Praying with Moses

When Moses penned Psalm 90, he must have been at that age where he felt wistful about dying yet hopeful that the Lord would leave future generations with the same deep faith and blessing that he had experienced. He wrote acknowledging the power and presence of God, but also how he felt about the brevity of life . . .

Lord, You have been our dwelling place in all generations. Before the mountains were brought forth, or ever You had formed the earth and the world, even from everlasting to everlasting, You are God.

Because God is God, He has every right to do whatever He wishes with His creation, including me. He created us and He can save us, or . . .

You turn man to destruction, and say, “Return, O children of men.” For a thousand years in Your sight are like yesterday when it is past, and like a watch in the night. You carry them away like a flood; they are like a sleep. In the morning they are like grass which grows up: in the morning it flourishes and grows up; in the evening it is cut down and withers.

Life is very short. I began to die the moment I was born. In the sight of God, this is but a blink. The older I get, the days become even more a blink—so very short. I look back over my life and wonder how I managed to get to this place in such a brief moment. Then I think of God’s mercy. My son once said, “Mom, aging isn’t so bad when you consider the alternative.” I could be like those of whom Moses included in the next few verses . . .

For we have been consumed by Your anger, and by Your wrath we are terrified. You have set our iniquities before You, our secret sins in the light of Your countenance. For all our days have passed away in Your wrath; we finish our years like a sigh.

I can relate to this in that I know my sins are known by God, and that my body wears out because of sin. This is the way life is for all humanity. Sin slowly destroys us. Yet I am no longer terrified by the wrath of God. I also know His mercy, and even though I sometimes sigh about “the things I wish I’d done” I know that God loves me and my sins are forgiven. Yet still, life is short . . .

The days of our lives are seventy years; and if by reason of strength they are eighty years, yet their boast is only labor and sorrow; for it is soon cut off, and we fly away. Who knows the power of Your anger? For as the fear of You, so is Your wrath. So teach us to number our days, that we may gain a heart of wisdom.

The norm for life in Canada is 77 years for men, 84 for women. That gives me a bit more that what Moses considered hopeful. I could live another 15-10 years. At the same time, the last 15-20 swished past so quickly that I really need to be aware of God. I need to consider His anger against sin and avoid it. I need to remember His power to do great things and pray for it. I also need to fear Him and listen to His voice.

I’ve always been conscious that I must manage my time well, and now even more than ever, but this verse says that time management is not a skill to learn so that I might be more productive. Instead, it is for being more conscious of God’s authority in my life. He wants me to listen to Him and obey, for it is only by doing His will that the rest of my days and my doings will have eternal value. For that, I need His grace and mercy, lest sin and selfishness govern my actions . . .

Return, O Lord! How long? And have compassion on Your servants. Oh, satisfy us early with Your mercy, that we may rejoice and be glad all our days! Make us glad according to the days in which You have afflicted us, the years in which we have seen evil.

Though my short years, God has shown me that true joy is in doing His will. When I am living obediently in His mercy, what I do will have eternal value. The Bible defines eternal value as those things that go into the presence of God forever. My worldly achievements will not matter. I cannot take any money or possessions with me. My best hope is that God will bless my family and others around me so that they will see His glory and follow Him, and wind up in eternity with Him and with me. For that, I pray along with Moses . . .

Let Your work appear to Your servants, and Your glory to their children. And let the beauty of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands for us; yes, establish the work of our hands.

Most of all, I want the work of God made visible in me. He has done great things, and I want people to see that. He has worked in my life and I want people to seek and know Him because of that, particularly my family. That is why I am thinking about the years that are left in terms of what God wants from me. If He makes the work of my hands significant in some way so that His glory is made visible, then I will not finish my years with a sigh, but with a joyful Hallelujah!

Forgiven

Christians, particularly those new to the faith, often struggle with forgiveness. They know God has forgiven them, but they have trouble believing it and trouble with forgiving themselves.

Sin has a way of crying out for punishment. To someone who does not know forgiveness, it seems that the only way to be rid of guilt and shame is to pay the price for it. If those we sin against do not retaliate, that sense of needing to be punished increases. At one time, beating myself over the head with it seemed the only option.

