Paul's Prayers, #7

7. He delivered us from so great a risk of death, and he will deliver us. We have set our hope on him that he will deliver us yet again, as you also join in helping us by prayer, so that many people may give thanks to God on our behalf for the gracious gift given to us through the help of many. (2 Cor. 1:10-11)

This is one of my favorite Scriptures on prayer. Paul doesn't so much ask Corinth for prayer as assume that they are praying. This is a significant change from his corrective attitude toward them in 1 Corinthians! This church has been transformed in many ways and is now one of the churches Paul can count on to be praying for him.

This passage is also precious in that we learn one of the reasons that God wants us to share prayer requests and unite in prayer together - because He gets more glory! Paul observes that the more people who are praying, the more thanks goes up to God when prayers are answered. That gratitude glorifies God and points others to Him!

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? None of us - missionaries included - should face challenging situations on our own. We should have the body of Christ behind us, at least in prayer and if possible in practical ways of helping. We should know when we pray for our missionaries, or they pray for us, that we are part of the same team for the same purpose. We need to realize that our prayers for deliverance will be answered "yet again" - in whatever way God knows is best. We need to realize that God wants us to pray united prayers for and with each other. And here is the power of united prayer: The more people who pray, the more glory God gets. So we should be praying united prayers for the nations and our missionaries and our churches and our kids. And we shouldn't hesitate to allow missionaries that same privilege for our needs!

Prayer: Lord, please make us people of prayer. Help us to grasp the significance and power of united prayer. Help us to focus on kingdom-oriented prayers so that all distractions are dealt with and we are free to prioritize your mission through the church to the world.

Paul's Prayers, #6

6. I always thank my God for you because of the grace of God that was given to you in Christ Jesus. For you were made rich in every way in him, in all your speech and in every kind of knowledge – just as the testimony about Christ has been confirmed among you – so that you do not lack any spiritual gift as you wait for the revelation of our Lord Jesus Christ. (1 Cor. 1:4-7)

Corinth has gone down in history as a messed up church. In fact, they could be the poster child for how NOT to grow a church! And that is what makes Paul's prayer of thankfulness for them even more precious. He starts his book by talking about what is good and right - God's grace poured out upon them. The richness He gave them in their speech, the confirmation of the message of Christ, the fullness of the experience of spiritual gifts. Paul goes on to address some hard issues and at times speak quite sternly to Corinth. But the beauty of Paul's heart is that he never forgets that he is talking to believers who have experienced God's grace. He never writes off Corinth, because He knows what God has done in their lives.

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? It can be hard to be a world Christian. A lot of our churches don't "get it". A lot of our missionaries' churches don't "get it" either. Churches find it a lot easier to be like Corinth - selfish and immature - than like Smyrna or Philadelphia. If we sit around and wait for our churches to be perfect we will never focus on the kingdom. We have to start where we are, and acknowledge every indication of God's work in our churches. They have experienced God's grace and however imperfectly they reflect it now, they have within them what is needed to fulfill God's mission.

We need to pray for our churches and for the churches of the missionaries we support. If your church isn't as supportive of missions as you'd like, thank God for what you see and pray for ways to raise awareness and become a catalyst! While you're at it, pray for missionaries who face struggles with churches who expect certain types of results and tie funding to numbers. Pray for missionaries whose home churches don't support them. Pray for missionaries who never hear from their home churches. Whatever you do, don't become critical and judgmental, throwing out everything about your church or a missionary's church. Just thank God for what He has done, and pray for Him to do more.

Prayer: Father, thank You that Your grace is evident in my church. Thank You that even though you are still working on us in many ways, we know that we have the starting point of grace. Please grow us into a kingdom-oriented fellowship. While You're at it God, please minister to those missionaries whose churches aren't supportive. Help them to see the work You are doing and make them catalysts for change in those churches.

Paul's Prayers, #5

5. Now may the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you believe in him, so that you may abound in hope by the power of the Holy Spirit. (Rom. 15:13)

Hope ... it's ingrained in us to want to have hope. The power of the concept is reflected in the U.S. President-elect - who ran on the words "hope" and "change". People not only want to hope - they MUST.

That's why Peter tells us in 1 Peter 3 that we should always be willing to give an answer for the hope that is within us. Our hope, reflected in our attitude despite challenges and suffering, is the harbinger of what's inside. It tells the world that there is something different - and should provide and open door for us to tell them about Jesus.

Paul's prayer hits the other side of the "hope" issue. He prayed that the "God of hope" - what a blessed name - will fill us with joy and peace so we can abound in hope. This is part of the perfect unity of Scripture. Peter tells us that we should be willing to answer for the hope we have - and Paul teaches us to pray that God will fill us with what we need to abound in hope! As always in Scripture, the point starts and ends with God. He provides the hope - we live out lives of hope - and then we tell others about the source of our hope.

The trigger, of course, is that we must believe in Him. That doesn't just refer to saving faith - it refers to living faith. It's the day-by-day, "believing God" type of faith. When we believe God, day by day, He fills us with joy and peace. If you struggle with believing God, take a lesson from Romans 10 - focus on His Word, which is the agent of faith. As we hear - really hear, with our spiritual ears - the word of God, our faith grows. And then we walk it out. I love the acronym taught by John Piper about how to walk in faith:

Acknowledge your inability to do it on your own.
Pray for God's help and specific guidance.
Trust God's promises.
Act on His Word, even if you don't feel it or know that you can do it.
Thank Him for His victory.

As we walk in faith, He pours out His joy and peace. When God pours His joy and peace into us, hope is a natural consequence. We should "abound" in hope - it should overflow. Christians should be the most hopeful people in the world! Notice I didn't say positive. "Positive thinking" is a counterfeit for true Biblical hope. Biblical hope is based on who God is, on His sure Word, on His promises. It starts with the God of hope pouring joy and peace into our hearts, and suddenly we find ourselves hopeful in the most challenging of situations. We find that we just can't give up on that broken relationship or that wayward child. We find that the bleak economic forecasts don't keep us awake at night. We find that the critical and negative, doomsday spirits expressed by some Christians trouble us as much as the sins and problems they are attacking. We find that the mountains that are literally in the way of that tribe we're praying for don't seem quite so big and the valleys don't seem quite as deep. We find that we can look things in the face and see them as they really are - and hope anyway.

And as Peter says, the world takes notice.

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? To have that natural testimony of hope, we must first be truly hopeful! We can't work it up in our flesh - that becomes artificial or counterfeit "positive thinking". Instead, we have true hope when God gives us joy and peace. And then we have a message that is powerful and authentic - and the world takes notice. In fact, they start asking questions!

Prayer: Lord, You are the God of hope. Please fill us with joy and peace as we believe You, and cause us to abound in hope so that we will have a message of hope when people ask!

Paul's Prayers, #4

#4. I appeal to you, brothers, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to strive together with me in your prayers to God on my behalf, that I may be delivered from the unbelievers in Judea, and that my service for Jerusalem may be acceptable to the saints, so that by God's will I may come to you with joy and be refreshed in your company.

Paul asked the church at Rome to pray for his deliverance from "unbelievers" and that his service would be "acceptable to the saints". His desire in these prayers was that he could come to them with joy and be refreshed. That's not necessarily a connection that we understand, but from the perspective of a missionary it makes sense.

Paul knew going into Jerusalem that prison awaited him (Acts 20:23). Yet he also knew that God's sovereignty did not negate the need for prayer - in fact, that God could deliver him through the prayers of the saints (Phil. 1:19). He had earlier requested prayer for deliverence from "evil and perverse men" (2 Thess. 3:2). So his prayer for deliverance is not inconsistent with his trust in God's sovereignty - he just knows that God uses the prayers of the saints as one of His means for deliverance. When God's purpose for Paul in prison was complete, the prayers of the saints would be one of the tools God would use to deliver him.

Paul also wanted his service to the saints at Jerusalem - delivering the offering collected on his missionary journey - to be acceptable to the saints. We know from Scripture Paul wasn't a "people pleaser" - in fact he confronted Peter over that very issue. However, he had a heart of love for the saints and genuinely wanted them to be blessed by the offering. This is the offering that Paul wrote to Corinth about and included donations from the impoverished churches of Macedonia (2 Cor. 8). A lot of people had poured into this offering, and he wanted it to be worthwhile.

It's important to note that Paul doesn't link the successful delivery of the offering with his coming to Rome. He merely asks that it be acceptable so that, if God wills, he could come with "joy". He wanted the task in Jerusalem to be completed and then he could truly enjoy the rest and fellowship in Rome, if God willed. As we know, God did will Paul to go to Rome - in chains. He was delivered from unbelievers - Acts 23 records the conversation overheard by Paul's nephew and the resulting midnight transfer to Caesarea. Paul's request was answered and when he came to Rome, his task in Jerusalem complete, he ministered unhindered despite his chains. We have at least 4 letters to show for his time there.

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? The work our missionaries are doing "over there" is very dear to their hearts. They won't truly enjoy times of rest unless they feel their work was done satisfactorily. So pray for the work! Too often we just pray for their personal needs and their protection - when they want us to pray that their project will be acceptable and their ministry fruitful!

