The Need That Only God Can Meet

Mother Teresa worked for years with some of the world’s neediest human beings. This hands-on experience helped her to see beyond the surface of the diseased and suffering patients being given care. She began to see a great unmet need. A basic need in everyone she met. A need for God.

She writes in her book, A Simple Path -“The greatest disease in the West today is not TB or leprosy; it is being unwanted, unloved, and uncared for. We can cure physical diseases with medicine, but the only cure for loneliness, despair, and hopelessness is love. There are many in the world who are dying for a piece of bread but there are many more dying for a little love. The poverty in the West is a different kind of poverty — it is not only a poverty of loneliness but also of spirituality. There’s a hunger for love, as there is a hunger for God.”

But this hunger for God is not something new. It goes all the way back to the Garden. With the broken fellowship that ensued Adam and Eve’s departure from the intimate walk they had experienced with God. The great French thinker and inventor Blaise Pascal identified this problem within himself:

“What else does this French mathematician craving, and this helplessness, proclaim but that there was once in man a true happiness, of which all that now remains is the empty print and trace? This he tries in vain to fill with everything around him, seeking in things that are not there the help he cannot find in those that are, though none can help, since this infinite abyss can be filled only with an infinite and immutable object; in other words by God himself” ( Pensees #425).

It may be that Pascal is echoing the same truth that St. Augustine of Hippo discovered and wrote about in his Confessions: “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in you.” This seems to be a universal truth that extends through time and to every person who has ever lived.

Jesus stated clearly that He has the authority to give eternal life to all those that the Father had given him. Then with the next statement, he explained the meaning of the phrase -“eternal life.” Jesus said, “And this is eternal life: that people know you, the only true God, and that they know Jesus Christ, the One you sent” (John 17:3). The sense of knowing described here is the idea of an authentic, trusting and loving relationship with God.

Only God can meet the need (yearning, emptiness, loneliness) that exists in the heart of all those He has created. We are after all His creations meant to live in a real fellowship and relationship with Him. It turns out that Jesus Christ is the key given to mankind that will unlock this gift of eternal life.

All that awaits is for those who know their need – to put their hands on the key (Jesus Christ). . .  and open the door. On the inside, the room is filled with light, joy, hope and the warmth of a Loving God.

“Taste and see that the LORD is good. Oh, the joys of those who trust in him!” – Psalm 34:8

The God Who Is . . . Awesome.

“Lord, I have heard of your fame; I stand in awe of your deeds, Lord.
Repeat them in our day, in our time make them known;
in wrath remember mercy” (Habakkuk 3:2).

Oh, Lord God Almighty, may I never forget how awesome You are. May I continually stand in wonder and amazement of who You are and what You have done. Open my eyes that I may see You for who You really are and not who I might imagine You to be.

While I enjoy the benefits of Your great love and kindness toward me, may I never take You or Your love for granted. May I stand in holy reverence of You and bring honor to Your name in all that I do.

Oh, Father, Son and Holy Spirit, may Your mighty works and ways of ages past never come to an end. Do not forsake or leave me in my need of You. Hold me, Lord, near you. I desperately need You. If I ever begin to lose my sense of continuing need for Your power, presence, protection, guidance and continuing salvation,  then wake me from my slumber! May You O’ Eternal King, be lifted up and glorified by my every thought of You.

Oh, Savior, Strong to Save, may You, as You have promised and in Your absolute holiness, perfect justice and unquestionable righteousness, balance, one day, the great books of heaven.

But God of Abundant Mercy, God of Exceeding Patience, God of Abounding Forgiveness, remember those of us who cling only to the Blood Stained Cross of our Christ. Remember those of us who rely on the Perfect Life and Finished Work of Our Risen King!

May You, Oh, Lion-Lamb of God, Eternal God and Shepherd King be glorified in all my words . . . in all my speech may Your Name be Praised.

May All Honor, Glory and Praise be Yours To All The Nations until You come again.

Amen.

Dar

The God Who . . .”really is the Savior of the world.”

“And should I not have concern for the great city of Nineveh, in which there are more than a hundred and twenty thousand people who cannot tell their right hand from their left [meaning:people living in spiritual darkness] . . .” ( Jonah 4:11).

During the season of Christmas we are often reminded through hymns and carols of the announcement of the Angelic ambassadors at the birth of Christ the Lord –  “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among those with whom He is pleased!” The King of Glory has invaded planet earth as a baby in a manger, to inaugurate His kingdom’s reign over all the earth.

