He Is Always Here

 As we wrap up this year's Easter season, I can't help but feel melancholic.  I know, The Lord is Risen! Alleluia! Praised be His Holy Name!  We rejoice with the good news...but then...on comes Monday and it is back to the reality of a world that is so complicated and hard to navigate...that I feel deflated.  Our society has changed so much and mainly for the worse.  People have walked away from God and there is an entire generation who doesn't know who Jesus is or is even curious to find out.  Church is rejected and organized religion is dwindling.  The hope of Easter Sunday seems to dissipate with the early lights of the next day and my heart sinks.

I start wondering what God's plan is, and fear creeps in.  It seems that nothing but destruction, depravation and chaos are in line for our societies.  Humanity is forgetting all about Him, worshiping self above all else.  We are living lives more and more void of a connection with the golden rule, and less and less of us are interested in seeking Him first.  

When I get to moments like this, I need to collect myself and remember, God is in full control of everything.  He knows what He is doing.  Though it may seem as if He is about to allow humanity to destroy itself, I have to trust His plan.  I have to trust that He is present and that He cares.  The same way He cared even about Cain, He cares about us.  Yes, if there was a time in history when one would think God had abandoned mankind it was at the beginning when Adam and Eve got kicked out of the Garden of Eden.  Back when Cain was selfishly jealous of his brother Abel to the point of killing him, we would think God was just not there.  But it only takes a careful reading to realize that He was there all along.  

Genesis chapter 4, particularly verses 3 to 16 show us that it wasn't God who abandoned us.  It was Cain who left. God was there.  He even reached out to Cain knowing full well that he was pouting about the whole thing with Abel having presented a better offering.  God acted in compassion towards Cain, even though Cain was lost.  This is one instance of the dramatic pursue of Our Father for us.  Cain just refused to understand and to repent.  He could not get over himself and accept his responsibility, ask for forgiveness and learn from his mistakes.  Instead, he chose to pout and whine.  God, however, as the loving Father He is, put a cover of protection on him regardless of Cain's inability to grow up.  But Cain...left.  He, "went out from the Lord’s presence and lived in the land of Nod, east of Eden." (Genesis 4: 16)

And that's the story.  Since the dawn of mankind, it is us who leave God, not the other way around.  Even in our darkest moments, He is there.  Even when our vision is too clouded by our sin that we can't see Him, He is there...protecting us...loving us.  And that's the promise we must hang on to.  Even in the world's most desperate hour, when society seems to be choosing self destruction, God is here.  He is in control.  And I choose to trust.

I pray that the Holy Spirit would made His presence be felt with renewed fervor in these days of darkness and that people may begin to call on the Name of the Lord again.  May His mercy, compassion and infinite love guard us and protect us from our own sinful actions.  In the Precious Name of Jesus.  Amen!

Holy Saturday Meditation

 Waiting is not one of my qualities.  I get panicky too quickly and if I have to add a period of waiting to my already restless state, my anxiety level goes through the roof instantaneously.  Usually, when I'm nervous and I have to wait, I make myself busy.  I do something.  I find work to occupy my mind and distract myself long enough until the waiting period is over.

Thinking about waiting and Holy Saturday, I tell you, I don't know how the Apostles and all those who loved Jesus and followed Him to the tomb managed it.  

53 Then he took it down, wrapped it in linen cloth and placed it in a tomb cut in the rock, one in which no one had yet been laid. 54 It was Preparation Day, and the Sabbath was about to begin.

55 The women who had come with Jesus from Galilee followed Joseph and saw the tomb and how his body was laid in it. 56 Then they went home and prepared spices and perfumes. But they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment. Luke 23: 53-56

Can you imagine that Sabbath day?  After all the horrific events that started after Passover on Thursday, all through Good Friday...to then land on the Sabbath to rest.  REST?!  Who could possible rest after all that had happened?!  My mind would be racing.  My heartrate would be uncontrollable.  My blood pressure would be about to explode! REST!  There is NO way I could calm down enough to rest.  I would not be able to make my mind settle long enough to remember to sit down and do nothing for a WHOLE DAY!  