Besides that, admitting sin can be merely a way to ‘feel better’ rather than to accept the truth of it. At one time, I was convinced deep within that I was really not that bad. That ploy has no effect on guilt either. The next step was to punish myself with sorrow and guilt in the hope that would erase it. This does not work either.

There might be other mental gymnastics that people go through to deal with their guilt. Some bury it, or take it out on those around them. Some try to ‘repay’ by giving money, time, effort to the church with the idea that will get rid of the guilt. None of these things work.

Even if I could manage to forgive (or excuse) myself that didn’t work either. I first had to know that my sin is totally forgiven by God Himself. People might be able to do totally forgive me, but because sin is against God, it is ultimately His forgiveness that really counts. Knowing that God has pardoned me and will not hold my sins against me sets me free from guilt, and the more deeply I know His forgiveness, then forgiving myself becomes a moot point. Who am I to be angry with my sin when God is not angry?

Micah, the last book of the Old Testament, is titled by the name of the prophet who wrote it. His name is a short form of Micaiah and means “Who is like the LORD?” In the last few verses of this book, Micah uses a play on words in a part prayer, part exhortation, to describe God’s merciful forgiveness.

Who is a God like You, pardoning iniquity and passing over the transgression of the remnant of His heritage? He does not retain His anger forever, because He delights in mercy. He will again have compassion on us, and will subdue our iniquities. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea (Micah 7:18-19).

As my devotional reading for today says, when God takes all our sin and casts them into the depths of the sea, they never come out of those depths to witness against me. No matter what I have done and how much those sins “seem to be all alive” in me, accusing me, crying out for vengeance and punishment, God’s mercy is more powerful than my guilt.

When the Lord casts sin into the depths of the sea, those sins have “no more eyes to look at us with angry indignation, have no more tongues to speak against us in voices of accusation, have no more life in them to rise up and testify that they have been committed by us.”

Sinners have broken God’s law and are under its condemnation and curse, but because of the mercy of God and the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross to pay for sin, there is such a thing as a “forgiven sinner.” God’s complete forgiveness of sins sets me free from guilt, self-condemnation, and the sense of having failed both God and myself.

Without forgiveness, my sin would reduce me to a quivering and useless being, afraid of the wrath of God and beaten up by my refusal to forgive myself. Because of Jesus I am a sinner set free, looking forward to that great day when He presents me not only forgiven, but as Jude 24 says, “faultless before the presence of His glory with exceeding joy.”

Unity of the Spirit

More often than not, the topic of the class I teach Sunday morning and the topic of the sermon preached right after are similar. Yesterday my class studied the obedience of Jesus Christ and how obedience to God could be costly, but was worth it. The sermon title was “A Painful Obedience.”

When I looked at the sermon outline in the bulletin, I chuckled. How does that happen? I’ve no idea what the pastor is going to do, and he certainly does not consult with me about my class. Actually, someone from one of the other classes said their discussion also involved obedience.

For anyone outside the Body of Christ, this looks like a coincidence. For those of us who know the Holy Spirit, we recognize that He is speaking to us and it is not a great surprise if His message comes the same way yet through various sources.

This morning I read this beautiful passage from Colossians 3:12-17. It talks about the ideal and joyful relationship between the people of God as we obediently walk with Him.

Therefore, as the elect of God, holy and beloved, put on tender mercies, kindness, humility, meekness, longsuffering; bearing with one another, and forgiving one another, if anyone has a complaint against another; even as Christ forgave you, so you also must do. But above all these things put on love, which is the bond of perfection. And let the peace of God rule in your hearts, to which also you were called in one body; and be thankful. Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly in all wisdom, teaching and admonishing one another in psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, singing with grace in your hearts to the Lord. And whatever you do in word or deed, do all in the name of the Lord Jesus, giving thanks to God the Father through Him.

These words are not to one person, but to all who are in Christ. It speaks of a bond, a unity, a mutual attitude and care for one another that we have because Jesus lives in our hearts. When all of these things are in place, it should not be a surprise that the expression of the Holy Spirit coming from each mouth and life is in harmony with everyone else.

Further, if God’s concern, or warning, or encouragement, or exhortation to us is for the whole Body, it ought not be a surprise that each one in the Body needs and hears and passes on that same message. It might be presented in different forms (Sunday lessons, preaching, music, personal conversation), but it will be in harmony with the Spirit because He gives it to each one.