The God of the Universe intends to ultimately personally govern His creation and gather people for Himself from around the globe to receive the worship that is due Him. As the scene of praise to God that is pictured for the Apostle John illustrates, “After this I looked, and there before me was a great multitude that no one could count, from every nation, tribe, people and language, standing before the throne and before the Lamb” (Rev. 7:9). It is Jesus Christ who is the returning King and Savior of the world!

Looking back through God’s previous interventions into history and His collected pronouncements found in His Word, it is fairly easy for us today to see that God fully intends to seek and find the lost from around the world. But for the prophet Jonah this is a bit harder to fathom. In fact, in regards to  compassion and concern for the lost, Jonah only has eyes for his own people, the people of Israel.

But God’s passion and compassion is and always has been for His people around the world as He was about to demonstrate to Jonah. Jonah was sent to preach repentance to the great but also evil Assyrian city of Nineveh. After running off in the opposite direction and finally being spit out by a great fish, Jonah did preach to the Ninevites. As you remember, the Ninevites repented and believed God and God relented and poured out His great mercy to them.

Several centuries later, Jesus reminded the wicked and unbelieving Pharisees of God’s working through Jonah to save the people of Nineveh. Jesus promised them that, “The men of Nineveh will stand up at the judgment with this generation and condemn it; for they repented at the preaching of Jonah,and now something greater than Jonah is here [Jesus referring to Himself]” (Matt. 12:41).

During His earthly ministry, Jesus made sure that God’s offer of salvation was first given to the lost sheep of Israel – but it didn’t end there.  The gospels record the intentional travels of Jesus into several Gentile areas where He poured out His merciful healing and eternal salvation to those with eyes to see and ears to hear.

John tells of one occasion when Jesus met a Samaritan woman at a well in Sychar. Not only did she put her faith in Jesus but after Jesus accepted the Samaritan people’s invitation to spend some time with them many of the cities residents were able to say, “We no longer believe just because of what you said [the testimony of the women at the well], now we have heard for ourselves, and we know that this man really is the Savior of the world”(John 4:42).

The world-wide mission of Jesus to claim His lost sheep from every single land and island is so important that when asked about end times by His disciples, Jesus responded,  “And this gospel of the kingdom will be proclaimed throughout the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come” (Matt. 24:14).

What Abraham knew (“in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed.”) . . . Jonah would soon learn  . . . and the Pharisees would be taught . . . and the Samaritans would discover . . . and now even we know . . . Jesus really is the Savior of the world!

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

Merry Christmas and God’s Best,

Dar

One Thing About Jesus . . .

“. . . you shall call His name Jesus, for He will save His people from their sins” (Matthew 1:21).

He is eternal and has always and will always exist. Through Him everything that exists has been made. Prophets for centuries foretold His appearing. When the time was perfect, He did come and was born to a young virgin named Mary in the town of Bethlehem and was laid in a manger. He became and will continue to be a fully real human in real human flesh. He has been and will continue to be fully God at the same time. He is uniquely unique. There is not now nor will there ever be another being like Him.

Again, when the time was right He was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. He immediately faced down and defeated the temptation of Satan in a desert wilderness, one on one. He then announced to all that He was in fact the One who had been prophesied to come in all the Old Testament Scriptures. He began to preach “Repent and believe the good news!”

As He spoke and taught, He was recognized to possess a wisdom, insight and authority in His speech and thoughts that had not been witnessed in the history of mankind, nor since that time. No other guru, teacher, prophet or wise man ever born, has spoken with His knowledge, wisdom and understanding. He confounded those who opposed Him. He left the worldly-wise dumbfounded and the masses and crowds were amazed and marveled at His ability to expound the greatest words ever spoken.

He demonstrated His absolute authority and complete control over every aspect of the natural world. He walked on water, He changed water into wine, He calmed the winds and the waves and He multiplied bread and fish to feed thousands who hungered.

He revealed an uncommon compassion and mercy on everyone He encountered. He healed the sick, cleansed lepers and made the crippled to be able to walk. He took away blindness from those born blind and restored the hearing to those who could not hear. He demonstrated a mastery over every disease and infirmary He came into contact with. He displayed His power over life and death by raising to life those who had died.

He dominated and ruled over every demon and devil. He liberated all who were possessed by evil spirits. The kingdom of darkness recognized Him, feared Him and submitted to Him.

He claimed that there was a way to peace with God but also the exclusivity of being the one and only way to God. There is no other path, person or philosophy that will lead to the Father in Heaven. He asserted  that He and the Father are in reality One.  He revealed that He was in fact, the Way and the Truth and the Life to a sick, sinful, deceived, hurting and lost world of people from every part of the planet.