I wonder if I would have risked it and just found something to do...maybe even taken a walk to the tomb where they buried Him just so I could grief and cry to my heart's content nearby where He had been laid to rest.  I don't know, but just thinking about it makes me anxious.

Not them, though...they rested on the Sabbath in obedience to the commandment.  What we call Holy Saturday today, was the day when Jewish people would just stay put and slow down, idle.  They probably used the day to talk about what had happened and collect their thoughts.  They probably pondered silently the impending question in everyone's mind that nobody might have wanted to address:  now what? What are we supposed to do now that Our Lord is gone?

Today, however, when we have the benefit of Scripture which tells us the whole story, and the blessing of knowing that He ran out of that grave the next day, Holy Saturday is still a day to pause.  It is the day to meditate on what Jesus did on Friday afternoon while we wait for Sunday morning.  Today is the day when continue to wait not just for Easter morning, but we also wait for that day when Jesus will come back on all His glory.  It is the day when we renew our hope even while still immersed in a world that have apparently forgotten all about Him.  In this seemingly never-ending Holy Saturday, our gratitude rises above our agony because we know that in spite of what we see in this material realm, the truth is in The Word and in the promise of His return. 

Therefore, we Praise His Holy Name in this Holy Saturday as we wait with the certainty of those who know what's next...and that what's next is that we have already won.  

We Praise You, Lord Jesus and give You our Thanksgiving for loving us to the point of dying for us.  Today is the day to remember that it wasn't 3 nails what held You to the cross.  You could have come down from that tree in the blink of an eye.  What kept you on the cross was Your love for us, and for that we Praise You as the Only Worthy Lamb.

Amazing grace, how sweet that sound.  Praise You for who You are.  Thank You for knowing me, and for loving me still.  Come Lord Jesus, come soon.  May Holy Saturday give way to Easter morning once again.  In Your Precious Name.  Amen!

The Sacrifice of Thanksgiving

 In this Holy days leading to Easter, I'd like to turn my thoughts towards gratitude.  Gratitude for what Jesus did back when He walked this earth in the material realm as well as for what He continues to do today all around.  I want to be awake enough to contemplate in reverence and thanksgiving the events of those days.  The pain, anguish, fear, and horror of the Passion of Our Lord, His crucifixion and death, but also the hope of His resurrection and the glory of His ascension into Heaven...I want to be grateful for everything.

A devotional reading I read this morning said:  "Bring Me the sacrifice of thanksgiving.  Take nothing for granted, not even the rising of the sun." (Jesus Calling by Sarah Young)

Imagine if we are called to give thanks even for things we don't even think about, like the rising of the sun, or breathing, or blinking, or waking up...how are we not to spend time meditating and filling our hearts with appreciation for what Jesus did and keeps on doing?  How could we go through the whole Easter season without a deep sense of thankfulness?  Easily.  We do it by getting so busy with the things of this world to the point that we forget the reason for the celebration.  The world has a way to distract us from the real meaning of what we do.  At Christmas, we get distracted by the twinkling lights, the Elves on shelves, the old, jolly fellows on red suits, the presents, the parties.  At Easter we sweeten the days with candy, eggs, bunnies, pastel-colored flowers and new dresses.  A whirlwind later, and we're back to normal...like nothing happened.

I guess that's why the devotional says: "the sacrifice of thanksgiving."  Taking time to pause and ponder on the events that give meaning to the days requires sacrifice, indeed.  I don't know about you, but for me, time bleeds out like water gushing from a busted hydrant.  Hitting the pause button would imply sacrificing many things in my daily list of chores...all important...all needing my attention...all coming to me with a rush order.  When we give an offering it is supposed to be out of what we value, not out of our surplus.  Time never seems to be on surplus around here.  Therefore, that is the best gift I can give back to Our Lord...time to give thanks.

I want to be transformed.  Like my devotional concluded, "When you approach Me with thanksgiving, the Light of My Presence pours into you, transforming you through and through."  May these Holy days allow us opportunities to come to Christ with a heart filled with gratitude.  And may He transform us into who He designed us to be.  In His Precious Name.  Amen!