My favorite part of this particular passage is verse 16: “Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly. . . .” I love the Word of God and am certain that all who know it are far better equipped to live out the lovely unity expressed here. The Scripture is powerful and “given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, thoroughly equipped for every good work” (2 Timothy 2:16).

When the Bible is taught and takes up a firm and lasting place in our hearts, it unfolds to us a wealth of treasure, opening up to us the wisdom of God and the mystery of godliness. If we search and study the Bible with prayer and are continually seeking to understand what God wants for us and from us, God not only gives each Christian personal instruction, but that instruction is in harmony with what He is giving the others. Because of His Spirit, we have a bond that would not otherwise be ours.

Obedience is key, but obedience is not to rules or lists of do’s and don’t’s. Instead, it is simply a response of trust to the Lord and to what He opens up to us through His Word and His Spirit. Sometimes, when a Christian is in tune with God, that response is so natural that we are not even aware that God is in the thing we are doing. I imagine myself as a glove with God being the hand. He moves and I move with Him.

Of course this is about the ideal. As my devotional reading for today says, “we very easily fall off from abiding in Christ.” It warns that we cannot “expect to keep up sensible union and communion with the Lord Jesus if we neglect those means of grace which the Holy Ghost has provided for the nourishment of the life of God in the soul.”

Those means of grace include reading His Word with prayer and faith so as to feed the spirit and the life of God in my heart. Communion with Christ results in unity and communion with His people because He lives in me and also in them. He is our bond, our common ground.

Yesterday was rich and wonderful. Today God reminds me that this richness is from Him, yet it requires spiritual discipline from me. Today might be a national holiday, but that is never an excuse to take a break from spiritual disciplines or risk doing (or not doing) anything to impoverish my own soul or break that incredible bond that He gives me with His people.

Too hard for God?

Every year for a number of years, I’ve read through the Bible starting at Genesis and finishing at the end of Revelation. Sometimes I change the version, but no matter how often I read it, I’m amazed at how fresh and relevant it is, unchanging yet always revealing to me things I’d never noticed before.

Today my devotional guide pointed me to Jeremiah 32. As I read it, verse 27 encouraged me: “Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is there anything too hard for Me?”

My thoughts go to those I pray for. My last thoughts at night before dropping off to sleep are often prayers for unsaved family members. Every day they are on my heart. When I see no change in them, or a particular stubborn streak of resistance against God, I might get discouraged, but the Lord often gives me something to turn my eyes off their attitude or behavior and remember His ability to change people.

In Jeremiah, God talks to this prophet about what He is going to do. His people have been stubborn and disobedient; therefore, He is giving them over to their enemies. They will go into captivity in a foreign land because they have provoked Him to anger with their rebellion, idolatry, and abominable behavior. They “shall be delivered into the hand of the king of Babylon by the sword, by the famine, and by the pestilence” (verse 36).

This is where I see some of my family. They are in a constant struggle with life and within themselves. They are empty, but try to fill that blank space with things that do not satisfy their famine. They are in bondage to the enemy (Satan, the world and the flesh) and seem totally blind to their spiritual condition.

When I read what happened in history to God’s people, I see the parallels in my own life too. I’ve rebelled, been bound up in this sad state, and can look back and marvel at the patience of God my stubbornness. Yet here in Jeremiah His patience seems to run out. He is fed up with the apathy and refusal of His people to listen, trust, and obey Him. Then He says this:

“Behold, I will gather them out of all countries where I have driven them in My anger, in My fury, and in great wrath; I will bring them back to this place, and I will cause them to dwell safely. They shall be My people, and I will be their God; then I will give them one heart and one way, that they may fear Me forever, for the good of them and their children after them. And I will make an everlasting covenant with them, that I will not turn away from doing them good; but I will put My fear in their hearts so that they will not depart from Me. Yes, I will rejoice over them to do them good, and I will assuredly plant them in this land, with all My heart and with all My soul.” For thus says the Lord: “Just as I have brought all this great calamity on this people, so I will bring on them all the good that I have promised them. . . .”

Everything that happened to them was under the power of God. While God did not cause their rebellion, He did drive them into bondage because of it. However, He had no intention of leaving them there. One day He would bring them home, give them the heart they needed to follow Him, and bless them with every promise He had ever made. That is incredible. What an amazing thing for God to do!

