Power Of A Moment

Recently, my paths crossed with someone I hadn’t seen in a few months.

When I asked her how things were going in her life, she quoted Hebrews 13:8, saying, “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever.”

At the time, I thought it was a rather strange response…but now I totally get it.

Nothing stays the same for long in this world, does it?

I hardly recognize this great country anymore. The evil tentacles of socialism are ever- expanding deeper into our society and that is terrifying.

As I write this, I am watching survivors of Superstorm Sandy relate their experience of losing everything (including loved ones) in the storm that roared to shore one year ago.

My kids are no longer little. They are teens who are taller than me and will soon be out of our home and on their own.

My brother and I took a road trip last week back to our hometown and it seemed that we spent much of our time remarking about how much things had changed.

Some family members were coping with physical challenges while we were there: one cousin was recovering from an extremely painful knee replacement surgery and one aunt had broken her foot in two places. Two active people stopped in their tracks by broken bodies.

We thought often about those  dear faces we used to see when we went home who are no longer there to greet us. Their number has grown over the years, causing us to deeply treasure the precious ones who are still with us. 

A simple look in the mirror reveals the march of time across my face.

Circumstances have changed over and over through the course of twenty one years of marriage. We have moved eleven times and owned four homes.

Trials, both large and small, have been permitted to enter our lives.

Currently, we are in the midst of a doozy, which has left us with many more questions than we have answers, sad hearts, some sleepless nights…and a dogged determination to cling to His Word and what we know is true of His character.

We have learned the art (and gift) of counting blessings in the midst of the hard. (That, by the way, is the key to guard against bitterness).

And yes, there have been many, many moments of joy and laughter.

My point is that life is in a constant state of flux. To search for security on this earth anywhere other than in Jesus is like trying to stand firmly on the surface of a restless ocean.

That’s why Hebrews 13:8 is such a comfort to us when our heads are spinning with the rapidity of change that we encounter on a daily basis.

Our risen Savior NEVER changes. Not one bit. Not ever. Not during job loss, divorce, illness, bankruptcy, funerals, difficult relationships, good times or bad times. He will never desert us. He will never stop loving us. He will never stop doing good to us all the days of our lives and into eternity.

Although we cannot see Him, He is more real than anything we can see or hear or touch.

We can firmly stake our lives on the absolute truth His Word. We can live by His promises. We can see by His Light.

We can visit His empty tomb and see that He has risen.

We live in anticipation of the fact that He is coming back in all His glorious power and every knee will bow before Him and every tongue will confess that He is Lord.

Everlasting, Your light will shine when all else fades
Never ending, Your glory goes beyond all fame.
—(Hillsong) 

Long after everything on this earth is gone, Jesus will remain.

He is the sure and certain Anchor for our souls as we walk through our days. And when we close our eyes in this life, the first thing we will see as we enter eternity will be His face.

Take some time to really soak in this glorious truth today.

You, Lord, laid the foundation of the earth in the beginning and the heavens are the work of Your hands; they will perish but You will remain. They will wear out like a garment, like a robe, You will roll them up, like a garment they will be changed. But You are the same and Your years will have no end.” —Hebrews 1:10-12 

This morning, I came across Psalm 18 and this verse jumped out at me:

In my distress ( when seemingly closed in), I called upon the Lord and cried to my God. He heard my voice out of His temple (heavenly dwelling place), and my cry came before Him, into His very ears. (Ps. 18:6)

The key word in this verse is seemingly. 

In the psalmist’s view, his troubles were closing in on him.  His eyes and his mind could see no escape. Doom was certain.

If you are currently feeling that way, the enemy is having a field day with you. He wants to to be hopeless and see only the darkness of the pit.

But that is simply an illusion.

Your Savior sees you. He hears you. He knows the big picture. He knows exactly how He is going to rescue you. Psalm 18:19 describes His deliverance:

He brought me forth also into a large place; He was delivering me because He was pleased with me and delighted in me.

You are not meant to live in the pit.

