem!'"

Christ, by highest heaven adored;
Christ, the everlasting Lord;
Come, Desire of nations, come,
Fix in us Thy humble home.
Veiled in flesh the Godhead see;
hail th’ incarnate Deity,
pleased as man with man to dwell,
Jesus, our Emmanuel.

Though He has forever been "adored by the highest heaven", and though He is "the everlasting Lord", He willingly chose to "fix in us (His) humble home."  Though He is God Himself, the Godhead became "veiled in flesh." Yes, Deity became incarnate (another term you don't hear in modern-day English.)  He was even pleased to dwell with men (mankind) as a Man, becoming Emmanuel, God with us.

Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!
Hail the Sun of Righteousness!
Light and life to all he brings,
risen with healing in his wings.
Mild he lays his glory by,
born that man no more may die,
born to raise the sons of earth,
born to give us second birth.

Hail:  what does that mean?  One definition is "to publicly praise and acclaim as significant".  So, "Hail the heaven-born Prince of Peace!  Hail the Son of Righteousness."  Publicly praise and acclaim Him as significant.  And so much more than "significant".  "Light and life to all He brings, risen with healing in His wings."  Malachi 4:2 says, "to you who fear My name, the Sun of Righteousness will rise with healing in His wings" (NKJ) or "in its rays" (NIV).  Jesus did declare that He was the light of the world (John 8:12).  As Creator, He was the originator of life, and with His death and resurrection, He brought new life, the "second birth".  

"Mild He lays His glory by."  What does that mean?  So much!  Philippians 2:4 & 5 tells us that Christ Jesus "...existing in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, being made in human likeness.  And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself and became obedient to death - even death on a cross." Though He was God, He laid aside that glory to humble Himself, first to take on a human body without His omnipresence, obviously, but also His omnipotence and omniscience, and then to die, and the horrendous death of crucifixion.  Why?  So that "man no more may die.  Born to raise the sons of earth, born to give them second birth."

Hark! the herald angels sing,
“Glory to the new born King!"

 So, hark! to this wonderful news.  Hail Him, worship and adore Him!  He is so completely worthy.

Sinner Saved by Grace?

 How often have you heard someone say, "I'm just a sinner saved by grace"?  It's a very common expression, but is that how we should be identifying ourselves?

I think I can hear somebody out there saying, "Paul spent most of Romans 7 talking about how he did what he didn't want to, and didn't do what he actually wanted to."  Let's look at that.

In Romans 7:15-24, I counted his use of "I, me. and my" and came up with a total of 34 times.  He seems to be looking to his own will-power and self-discipline to obey what he knows he should do, and what he even wants to do.  When he finally gets to the end of the chapter, he has the answer for this.  He says, "O wretched man that I am!  Who will deliver me from this body of death?  I thank God - through Jesus Christ our Lord!..."  And he carries on with "There is therefore now no condemnation to those who are in Christ Jesus, who do not walk according to the flesh, but according to the Spirit" (8:1).  When his focus changed from his own self effort to what Jesus had done and was still doing for him and in him, he found victory.  

Does God call us sinners?  Ephesians 2:1-3 tells what we used to be.  It refers to our sinful selves as being in the past.  "And you He made alive who were dead in trespasses and sins, in which you once walked according to the course of this world, according to the prince of the power of the air, the spirit who now works in the sons of disobedience, among whom we all once conducted ourselves in the lusts of our flesh, fulfilling the desires of the flesh and of the mind, and were by nature the children of wrath, just as the others."  Colossians 1:13, 14 says "He has delivered us from the power of darkness and has conveyed us into the kingdom of the Son of His love, in whom we have redemption through His blood, the forgiveness of sins."

Actually, God says He "was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself, not imputing their trespasses to them" (2 Corinthians 5:19).  He is perfect love, and God's perfect kind of love "keeps no record of wrong" (1 Corinthians 13:5b NIV).  Psalm 103:12 says, "As far as the east is from the west, so far has He removed our transgressions from us."  