As I pray, I know that God has not changed. He holds the lives of every contemporary rebel in His hands. He can put them into a deep, yet soul-awakening bondage and He can bring them out of that into the glorious liberty of the children of God.

My devotional book uses phrases that talk of what God can do. He creates “the movements of godly fear in our hearts” and “all its tendencies are toward life and the Source of life; toward hatred of sin and love of holiness; toward a desire after the enjoyment of heavenly realities, and a deadness to the things of time and sense; toward a knowledge of Christ in the manifestation of Himself, and a longing to live more to His praise, to walk more in His footsteps, and to be more conformed to His suffering image.”

When I look at someone determined to go their own way and do their own thing, someone who is totally resistant to the Lord, I am discouraged. But when I listen to what God says, and remember what He has done in the past (even in my own life), my heart is not only encouraged, but I am motivated to continue in prayer, even to rejoice that no matter how bad things might look, He is able to turn things totally the other way. Nothing is too hard for Him.

Hope’s aroma

I attended seminary as an adult, even as a grandmother. One required essay was on “hope” and even knowing what it is, I still didn’t have any idea how to illustrate it, particularly because the biblical idea of hope is not the same as the ordinary idea of “I hope so” that has no assurance.

However, the Bible college that I drove to every morning was, among other things, well-known for its cinnamon buns. When I pulled into the parking lot, I could not see them, but I could smell them. I did not have one in my hand, but I knew they were there. Because I had the right change in my pocket, I was certain that I would soon bite into one and enjoy the full promise made by that incredible aroma.

Romans 8:23-25 says, “Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.”

God promises that I will live with Him forever. He gave me the aroma of that promise by giving me the Holy Spirit. My assurance is based on evidence that I cannot see, yet the sweet aroma of His presence in my life makes my hope as sure and secure as if I could see Him.

God promises that my body will be transformed. When I look in the mirror, all I see is the ageing process and a need to stay away from sweets (including cinnamon buns) and keep eating my veggies. Yet the sweet aroma of Christ guarantees my hope. I know that what He promises will come to pass, not because I can see the “after” picture compared to the “before,” but because He has given me that sweet smell, a taste of what it is like to live with God.

This hope is so wonderful that my focus is on it most of the time. Knowing He is here right now saves me from sorrow and despondency. It saves me from turning away from Jesus, and from looking anywhere else in this world for what I want and need. This hope keeps me from getting too comfortable in this world, for it will pass away and cannot offer me anything that lasts like God lasts. Of course the marvel of a perfect cinnamon bun is merely an analogy.

This passage tells me to eagerly wait for the fulfilment of this hope, and adds that I must wait with perseverance. This is a bit like that eager walk from the parking lot to the coffee shop during a prairie snowstorm. More than once, hope presented as a sweet aroma lured me, pulled me out of the safety and comfort of my vehicle and kept me moving toward the reality beyond the promise.

Hope in what God has promised does the same. Sometimes He asks me to step out of my comfort zone, or walk through dangerous or frightening situations, but the lure of one day being perfectly like Him and being forever in His presence is an incredible grace, and by this grace, I can wait patiently for that which I cannot see . . . but I can smell it!

My Shelter and Strong Tower

The wind is blowing hard today, just as it did yesterday. With temperatures rising, the land is becoming arid and even though it has only been two days, already some neighbors have complained that they are weary of it.

World news is far worse. Fires in normally wet places, like Florida, reveal arid conditions of far greater concern than the dryness in our corner of the planet. Lack of rain is a minor concern here compared to some regions that are flooding with too much rain. The cyclone in Myanmar makes the strong wind here seem like a breeze. We have nothing to complain about. In comparison, these and other things, like the earthquake in China, make our annoying weather a walk in the park. I cannot imagine the weariness of souls who have lost everything and are without the basics for survival. Even when relief teams bring supplies, rice and water cannot mend their broken spirits.

There is an old hymn called A Shelter in the time of Storm. It includes the lines: "The Lord's our Rock, in Him we hide, a Shelter in the time of storm; secure whatever ill betide, a Shelter in the time of storm. Oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, a weary land, a weary land; oh, Jesus is a Rock in a weary land, a shelter in the time of storm."