Jesus will bring you out into a large place. The One who called you out of darkness (I Peter 2:9) intends for you to live in the Light of His Presence.

He is pleased with you.

He delights in you.

These things are true whether you feel it or not.

Your deliverance is on the way.

Count on it.

 

“Somebody needs to do this,” The man spoke earnestly to his friend who works in the school.

He had been praying and felt it was extremely important.

“That someone is you,” his friend said.

With that wise commission, this beloved coach chose to leave his comfort zone and begin a Bible study that was open to all the kids in the high school.

The day arrived and both the doors and the coach’s heart were open.

One boy showed up.

And Jesus smiled.

This young man knew the coach, having played on his team. Unbeknownst to the coach, he had given his life to Christ last year during summer camp in the mountains.

But he was struggling to live his faith because he lacked a mentor. It’s hard for any of us to bravely live our faith in the midst of a sea of unbelievers; it is even more so for a young athlete trying to shine his light in the midst of a public high school.

Now this boy had a mentor and the coach rejoiced in how faithful Jesus is to meet us when we are willing to take one step outside of our comfort zones.

As I took a walk around the high school track the day after this happened, I found my eyes filling with tears at the tenderness of our magnificent Savior. In that building of hundreds, Jesus heard the prayers of one young man’s heart and He provided another one of His own to come alongside him just when he needed it most.

If you know Jesus, you are always being pursued by Him.

He hears your prayers.

He sees your need.

He knows the desires of your heart even more intimately than you do.

He cares.

He provides just what you need when you need it.

Keep your eyes open today to all the varied ways that He may answer your prayers. See who He might send across your path.

And if you feel Him inviting you to step out of your comfort zone…do it.

You never know who might be the beneficiary of your brave choice.

“The King will reply, ‘Truly, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of Mine, you did for Me’.”—Jesus

The church sits like a jewel in the middle of a bustling major U.S. city.

Every Sunday, the parking spaces closest to the main doors are filled with Mercedes, BMWs, and Lincoln Town cars.

This church boasts thousands of members, many of whom live in the wealthiest part of the state.

There are programs galore: Bible studies, softball teams, seminars on marriage and finances, all kinds of support groups, counseling, etc.

The message from the pulpit every Sunday is replete with Scriptural examples of God’s amazing, lavish, and incredible grace, sacrificial love, and eternal hope.

Sounds great, doesn’t it?!

That is exactly what a friend of mine thought.

She was anxious to use her gift of helping and finding resources for the poor in the Outreach department of the church. After all, the church member is encouraged to “Be the hands and feet of Christ” to the needy in the community.

And my goodness, there is a huge need.

This church is in one of the spiritually darkest cities in our nation and is filled with homelessness, drug abuse, prostitution, human trafficking, poverty, and hopelessness.

Imagine her shock when she was given a tour of the facilities after she signed on to volunteer.

The food pantry was almost empty. (There is no advertisement in the weekly bulletin or in the announcements that there even is a food pantry).

There were no Bibles to give to the people who showed up seeking services.

There was no central folder containing information on the resources people might need.

The director left the position and the person who took over barely shows up.

Every Sunday morning, those who need help in the community are asked to come to the outreach department. My friend was given to believe that food was provided for them. They would then be invited to attend the service and return afterward for the help they needed.

On average, thirty five people show up each Sunday morning. There is never any coffee, juice, or water.  The only food that is there is one box of munchkins from Dunkin Donuts.  That’s it. And  one of the volunteers in this department helps himself to most of them.

One morning, the church was hosting a big breakfast for all the members. All of the volunteers went to the breakfast, leaving nobody there to greet the people that day…except my friend. She would have liked to have gone to the breakfast but she decided to go to the outreach center instead, knowing the people were going to be there.

She was the only one who bothered to show up.

If she had not been there, the doors would have been locked to the hurting people in that community.

Isn’t that something? Take a minute to get a picture of what happened that day in your mind. The already well-fed, well-dressed people who had jobs, a roof over their heads, and reliable vehicles were enjoying a full breakfast.