Ugly Feet

 I don't like many things about my body.  The list is very long and I don't want to get into details, but I just wanted to mention one body part that I have been self-conscious about since I was a teen: my feet.  I used to get teased about them.  They are way too large, sweaty, smelly, semi-deformed.  My toes look more like fingers, and since I've broken a few of them because in my clumsiness...they are crooked and disgusting. 

At any rate.  I have never gotten a pedicure because I don't want to subject anyone to have to deal with my feet.  It would just be too humiliating, so I keep saying, no thanks!  I can only imagine the kind of conversations the pedicurists would exchange after I'm gone: did you see "Mrs. big foot" there? Her feet are so huge we needed a towel for each toe!

No thank you!

...so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him. John 13: 4-5

Dear Lord, I am so not worth it.  I am so not worth Your incredible act of service towards those who like me do not deserve it.  To see You in such a humble position, washing my dirty, ugly, nauseating feet.  I cannot fathom it.  I'm sure I would have joined Peter in saying, Lord,  “you shall never wash my feet.” (John 13: 8) Only to be rebuked by Jesus, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.” (John 13: 8b)

And that's where we are at.  Unless Jesus washes us, we have no part with Him.  So, Lord, I pray You will come into my heart and wash me from the inside out, all of me, all the way down to my revolting feet, so I can be with You...so I can be a part of You...so I can enter into Your Holy Sanctuary fully restored. 

Thank you, Lord Jesus for everything.  May we be able to walk into Your presence with clean souls, clean hearts, clean minds, clean spirits and yes, even, clean feet.  Amen!

Our Blessed Hope

 Today was such a wonderful day!  I can't believe Dan and I were actually able to go for a walk around our neighborhood.  It feels like it's been such a long winter.  Even though it was pretty mild...it just felt long and exhausting. I know tomorrow is supposed to rain and all that jazz. But today...ahhh...what a tall and refreshing glass of pure anticipation for better things to come!

The warmth of the sunshine filled my heart with the yearning of spring, the season of renewal, the season of rebirth. In this Holy Week, as we are entering the days of remembrance of what Our Lord, Jesus, the Messiah, The Christ sent by God the Father, did for us making this season also the season of hope.

As I was thinking of this I looked over a pile of papers on my messy work station here at home, and I saw a church bulletin from a few Sunday's ago where I had scribbled on the sermon notes the diagram that our Pastor has been sharing with us to train us on how to talk to others about God's plan of salvation.  The diagram goes something like this

Taken from https://friendshipwired.com/3circles

The diagram is meant to be a simple way to share the good news of salvation with unbelievers and those who have never heard about God's plan for us.  I'm not sure I have ever gotten it right...but it goes something like this:  It starts with God's perfect design for humanity, but then, we tend to run toward sin which causes brokenness and interruption of the unfolding of that perfect design.  The way to be made whole again is through repentance and believe as we dive into the Gospel where Jesus' death and resurrection restores us and redeems us so we can get back on track again into God's plan. 

I love the diagram and I pray the Holy Spirit gives me the courage to use it someday.  But what caught my attention on that paper was something I had written above the diagram and enclosed in a frame.  I usually do that as a way to highlight ideas I want to be able to find easily later as I review my typically scattered and hard-to-read, semi-pathetic efforts at note-taking.  Anyway, the words I frame were:  This is the Hope.

I'm not sure why I phrased it that way.  I'm not sure I like it, to tell you the truth.  It kind of sounds like wishful thinking rather than certainty.  Today, I'd like to amend my editorial comment and take out the "the."  God's plan depicted on the three circle diagram is not "the" Hope.  God's restoring master design is Hope itself, or Himself, I should say.  It is pure and unadulterated Hope, because Hope is Jesus.  Our Great God and Savior, Jesus Christ is Our Blessed Hope. (Titus 2: 13)

Just as I inhale the last few rays of today's sunshine, my cup runs over with Hope not just for the beauty of nature awaking from its winter slumber, but with true Hope, the one that Only comes from Him, Our Hope of glory.  In the precious Name Above All Names.  Amen!

How Can It Be?