These thoughts come from Isaiah 32:1-2. It says, “Behold, a king will reign in righteousness, and princes will rule with justice. A man will be as a hiding place from the wind, and a cover from the tempest, as rivers of water in a dry place, as the shadow of a great rock in a weary land.”

This world needs this man who is a resting place where we can hide from all assaults. All of Scripture points to His identity as the man sent by God, Jesus Christ. Only He can make the claim to be all that anyone will ever need, no matter their circumstances or stresses.

In Matthew 11:28-29, Jesus offers this invitation: “Come to Me, all you 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 those who accept, He shows Himself to be their hiding place. He gives solace when everything else is handing out grief. He gives a sense of security even in the middle of chaos. He makes a solid place of assurance when everything else shifts and moves and makes no sense.

My heart is filled with gratitude for Him and that I can say to Jesus, “You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance” (Psalm 32:7) and “Whenever I am afraid, I will trust in You” (Psalm 56:3).

Not my own

Yesterday’s thoughts about God owning my body continue this morning. The verses are 1 Corinthians 6:19-20 “Or do you not know that your body is the temple of the Holy Spirit who is in you, whom you have from God, and you are not your own? For you were bought at a price; therefore glorify God in your body and in your spirit, which are God’s.”

Apparently the last words after “body” are not in the older manuscripts, but no matter. Obviously my spirit is His and I’ve not tried to live otherwise. However, I’ve mostly behaved as if this is my body, and I am responsible for it and can choose what happens to it. Not so.

Lately I’ve noticed a few physical weaknesses. For instance, my eyes become fatigued much faster than they used to and I cannot read as late at night as I once did. Also, when I have to climb hills (or the steps in a sports arena) my pulse rate speeds like a kid with his first car.

As a child, I had rheumatic fever which left me with a murmur. My heart had become enlarged and the mitral valve developed a leak. It makes a slight swishing sound. Over the years, this has repaired itself to the point that the last person who did an ultrasound had a hard time finding the leak. But it is still there.

I’ve also another heart problem. A couple years ago, I decided to try a new soft drink with vanilla. I’d never liked the taste of anything with caffeine in it, including coffee, but this soft drink tasted good. But my heart didn’t think so. After two trips to the ER with a racing pulse, and having a specialist tell me I had an A-fib (arterial fibrillation), I finally made the connection. Obviously this irregular rhythm was triggered by caffeine in a body otherwise caffeine-free. (Thankfully chocolate is not a problem!)

Thinking of these things after yesterday’s devotions, I remembered the time that I’d had worries over my lush vegetable garden during a summer plagued with severe hail storms. Finally, like the man who wrote The Pineapple Story, I gave my garden to the Lord. I said, “Lord, this is your garden. If hail is what You want for it, then do what seems best.” I stopped worrying. God owns the garden; I’m only the gardener. I’m to be a good steward, but the ultimate responsibility for its outcome lies with the owner.

At that memory, I said, “Lord, this is Your body (and your heart). I am not able to make it work the way I’d like it to work, and besides, You own it anyway. You bought it with the blood of Jesus Christ and it is yours.”

Then I also remembered a verse, Psalm 73:26. “My flesh and my heart fail; but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

Putting all this together isn’t as tidy a package as it seems. Because the Lord owns my body means I need to respond in two ways. The first is to actually yield it to Him and stop any anxiety about aging, illness, injury or anything else. Like hailstorms, He is sovereign over what happens to me too. This is not as easy to do as it is to say.

Second, I must quit trying to run my own life in respect to what happens to me. Certainly I’m to take care of myself by eating properly, getting enough of the best type of exercise (and sleep), and so on. However, I know me; governing diet and exercise can easily turn into a “me” thing, again taking control and trying to protect what I consider is mine to control. God wants me to listen to Him and do what He says. I’m to do this not only because it is always right to hear and obey God, but also because my body is His body.

Like the garden back then, and the possessions I now have, I’m only the manager, not the owner. My stuff cannot go into eternity with me, and neither can this body. When I die, God will resurrect me with a new body (1 Corinthians 15:35ff). In the meantime, I must entrust to Him this one He has lent me to use while I’m here. Come to think of it, that works the other way around; He is entrusting me with it—because it belongs to Him—and that makes this an even more serious responsibility than when I thought it was merely mine.