Those outside the church walls, the hungry, the jobless, the homeless, would have been locked out with no one to talk to.

My friend had been given no training so she did the best she could. After getting a better idea of what these people needed, she put together a packet of local information that would help and sent it to the current director.

When she arrived the following week, not only had the information she had sent not been used in any way, the room where the people from the community gather was unavailable.

Why?

Because apparently, that room was now needed so that the members of the church could attend (yet another) Bible study!

My friend had brought lots of fresh food for the people…and now there was literally nowhere for her to put it.

I found it so ironic that the people who claim to know and walk with Jesus were so anxious to open His Word together and fatten their already fat heads with more knowledge that they did not give a second thought to the people outside that door…who happen to be the very people Jesus came to save!!!

Not only that, they are missing Jesus Himself! Even a brief look through the Gospels show the fact that Jesus was not locked behind the walls of the temple…He was out among the people, ministering, loving, caring, feeding, and healing.

I suppose I should be grateful that the disadvantaged are even allowed inside the church doors at all.

Unbelievably, the previous pastor  had allocated a small, closet-like room at the back of the church that could be opened from the outside for those in need of food. Inside, there was just a phone. The person could call up to the food pantry, relate what they needed, and then someone would come down to them with the needed items in a bag. They would then be expected to go on their way. 

We wouldn’t want the homeless and the hungry to taint the interior of our lovely church, would we?!

My friend attempted to make an appointment with the lead pastor at the church. She made it clear in her message that she was NOT coming to complain, take up a lot of his time, or to suggest that he should solve all of the church’s problems. She simply wanted to share her heart, her passion to help, and what she had seen. She felt he would want to know what is happening on the ground at the church that he agreed to lead (with much fanfare, I might add). She also had made a list of solutions that could be implemented with his blessing.

Not only did she never get to talk to him; she could not even speak to his assistant. His assistant passed her off to someone else, who assured her that the head pastor was “extremely busy” and just did not have the time  to meet. However, when his schedule opened up, she was told that she would be kept “on the radar” in the event that he had time to meet with her.

My blood is boiling. (I suppose that is obvious).

What does this tell the people who are invited to this church each week about Jesus Christ?

They hear about a God who became a Man and came to this earth to seek and save the lost. They hear about His love and kindness, especially to the poor, the despondent, the hopeless, the sick, the outcasts.

They hear about His open arms, His miracles, His attentiveness to people from all walks of life, His compassion, His love for children.

They hear about His willingness to pay the penalty that they deserved so that by His death and resurrection, they might live forever with Him.

They hear that He has commanded His people to love as He loves, to give as He gives, to extend grace as He graces all of us.

They hear about a God of abundance, who does more than we could ask or imagine.

They hear about the fact that He IS Love, Joy, Hope, and Peace incarnate.

And then they come to this church, which is supposed to be shining as brightly with Christ’s love as would a city on hill.

And they see empty shelves in the food pantry.

They see one pitiful box of donut holes.

They see church volunteers who may smile at them and chat for a few minutes before patting them on the back and sending on their way, empty-handed.

Don’t tell me that these people do not see the discrepancy between what they hear from the pulpit and what they experience at the back of that church every week.

Don’t tell me that they do not feel “less than” than the well-heeled church members.

Don’t tell me that they do not feel condescended to.

Don’t tell me they wonder where this Jesus they hear about each Sunday from the pulpit is after the sermon.

Our church is currently doing a Bible study by David Platt called Follow Me.  It is a no-holds barred look at exactly what Jesus said it means to follow Him. (Hint: it’s NOT to play country club at church each week). His call is a call to die to self, to let Him live His life through you in the power of His Holy Spirit, to love and serve others, to pray for your enemies, to find the joy in giving with abandon rather than receiving, to hold loosely to the stuff of earth because this planet  is not your home, to tell others the good news that a Savior has come to save your hopeless, sin-sick soul.