They also need our prayers for deliverance - even if we don't know until after the fact what happened. We have to learn to be sensitive to the Holy Spirit's guidance! Here's a good rule of thumb I learned from a former small group leader: If someone is on your mind and heart, just assume that God wants you to pray for them! Even if you don't know what's going on or how to pray, just start praying - trust God to either give you wisdom or take your prayers and do what He needs to with them (Rom. 8:26-27). Another trick I try to use - when I read an article or see a news report from a country where I know someone, I pray for them. It's a fairly easy habit to form and then you will have prayers popping into your head at the oddest times.

Prayer: Lord, help us develop a sensitivity to Your Spirit about times our missionaries need deliverance! Likewise, help them have wisdom about how open to be when requesting prayers. Lord, we also need Your help to pray for the projects dear to their hearts. We pray for success and acceptance of the projects, so that the missionaries can truly enjoy their home visits and rest in the glow of a job well done.

Paul's Prayers, #3

#3. May the God of endurance and encouragement grant you to live in such harmony with one another, in accord with Christ Jesus, that together you may with one voice glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. (Rom. 15:5-6)

Paul wanted the church at Rome - the church he had not established but had grown to love - to live in harmony with each other. He knew that unity is a gift of God - a gift we must work to sustain, but a gift nonetheless. Thus he turns his desire into a prayer.

We need the God of "endurance and encouragement" if we are going to live in harmony. As Romans 14 highlights, there are many issues that can divide a church. Bottom line, we have a mission that is more important than any of those issues. We have a message that surpasses our preferences. And Paul wants the church at Rome to be in unity in glorifying God - the best starting point for missions!

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? There's a reason that Paul - ever the pastor, ever the missionary - prayed for unity. If the enemy can distract us with petty divisions, minor disagreements, "disputable matters" - then he can get us off mission. It's not always major sin that tempts us away from fulfilling His plan. Sometimes it's just distractions. Sometimes it's selfishness. And sometimes it's internal divisions in the church. If we truly are a harmonious congregation, we will be more effective in supporting our missionaries.

Prayer: God, please grant us the gift of harmony. Help us to maintain the unity of the Spirit and keep our focus on the "main thing" - glorifying You in our Jerusalem, Judea, Samaria, and the ends of the earth. Bless those missionaries reading this with strong, unified churches to support them and strong, unified churches to attend on the field.

Paul's Prayers, #2

#2. For God, whom I serve in my spirit by preaching the gospel of his Son, is my witness that I continually remember you and I always ask in my prayers, if perhaps now at last I may succeed in visiting you according to the will of God. (Rom. 1:9-10)

Paul had never been to Rome. He didn't found this church, yet he "adopted" them. One of the desires that he expresses in his letter is the desire to finally visit them - something he asks God about. In God's will and timing, he wanted to spend time with them for mutual edification.

He would eventually go to Rome, in chains. The book of Acts ends with Paul in Rome under house arrest, being visited by the church members (who had read this letter by that time). He is proclaiming the word of God "unhindered" as Acts 28 closes.

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? Your missionaries want to visit you. They crave fellowship with you. But they are foremost submitted to the will of God. If they don't get to your church or home on this furlough, don't take it personally. Assume that they are praying for the opportunity, and join them in that prayer for fellowship in the will and timing of God.

Prayer: Father, guard us from self-centered, petty feelings when those we support don't visit us on this trip. Help us to not take it personally. We ask You to bring them to us for fellowship and love in Your timing and within Your will.

Paul's Prayers, #1

Beloved, it is a faithful thing you do in all your efforts for these brothers, strangers as they are, who testified to your love before the church. You will do well to send them on their journey in a manner worthy of God. For they have gone out for the sake of the name, accepting nothing from the Gentiles. Therefore we ought to support people like these, that we may be fellow workers for the truth. (3 John 5-8, ESV)

I love to pray Scripture. I love it even more when Scripture tells us what to pray!

One of the passions of my life is to become like Gaius - a good sender. I want to learn how to send out kingdom workers "in a manner worthy of God". Part of that is learning how to pray for you, and how to pray for the churches that support you.

Thankfully, we have the perfect teacher. The Apostle Paul - groundbreaking missionary that he was - recorded many of his prayers for the churches and requests he made for the churches to pray for him and his team. Over the next few days, as God wills, I plan to post here some thoughts on Paul's prayers for the churches and his requests from the churches - and how they relate to being good "senders".

1. "I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all of you, because your faith is proclaimed in all the world." (Rom. 1:8)

There is probably no ingredient more important for a church that wishes to be missions-minded than this one. Faith is the starting point for missions involvement - a firm conviction that the message is true and must be shared. Paul's thankfulness for the church at Rome goes beyond their personal faith - he is thankful that they extend that faith to proclamation through "all the world". They were convinced that the message was not just for those in Rome. They didn't focus just on attracting people to come to their church. They went into all the world - and Paul was grateful.

There's another type of faith wrapped up in Paul's comments here. The word used for faith, pistis, can equally mean "faithfulness". The church at Rome was faithful - and word gets around. Really, faithfulness cannot be separated from evangelism. A church with a message, but no faithfulness, will ultimately have no message. Because the church was faithful to God, they were faithful to Paul. His love for the church permeates his letter. He longed to visit them - a church he had not established - and seems to know he can count on them to pray for his specific requests.

How does this relate to becoming world Christians? Our churches need to first and foremost be filled with faith in the message of the Gospel and the need to proclaim it to the world. Then, we need to develop deep faithfulness to God - faithfulness that extends to His servants. When we are faithful - when faith in Him permeates our existence - we will dig deep and rethink priorities. Our budgets will reflect commitment to missions and our people will learn to make hard choices - a well in Africa over a new pipe organ; a new work in Southeast Asia over a new building. People will take care of practical needs for those on the field and those preparing to go. Sunday School classes and individuals will write letters and send boxes and remind them they are loved. Emails will be circulated and maps will display pictures. Pastors will teach the word from the perspective of God's worldwide purposes - and people will open their hearts and homes to the missionaries that come through the church's doors. Eventually, missionaries will go out from the church. But the new works won't be exalted over the old ones. Faithfulness will continue to characterize the church's interactions. All decisions will be prayed over and discernment will be important, of course. But in general, the church will see itself as part of a team along with missionaries that it supports.

Prayer: Lord, help our churches develop a faith that is proclaimed in the world. Help us to be churches that our missionaries can be thankful for. Increase our faith in You and our faithfulness to You and to Your servants. For those kingdom workers reading this, please bless them with at least one supporting church that is faithful to them as the church in Rome was to Paul.

Controlled by the Spirit

The Lord’s spirit took control of Gideon. (Judges 6:33a)

I just love the story of Gideon.

Here is the "mighty warrior" hiding in the winepress. There he is, begging God for reassurance that he has heard His call. And again, we see him jumping at the chance to go overheard the camp of the enemy when God gives him permission to do so "if you are afraid" (Jud. 7). I always get the impression that if he hadn't been the one calling out to the troops that they could leave if they were "shaking in their boots" that he would have been running away himself!

And yet - he was God's chosen vessel. His successes were tremendous and encourage us even today. Why? What is the key to Gideon's victory? I believe Judges 6:33 provides the answer: God's Spirit took control.

Gideon is a reminder that faith isn't about the lack of fear. It isn't about the right words or a prayer formula. It's about yielding to the control of the Spirit. Getting out of the way so He can get something done - that is real faith. It's pressing on, even when fear encroaches every side.

Paul exhorts us to be controlled by the Spirit as well. In Gal. 5 he calls it "walking in the Spirit." Ephesians references being "filled with the Spirit." Basically it all means the same thing - letting God's Spirit so control us that our flesh is suppressed and His fruit is revealed.

Whatever you are facing today in your ministry or walk with God, press on in faith. Don't worry about getting rid of the fear - just yield to His Spirit's control in the midst of it. As you move forward into that new land, studying that language, researching that people group, or just walking across the street to the neighbor's house, seek to be controlled by the Spirit.

And then watch what He does!

The Glorious Church

Husbands, love your wives just as Christ loved the church and gave himself for her to sanctify her by cleansing her with the washing of the water by the word, so that he may present the church to himself as glorious – not having a stain or wrinkle, or any such blemish, but holy and blameless. (Eph. 5:25-27)

This is just one of those neat tidbits too good not to share.

Last night at the worship service at the Hispanic church I attend with my husband on Friday nights, the pastor referenced Eph. 5:25-27. Since I was struggling to understand the message (in Spanish), I looked at my textual notes in the NET Bible that I use. I saw this incredible tidbit for verse 27:

"The use of the pronoun autos is intensive and focuses attention on Christ as the one who has made the church glorious."

Wow! In the midst of a passage that we in our man-centeredness like to think is about us (at least us as the church), we see the language pointing all back to Jesus. I immediately thought of Jude 24: "Now to the one who is able to keep you from falling, and to cause you to stand, rejoicing, without blemish before his glorious presence".

