Beyond Ourselves
Resurrection Praise to the God of All GRACE
Do you ever feel incomplete or imperfect? Do you sometimes wish you were stronger in your convictions and more consistent in your walk with Christ? Do you ever wonder how God could love and forgive you? The answer to our questions is summed up in one word: GRACE. First Peter 5:10 explains: “After you have suffered for a little while, the God of all grace, who called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself perfect, confirm, strengthen and establish you.” The God of All Grace, who gave His Son to die for our sins, the God of All Grace who ransomed us, the God of All Grace who transferred us from the kingdom of darkness to the kingdom of His beloved Son, that same God of All Grace will perfect, confirm, strengthen, and establish us. Praise HIM, we don’t have to pull ourselves up by our boot straps. We don’t have to rely on our goodness to be approved. Reread this incredible grace gift: “God Himself will.” The God of all grace has forgiven us of our sin by the sacrificial death of Jesus. Glory in this truth. Celebrate Christ’s resurrection – proof that God who called us to His eternal glory in Christ, will by grace, complete what He began in us. Praise the God of ALL grace.
GOD of all GRACE, we love and praise you. Thank You for calling us to eternal glory in Christ. Jesus, thank You for sacrificing Your life so that we might live eternally in Your glorious presence. Thank You, God of all grace, for perfecting, confirming, strengthening, and establishing us in Christ Jesus.
Think Bigger
Recently my son sent me a video, “How big is the Milky Way?” Watching it was an incredible reminder that too often I make God too little. He’s Christ for believers. He’s the Jew’s long awaited Messiah. Jesus died on the cross for people in certain nations. But that’s not what the Bible, God’s inspired Word, says. Rather, Isaiah 54:5, explains, we need to think bigger about who God the Father and Son are. “For your husband is your Maker, whose name is the Lord of hosts; and your Redeemer is the Holy One of Israel, Who is called the God of all the earth.” God of ALL the EARTH. “For God so loved the WORLD, He gave His only begotten Son that whoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life,” John 3:16. As we celebrate the Risen One’s sacrifice for our life, would you join me in prayerful consideration of how faithful we are being to spread the message of the forgiveness of sin and new life in Christ to our world?
Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus, forgive us when we think too small. Quicken our hearts to take seriously Your words to make disciples of all the nations.
What to Do in the Silence
Can you imagine the deafening silence those who loved Jesus experienced after His marred holy body was placed in a tomb? What can be said in desperate hours and days of silence? How do followers fill their hollow heart when it is weighed with loss or burdened by sin? Nehemiah 9 shows us. It’s a chapter that recounts people who are fasting, in sackcloth with dirt on them. It’s a chapter of people who, in desperation, read the book of the law and confess and worship. We’re privy to their prayer. Nehemiah 9:5-8a, “Arise, bless the LORD your God forever and ever! O may Your glorious name be blessed and exalted above all the blessing and praise! You alone are the Lord. You have made the heavens, the heaven of heavens with all their host, the earth and all that is on it, the seas and all that is in them. You give life to all of them and the heavenly host bows down before you. You are Lord God, Who chose Abram and brought him out from Ur of the Chaldees and gave him the name Abraham. You found his heart faithful before You, and made a covenant with him…” What do we do in times of desperation and when God is silent? We bless God’s glorious name.
“‘O may Your GLORIOUS name be blessed and exalted above all blessing and praise!’” Nehemiah 9:5
Dead…but God
Have you been with someone when they died? I was with my mother, father, and mother-in-law when they died. Webster defines death as “the irreversible cessation of all vital functions especially as indicated by permanent stoppage of the heart, respiration, and brain activity.” That is what happened to Jesus as a result of the horrific scourging and crucifixion He suffered. The Roman soldiers who oversaw His death were skilled in their profession. They pronounced Jesus dead. But, as we know and Romans 4:17 explains, God “GIVES LIFE to the DEAD and calls into being that which does not exist.” Death seems final, but God. Yes, but God who gives life to the dead, gave life to Jesus and will give life to us after our earthly bodies cease functioning. How does it make you feel to know that God will give life to you after your earthly death?
Heavenly Father, who GIVES LIFE TO THE DEAD, we praise You and exalt Your name! Thank You for Jesus’s sacrificial death and resurrection. Thank You for raising our loved ones to eternal life. Thank You for the resurrection life we will one day experience. We love You and praise Your holy name!
If You Can’t Catch Your Breath
Do you ever feel like you can’t breathe; you have so much weighing on you? Or, you’re running so fast, it’s hard to catch your “breath”? The fact is, we can feel those ways at times; literally, physically depleted. But, we can also feel fatigued and out of breath spiritually. If, and when, we feel like we’ve had the breath knocked out of us through financial, physical, emotional, or relational blows, we can turn to our Heavenly Father. Isaiah 42:5-6 says, “Thus says God the Lord, Who created the heavens and stretched them out, Who spread out the earth and its offspring, Who gives breath to the people on it and spirit to those who walk in it, I am the LORD, I have called You in righteousness, I will also hold You by the hand and watch over You, and I will appoint You as a covenant to the people, as a light to the nations.” What comforting words! God gives us our breath and spirit. Our BREATH GIVER comforts us that He holds us by the hand and watches over us. Our BREATH GIVER reminds us of our covenant relationship with Him and of our appointment as a light to the nations. Our identity, our comfort, and our purpose are God breathed.
LORD, Thank You for giving us Your BREATH of life and SPIRIT. May we in turn, live for You and Your purposes.
Friends, If….