We who call ourselves Christians would do well to give sober thought to how we are living our lives. Does our walk match our talk? Do we put into practice the things we learn in Bible study or do we just continue to grow in knowledge with no action to back up what we say we believe? Do we think of ourselves last? Do we share the good news of the gospel with the people in our circle of influence? Do we feel the need to keep up with the Joneses  and amass treasure on this earth or do we gladly sacrifice for the good of others? Are our priorities His priorities? Do we live with an eternal perspective?

Jesus said it best (obviously): And He said to all, “Whoever would follow Me, let him deny himself, disown himself, lose sight of himself and his own interests…and take up his cross daily and follow Me (cleave steadfastly to Me, conform wholly to My example in living and if need be, in dying also).” (Luke 9: 23).

THIS is the call of Christ.

Are we living it or just playing church?

Yesterday, I felt like I had been punched in the gut.

Circumstances were going one way and then in a totally unforeseen twist, they went another.

If I am honest, I experienced all of these emotions: anger, confusion, irritation, extreme frustration, bewilderment, disappointment, and sadness. And maybe a teeny tiny desire for revenge on the person who was causing all the trouble.

Have you ever felt that way?

What is a Christian to do when God allows something that He could have prevented and you have no idea what He is doing?

First of all, pour out your heart to Him. Be brutally honest. He can take it. He knows what is in our hearts already. Unless you get it all out, it will fester and twist and morph into bitterness, which only pleases the enemy and poisons a soul.

In fact, I Peter 5:7 tells us to “Cast the whole of your care (all of your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all), on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully.”

In the original language, the word “cast” means ‘to throw”  The connotation is of just hurling a thing as hard as you can onto something else. It is a very deliberate, decisive action.

In this case, you are not throwing your cares into a void. You are throwing them right onto the strong and everlasting shoulders of Jesus, who is the only source of true Help and Hope.

And what do you get back in return? Not condemnation, not rebuke, not shame.

This is what you receive:

Grace (spiritual blessing and favor), mercy, and heart peace be yours from God the Father and Christ Jesus our Lord. (I Timothy 1:2)

Time and time again, we see the giving character of our magnificent God in His Word. He is not in any way stingy. He does not give grudgingly. He gives lavishly, extravagantly, abundantly, exceedingly more than all we could ask or imagine.

This verse tells us that grace, mercy, and peace flow to us from His good, kind, and merciful heart.

Let’s look at the definitions of each in the original Greek.

Grace : that which affords joy, pleasure, delight, sweetness, charm, loveliness, good will, kindness and favor; the merciful kindness of God, benefit, bounty, the absolutely free expression of lovingkindness of God to men

Mercy:  kindness, goodwill towards the miserable and afflicted, joined with a desire to help them

Peace: the tranquil state of a soul assured of its salvation through Christ and so fearing nothing from God and content with its earthly lot, of whatever sort that is.

THIS is the heart of God toward you, even when you are hurting, angry, and resentful.

It is this type of relentless, perfect divine love that melts the hardest heart, causes bitterness to evaporate, turns complaints into gratitude, forges steel into a trembling soul, grants courage to the faint-hearted, and gives abundant grace that allows one who has fallen to get back up in the  powerful Name of the One who defeated death.

And in the process, the enemy’s plan is thwarted. This enemy of our souls is rendered helpless, powerless, and revealed to be the loser he truly is.

Whatever valley you may be walking through this day, do not allow your circumstances to obliterate your view of your Savior. He is there. He is at work in ways you cannot see. He promises to work all things to your good. He will never stop doing good to you. He brings beauty from the ashes.

Rather than suffer and die in the desert of human reasoning, out-of-control emotions, and consuming worry, pull up stakes and place yourself under the waterfall of His never-ending, endless rush of GRACE.

Then take His hand and walk side by side with Him along the path that He has chosen (with great love and care) for you to walk.

Right now, at this very moment, grace, mercy, and peace from the throne of God  are streaming into your life  with such a tremendous deluge that it makes Niagara Falls look like a trickle .

You are safe in Him.

Believe it. Receive it. Watch Him work.

Have I not commanded you? Be strong and courageous. Do not be frightened and do not be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go. —(Joshua 1:9)