HE is able to keep us from falling and cause us to stand blameless before Him, without blemish. When the church is presented as gloriously pure before Him, it will be because of His work, His purity, His righteousness, His sanctification. In other words, even in a moment that looks like it might be about us - it's really about Him. We'll all be in total unity about the fact that all that is clean and pure within us is His work.

And that can be a great encouragement - in life and in ministry. Sure, we must do the hard work of the obedience of faith. But as I posted recently, He enables the fulfillment of our good resolves. To paraphrase Paul - we work hard - not us, but Him in us. And in ministry it is the same. We seek to advance the kingdom of God and we make our plans and have our visions and work as hard as possible. But the church that HE will cause to be pure before Him is the church we are working to build ... and so HE is the one who ultimately is going to bring about our success. We never know if it is this person or the next - but we do know that HE has taken the responsibility for the success of the church upon His shoulders.

In the great partnership that is ministry, we have our part. It is important and challenging and difficult and rewarding. But it's not ultimately on our shoulders. He is building His church. We are merely instruments in His very capable hands.

Now may the God of peace himself make you completely holy and may your spirit and soul and body be kept entirely blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. He who calls you is trustworthy, and he will in fact do this. (1 Thess. 5:23-24)

Ready to love them too?

I just heard an awesome song. In it, Steve Camp exhorts us, "Don't tell them about Jesus unless you're ready to love them too."

How true. It's really the message of the book of James - practical Christianity matters, a lot. And that's where it gets really hard ... and messy. Because sometimes we want the easy way out. We want to tell them about Jesus and get out of town. We want the job of the traveling evangelist, not the boots-on-the-ground shepherd.

And yet study after study confirms that most people come to Christ as a result of 1 to 1 evangelism. Someone takes the time to build a relationship, pours into a person over days, weeks, months, and years, demonstrating love and authenticity - living the message, and praying fervantly, and waiting for the opportunity to verbalize the Gospel.

Verbalizing the Gospel is crucial! We don't want them to think we're just good people. Romans 10 makes clear that verbal proclamation of the Word is God's means of creating faith. But Camp reminds us that preaching, sharing, teaching all are pointless without people who are willing to be "Jesus with skin on". Where the rubber meets the road love MUST go hand-in-hand with preaching and teaching and verbal proclamation of the Gospel.

Many of you are wondering if your efforts matter. You are having lunch with the same lady every Tuesday, going out of your way to get coffee at that shop where the owner lingers just a bit to see what book you're reading, wearing yourself out making sandwiches for the homeless, organizing a donation for the family who lost their home to a Christmas Eve fire. Or maybe you're changing diapers and teaching kids how to spell 2 syllable words and singing Jesus Loves Me while you do the dishes. All are manifestations of love. All are ways to be Jesus with skin on. Hang in there, beloved. If you're loving them too, then you have authenticity to tell them about Jesus.

And let us not grow weary of doing good, for in due season we will reap, if we do not give up. So then, as we have opportunity, let us do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith. (Gal. 6:9-10)

Seeing Dust

I've been off work the past two weeks, and trying to catch up on a lot of things around the house. One of my goals has been deeper cleaning than I usually do, and today I noticed something I'm not sure I'm excited about:

I am seeing dust.

Not that it isn't there all along - but as all my friends and family know, I just don't "see" it. I forget to dust (really - it's on my list because otherwise I would never think about it). I don't see cobwebs and I can pass by the TV for weeks without realizing it has this nasty layer on top of it.

But since I've been spending more time in our humble abode lately - and more time focusing on cleaning - I realized today that I could see dust on the TV that I just dusted 10 days ago. Dusting twice in 10 days - what's the world coming to? :) Now I fear that I will never stop seeing dust. Forevermore, I will recognize its slow creep over all our furniture.

This got me thinking - isn't it the same in our relationship with God? We start spending more time with Him and in His Word - abiding with Him - we recognize the dust in our lives. The sin and pettiness and nastiness seem to require more frequent cleaning than we'd realized. First Easter and Christmas are no longer enough ... then the weekly church service is insufficient. We begin to recognize that only a daily "bath" with the washing of the water of the Word will get rid of our dirty hands and feet. It becomes harder and harder to go back to living with a layer of dust.

That's also how it is with recognizing God's heart for the nations. Once He gives us a kingdom perspective, a global view, it becomes hard to stop being world Christians. We begin to notice the unreached people groups. We learn the phrase "unengaged, unreached" and are haunted by the idea that no one is reaching out to this group. We can't hear of a war without wondering about the missionaries in the area. And so it goes. Once our eyes are opened - which seems to take a miracle on the scale of making me recognize dust - we are never the same.

As long as we respond.

If we crawl back into our corner of the world, retreating to the familiar, the enemy will be more than happy to help us forget the anguished look on that picture, the painful headline on the article we read last night. Just as we can quench the Spirit's conviction of sin by not spending time in God's Word, we can quench His awakening of us to His global purpose by avoiding anything but the familiar.

Or, we can nurture that awareness by reading and studying and learning and going and sending and praying and analyzing Scripture for a missions perspective. We can see what kind of relationship we can have with Him if we fully obey the Great Commission and discover the depth of "Lo, I am with you always". We can break out of our comfort zones and experience God.

Not much of consequence will happen if I go back to forgetting to dust and failing to see cobwebs. Failure to see the world as God sees it, however, would be tragic. In fact, it would be the quickest way to waste a lifetime.

Fulfilling our Resolves

To this end we always pray for you, that our God may make you worthy of his calling and may fulfill every resolve for good and every work of faith by his power (2 Thess. 1:11)

Now may our Lord Jesus Christ himself, and God our Father, who loved us and gave us eternal comfort and good hope through grace, comfort your hearts and establish them in every good work and word. (2 Thess. 2:16-17)

I blew it today.

I was too focused on myself, on the 12 hour sneezing fit I've been on, on the frustrating crowds at Wal-Mart, on feeling tired after not sleeping well last night. My self-centeredness set me up for a pity party which turned into a pizza party ... not good when I'm trying to lose weight and when food can be a spiritual battle for me. To make matters worse, I got mad at our cable/internet provider because of a series of their mistakes - mistakes which had us on the phone with them 3 times today. I tried not to take it out on the tech support guy the 3rd time, but I wasn't exactly walking in the Spirit either.

So much for my resolutions. Oh, I realize it's Dec. 31 and resolutions for 2009 start tomorrow. But today was just a great reminder of how far "my" resolutions will get me....a reminder of how much I need a Savior.

Which is why I am thrilled that these verses are in the Bible. In the past, my inabilities would lead me to think that I shouldn't resolve anything except to walk in the Spirit. Even now, I tend to have "goals" rather than resolutions.

But these verses encourage me that even my "resolves" or my desires for good work are meaningful ... when submitted to the power of God. It is He who ultimately can and will fulfill every resolve I make for good ... and who will by His power fulfill every work I undertake in faith. And it is He who will establish me in every good work I do and good word I speak.

So in my quiet time tomorrow, I'll make official some goals or resolutions of my heart - and submit them to Him for fulfillment, establishment, and power. Among other things, the cry of my heart is for:

* Intimacy with God - deeper quiet times and faithful prayer

* Relationship with others - more Mary, less Martha

* Self-Control

* A growing global perspective that keeps in mind what God is up to and what others are going through

* Quick obedience to His Word

* Lots and lots of love - even for cable companies :)

So, from my house to yours - Happy New Year. May He help you fulfill all your resolves for good in 2009.

Strength to Love

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.

(Eph. 3:14-19, ESV)

And it is my prayer that your love may abound more and more, with knowledge and all discernment

(Phil. 1:9, ESV)

Love is hard.

Usually, by the time we figure this out in ministry, we've learned that our love is insufficient. We know that what is needed is agape love - God's love flowing through us. We know that we are just vessels and that what is required is to abide in Him. However we get to that point, we tend to find it a relief to know we should relax and just let Him work through us.

Which is why it's a shock to find out that even being a vessel for agape love is hard.

I think that's why Paul's prayers for the churches included such significant prayers about love. He wanted them to know the breadth and depth and width and height of Christ's love for them ... but he prayed that they would have the strength to comprehend that love. Something about Christ's love is so mind-boggling that we need not only wisdom, knowledge, and understanding, but strength to comprehend it. In modern-day vernacular - if we truly got His love for us, we would be absolutely blown away. So praying for a deeper understanding of His love isn't enough ... we need strength to comprehend what He will reveal.

And then, we have to get our minds wrapped around the fact that this love is the love He wants to infuse into us and flow into others. And that's where it gets really hard. We're usually fine with His lavish, nonsensical, unmerited love toward us. It's when He asks us to pass it on to a poor waitress, a mocking co-worker, a thoughtless spouse, a people group bound by demonic spirits manifesting hate, that we struggle.

Which is why Paul also prayed that the church's love would abound - overflow - with knowledge and discernment. It takes knowledge of God's love, of His character and His Word, combined with discernment of the moment, to know what manifestation that love should take in a given situation. Should it be the love of grace and mercy, of unmerited favor? Or should it be the tough love of speaking truth and calling to repentence? Should we, as vessels, look more like Hosea or more like Amos? Will our heart's cry sound like the first half of Isaiah or the last?

