Love

1 John 4: 16b God is love.
We've been talking about love in Sunday School and the simple question of "what is love" has proven to be both a simple and extremely complex answer.  For the Christian, the elegantly simple answer is "God."  Relaying that to a non-Christian, however, isn't quite so straightforward.  Dictionary.com has numerous definitions for both a noun as well as a verb ranging from descriptive terms such as affection and attachment to sexual acts or feelings.  I think the Greek language gives us better insight into the various things we lump into "love."  The Greek word agape describes that unconditional love that is quite literally God and describes that way in which he reaches out to relate to us.  This love existed before time and is independent of anything we might do to include whether we even accept it or not.  We are commanded to love God with all that we have and all that we are and to love others as we love ourselves.  This would simply be unachievable and therefore illogical if God wasn't love himself and first loved us.  With His love inside of us in the form of the Holy Spirit, we then have the capacity to love correctly:  unconditional love. 
More tomorrow

Psalms 63 (Part IV)

⁶ On my bed I remember You;
    I think of You through the watches of the night.
⁷ Because You are my help,
    I sing in the shadow of Your wings.

We remember God when we lay down to rest.  In that time the watches might would announce the changing of the guard or approximate time (they didn't have clocks).  But I think the thought is we will think of God when we lay down and every time we wake up during the night.  All our thoughts are on our wondrous and saving God.

Verse 7 is a critical verse for our understanding.  He sings under God's protection because God is his help, his rescuer.  This idea of being under the wings of God is found in many places in the Bible.  Psalm 17:8 says, "Keep me as the apple of Your eye; hide me under the shadow of Your wings."  Psalm 36:7 says, "How precious is Your lovingkindness, O God!  Therefore the children of men put their trust under the shadow of Your wings."  Psalm 57:1 says, "And in the shadow of Your wings I will make my refuge, until these calamities have passed by."  Psalm 91:4 says, "He shall cover you with His feathers, and under His wings you shall take refuge."  Jesus makes the reference Himself in Matthew 23:37 saying, "How often I wanted to gather your children together, as a hen gathers her chicks under her wings, but you were not willing!" 

This concept of a mother bird saving others with her wings is popular. In the recent movie, After Earth, the child is saved from freezing by an eagle who gives her life so that he would not die.

The eagle had lost all her young from some kind of tigers and the boy had fought the tigers but had not been able to save the small birds.  He was in the nest as food for the babies when they were to hatch by the way.  But that aside, the eagle searches for him apparently to help him while he thinks the bird is revengeful for losing the babies and wants to kill him.  There are many spiritual lessons in this one part of this movie.  (1.)  He runs from something that wants to befriend him and that eventually saves him.  I'm sure he would even fight it if it came close to him.  Sounds almost like how every lost person reacts to God.  (2.)  The eagle finds him when he is certainly going to die and sacrifices itself so he, who feared it and ran from it, could live.  Sounds a lot like Jesus to me.

I had a missionary tell me one time, "When life is just too tough to bear and you're not sure you're going to or want to survive, do what I do.  I just imagine myself at the foot of God.  I turn around and just back my way under His wing.  He'll keep me warm and safe."  I didn't realize until later the Biblical references that he was leaning on with that reference.  I think the mental imagery is very helpful. 

We take refuge under God's mighty and tender wings and we trust in them.  We can also find refuge in our friends, but our friends will die someday.  Then when the stress of life comes we'll turn for them and they won't be there.  God will always be there.  The old time hymn, Jesus, lover of my soul,  has these first two verses:

Jesus, lover of my soul,
Let me to Thy bosom fly,
While the nearer waters roll,
While the tempest still is high:
Hide me, O my Savior, hide,
Till the storm of life is past;
Safe into the haven guide;
O receive my soul at last.

Other refuge have I none,

Hangs my helpless soul on Thee;

Leave, oh, leave me not alone,
Still support and comfort me.
All my trust on Thee is stayed,
All my help from Thee I bring;
Cover my defenseless head
With the shadow of Thy wing.

God is able and wants to be our refuge.  We just have to be willing to get under His wing.

Psalms 63 (Part III)

³ Because Your love is better than life,
    my lips will glorify You.
⁴ I will praise You as long as I live,
    and in Your name I will lift up my hands.
⁵ I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods;
    with singing lips my mouth will praise You.