He stated that He was the answer to the world’s greatest, deepest, strongest and oldest problem – sickness, bondage and evil of sin which separates all humanity from and causes an estrangement from a loving, patient and merciful God. He revealed that He had the desire to and power to forgive any and all sin.

He on the other hand stated that He was without any sin, challenged any to see any sin in Him and He demonstrated a life of pure sinless perfection in all His speech and actions. And because He was sinless and because He was indeed God in the flesh, and because He was filled with a generous grace and limitless mercy for those estranged from God, He would be the Answer.

He chose to take the place of punishment for our sin on a Roman cross outside the city of Jerusalem.  He became our substitute and took our place on that instrument of torture for the penalty of our sin. He endured the suffering and scouring and the stripes of abuse and pain for us. He took our sins to the cross.  He defeated sin, death and the devil for us on a bloody cross because we couldn’t. He set us free from the guilt, free from shame and free from the eternal separation we were facing as rebels of God and His ways. In real space and real-time He took our real sins and now gives to us (in an exchange that only He could do) a real righteousness (not our own, but His) with which we will be able to actually live eternally in the presence of a Holy, Righteous, Just, Forgiving and Loving God and Father.

After the death of our Redeemer and our Savior on the cross, He then was buried in an empty tomb. But the tomb could not hold Him and death could not defeat Him, so then on the third day He rose from the death that He had endured for us. He was and is alive forever. He overcame death for us. In His human resurrected body, He began to show Himself to different people, in different places and at different times. As He demonstrated His power over death, He proved that His words and promises could be trusted, and He gave a real and certain reason to have hope for the future.

After showing Himself to many and continuing to teach and train His disciples for forty days, He then ascended visibly in His human bodily form back into the heavens and back into the presence of God the Father and the legions of angels at His command.

Now He sits enthroned in heaven and intercedes for His redeemed people who have been bought with the price of His own blood which He  shed for them. He also now continues to rule and reign as the Sovereign King of all the created universe.

In the future, at a day and time no man knows, He promises to return again to the earth to bring all of history to a final close by judging the world of those who have chosen to follow their own paths in opposition to His gracious offers of mercy, grace and forgiveness. And at that time He will also reward those who have turned to Him in repentance and sought Him and Him alone in faith as their only hope of pardon, joy, and peace with God for eternity.

Until that time, He promises to never leave nor forsake His people. He gives us the gift of His Spirit. He goes with us through all the trials, tests, troubles and tribulations that this world has to offer. He, as the Good Shepherd of His Sheep, promises to guide, protect and bless His people until the day of His return.

He also leaves His followers (disciples), with instructions and guidance for how to live and how to be about His business until He returns as the Eternal King of the New Heavens and New Earth that He will establish. He calls us to be the kind of disciples who will continue to seek Him, learn from Him, follow Him, and model Him to a watching world. He also leaves us with the great privilege of being His personal ambassadors to take the amazing message of the Gospel to the ends of the earth  (every nation, language group, and ethnic group on the planet).

He is the LORD of All Creation, the Sovereign King of All the Earth and the Master of our very lives.

His offer to a desperately needy world is urgent, timely and merciful. He offer is valid and trustworthy, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and My burden is light” (Matthew 11:28-30).  Also, He announces, warns and commands, “The time is fulfilled, and the kingdom of God is at hand; repent and believe in the gospel”(Mark 1:15).

Oh, by the way, one thing about Jesus  . . . He loves you!

God’s Best,

Dar

The Faultless Foundation of Faith

Foundations are important. A foundation for one’s life is the thing that helps us makes sense of our lives. It enables us to understand and interpret the world around us; the thing on which we build our lives on. What foundation are you basing your life on?

Socrates, considered one of the world’s great philosophers, shortly before his death, is reported to have said,

 “All the wisdom of this world is but a tiny raft upon which we must set sail when we leave this earth. If only there was a firmer foundation upon which to sail, perhaps some divine word.”

Socrates put all of his confidence in the collected thoughts and wisdom of philosophy and came up empty.

On the other hand, God’s Word offers us a sure and certain place on which to stand. The Sovereign LORD says,

“See, I lay a stone in Zion, a tested stone, a precious cornerstone for a sure foundation; the one who trusts will never be dismayed” (Isaiah 28:16).

That stone, that foundation is Jesus Christ. The Apostle Paul wrote to the Corinthian believers,

“For no one can lay any foundation other than the one already laid, which is Jesus Christ” (1 Corinthians 3:11).

God, who created this world and everything in it, also offers us a sure and certain foundation for all of life.  It is the only foundation that will withstand the tests, trials and travails of this world.  It is the only foundation that will endure into eternity.  This foundation is the very real and genuine  relationship we may have in Jesus Christ as our Shepherd King.