Such things are hard to judge from the outside. But we can pray for each other, as Paul did, that we would have strength to comprehend God's love for us - and knowledge and discernment in exercising that love toward others. That was my prayer for you tonight - and I covet your prayers in this as well.

Yes, love is hard. But together we can "spur one another on to love and good deeds" (Heb. 10:24). Thanks for praying!

Vignettes from a Christmas Trip

Every Christmas for the last several years I've asked the Lord to teach me new things from the old, old story. The past couple of years, I've also asked Him to give me vignettes that would be especially meaningful to those of you who don't get to celebrate Christmas at "home" - for the sake of the Kingdom. For you, I submit these vignettes from Christmas 2008:

What I loved and learned this Christmas

* Simplicity. Who cares that the economy is down! Less shopping means more time to focus on the Savior. And I personally find scouring resale shops to be a lot of fun ... and quite meaningful.

* Presence. This is really the heart of Christmas. The presence of God ... Immanuel, God with us. But not in a touchy-feely, warm fuzzy way - as one pastor put it, "There's a cross in the manger." We must never forget that aspect of Christmas.

* Humanity. Equally important is what my pastor pointed out - Christmas reminds us of Jesus' humanity. Without His humanity, we would never know that He identifies with our weaknesses. He took on human flesh, Hebrews tells us, to identify with us and the conquer death by dying.

* The Meaning of the Magi. What started out as an irritating column became a lesson for me (see previous post). The Magi traveled so far because Jesus was unique! In the nativity scenes so common at this time of year, we see that Jesus calls equally to shepherds and kings ... and we see that both worship Him because He is unique.

* Togetherness and tradition. I enjoyed just being around family. I loved the non-traditional meals; Bob's daughter-in-law's family scrapping their traditional Christmas Eve dinner out in favor of a potluck at David's house just to see us; my parents' reactions at their gifts; finding good music on the radio. I learned that I love the traditional versions of the songs and carols because we could sing along better. I found new songs I love, but they have a traditional feel to them. I also learned that I don't want entertainment, I want worship.

* Quiet streets and darkened stores. My favorite part about Christmas was the drive into Fayetteville after our travels ... Christmas night, the streets were quiet and most stores were darkened. I love that reminder that even though everyone doesn't believe or understand why, we still basically shut down one day a year for Jesus. Silent night, holy night.

O come, let us adore Him!

The Meaning of the Magi

So a local pastor tells us in his column today (12/22) that the Magi's own faith (he says it's Zoroastrianism) led them to the manger where nobody forced them to worship Jesus. He uses this to illustrate the ecumenical nature of all religions and the importance of recognizing the good in them all.

To quote Ebenezer Scrooge, Humbug! The logic of this argument falls apart when we wonder, if all religions are equal, why the magi would need to come to Jesus at all. If he is right and the magi's own belief system pointed them to Jesus, does this not underscore the supremacy of the Babe, rather than the similarities of all faiths? Simply put, if all religions are equal then there is no need for them to point to Jesus.

And yet we see, in many traditions around the world, in many cultures, traces of the Gospel. The villagers who believe that only by drawing a cross on the dirt can they ward off evil spirits. The "peace child" that must be offered to settle disputes between two parties. Don Richardson calls these the "keys" within cultures and religions that point people to Jesus. Often, when these people groups hear the message of the Gospel, they respond eagerly because of the preparation God has put within their cultures. (I'm sure some of you could tell far more stories than I could about this topic!)

The pastor is right about one thing - no one forced the magi to worship Jesus. But worship Him they did, as Matthew 2 makes clear. They didn't worship Him because He was equal to their traditions. They worshiped Him because He was supreme.

Jesus is unique. He draws shepherds and magi into the circle of His love and places them on equal footing. And because He is supreme, He can use people's own traditions to point them to truth, preparing them for the message of Scripture. But let's never confuse that preparation for the ultimate message. Always remember that Jesus is unique and supreme. The magi didn't travel 2 years to worship someone equal to their faith. They traveled 2 years to worship God Incarnate, Immanuel, God with us.

Merry Christmas.

Risky Business!

For whoever would save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for my sake will find it. (Mt. 16:25)

I don't know anyone on the field who hasn't memorized and recited Jim Eliot's commentary on this verse:

He is no fool who gives what he cannot keep in order to gain what he cannot lose.

Jim Eliot would know more about loss than he ever dreamed, being murdered along with 4 other missionaries by Auca warriors. And yet today, the Auca are decidedly Christian. We know Jim would say it was worth it.

Risky business, this kingdom work. And that's why some quotes I read in an interview in this week's World magazine (www.worldmag.com) jumped out at me. The author, Gary Haugen, emphasizes involvement in worldwide justice -- but I think his perspective is most applicable if broadened to all work of kingdom advancement. Anyone on mission with God should find his words encouraging and appropriate. Thus, in some of the quotes below I have replaced the word justice with the bracketed [mission] to drive home the point. I hope you are as encouraged as I was to keep taking risks for the Kingdom!

• On why Christians are discontent: "They feel this way because they thought that the Christian life would offer them something that was somehow bigger, more glorious - but at the end fo the day, they find themselves wondering, Is this all there is? Christians seem to be yearning to be liberated from a life of accumulated triviality and small fears, and I see in Scripture a clear pathway to freedom - namely, in answering Christ's call to join Him in His struggle for [mission] in the world."
• On his use of the cul-de-sac as a metaphor for the search for safety: "When we began to build cul-de-sacs here in theUnited States, it was to address homeowner's fears about traffic in their streets. The thought was that these closed-off streets would eliminate the kind fo traffic that could be dangerous to children playing on the sidewalks. But now, studies reveal that cul-de-sacs are actually the most dangerous residential set-up for kids....So the safety we thought we were securing was just an illusion. In the same way, I find we've built spiritual cul-de-sacs for ourselves, believing that when we feel safe and secure, we can most experience the fullness of God; but in this illusory safety, we instead find ourselves restless, longing for a way out, and somehow missing that closeness to our Maker we thought we would find."
• On the importance of Christians pursuing something beyond our own strength: "When we choose to follow God beyond where our own strength can take us, He rescues us from our small prisons of triviality and fear - and this is a good and beautiful and freeing thing. When we walk with God to the jagged edges of our faith - the places beyond our own control, beyond what we may see the crowd around us doing or approving - God promises we will experience Him: His power, His wisdom, and His love."

"The jagged edges of our faith." That's risky business, all right. But as any investor will tell you, the biggest risk brings the greatest opportunity for reward. Ultimately the sovereignty of our God makes this risk no risk at all - because He has promised every tribe, tongue, and nation will be around His throne. The outcome is certain. The risk we are called to is simply to live on the jagged edges of our faith all the way to victory.

Stating the Obvious

God loves to speak to me by stating the obvious. I'm glad I'm not the only one - none less than Joshua heard God tell him the obvious as well.

When Joshua was very old, the Lord told him, “You are very old, and a great deal of land remains to be conquered."(Josh. 13:1-2)

When Joshua was old, God said, "You're old." I love that about Him! He doesn't let me get by with anything ... if I'm being selfish, that's what He calls it. If I'm tapdancing around sin, He goes straight to the core. He challenges me on my rationalizations and my realities. In short, He regularly states the obvious.

The problem is that I don't always want to hear it! I want the spiritualized version, the one with all the big words and turns of phrases that make me look better. I want a loophole - and He refuses to give me one. Teaching children's church and occasionally attending a Spanish worship service have taught me that boiling things down to the basics is an important lesson God wants me to learn - probably because He knows my tendency to make things more complex than they have to be.

So when He says, "Go into all the world..." I really don't have to look up the meaning of the words in three dictionaries. When He says "Go" He probably means ... "Go". When He says "all" He probably means ... "all." Being part of the "Go" is one of the most obvious things we can do to walk with Him. And if we aren't "going" then we should be involving in actively sending. That's what so many of you are doing - taking God up on His obvious word.

This Christmas season, when the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, please receive from me my heartfelt thanks for being such a great example of obedience to a command that God made incredibly obvious.

Inspiration

I was perusing some of my previous writings on this blog, looking for inspiration. I've been in a bit of a "dry spell" - probably due to the busy-ness of work and life in general, combined with a bit of oversleeping cutting into my quiet times where I receive from the Lord and get inspired with something to pour out for you.

I found a letter that I posted last Christmas - a letter "from Jesus" that reminds us of His perspective at this time of year. However, I found much more than that ... I found a reminder of what true inspiration is.

Inspiration isn't always something new. It's not about coming up with something or presenting something new and innovative. I've said before that when I try to be profound, nobody cares. When I can't even remember what I've said, people tell me they were blessed. A simple reminder that I am just a vessel and if I'm too aware of the significance of what I'm saying, it's probably really not that significant after all.

Because what really matters is hearing from Jesus. The fundamentals - His words in the Word - the basics of our faith - the habits of prayer and worship and study - don't always feel "inspired". But they are the tools He uses so we can hear from Him. Unlike other religions, our Scriptures aren't considered divine on their own. They are powerful because they are HIS words ... and Scripture points us to the Author.