If God isn't keeping records of our sins, do you think He wants us to?  Romans 6 says no.  "For if we have been united together in the likeness of His death, certainly we also shall be in the likeness of His resurrection, knowing this, that our old man was crucified with Him, that the body of sin might be done away with, that we should no longer be slaves of sin.  For he who has died has been freed from sin...For the death that He died, He died to sin once for all, that the life that He lives, He lives to God.  Likewise you also, reckon yourselves to be dead indeed to sin but alive to God in Christ Jesus our Lord" verses 5-7, 10-11).

I know we can't say we never sin, but that does not define our identity.  If I work as a nurse 8 or 12 hours a day, then I have no trouble identifying myself as a nurse.  If I was dishes for 10 minutes a couple of times in a day, I am not likely to identify myself as a dishwasher.  Similarly, if I sin sometimes, that doesn't mean I should identify myself as a sinner.  

How does God identify me?  Just a few examples are:  holy, blameless, without reproach, righteous, justified, cleansed.  Jude 24 tells us that He is "able to keep you from stumbling and to present you faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy."   

If we keep that view in mind, we are much more likely to live according to the standards of the Bible than if we constantly see ourselves as falling short, failing, "wretched" sinners.  So, call yourself what God calls you, and watch Him live through you.  Don't call yourself a sinner, but do call yourself saved by grace. 

(Most references are from the NKJV, and I obviously added italics at will.)

With me to the end

 I love it when I wake up with a song in my head.  Maybe not just any song, but often it's an uplifting, encouraging one.  This morning it was the chorus of "'Tis So Sweet to Trust in Jesus"....

1. • Jesus, Jesus, how I trust Him!
     How I’ve proved Him o’er and o’er;
     Jesus, Jesus, precious Jesus!
     Oh, for grace to trust Him more!

(But I change the last line to, "and there's grace to trust Him more" because the original sounds to me like the writer feels God is holding out on that last little bit more grace I need.)

The 4th verse of the song has these lines:

1. I’m so glad I learned to trust Thee,
   Precious Jesus, Savior, Friend;
   And I know that Thou art with me,
   Wilt be with me to the end.

"Will be with me to the end."  That's our Emmanuel, God with us.  

 Joseph is said to have prospered both while in slavery, and in prison after being falsely accused, because "God was with him".  Moses wanted to disqualify himself when God called him to lead the children of Israel out of Egypt, but God assured him that He would be with him, and what else could he possibly need?  Moses encouraged the people at the end of his life to go in and take the land, because God had promised to be with them.  Joshua, having to take over the leadership after Moses, was admonished to "fear not; be of good courage" because God would be with him.  Gideon never saw himself as the "man of valor" that God called him to be, until he was convinced that indeed God was with him.

Even more wonderful than the assurance that God is with us is the knowledge that He is actually in us.  He hears our thoughts, He knows all our deepest secrets, He sees our hurts, and He whispers His words of encouragement and approval in our spirit.

The challenge is to bear this in mind.  The very Spirit of God Himself, with all His power and glory and wisdom and grace and goodness and love and light lives in our spirits. 

Help us, Lord, to go through our days recognizing Your presence, and to depend on that never-ending supply of "grace to trust (You) more"!

Heritage

 Lately, I've been reviewing a book that was given to me by our church prayer team leader just a week or so after Eric passed away.  It's called "Your Ears Will Hear:  A Journal for Listening to God" by Steve and Evy Klassen.  It tells their experiences in hearing from God and gives suggestions for listening for God's voice as we sit quietly with Him, and journaling about what we hear. 

The most recent one talked about Steve's heritage, and the journaling exercise asked about the lives of our parents and grandparents, and what we would want to carry forward, or leave behind.