Napoleon Bonaparte was the Emperor of France and the King of Italy.  Before his death he stated,

“Alexander, Caesar, Charlemagne, and myself founded empires; but what foundation did we rest the creations of our genius? Upon force. Jesus Christ founded an empire upon love; and at this hour millions of men would die for Him.”

Jesus Christ died for us that we might live with him, through him and standing on him. There is no firmer foundation.

How about you? Are you trusting in the foundation offered in Christ or in someone or something else?

The offer is still valid in all fifty states and every country of the world. I just don’t know the expiration date. Do you?

Standing On The Rock, God’s Best,

Dar

Time To Turn The Page

Turn, Turn, Turn (to Everything There is a Season) – The Byrds

In October of 1965 the American rock group, The Byrds recorded “Turn! Turn! Turn! (to Everything There is a Season).” The following month it became a No. 1 hit on the top 40 charts.

Almost all the words come from the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. The words make clear that time itself will bring about inevitable changes to our lives. But, on the other hand some changes are not inevitable, they are a result of our own choices. These changes have the potential to be positive, both for ourselves and for others, but we must be willing to turn to them.

There are some things in life we can’t change. For instance we can’t change our own personal histories. We can’t reverse the rising of the Sun and go back in time for a few redos of our life events. For most of us, there are a few things that, given the chance, we would really like to do over.

The lack of taking many of my classes in high school very seriously sort of jumps out at me at the moment. But if I think about wrong decisions in school, I have to be honest and say it all started in kindergarten for me. That’s when it was determined that I couldn’t be trusted with scissors in group activities. I had never been trusted with scissors before I got to kindergarten and I guess, as it turns out, for good reason.  But alas, the fact remains – what is done is done and anyway, hair does grow back.

With this New Year, we “turn the page of our lives” again. In a way it is a real opportunity, if we choose it, to have our own personal redo. Not a redo of the past but a present change of course and a future direction for our lives. For many of us that’s good news. What would you like to change (that can be changed) about your life this year? With God’s help change for good is not only possible but highly probable.

The Apostle Paul wrote to the Philippian Church that “For I can do all things through Christ who gives me strength.” In Christ, we can turn the page. We can turn the page on wrong actions and life choices we have made in the past. We can turn the page on things that have kept us from enjoying the kind of relationship with Christ that deep in our hearts we long for. We can turn from grudges to forgiveness, we can turn idle thoughts into action, we can turn from our complacent self-centeredness to a renewed trust and service to our Lord and King, Jesus Christ. For it is in Jesus and Him alone that we find sure and certain strength for the road and guidance for our paths.

The last line of  The Byrds rock ballad, “Turn, Turn, Turn,” is a soulful pleading, “I swear it’s not too late”. And of course in Christ, as long as we have the breath of life, it is not too late – but why wait? Today is the day to turn the page and live a new song.

Turning The Page – In Christ, Through Christ And For Christ – A New Song I Sing!

Dar

A Purpose for Living in the New Year

“And this is His commandment: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ, and love one another, just as He commanded us” (1 John 3:23).

This is a great summary statement of the Christian life, something any follower of Christ can “hang their hat on”. The Apostle John, who knew Jesus so well, takes two related objectives for all Christians and sums them up in one easily memorable purpose statement. Take a moment and look at it with me.

First of all our faith starts with our belief in a particular person: We must believe in the name of His Son, Jesus Christ. For people of faith our belief goes beyond just acknowledging who Jesus is, it must also mean that we trust in Him for everything about our lives. It means that we are grateful to Him for our very existence, that we owe the pardoning of our sins and restoring of a right relationship with God to Him alone. It means that we depend upon Him daily for all of our guidance, protection, provision and blessings in this present life. It also means that we are counting on Him and Him alone as our hope for the eternal life to come.

But the call of Jesus into the lives of  His followers doesn’t stop with belief in Him. It goes on to the second part of John’s statement (love one another, just as He commanded us). Jesus calls us to allow His transforming, life-changing love to work in us in such a way that it affects everything we do. All of our thoughts, speech and actions, as we ground ourselves in Him, will become channels or conduits to loving, caring for and helping others. Love in action is the natural result of our relationship with Christ. It’s the mark of the Christian in a world that desperately needs to experience the human touch of God in their lives.

In the busyness of modern life we are all confronted with a daily barge of ideas, goals and objectives. Information, challenges and requests for the commitment of our time and lives come at us from an assortment of avenues and angles. What shall we make of it all? To who and what will we ultimately give ourselves  and our lives to?