I do want Him to inspire me with fresh words - words that I hope will continue to encourage you. And I ask you to pray for me in that. But more than anything, I want to encourage you to hear from HIM. I want to point you to the Author. The Inspirer. The one whose every word is profound - who wants to speak to YOU this Christmas season.

May this letter encourage you as you face the holiday "rush" this year. Blessings!

A Letter From Jesus (by Anonymous)
Stop worrying about the fact that people are calling the tree a holiday tree, instead of a Christmas tree. It was I who made all trees. You can remember Me anytime you see any tree. Decorate a grape vine if you wish: I actually spoke of that one in a teaching, explaining who I am in relation to you and what each of our tasks were. If you have forgotten that one, look up John 15: 1 - 8.

If you want to give Me a present in remembrance of My birth here is my wish list. Choose something from it:

1. Instead of writing protest letters objecting to the way My birthday is being celebrated, write letters of love and hope to soldiers away from home. They are terribly afraid and lonely this time of year. I know, they tell Me all the time.

2. Visit someone in a nursing home. You don't have to know them personally. They just need to know that someone cares about them.

3. Instead of writing George complaining about the wording on the cards his staff sent out this year, why don't you write and tell him that you'll be praying for him and his family this year. Then follow up. It will be nice hearing from you again.

4. Instead of giving your children a lot of gifts you can't afford and they don't need, spend time with them. Tell them the story of My birth, and why I came to live with you down here. Hold them in your arms and remind them that I love them.

5. Pick someone that has hurt you in the past and forgive him or her.

6. Did you know that someone in your town will attempt to take their own life this season because they feel so alone and hopeless? Since you don't know who that person is, try giving everyone you meet a warm smile; it could make the difference.

7. Instead of nit picking about what the retailer in your town calls the holiday, be patient with the people who work there. Give them a warm smile and a kind word. Even if they aren't allowed to wish you a "Merry Christmas" that doesn't keep you from wishing them one. Then stop shopping there on Sunday. If the store didn't make so much money on that day they'd close and let their employees spend the day at home with their families

8. If you really want to make a difference, support a missionary-- especially one who takes My love and Good News to those who have never heard My name.

9. Here's a good one. There are individuals and whole families in your town who not only will have no "Christmas" tree, but neither will they have any presents to give or receive. If you don't know them, buy some food and a few gifts and give them to the Salvation Army or some other charity which believes in Me and they will make the delivery for you.

10. Finally, if you want to make a statement about your belief in and loyalty to Me, then behave like a Christian. Don't do things in secret that you wouldn't do in My presence. Let people know by your actions that you are one of mine.

Don't forget; I am God and can take care of Myself. Just love Me and do what I have told you to do. I'll take care of all the rest. Check out the list above and get to work; time is short. I'll help you, but the ball is now in your court. And do have a most blessed Christmas with all those whom you love and remember :
I LOVE YOU, JESUS

Prepare for Victory!

After Moses the Lord’s servant died, the Lord said to Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ assistant:

“Moses my servant is dead. Get ready! Cross the Jordan River! Lead these people into the land which I am ready to hand over to them. I am handing over to you every place you set foot, as I promised Moses....No one will be able to resist you all the days of your life. As I was with Moses, so I will be with you. I will not abandon you or leave you alone. Be strong and brave! You must lead these people in the conquest of this land that I solemnly promised their ancestors I would hand over to them. Make sure you are very strong and brave! Carefully obey all the law my servant Moses charged you to keep! Do not swerve from it to the right or to the left, so that you may be successful in all you do. This law scroll must not leave your lips! You must memorize it day and night so you can carefully obey all that is written in it. Then you will prosper and be successful. I repeat, be strong and brave! Don’t be afraid and don’t panic, for I, the Lord your God, am with you in all you do.” (Josh. 1:1-3, 5-9)

In the spiritual warfare that is called life, one principle has helped me dig in my heels to fight: we have to prepare for victory.

It's easy as a New Testament believer with the full counsel of Scripture to turn to the last page, see that we win, and sit back and wait for Jesus to return. But that's not what He's asked us to do. Instead, He lets us see the end so that we maintain courage in the battle - so that we know it will all be okay.

But we still have to prepare for victory.

That was God's primary word to Joshua after Moses' death. "Moses is gone - there's a war to win - get ready for it!" With a side helping of "Be strong and brave." It doesn't take much imagination to grasp that was a message Joshua desperately needed.

Know God's promises. Focus on Scripture. Obey what we know. Trust that He is with us. And keep moving forward.

Principles for Joshua - and for us. For as John Piper points out in Let the Nations Be Glad, life is warfare. We are left on this earth with a mission - to secure land that belongs to Jesus. Peoples that are His. There is warfare in the process - but the victory is certain. Only as we prepare for victory will we have the strength to move forward.

The same is true in the daily victories of holiness and righteousness along the way. As we battle with the world, the flesh, and Satan, we are fighting on a different front in the same war - the war of the kingdom. And the tools for victory are still the same. His promises - His Word - Obedience - Faith - Perserverence.

But if we don't prepare for victory none of that will happen. One of my struggles is food. If I pray for help, but let the salad greens ruin in the fridge, I'm not really prepared for victory! If I overload my plate, my prayers for self-control will likely have little effect. But if I pray - then act as one prepared for victory - I will see victories that have been elusive.

The same is true in prayer. The father (or mother!) of the prodigal should be prepared for the victory of answered prayers. I'm not talking about a works-oriented "have enough faith" approach. I'm talking about a God-centered, Christ-exalted, Spirit-empowered faith to perservere in prayer and keep the child's favorite snack in the pantry - just in case.

These days, I'm working at preparing for victory in my personal struggles, in prayer, and in the advance of the kingdom. I pray you'll join me. Be prepared like Joshua to be strong and brave - and let's see what God does!

Veins to flow through

Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, (Heb. 1:1-3a)

For in him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily (Col. 2:9)

I love Christmas music - not the wannabe "holiday" stuff, but true, biblically solid, worship provoking, Christmas music. I fell in love with "Mary Did you Know?" because of the last line - "The sleeping child you're holding is the great I AM". At a time when people talk about Jesus, it's always good to clarify precisely who He is!

There's a false teaching out there that the God of the Old Testament had to change because of Jesus. No. People just didn't get what He was saying, so He sent Jesus to make the message clear. This song helps me wrap my mind around that - and hopefully will help you too. And when we understand it just a little better, we can take those opportunities that come up to talk to people about who Jesus REALLY is!

That's why I want to introduce you to my new favorite Christmas song. "Hope Has Hands" is part of a musical written by Phil Cross. I've posted a video and lyrics below. Please read them worshipfully - thinking of just how significant it is that all the things God is, were reflected in Jesus as He walked this earth. What He wanted us to know about Him, He lived out on this earth. That's why Adrian Rodgers used to say, "The cross didn't change God's heart, it revealed it."

Each year, I ask God to help me learn something new about the Christmas story. This year, a snippet of a song taught me to look at the dirty manger as reflective of my heart - He came in all His purity and perfection to a dirty manger, to let me know I could ask Him into my dirty heart. It's real - the most real thing you will ever know in your life. I am in awe today - realizing that Christmas is about the Advent of God. His coming. His giving hands to the hope He offered ... hands that would soon be pierced, with redemption's blood pouring out of real veins.



In search of a child, they traveled so far
Led by a star to a place of joy
The wise men told a beautiful story
Describing the glory of a baby boy

Hope has hands
Freedom has feet
Truth will stand
The word will speak
The holy and the lowly will finally embrace
For love has a heartbeat
And grace has a face

Compassion has a tear
Joy has laughter
And here everafter
Peace has a smile
Redemption's blood has veins to flow in
A temple to glow in
For light is a child

Hope has hands
Freedom has feet
Truth will stand
The word will speak
The holy and the lowly will finally embrace
For love has a heartbeat
And grace has a face

The holy and the lowly will finally embrace
For love has a heartbeat
Love has a heartbeat
And grace has a face

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth. (John 1:14)

Serve, Sacrifice, Depend

And the angel answered her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be called holy—the Son of God. And behold, your relative Elizabeth in her old age has also conceived a son, and this is the sixth month with her who was called barren. For nothing will be impossible with God.” And Mary said, “Behold, I am the servant of the Lord; let it be to me according to your word.” And the angel departed from her. (Luke 1:35-38)

I am in the midst of a season where He is asking me daily to serve, sacrifice, and depend - to daily do something of service, something that requires sacrifice, and something that couldn't be done apart from dependence on Him.

It's challenging because in the process I'm learning a lot about myself - things like how much I do in my own strength; how little I actually sacrifice; and how easy it is to rationalize things as service to God without getting my hands "dirty" in ministry to others. It's a blessing, though, because God is teaching me that real service, sacrifice, and dependence often begin where choices end.

Let me explain. It's easy to serve when we get to choose what we do. I've heard it said that the real test of servanthood is how you act when you are treated like one. So true - and yet that is when true servanthood can begin. When we choose to respond to someone who acts like we "owe it to" him or her, with love and service as until Christ, we truly enter into service. Developing an attitude of service - a habit of service - on a daily basis will make those times much easier, I hope.