How many times I have been thankful that I had godly parents who learned from my grandparents!  I have always known I was loved.  I was always provided for, even though we were quite poor when I was young.  I always felt secure, was never abused, molested, or even neglected.  I was taught Bible truths from as far back as I can remember. 

I was the youngest of 7 children in our home, with my oldest sister 16 years older than I was, and my closest brother three and a half years older than I.  When I was apparently the only one not in school, I have a memory of being down for a nap in my little bed in my parents' bedroom, and just asking my mother about a calendar picture on the wall, which showed the crucifixion.  My mother, with tears pouring down her face, told me about Jesus dying for me.  So I even knew about God's love for me from a very young age.

Not only that, but there was order and discipline.  We all knew how to clean up and take care of our belongings. I can always wholeheartedly sing the words of the song "Goodness of God".  Lyrics like, "I love You, Lord.  Oh, Your mercy never fails me.  All my days I've been held in Your hands" and "All my life, You have been faithful.  All my life, You have been so, so good" and "Your goodness is running after, it's running after me".

Clearly, not all everyone has been blessed with as loving and secure an upbringing as I had, but it is good to stop and give thanks for the amazing blessings that can still be found in looking back.  God has been at work in all of our lives, revealing His love and care.  Everyone can find evidences of His protection and provision, His mercy and grace.

God's Word doesn't lie and it tells us:

     The LORD is my shepherd.  I shall not want.  He makes me to lie down in green pastures.  He leads me beside the still waters.  He restores my soul.  He leads me in paths of righteousness, for His name's sake.  Even though I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will fear no evil, for You are with me; Your rod and Your staff, they comfort me.  You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies.  You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows.  Surely, goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the house of the LORD forever (Psalm 23) .

That is our heritage, both yours and mine.  I invite you to review and rehearse and express gratitude for whatever good earthly heritage you have had, and keep in mind the supernatural heritage you also have.  And sing with me, "I've known You as a Father, I've known You as a friend, and I have lived in the goodness of God."

Casting Cares

 I'm reading through 1 Peter, and this morning came to the familiar "'God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble.'  Therefore, humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in due time, casting all your care upon Him, for He cares for you" (verses 5b to 7).

Recently, my family was struggling with some distressing news.  My daughter shared her grief and pain and sorrow with us, and I encouraged her to cast all her cares on the Lord.  She answered that she was trying, but didn't actually "practically know how to do that".  That made me think.

It's easy for me to tell someone to cast their cares on the Lord, but exactly how is that to be done?

My mind went back to an occasion in which my husband at the time was struggling with forgiving a brother who had cheated him out of thousands of dollars.  Eric found that he would choose forgiveness, but within minutes, his mind was churning again with bitterness and anger.  He continued to say, "Lord, I give you the situation.  I choose to forgive.  I pray blessing on my brother."  He said that at first, the effect would last only a few seconds, but as he continued to give it to the Lord, the spaces increased to many minutes, then hours, eventually days, and he was, in the end, free.  The brother never made restitution, but the relationship was restored nonetheless.

It seems to me that we have to follow the same pattern in "casting our cares on Him".  If the burden returns within seconds, we give it to Him again, expressing trust that He does indeed care for us.  Not only that, He is also the mighty Creator God who can make a way where there is no way.  We have promises to stand on that we have to continue to claim as our own.  So we keep on giving the situation back to our loving heavenly Father, even if it's every few seconds or minutes.  He doesn't get weary or fed up with our repetitions. 

Verse 6 of 1 Peter 5 connects "casting our cares" to humbling ourselves "under the mighty hand of God".  It is pride for us to think we can carry these burdens on our own, or that doing so is necessary.  God considers it humility when we unload on Him, and that may require doing it over and over and over.  I have heard it said that we are sheep, not donkeys.  Donkeys bear heavy burdens.  Sheep were not designed for that.  Our good Shepherd has promised to take care of His own.  Let's continue to let Him carry us.  And our burdens.