 I read a beautifully written study on the biblical truth expressed in the hymn "And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" by Charles Wesley, one of the fathers of the Methodist church.  Charles Wesley wrote about 6,000 hymns some of which are song across denominations from Christmas to Easter and everything in between.  Among the most famous of Wesley's hymns we have "Christ the Lord is Risen Today" the quintessential Easter song and "Hark the Herald Angels Sing" its Christmas counterpart.  

Though "And Can It Be That I Should Gain?" is not as universally recognized as the above mentioned, it is a most profound reflection on what Jesus truly did for us.  It is where Christmas and Easter collide.  It is a scandalous meditation on the impact of the Incarnation and the Crucifixion.   Like the writer of the devotional I read today said, "This hymn expresses old truths being perceived anew, amid surprise and astonishment.  Indeed, Wesley's words of faith are expressed in questions of "unbelief" - of incomprehension, amazement.  "how could this be true? How could the sacrifice of Christ apply not only to others but to me?"

And can it be that I should gain
An interest in the Savior's blood
Died He for me, who caused His pain
For me, who Him to death pursued?
Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

And then, the song's repeated underlying question-a vast and cosmic one - a question about the Incarnation and the Cross, about Christmas and Easter,

Amazing love! How can it be
That Thou, my God, should die for me?

('Tis Mystery All! by J. Todd Billings in The Wondrous Cross.  Reflections on Christ's Sacrifice Drawn from the Songs and Hymns of Easter.)

And that is the question: who am I to be loved by God?

I do not deserve Him.  I do not deserve Him making such a precious sacrifice for me.  I am the worst sinner.  I am one of His accusers.  I am one of His deniers.  How could He want me to the point of dying for me?

I don't know.

All I know is that, "...God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." Roman 5: 8 And that includes you and me.

It's a mystery, indeed-A blessed mystery for which I am eternally grateful- It is the mystery of His Saving Grace, and I don't question it, I surrender to it and praise Him.  In His Awe-Inspiring Name, in wonder and bewilderment I pray.  Amen!

Striving to Live by the Spirit

If we live by the Spirit, let us also keep in step with the Spirit. Galatians 5: 25

"How do we live by the Spirit?"

This was the question our Pastor asked tonight at our last Lent-meditation event at church.  As I was helping out in the kitchen, the question resonated in my mind.  I got distracted with the tasks at hand, so I tucked away the question among the sloppy joe and chicken salad sandwiches, the coleslaw, apple sauce, cakes and dirty dishes.  Now that I'm back home, though, the question resurfaced: "How do we live by the Spirit?"

This wasn't a rhetorical question.  It was meant to be answered.  The first thing that I thought was: listen.  To live by the Spirit I must listen to the voice of the Spirit speaking to me from my heart.  It is difficult, though.  There are so many other voices clamoring for my attention, work being a pretty loud one.  I'm so distracted by the screams for attention that come from the general direction of my office that I often spend most of my days enslaved to  all the things I have to do for it.  Family responsibilities also speak very loudly in my life.  At the end of the day, then, I'm so tired that many times I just collapse in bed without having spent any quality time listening to the voice of the Holy Spirit in me.  Therefore, neither living by the Spirit nor keeping in step with the Spirit are a consistent reality in my journey of faith.

What to do?

Can I just quit my job? and my family?

Well...not really...

I just need to pray that the same Holy Spirit I'm neglecting, guides me and helps me become organized so I can get my priorities straight.  I need a job and I need to tend to my family, but spending time with My Lord is above both of these.  In order to divide my time in a way that is in accordance with God's will, I must place myself in His hands.  "Your will be done," Lord as I recognize Your #1 ranking among all that is important to me in life.  You are My Father in Heaven.  Praised be Your Holy Name.  Your Kingdom comes and Your will is done on earth in heaven and in me.  All the rest is up to You.  All the rest is in Your care.

If I can remember this, I will be able to live by and keep in step with the Spirit.  A way to assure I will remember is by staying in Scripture on a daily basis, listening to what the Spirit has to say and obeying it.  

May the Holy Spirit open up the pathways for us to live by and keep in step with Him.  The Holy Guide and Counselor.  Our Helper and Comforter.  In the Precious Name of Jesus.  Amen!