Similarly, I've learned that I like to choose my sacrifices. Sure, I'll give up that dessert, that extra something for myself, that item that I hardly use anyway. But when we don't have a choice about the sacrifice - when God rearranges our day, or when we find ourselves with a child with special needs or a spouse with a stroke ... when circumstances force us out of a country we love and back to a "home" that feels foreign ... when we are packed and ready to go and a phone calls tells us we'll be staying ... those involuntary sacrifices seem to hurt the most. What God seems to be teaching me is that the voluntary sacrifices will prepare me to handle those that I don't get to pick.

And it seems like it requires me being in a place where I have no choice but to depend on God before I remember what it feels like. In the daily round, my good intentions to pray before every new work task or decision seem to be forgotten. But when the mail brings unwelcome news, or an email changes the course of my day, suddenly dependence becomes second nature. My lessons of late are teaching me that I can seek out things to do that require dependence on Him - step outside my comfort zone if you will - and not have to face those crises of faith before true dependence kicks in.

The Christmas season brings reminders of service, sacrifice, and dependence beyond anything I've ever been called to. At our women's tea this week the lesson was on Mary's Song. Mary really reflects the heart of someone who has learned these lessons well. She exemplifies the hard thing that we don't choose. God chose her and blessed her, but she still had to face the crowd with a swollen belly - a crowd that easily could have stoned her. Mary knew just a little of God's plan, but it was enough to cause her to praise God, holding on to what she understood until He would show her more.

God has graciously allowed me to choose the vast majority of my service, sacrifice, and areas of dependence on Him. But when harder service, sacrifice, and dependence comes, I can learn much from Mary. I can learn to praise God for what I do know and understand, trusting Him with my questions. Like Mary, I can submit to His plan, realizing that what He really wants is a soul that magnifies Him.

And Mary said, “My soul magnifies the Lord,
and my spirit rejoices in God my Savior
(Luke 1:46-47)

Looking for Lazarus

Now a certain man was ill, Lazarus of Bethany, the village of Mary and her sister Martha. It was Mary who anointed the Lord with ointment and wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother Lazarus was ill. So the sisters sent to him, saying, “Lord, he whom you love is ill.” But when Jesus heard it he said, “This illness does not lead to death. It is for the glory of God, so that the Son of God may be glorified through it.” Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus. So, when he heard that Lazarus was ill, he stayed two days longer in the place where he was.

(John 11:1-6)

You never know when God is going to drop a lesson into your life.

Yesterday it was my turn for Children's Church. The lesson was a familiar one - Jesus raises Lazarus from the dead. I had gained several new insights during the preparation, and the lesson went well. I was coasting down the home stretch when I was hit head-on with an amazing truth. As the kids worked their word find and the teachers waited for church to dismiss, my bright students were struggling with a word. They kept saying they were "looking for Lazarus". Jokes soon ensued about whether he was in the tomb or not. But my mind was hung up on that phrase.

Looking for Lazarus. Mary and Martha - and the disciples - knew Jesus. They had confessed Him as Messiah, expressed faith that He could heal, and embraced the truth of future resurrection. But they weren't aware that He would be revealing His glory in the remarkable here-and-now. They didn't realize that what they knew about Him was about to be taken deeper. Soon, anyone who would go looking for Lazarus wouldn't go to the tomb - they would go back to the home. They would find him in his favorite chair, or working in the woodshed. Lazarus would forever be a reminder that we will never have God "figured out". We may fully believe in who He is, trust His wonder-working power, and look gloriously to the future - and still get blown away. Because He reserves the right to choose how to reveal His glory.

Looking for Lazarus.What is the Lazarus in your life right now? Is it an illness, an unsaved loved one, a financial crisis? The Lazarus in your life is that point at which you have expected God's intervention in a certain way - and He hasn't shown up yet. That point at which you are waiting two more days. That point at which He shows up to your relief, and yet your heart cries, "If only You had been here...." The point where you have the opportunity to trust His heart when you don't see His hand.

Looking for Lazarus. God is always up to something. He is always at work around us, as Henry Blackaby points out. Our job is just to see what He is doing and join Him in it. That requires eyes to see beyond today's understanding of Him, into the supernatural revelation of who He is in a new, deeper way. To trust His sovereignty and His goodness and His heart of mercy and His supremacy. To know that He is for us, even if He doesn't show up in a manner that fits our preconceived ideas.

Looking for Lazarus. When you're in the role of Mary and Martha (or Lazarus himself), the key verse in the passage is verse 5: "Now Jesus loved Martha and her sister and Lazarus." He loves you. He loves your loved one. And He hasn't stopped being FOR you.

Keep looking for Lazarus. Because in the Lazaruses of your life, you will encounter Jesus in amazing ways ... ways that tear down the walls of every box you could possibly put Him in.

Redistribution God's Way

Deut. 15:4-11
However, there should not be any poor among you, for the Lord will surely bless you in the land that he is giving you as an inheritance, if you carefully obey him by keeping all these commandments that I am giving you today. For the Lord your God will bless you just as he has promised; you will lend to many nations but will not borrow from any, and you will rule over many nations but they will not rule over you. If a fellow Israelite from one of your villages in the land that the Lord your God is giving you should be poor, you must not harden your heart or be insensitive to his impoverished condition. Instead, you must be sure to open your hand to him and generously lend him whatever he needs.

Be careful lest you entertain the wicked thought that the seventh year, the year of cancellation of debts, has almost arrived, and your attitude be wrong toward your impoverished fellow Israelite and you do not lend him anything; he will cry out to the Lord against you and you will be regarded as having sinned. You must by all means lend to him and not be upset by doing it, for because of this the Lord your God will bless you in all your work and in everything you attempt. There will never cease to be some poor people in the land; therefore, I am commanding you to make sure you open your hand to your fellow Israelites who are needy and poor in your land.

2 Cor. 8:12-15

For if the eagerness is present, the gift itself is acceptable according to whatever one has, not according to what he does not have. For I do not say this so there would be relief for others and suffering for you, but as a matter of equality. At the present time, your abundance will meet their need, so that one day their abundance may also meet your need, and thus there may be equality, as it is written: “The one who gathered much did not have too much, and the one who gathered little did not have too little.”

Gal. 2:10

They requested only that we remember the poor,

the very thing I also was eager to do.

I've become convinced that socialism is more than a counterfeit of God's way of providing for the poor - it's a blight on the church. From the earliest days of Israel - before they even entered the land - God expected that the "haves" would take care of the "have nots". He would bless them, to be sure - but they were expected to take care of the poor.

In fact, a good argument could be made that one reason both Moses and Jesus asserted that there would always be poor among us is that having someone needier than we are keeps us from loving wealth too much. It keeps us focused on being a blessing, rather than being blessed. Generosity is the best protection against greed.

Whatever the purpose, God asserts that the poor among us are not to be ignored but cared for. As economic systems go, both socialism and capitalism have their natural pitfalls, their natural human bents toward sin nature. Capitalism has a tendency to despise the poor - think Ebenezer Scrooge. In such a context, socialism can be seen as attractive - as the "duty" of a nation.

In reality though, it's the covenant community - the people of God - who should be taking the lead in caring for the poor. Many evangelical believers shy away from such talk, because of the imbalance of the "social Gospel" that prioritized human need over eternal truth. Yet as we peruse the pages of Scripture we encounter a God who perfectly melded both temporal help and eternal hope. And He calls us to do likewise.

God wants us to give generously to the poor as He blesses us. Without hardening our heart, meet their needs. Failure to do so is sin. Failure to do so can easily lead to our wealth controlling us. God's method of redistribution is personal, not governmental. Be generous and sacrificial; give from the overflow as well as out of need.

Governmental redistribution should never be needed. As we walk through an economic crisis, let's heed the call of Scripture to give. Now, more than ever, when people are holding tight to every penny, let's show true dependence on God by not decreasing our giving.

May you be blessed to be a blessing this Thanksgiving week.

Loving the Cross

The speaker's words were all over the map, spiritually speaking. One day in our conversation s/he sounded like a typical evangelical believer (whatever that sounds like); another, the modern generic Christian; yet another, self-help humanism; and at times, New Age. Was s/he a confused believer, a seeker, a deceiver? Was there any way to know, other than trusting that God knew his heart?

Then the words came to me: Does s/he love the cross? I was shocked. I didn't know, of course, what was in the person's heart. The question was really more about me than that individual. Sometimes God does that to me - gets me thinking hard about something related to another person, then turns the tables. I knew the question was really Do YOU love the cross?

C.J. Mahaney said it best: "We never move on from the cross, only into a deeper understanding of it." God knows me - He knows that I am prone to over-intellectualization, to paralysis by analysis, and to trying to find even a shred of something that sounds like what I want to hear from someone I am praying for. And so He brings me back with some regularity to what really matters. Paul called it "the simplicity and purity of devotion to Christ."

Without the cross, all the worst thoughts of nihilism and fatalism are true. We really are hard-wired to self-destruct, and the best efforts of people will only have a limited effect. Or to quote those great fatalist singers, the Hee Haw gang, "Gloom, despair, and agony on me//Deep dark depression, excessive misery."