God's love is better than life.  How many of us really can comprehend that statement?  The fullness of God's love, it's completion of us, our faith that it never fails, our faith that it always is what's best for us, is better than our actual physical life.  Our physical life is what seems the most real thing we know.  "Prick me and do I not bleed?"  Yet, our real life is our spiritual life knowing all physical things will pass.  Yet, God's love will not.  His eternal love is perfect and better than what seems most real. 

This is a very hard concept, however, I'm going to take it a little further.  We can live in this world, but not be a part of this world.  We can live in our physical bodies, but our heart can be in heaven, that is, with the Spirit of God.  The Bible describes living apart from God as being "of this world".  In John 8:23-24 Jesus says, "You are from beneath; I am from above.  You are of this world; I am not of this world.  Therefore I said to you that you will die in your sins; for if you do not believe that I am He, you will die in your sins."  In order to not be "of this world" we have to receive Him who is not of this world.  When we do, we can then live out of this world.  It's hard to imagine how it all fits together, but I know it is real and that love of God that allows that to happen is better than the life that is "of this world".

Because of this we glorify Him, we praise Him all night long.  We lift our hands up in honor of His name on High.  We are more satisfied with Him than with any physical sense we can imagine and we will sing and worship Him because He is our God and He loves us.

Year One

This morning I woke up very down.  The weight of all the pain and sorrow I have caused in my past had me burdened.  The weight of MY imperfection, MY weakness, MY refusal to listen to God, MY stubbornness, MY selfishness, MY justifications, MY actions.  While I know I'm a sinner, staring it in the eye and seeing the devastation on others is crushing; knowing that others have had to live with pain and scars because of you is damning.

When we prayed together this morning, which is the sweetest part of every day, tears welled up in my eyes.  In fact, as I type this tears are coming.

Yet Julie smiles and says, the day is a day of celebration.  And she is right.  We are a part of God's work.  God has worked in us and we are different.  Everything is better.  Every aspect of life is more alive, every day is more precious, every moment more meaningful, every minute is a minute you want to hold on to and keep.

When I wake up I thank God that I'm there, at home, with Julie.  When I see her I praise God that she smiles.  When I touch her I praise God that I can.  When I hug my kids I praise God that I'm there to do that.

Everything in life is a blessing.

Death: Where is Your Victory

1 Cor 15:  ⁵⁴ When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”^[h]

⁵⁵ “Where, O death, is your victory?
    Where, O death, is your sting?”^[i]

⁵⁶ The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. ⁵⁷ But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ.

 

Tuesday Reja received news of the death of an uncle.  For those of you that know her, you know that she is named after her four uncles, Robert, Ethridge, Johnny, and Alvin.  Robert, who went by his middle name Oben, and Ethridge, had previously passed away, and with Johnny's passing Tuesday, she has only one remaining namesake.  While Reja and I aren't very close to her extended Mississippi family, I've always admired how they all come together in celebration of family.  Approximately a year ago we drove to Columbia, MS for the funeral of Roberts wife, Billie, and what a remarkable visit it was with family.  Certainly there was a twinge of sadness, but the mood was more one of deep admiration of her commitment to Christ, family, and community, a pattern repeated throughout the entire Beasley family. 

I marvel at how the world deals with the sting and finality of death without the hope found in Christ.  To me, the fact that Christ conquered death is the singular source for all hope in the entire universe.  There is no hope for a joyful life, no hope for friends and family, not even any hope for a national championship for MSU without Christ conquering death.  All hope flows out of this capstone event in all of history. 

So today as Reja and I prepare for a full day of work, followed by a stop at Blue Lake to set up for an Emmaus Walk, then a solemn journey to Hattiesburg late tonight, I actually look forward to the funeral tomorrow.  Not to dwell on the earthly departure of Johnny, but to celebrate his life with family.  A family who above all else loves God and loves each other and out of that love from God, has welcomed me as one of their own, demonstrating God's agape love.  The entire Beasley as well as the Wright family (Reja's mother's family) truly represent God's love and serve as outstanding examples of what God can do through committed Christians.  These families stand out as a living testimony that in spite of our own shortcomings, God's love can overcome even the worst of tragedies and provide hope in the very midst of what the world sees as a hopeless situation.  What a blessing to see God at work! 