What makes a friend? How would you define “friend”? Urban Dictionary defines “friend” as, “someone you love and who loves you, someone you respect and who respects you, someone whom you trust and who trusts you. A friend is honest and makes you want to be honest, too. A friend is loyal.” Merrian-Webster defines “friend” as, “one attached to another by affection or esteem.” Jesus defines friend in John 15:14 this way. “You are My FRIENDS if you do what I command you.” Jesus’s definition cuts through any pretense. It’s not what we say or sing. It’s what we do that demonstrates if we love, respect, and trust Jesus. Has Jesus earned our respect? Most certainly. Does Jesus deserve our love? Without a doubt. Do we trust Jesus? That question is answered by our actions of obedience or disobedience to Him.
Jesus Christ, wonderful Lord, Savior, and FRIEND, may we show You that You are our friend by obeying what You tell us to do.
Culture Shaper Tip: Do something Jesus tells you to do today even if it’s not comfortable or your natural inclination.
You Smell Good
Do you enjoy pleasant fragrances? Did you know that God does, too? Did you know that you can be a sweet fragrance to God? He can get a whiff of you and think, “You smell good!” How fun is that – to smell good to our Heavenly Father? How in the world can we smell good to God? Ephesians 5:2 answers that question. It tells us to “…walk in love, just as Christ also loved you and gave Himself up for us, an offering and a sacrifice to God as a FRAGRANT AROMA.” Christ’s sacrificial love and life were a fragrant aroma to God. And, we’re called to imitate Christ. When we do, we’re a sweet aroma to our Heavenly Father. What if we haven’t been walking in sacrificial love, but rather been selfish or unloving? We need to acknowledge our sin and put it away from us by confessing the sin and asking Jesus to forgive us. How does that affect our spiritual “aroma”? When writing Pray with Purpose, Live with Passion, I used my daughter’s puppy, Bailey, as an example that we smell like whatever we hold close to our heart. Bailey had a distinct puppy odor and after holding her, her odor remained on me. It wasn’t pleasant so I showered and changed clothes. Just like a dog has an odor, so sin has an odor. If we’re clinging to a “pet” sin, God and others get a whiff of it. What can we do to rid ourselves of the stench of sin? Put the sin aside and bathe in God’s forgiveness and grace. Then, as Christ was, we’ll be a fragrant aroma to God.
Christ Jesus, we praise You for walking in love and giving Yourself as an offering and sacrifice to God; a FRAGRANT AROMA. Help us follow Your example.
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I Did it Again: Failed
I did it again: failed. I failed to pay attention to my thoughts. I failed to check them against God’s Word. I failed to return Jesus’s love by loving Him with all my heart, mind, soul, and strength. I failed to honor Him with my lips. Have you ever been there, done that? What happens when a Christian sins? Is God done with us? No.First Chronicles 16:34 and 1 Peter 1:25 tell us, “Give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; His love endures forever” and “His Word endures forever.” Every day God loves us. Every day, we can turn to His Word, the truth, and learn how to walk by it. If you, like me, did it again and failed God in some way, look to Him. He may not be smiling, but we have the opportunity to repent and see His smile again.
Heavenly Father and Lord Jesus Christ, thank You for Your enduring love and Word. Help us live it out in a reciprocal way with You and others.
A Time. A Place. A Person.
Does it seem surreal to think about being in heaven and seeing Jesus? For most of us, it probably does. The fact is, Jesus is a real person and at a real time in a real place we will see Him. In Isaiah 6:1-5, he describes his experience. “In the year of King Uzziah’s death I saw the Lord sitting on a throne, lofty and EXALTED, with the train of His robe filling the temple.”
“I saw the Lord.” Let those words sink in.
There was a time – the year of King Uzziah’s death.
There was a place – sitting on a throne in a temple.
There was a description – lofty…exalted…the train of His robe FILLING the temple. How does that even happen?
There were others – Seraphim stood above Him. There was talking. The seraphim called out to one another, “Holy, Holy, Holy, is the Lord of hosts, The whole earth is full of His glory.”
There was more talking – “And the foundations of the thresholds trembled at the voice of him who called out, while the temple was filling with smoke.”
Isaiah’s response was, “‘Woe is me, for I am ruined! Because I am a man of unclean lips, And I live among a people of unclean lips; For my eyes have seen the King, the Lord of hosts.’”
What will our response be in that time and place when we see the EXALTED LORD JESUS?
EXALTED Lord, we can’t imagine what it will be like when we see YOU. Our hearts tremble at the thought of Your majesty and glory. May our awe and reverence for You be lived out in our daily decisions and behavior… in anticipation of the day, time, and place we meet You.
When Life Stinks
Have you ever heard someone say, “This stinks!” Or, maybe you’ve said it. It’s a colloquialism used when something awful or suspicious occurs. If bad things repeatedly happen, the term might be broadened to “life stinks.” Instead of focusing on the foul, though, we have a choice to breathe in what Song of Solomon 2:1 refers to as the Rose of Sharon. Scholar Herbert Lockyer sheds light on why this is a reference to Christ. “Amongst flowers, the rose always and everywhere, with us now and still more in the East and of old, has held the foremost rank; and amongst the rose, the ROSE OF SHARON was chief. If a king were set over flowers, it would be the rose that should reign over them, being the ornament of the earth, the splendor of plants, the eye of flowers, the beauty of the field.” Christ’s title, Rose of Sharon, draws our attention to Christ’s splendor, heavenly fragrance, and beauty. When life stinks, stay extra close to Christ. Breathe in His fragrance.
Lord Jesus, You are the ROSE of SHARON; the fragrant aroma of heaven.Thank You for Your continual presence with us.
“I am the ROSE of SHARON, the lily of the valleys.” Song of Solomon 2:1
*Herbert Lockyer, “All the Divine Names and Titles in the Bible,” Zondervan Publishing House, Grand Rapids, Michigan, page 247.