Without the cross, all we have is punitive justice. Without the cross, only a totalitarian, highly regulated government works. Without the cross, we are stuck in Ecclesiastes forever: "Meaningless, meaningless, all is meaningless."

But hallelujah - we are not without the cross.

With the cross, we have hope. With the cross, change is possible. With the cross, we can work for societal progress, knowing that even unbelievers benefit when believers live in the land. With the cross, we realize that common grace which benefits everyone and the special grace that believers should carry with them wherever we go. With the cross, we can have restorative justice, democratic government, and the promise that nothing is meaningless but instead, "All things work together for good to them that know the Lord."

Without the cross, all we have is the Fall. With the cross, we have redemption.

The speaker had none of the cross in his words to me that day. I had to determine to pray for my friend more specifically - not to get answers to many questions, but to would grow to love the cross.

It's foolishness to the world. But it's life to you and me.

7000 Faithful

"I still have left in Israel seven thousand followers who have not bowed their knees to Baal or kissed the images of him." (1 Kings 19:18)
Elijah was depressed. Following the literal mountain-top experience of seeing God defeat the prophets of Baal, Elijah runs in fear from Jezebel and feels like he is the only faithful one left in Israel. God encourages him with this word - there are 7000 who are faithful. Elijah gets back in the battle after this exhortation.

But this week I was thinking of the 7000. Sometimes (usually!) I have a delayed realization of the obvious. Yesterday it hit me that we are never told that those 7000 were all together. I'd always pictured them huddled in some early mega-synagogue, worshipping God and awaiting His instructions. Ha! Instead, they were probably not unlike Elijah - alone, scared, and maybe even depressed.

Furthermore, we are never told whether they received the same encouraging word as Elijah. Suppose for a minute that you were one of those 7000 - and did not receive divine notification that there were 6,999 others? Suddenly a prophet comes through and speaks of having heard that there were 7000 faithful. You might hope he's talking of you, and wonder who else is out there.

I'm not sure what Israel's exact population was at this time - a battle near this time featured 10,000 Israelite soldiers, so the population was large enough to support that many in one battle. Suffice it to say that 7000 wasn't a huge percentage. Yet for God's purposes, it was enough.

Sometimes when we are in the battle we feel we are alone. We wonder who else is out there seeing things with God-glorifying lenses and fighting for His name's sake. Sometimes God speaks to us to let us know we are part of a larger remnant. Other times, we have to take Him at His word.

He told Paul in Corinth, "I have many people in this city." At other stops, Paul just had to look for those who were looking for God. Jesus had said, after all, that He had many sheep not of the fold of Israel - and Paul was enough of a theologian to know that missions was the task of finding those sheep ... with or without the divine specificity of Corinth.

You may feel like Elijah today - or like the 7000 who may not have received the encouraging word that they weren't alone. Take heart: God has always maintined a remnant. Whether He reveals that to you or asks you to take it by faith, regard it as truth and move forward in obedience.

Above all, stay faithful. Stay in the battle.

Facebooking in the Light

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 John 1:5-7)

If you're on Facebook you know what it means to have no secrets. If you're not, let me give you a little insight.

Facebook is a social networking tool - kind of like email, only more public - where users post what they're doing, what groups they support, who their friends are, etc. It's a great way to stay in touch - I've recently reconnected with 10 high school friends after 21 years.

But there are no secrets on Facebook. Once someone is your "friend", when you log on you see what they are doing or have recently done. Status updates, groups joined, public messages written, pictures uploaded - it's all there for the world (or at least their friends) to view. The very attraction of Facebook has been the downfall of more than a few people who posted the wrong thing at the wrong time, seen by the wrong person - and a college application or job was in danger.

Strangely, this phenomenon reminds me of Scripture. I call it Facebooking in the Light. John wrote that we should live our lives openly, for all to see, in such a way that there is nothing to hide. On Facebook, I find myself thinking of status updates that would be "cool" - and resisting the temptation to be something I'm not when reflecting what I'm doing. I find myself paying attention to every group I join or every message I write, knowing that others will see it. And that's not a bad thing. People being the fallen creatures we are, there is deception, puffing up, manipulation, and outright stupidity on Facebook. There is also the chance, as a believer, to practice a biblical principle.

The thing is, John wants us to live all our lives in such a way that they can be this public, without shame. The groups we're involved in, the things we're saying to each other, the daily activities of our lives, should be free of needing to be tucked away in the shadows. We should walk in the light with each other - openly confessing our sins to each other, being straightforward when we realize someone has something against us - and we should walk in the light before the world, doing nothing that couldn't be posted for all to see.

There will be the temptation to act like something we're not. But the fact is that God changes us from the inside out. So what we demonstrate should reflect an inner reality (otherwise it's called hypocrisy). Sanctification should bring us closer and closer to a congruence between what the Word says we should be/are, what we are becoming inside, and who we are in our thoughts, feelings, and actions.

What areas of our lives make us cringe at the thought of public portrayal? What would we want to keep off Facebook? Those are the very things we should bring before the throne of God and allow Him to work on ... so that we can bring one more area into the light.

For the word of God is living and active, sharper than any two-edged sword, piercing to the division of soul and of spirit, of joints and of marrow, and discerning the thoughts and intentions of the heart. 13 And no creature is hidden from his sight, but all are naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must give account. (Heb. 4:12-13)

His Part and Ours

"then He will drive out all these nations ahead of you, and you will dispossess nations greater and stronger than you. Every place you set your foot will be yours...." (Deut. 11:23-24a)

I've come to the place of realizing I'd save myself a lot of grief if I could separate MY part in a matter from HIS part.

The fact is, most of my stress comes from fretting about something that's His part anyway. Figuring out how it should work out, what to do, coming up with a plan - my natural bent toward the analytical and my gift of administration make me want to ACT! The hardest times for me are not when He gives me a tough task, but when He asks me to wait on Him.

On the cusp of their advance into the Promised Land, Israel needed to be reminded what was God's part and what was theirs. They'd missed that message 40 years earlier, and He was making sure they got it this time. Right before the battle of their lives, He laid down 5 tasks that were their part:

1) Love God
2) Do what He requires (obey His word)
3) Live according to His standards
4) Remain loyal to Him
5) Tell those who hadn't personally experienced what they had about Him

That's it. And if they did, He promised them success over enemies larger than them. He assured them of victory. His part was the battle. Theirs was childlike love, faith, and obedience - with a good dose of passing along stories of His great works.

I'm trying to sort through His part and mine in several areas right now. One thing I can know for sure - His part will always be bigger than mine. That's how He gets the glory. And He doesn't need me giving directions from the backseat!

IDOPPC

A reminder to us all: Tomorrow (11/9) is the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. Whether or not YOUR church is participating, you can pray and be engaged in the spiritual warfare that is behind persecution.

There is a beautiful song that is the "theme song" for this year's IDOPPC - you can hear it and read the poignant words at: http://www.ninaastrom.com/node/51

I also found this wonderful story and encouragment from the website at www.idop.org. However you choose to do it, please focus some time tomorrow on prayer for the persecuted church.

From www.idop.org ...
There is a wonderful little story from Africa. The villagers in a poor area decided to build a hospital but really had no money so a small boy decided he would do something. The only things he had were some pens. So he started to knock on doors asking people to buy a pen to support the building project. A lady said to him, "But that's too big a challenge for you!" Then the boy smiled and said, "Oh, but I am not alone! My smaller brother is selling pens on the other side of the street."

Many brothers and sisters in Christ in more than sixty nations do not have the full freedom to confess Jesus as Lord and Saviour in our world. Just to give you two examples: when you read this some two thousand Christians are in prison in Eritrea and thousands have lost their homes in India as a result of anti-Christian attacks. More than 100 million Christians face disinformation, discrimination and persecution only because they want to follow Jesus Christ. And they are your brothers and sisters! They easily feel alone—in the jungle, in a hiding place or in a prison.

When I now welcome you to the International Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church (IDOP) 2008 I challenge you to do whatever you can so that we together send a strong signal to our brother and sister saying: YOU ARE NOT ALONE! Let's "sell pens on the other side of the street" so that they really feel that they are not alone.

I believe that God has equipped us with each other for a time like this, and that now is the time to show our love. You can do this by praying, printing out material from these pages and sharing them in your church, or by giving financial help to good organizations.

Many persecuted Christians have told me that they could feel that people around the world were praying for them when they were in prison. Now again is the time to form the world's biggest prayer group with more than 100 nations taking part. But remember that we are praying not only FOR the persecuted church, we are very much also praying WITH the persecuted church in November. There are blessings for all of us when we unite in prayer to glorify the wonderful name of Jesus.

Welcome to participation in IDOP 2008!

Pause

I just finished a wonderful magazine. Life Action Ministries produces an annual Spirit of Revival magazine. This year's emphasis was on rest. Since I finally got around to reading it 6 months after it arrived in my mailbox, I decided it probably had some words for me!