Deeper, Healing Love

Yesterday I heard a speaker talk about a "healing love".  But what I got from it was that there is a deeper love that I should be aspiring to reach and have as an integral part of my character.  He shared two stories.

He was at a gathering and was talking to a lady who lived in the community and had asked her what part of the chicken did she like to eat the best.  She answered "the back and the wings".  He thought that was unusual since those are considered the worst parts of the chicken by most people, so he asked her why.  She said that when she was raising her boys they didn't have much money.  So when she made chicken for them she would eat the backs and wings so they could have the best parts.

What struck me about this is not that fact that this lady would sacrifice eating the best parts of  the chicken, but that she would declare that her favorite parts are those parts she could eat that let others have the best parts.

This same man was eating at a restaurant with his friend when a waitress walking by got a little off balance carrying a bowl of soup and spilled it down his back.  He thought to himself, "oh man she is going to hear about this."  Instead the man turned to the waitress and said, "I'm so sorry this happened to you.  I know this has embarrassed you terribly.  I'm so sorry."

Here he is with a bowl of hot soup all down his back, running into his pants and his first instinctual response was about her.  That's a deeper love.

I can't help but believe that there is a depth to the character of love in God that we hardly ever witness, much less reach.  The world needs me to look for, search for, reach for, and to crave that kind of love in my character.  There is a healing that does happen for others when they witness such instinctive responses from people with such depth of love within them that others are truly first.

This is the kind of person I want to be and that example is an example I'd be happy to leave behind.

Psalms 63 (Part II)

² I have seen You in the sanctuary
    and beheld Your power and Your glory.

The Message says, "So here I am in the place of worship, eyes open, drinking in Your strength and glory."  Why is he in this sanctuary?  Because as he stated in verse 1, God is the only life in this desolate place.  The Lord is living water in a dry and parched land.

There are many dry and parched places.  This world is certainly full of them.  There are many things that seem to be living water but only take you to a dryer and more desolate place.  Sometimes our hearts are dry and parched.  The wise learn that there is no other possible life apart from the living God.  In Him a well spring of life flows abundantly.

Where is this sanctuary for David there in the wilderness?  A tent?  The desert?  Did he build an alter?  I suggest it is within David himself.  His heart became a sanctuary of praise and worship to his God.  Have you had those times when you were drawn to God and where you physically were was completely irrelevant.  Your heart was in a different world. 

The chorus to the song "Living Sanctuary" say:

"Lord, prepare me to be a sanctuary

Pure and holy, tried and true

With thanksgiving, I'll be a living

Sanctuary for You."

We can be sure that where God is, it is holy.  If God's Spirit is reigning in ours, we can be sure that there is a sacred and holy place inside where His presence can be found.  In a dry and parched land where there was no water to drink, he found a source of living water that filled and overflowed.

Another interpretation of the organization of these verses is "I earnestly seek You in a dry and weary land where there is no water to see Your power and might as I have beheld You in the sanctuary."  These lend to a past time when he was in a sanctuary and experienced God's holiness.  And now he thirst for that presence of God and longs for it.  He has been in the desert of God's distance and he wants a closeness with God, more than anything in life.

Do I crave God that way?  Am I way to easygoing about those times when God isn't close?  Is there an alarm sounding in my soul that I just keep hitting the "snooze" button on regarding God's calling to me to be close?  Is there an internal pull from every cell of my being that doesn't understand how it will go on one more minute without being close to Him?  Right now, YES.  I pray that I'll always have that.

Psalms 63 (Part I)

¹ You, God, are my God,
    earnestly I seek you;
I thirst for you,
    my whole being longs for you,
in a dry and parched land
    where there is no water.

What an excellent way to start a prayer!  "You, God, are my God".  No one else, no other thing, nothing within me.  You and You alone are my God!  David proclaims it.  He takes ownership of his faith and stands on it declaring boldly to God that He is his God.  When is the last time I told God that He was my God?  Saying that I'm His child is different.  Saying "Lord I'm Yours" is a different matter.  Yes, it's great to say, but declaring that God is Your God to Him is faith building.  It is confidence in your faith.  It brings a well up from inside of your soul that just wants to explode.  "YOU, GOD, ARE MY  GOD!"  The whole world may claim a different god, the whole world may oppose me, the whole world may even hate me, but "You, God, are my God!"  Can you feel the strength that grows inside when you claim God as your own?  Do you notice the evaporation of your fears?