John takes these two commands of God and forms them into one because they are directly related and at the core of what it means to live a purposeful Christian life. To believe in Jesus means to trust Him. And to trust in Jesus means that we will, by the strength and wisdom that He gives us, love other people as He has loved us. Trust Jesus, love people.

Simple Strategies For Serving Our Savior,

Dar

 

 

The God Who Loves Mercy

“For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgement of God rather than burnt offerings” (Hosea 6:6).

It happened yesterday in a parking lot. Walker, my five-year old grandson had just completed his first season playing flag football. Before the game Walker talked excitedly about the trophy he would be receiving. He was so excited to be getting one,  just like all those his big brother, whom he idolizes, has.

After the game, the trophy presentation, lunch, and a big day at Bradley’s Country Store Fun Day, Walker and his seven-year old sister, Morgan, sat in their Aunt Dawn’s car watching, as Walker’s football hero and older brother Jay carried an armful of things to his car.  The trophy with the golden football figure on top, slipped and fell to the parking lot, breaking and scattering into a multitude of pieces on the pavement!

Mortified at what had just happened, Jay enlisted Aunt Dawn’s help to pick up the pieces.  He was horrified at the thought of Walker’s disappointment. With a deep sense of sadness and a broken trophy Jay approached Aunt Dawn’s car where Walker and Morgan were waiting.

As he hesitantly neared the car, Jay began to hear a tumult coming from inside.  When he opened the door it was clear the sounds were cackles of laughter! “My man exploded! My man exploded! Ha, Ha, Ha!” Walker excitedly exclaimed.  For all the world, it seemed as if it was the funniest thing Walker and Morgan had ever seen. An exploding football trophy! Who would have known?

Instead of anger and tears, there were the arms of a little brother patting the remorseful older brother on the back, dispensing buckets of unbounded mercy. “It’s alright Jay, my man exploded! Ha, Ha!” Grins and smiles abounded. As much mercy as God could pour out through a little five-year old football player were hugged into a big brother that moment.

God’s tender mercies come to us in unexpected ways. How often they blind side us and leave us speechless. All we can mutter at times is “Thank You LORD!” And that’s probably a good thing.

When we give out mercy into the lives of others, we are living out a mirrored refection of God’s mercy into our own lives. We are in fact simply demonstrating a character quality that we ourselves have seen and experienced from God.

In this morning’s worship service we sang:

Thy mercy my God is the theme of my song, The joy of my heart, and the boast of my tongue. Thy free grace alone, from the first to the last, Hath won my affection and bound my soul fast.

Without Thy sweet mercy, I could not live here. Sin would reduce me to utter despair, But through Thy free goodness, my spirit’s revived And He that first made me still keeps me alive.

The English Puritan, Thomas Benton Brooks wrote, “The more godly any man is, the more merciful that man will be.”  As we show unexpected and tender mercies to our fellow travelers we are simply reflecting family traits and bringing great joy to our Father.

May We Be  Missionaries of Mercy In The Midst Of A Mad, Messy And Often Mean Mankind,

Dar

The God Who Breathes Life Into Dead Bones

Dry bones, listen to the word of the LORD! This is what the Sovereign LORD says: Look! I am going to put breath into you and make you live again! I will put flesh and muscles on you and cover you with skin. I will put breath into you, and you will come to life. Then you will know that I am the LORD. (Ezekiel 37: 4-6)

Many years ago, God told Ezekiel to prophesy to His people, that one day, He would bring their dead bones back to life. And the God who spoke to Ezekiel then is still in the business of giving Life – not death. Jesus died our death for us . . . to give us life, Eternal Life.

This is our God! The God who breathed life into Adam and Eve is the same God who breathes His Life giving Spirit into anyone who, after coming to the end of themselves, discovering their own emptiness, acknowledging their own powerlessness,  and giving up on their own plans, simply turns to Him and trusts in Him for the promised gift of  new life-giving breath.

Our God is in the business of giving life where there is no life. God is in the business of making that which is old, new. God’s Method of Operation is to reach out to the defeated, go to the downcast, hold up the diseased, come along side the discarded, pick up the damaged, lift up the discouraged, and give life to those who have been given up for dead.

An old standard of the Church puts it this way:

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Fill me with life anew,                                                                                      

That I may love what Thou dost love,

And do what Thou wouldst do.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Until my heart is pure,                                                                                   

Until my will is one with Thine,

To do and to endure.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

Till I am wholly Thine,                                                                                   

Until this earthly part of me

Flows with Thy fire divine.

Breathe on me, Breath of God,

So shall I never die,                                                                                             

But live with Thee the perfect life

Of Thine eternity.

 

Finding Satisfaction With the Sweet, Saving, Sealing and Strengthening Breath Of God’s Spirit.

Dar