And it did - words that I felt appropriate to share with you as well. The overall theme of the magazine is that as a society we move so fast, we need to hit the Pause button from time to time. God knew this, and He established the Sabbath for man, not man for the Sabbath. And yet Pause is about more than Sabbath. It's about getting alone with God. To promote spiritual pauses in our lives, Life Action recommends that we:

Divert Daily
Withdraw Weekly
Abandon Annually

And then, in the minutes and hours and days and weeks in between, we should follow Brother Lawrence's advice: Practice the Presence of God. Lawrence - a monk who worked in the kitchen and repaired sandals - exhorted believers not to ignore the process of getting to know how to hear God's voice. Most significantly for me, he exhorted: "Don't try to go faster than grace."

That's probably my biggest downfall. I have the heart of an activist. When I believe in a cause, I want to do something about it. When I have a passion, I want to plan and structure and outline and MOVE. When God says wait, watch, and pray, I struggle. I try to go faster than grace.

So I'm working to slow down. I'm trying to me more relational, more intentional, more prayerful. I'm trying to pause. Whatever task God puts before me I want to do with all my heart - but I never want to go faster than grace.

Selah.

Frustrated Intentions

Moses said to the Gadites and the Reubenites, “Must your brothers go to war while you remain here? Why do you frustrate the intent of the Israelites to cross over into the land which the Lord has given them? Your fathers did the same thing when I sent them from Kadesh Barnea to see the land. When they went up to the Eshcol Valley and saw the land, they frustrated the intent of the Israelites so that they did not enter the land that the Lord had given them." (Num. 32:6-9)

The tribes of Gad and Reuben liked the land on the east side of the Jordan. They couldn't imagine a better place for their cattle and were willing to give up their inheritance within the Promised Land for what was before their eyes.

Amazingly, God let them do it.

But God laid down clear lines - Gad and Reuben's decision wouldn't hinder the rest of Israel. This time, they would enter. Gad and Reuben could stay behind in the land they chose rather than taking what God intended for them - but not until they assisted with the conquest. Their position as His children wasn't questioned. They represent not unbelievers, but believers who simply settle for less.

You see, God doesn't force us to go all the way with Him. He will allow us to settle for less than what He has promised. But we have to realize that when we do so, we are frustrating the intentions of those in the body who want to claim all He has promised. And we are frustrating His intentions.

But He doesn't let us off the hook easily. We may miss out on personal blessings by staying in the security of the known, but He still calls us to assist others who are in the battle.

Don't get me wrong ... I'm not saying that only those who "go" or who are in full time ministry are in the battle. I believe with all my heart that God calls some to minister full time, some to go, some to be lights at secular universities and public schools, some to be in medicine and engineering and garbage collection - all for His glory. And all those people may be in the "land" of ministry God has for them, exercising spiritual gifts at work and in the church and fully entering what He has for them.

What I'm referring to are those who knowingly choose to linger back, sensing God's call to something unknown but choosing not to heed it. "I know God wants me to teach Sunday School, but I hate to miss the service once a month." "That job would be an awesome ministry opportunity, but I know all the people at this one and I'm such an introvert." "God has put that country on my heart, but I could never go because I'm scared of flying."

Those are the people who, like the tribes of Gad and Reuben, choose less than God's "land". I've been in that group at times - as I'm sure you have. And yet God's handling of the situation tells me - yes, God will let me have my preferences, but He isn't going to hold His plan back on my behalf. He still expects me to pray and give and fight for those willing to enter the fray. I can retreat then to my safety, but if I'm needed, I have to get on my knees or give and serve.

I have reached a point in my life where I pray I will never again let fear of the unknown hold me back from a ministry opportunity. I want all the "land" God has for me in His kingdom purposes - not for my own sake, but for His glory. I appreciate God's understanding and mercy when I asked to be held back. But even more, I love seeing Him at work when I'm not frustrating His intentions ... when I'm hearing Him march in the treetops above me and I know He is leading the battle and that I will soon watch and see the glory of the Lord!

A Stubborn Supporter

"What then shall we say about these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?" (Rom. 8:31)

If there's a Scripture easier for the enemy to use against a seasoned believer than this one, I don't know what it is. Just as he threw God's words at Jesus in Luke 4, hoping to throw Him off by causing Him to doubt God, this is one he brings up at the worst moments of our lives. In whispers or shouts, he challenges us:

That boss who is out to get you? Surely he's against you.
That election didn't turn out the way you'd hoped. The new leader will be against you.
You were thrown in jail for your faith. The authorities are against you.

Each challenge brings us to a climax of faith: will we believe God, or won't we? We understand the truth theologically, but in the warfare of the trenches we wonder how it applies to our situation.

Thankfully, God gives us examples from His word to show us that what Paul was teaching the Romans is that for a believer, He is a stubborn supporter. He is on our side - even when things are bad. He's not out to get us, to punish or condemn us, to curse us. He is FOR us.

Israel experienced God's stubborn support even as their own stubborn unbelief left them wandering the desert for 40 years. In the midst of that era, a prophet named Balaam thought he would curse Israel for a few bucks. Numbers 22-24 records the result: Every time he opened his mouth to curse, blessings poured forth. God was stubbornly supporting Israel. Israel didn't know what was going on behind the scenes, but God was actively working on their behalf.

Paul goes on to talk in Romans 8 about enduring death all day long, about facing persecution and trials and challenges. Yet he also talks about how God works good in all things ... not that all things are good. He is shaping us into His image, and we can know that the hard things we face are part of His good in our lives - that He is FOR us.

Don't let the enemy lie to you. You have a stubborn supporter. He is for you. Behind the scenes He is actively working on your behalf. He never stops transforming curses into blessings for His children.

Carried to the Table

I don't know if you've had the chance to read Let the Nations Be Glad but you should make time! When you do you will find that one of Piper's key points is that to truly have a passion for missions we must have a passion for God - a passion expressed as worship.

But let me share an honest reflection from my own experience: Sometimes when we are first really learning to worship we find that it is an acquired taste. Meaning, we don't necessarily know what it looks or feels like. We are hard-wired in our sin nature away from worship and toward self, so when we seek to turn that around we may wonder if we are doing it right.

I remember as a new Christian not feeling and wanting the things that older, seasoned believers told me were "normal" for Christians. I struggled with prayer, with Bible study - and with worship. In each case, I had to ask God to give me that desire, that passion. I went on the assumption that He would give me what I was supposed to have, but I felt like something was wrong because it wasn't there "automatically".

What I have learned over the years is that for me, the things of the Spirit must be nurtured and developed in my life, rather than being an automatic presence. After 11 years or so of quiet times I still have to drag myself out of bed - but I have learned that it's okay to pray and ask Him to make it worthwhile. I've learned it's okay to wake up in His arms - literally!

Learning to worship for me is like learning to eat healthy after spending too much of my life eating junk food. With each piece of fruit and salad, I retrain my taste buds. Likewise, with each time of focusing intentionally on God, I reorient myself spiritually away from self and onto Him.

That's a long introduction to this video. Before this morning I'd never heard of the group or the song - but it is such a blessing to me now. It hearkens the story of David & Mephibosheth in 2 Sam 9. Mephibosheth you recall from 2 Sam 4:4 was Jonathan's lame son. David calls him to the table to dine with the king - but Mephibosheth doesn't know that David's intentions are fellowship. And the picture, of course, is one of Christ and us. I won't waste any more words introducing this except to say that this is one of those videos that will give you a taste for the things of God, to help develop that worship which is so essential to having a heart for the kingdom.



2 Samuel 9:1 And David said, “Is there still anyone left of the house of Saul, that I may show him kindness for Jonathan's sake?” 2 Now there was a servant of the house of Saul whose name was Ziba, and they called him to David. And the king said to him, “Are you Ziba?” And he said, “I am your servant.” 3 And the king said, “Is there not still someone of the house of Saul, that I may show the kindness of God to him?” Ziba said to the king, “There is still a son of Jonathan; he is crippled in his feet.” 4 The king said to him, “Where is he?” And Ziba said to the king, “He is in the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar.” 5 Then King David sent and brought him from the house of Machir the son of Ammiel, at Lo-debar. 6 And Mephibosheth the son of Jonathan, son of Saul, came to David and fell on his face and paid homage. And David said, “Mephibosheth!” And he answered, “Behold, I am your servant.” 7 And David said to him, “Do not fear, for I will show you kindness for the sake of your father Jonathan, and I will restore to you all the land of Saul your father, and you shall eat at my table always.” 8 And he paid homage and said, “What is your servant, that you should show regard for a dead dog such as I?”

9 Then the king called Ziba, Saul's servant, and said to him, “All that belonged to Saul and to all his house I have given to your master's grandson. 10 And you and your sons and your servants shall till the land for him and shall bring in the produce, that your master's grandson may have bread to eat. But Mephibosheth your master's grandson shall always eat at my table.” Now Ziba had fifteen sons and twenty servants. 11 Then Ziba said to the king, “According to all that my lord the king commands his servant, so will your servant do.” So Mephibosheth ate at David's [1] table, like one of the king's sons. 12 And Mephibosheth had a young son, whose name was Mica. And all who lived in Ziba's house became Mephibosheth's servants. 13 So Mephibosheth lived in Jerusalem, for he ate always at the king's table. Now he was lame in both his feet.