God answers, "Fear not, for I am with you; be not dismayed, for I am your God." (Isaiah 41:10a)  When we declare Who our God is and claim Him as our own, I am convinced that He answers.  "Do not doubt.  Do not fear.  Do not be discouraged.  I AM YOUR GOD!"  Glory to God!  Hallelujah!  Can I hear an AMEN!  Jump up and sing something! ... That's enough to make a puppy dog pull a freight train or make me want to charge hell with a cup of water.

Our heavenly Father hears us declare that He is our Father and He responds so loudly you can hear it throughout all of Creation, "I am your Father".  Wouldn't we do the same if our children proclaimed with confidence, assurance, and hearts overflowing with love that you are their father or mother?  There is no other father / mother ever that they want to claim.  You are theirs.  This is more than of course they are because I've got a birth certificate that proves it.  I was in the delivery room and watched it.  Sure, you're my son or daughter.  No, this is so very much more and we are foolish if we don't recognize its significance.

Further, "earnestly I seek You".  You are my God and I always look for You.  Jeremiah 29:13 says, "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart."  In Matthew 7:7 Jesus says, "Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you."  David is obviously looking for God with his whole heart.  "Earnestly" the NKJV says it; "I can't get enough of You" the Message puts it; "eagerly" and "early" are other descriptions by other versions.  Pursuing God is a priority, not just a checklist item to be done.  It is something our hearts must crave.  We should have an appetite for God that isn't satisfied.

"My whole being longs for You."  Another psalmist would write "As the deer pants for the water brooks, so pants my soul for You, O God." (Psalm 42:1)  Can you feel in your soul and spirit a longing for God?  If not, why not?  I'd couple the answer 'no' to that question with this question.  When was the last time you were broken over your sin?  Once you have cried tears over your sin and accepted the Lord's love.  You will want to grab a hold of Him and pursue more of Him.  You will long for His constant touch.

There are many reasons why, but David says it is because there is no other God.  There is nothing else.  This world and all that is here is dry and parched, its empty, and there is no life (water).  Our God is our life.  There is nothing else that can flood our soul; there is nothing else that can complete our spirit; there is nothing else that fulfills our purpose and reason to live.  

You, God, are my God.  I seek You earnestly first.  My whole being aches with urgency at its desire to be near You.  You are the only life in this desolate place.

Psalms 142 (Part II)

⁵ I cried out to You, O Lord:
I said, “You are my refuge,
My portion in the land of the living.
⁶ Attend to my cry,
For I am brought very low;
Deliver me from my persecutors,
For they are stronger than I.
⁷ Bring my soul out of prison,
That I may praise Your name;
The righteous shall surround me,
For You shall deal bountifully with me.”

In verse 5 the pity party ends.  Now there is praise, worship, and testifying to the glory of God.  God hears when we cry out; God is our security and safety; God is the all that is needed to live. 

(v6) "Attend to my cry."  Of all the people on the earth, Julie is the closest person to me and I would not ask her to "attend to my cry".  Is it pride that keeps me from wanting someone to be with me in my lowliness and brokenness of heart?  Most likely.  I think we hate to admit that we aren't strong enough to not be there.  David calls upon the most compassionate, most caring, most loving of all that is to "attend to his cry".  Can there be a wiser or more humble request?  As a loving Father, God most certainly moves right in.

David also readily admits his limitation, "they are stronger than I".  How often do I pray this when I am praying for protection from my enemies or from evil itself?  Am I humble enough to say this?  I should be willing to admit my weakness.

(v7)  Deliver me so I may praise Your name.  This seems to tie back again to Psalm 59.  Deliver me, or crush them, so everyone will know You are my God.  I will give all the praise of deliverance to the one and only living God.  Those who are faithful will surround me and we'll all praise Your name.

The last line of this Psalms is amazing to me.  David proclaims in faith "You shall deal bountifully with me."  I have a hard time reaching my faith out to this area.  David, who is lower than low, who is asking for deliverance from stronger enemies so he can praise the name of God, proclaims that God will deal well with him.  He says it confidently.  In our culture today, we'd say "he owns it".  And it's true.  God will deal bountifully with all those who call upon His name.  When do I ever proclaim such a truth in faith after I've asked God for something?  Why not?  I have a faith problem I think and am just beginning to see the depth faith can have.

Ugh.

I'm very tired this morning from a night of restless sleep.  I really don't feel like doing a devotion.  I wonder if this isn't an attack.  I'm sure God would never not want His son to not read His word and talk to Him.  Ugh.  I am reminded of the times when you just don't want to work out or run.  You are tired and the thought of exercising almost makes you want to throw up, but you do it anyway.  I often think that those times are the most critical.  That's where one of the major battle points is located.  There's the front lines and there's also the unconventional propaganda war.  Stay the fight!

God's Will

Mark 3: ³⁵ Whoever does God’s will is my brother and sister and mother.”

I talked about God's will yesterday and it seems worth examining this subject a little deeper.  So much in the world can be ascribed to God that isn't correct.  Leslie D. Weatherhead wrote a book numerous years ago that helps me think through God's will.  He separates it into three categories: God's intentional will, God's circumstantial will, and God's ultimate will.  As I understand his view, God's intentional will is His overall plan for your life or what he intended for his creation writ large.  For instance, when he placed Adam in the garden, it wasn't God's will that Adam chose to sin, it was Adam's will to do so.  It was God's intentional will that Adam would choose to remain in close relationship with God.  When confronted by Satan to make a choice God had a will in that particular circumstance.  It was God's will that they choose against sin.  Once they chose sin and they found themselves in a lost and separated from God circumstance, God had to build a plan of reconciliation for mankind.  In the meantime, given the circumstances, God forced man out of the garden.  Revelation shows us that ultimately, in the end, God wins over the power of sin, darkness, and death.  In the meantime, God has a plan for us (Jer 29:11) and has the best intentions for us (John 10;10).  We must choose wisely, however.  Adam and Eve chose poorly and suffered inevitable consequences for their choice.  It wasn't God's intention to kick them out of the garden, but he knew before they made it what their choice would be and had already prepared the touch consequences of their decision as well as the ultimate plan of salvation. 
As you go about your thousands of decisions today, how will you choose?  Will you pray and submit your human logic (which Satan played on with the original sin - danger, danger!) and your own will to him or will we simply make our own choices and blame God when we're not happy?
I have a feeling that God is frustrated at least with me that I don't yield to him and take EVERYTHING to Him in prayer and seek his will before acting.  How about you?

Psalms 142 (Part I)

¹ I cry out to the Lord with my voice;
With my voice to the Lord I make my supplication.
² I pour out my complaint before Him;
I declare before Him my trouble.

It is obvious when reading this Psalm by David that he was really low in his spirit.  Very likely depressed.  Notice how he prays to God.  He tells God that he cries out to Him with his own voice, it's his cry to God.  You are my God and I am calling out to You.  These are my calls for help, my requests.  I am telling You my troubles.  This is my call to You.  David has poured his heart out to His God.

It seems that we so often pray for others and their cries for help, but here David is telling his Lord that he is calling upon Him for himself, his condition.  Have you ever been there?  Have you been so desperate, so hopeless, so broken that you've prayed "God if you don't do something, there is no way."  My question is why do we have to get hopeless and broken before we pray a prayer like that.  If we are honest, everyday should begin with that prayer because that is the real truth.  "God if you don't do something, there is no way."  Our only hope is God.  If we do not have hope, then we do not have faith and we don't believe.

³ When my spirit was overwhelmed within me,
Then You knew my path.
In the way in which I walk
They have secretly set a snare for me.
⁴ Look on my right hand and see,
For there is no one who acknowledges me;
Refuge has failed me;
No one cares for my soul.

As he sank into depression and despair, he declares that God knew his way.  This is a testimony that says God never leaves us, even in our worst condition.  When we are all but gone and have no more fight within us, when we are all used up and can't find a single positive thing to rally around, when we don't know what else to do, God knows our path and is there.

The people around are setting traps and want you to fall further.  They want your total destruction.  There is nowhere for you to go.  No one around you cares or helps.  There is nowhere to hide and no one cares about your very life.  You are at the end of your rope and the thought of death is appetizing.  There is no place to go for security and safety.  David is calling out to God here and laying out plainly his desperation.  He is alone and the world is too heavy for him.

I don't know anyone who doesn't recognize this place.  No one likes being there, yet everyone knows where it is.  Where do we turn when this happens?  Where is our faith?