Glimpses: A Gentle Leader

"You. Christian. What have you done?!"

Maybe, you followed Him. You let Him lead, and you were content to walk behind. You prayed. You fought. And you fell.

Maybe, you heard the still small voice, but never answered. You saw the broken, and turned your head. Or maybe, you never even cared to look.

Maybe, you cared only for yourself. You were afraid of pain, and could not carry a cross. You ran from the nails, to a world of flesh.

"If You had not loved me first I would refuse You still........"

This is me.

The Enemy is fueled by lies. It was the lies about God's goodness that trapped Eve in the Garden. It was the lies that God would compromise His command that turned Saul's heart. Lies that God could not see everything baited Jonah. Lies that God was not there caused Manasseh to force child sacrifices on the nation of Israel.

The lies that we so often are attacked with today, that God cannot forgive. That you've fallen too far. That God could not want you, after all the times He's had to pick you up and set you back on track.

How often do we accept these lies, without a fight?  I can't even count the times I have been afraid to approach the throne of God, because I have neglected it for so long. The Enemy knows our weakness, and preys upon it. "Do you have any right to ask for forgiveness AGAIN?"  

But he is not the only one that knows weakness. Jesus Christ acknowledges it intimately. He came down to earth, and felt it. Our God is not the frowning, unapproachable overlord that so many portray him to be. He understands our weakness, and always has. Look at this passage from Exodus:

17 When Pharaoh let the people go, God did not lead them on the road through the Philistine country, though that was shorter. For God said, “If they face war, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.” 18 So God led the people around by the desert road toward the Red Sea. The Israelites went up out of Egypt ready for battle.

-Exodus 13:17-18

Think about the context behind this. God has just sent ten unbelievable, supernatural plagues into the midst of the Egyptians. He has freed a people held in bondage for centuries. He has spoken with them. He has brought an insurmountable victory. They have seen it.

Yet their faith is still weak. They think they are strong... they're even ready for battle, to fight anything that would stand against them in the strength of their God.

His response?  He does not grow angry at their weakness. He does not shake his head in disappointment at their shallow battle cries. He does not force them to do something they cannot, though the way through the Philistine country is shorter.

Instead, He gently picks them up, and carries them. He calls them out, to build them. He is willing to take the longer route to His promise, so they can make it. He knows their weakness, but loves them the same.

Our God meets us where we are. He doesn't expect more from us than what we can give. He knows our weakness. No, He's not satisfied with it. As Christian leader Joanna Weaver put it: "God loves me where I am, but He loves me too much to leave me there."  He is waiting to build us. He is our leader, who will take us to victory. The promise will be reached. But He will not force us to go alone. God didn't have to lead the Israelites. He could have just waited at the Promised Land for them to come to Him. He could just wait for us to come to Him, and be strong. But He doesn't.... He comes to us. He left Heaven, to show us the way into the Promise. And no matter how many times we fall, He will pick us back up, and continue to lead us.

Think about Exodus 13..... the Israelites had not yet fallen from God. But He knew they would. And He chose them anyway. So often, I think we wonder how God could still want us after all the times we've fallen. But God knew, even before we were born, that we would fall. He knew every mistake, and every shortcoming. He knew every time we would pray for selfish gain, and every time we would forget to pray. He knew every battle we would fight for the flesh, and every battle we would neglect for His Kingdom. He knew every sinful thought we thought, and every brave-hearted, pure thought we tried not to think about, for fear of pain. He knew it all. And yet He still reaches out....

"Do not fear... I have called You by name."

-Isaiah 43:1

Jesus is not a leader who will tolerate weakness..... He loves us too much to leave us in it. He longs to give us strength. But He will not force it upon us. Instead, He gently takes us by the hand, and shows us how to walk. And when we fall, He smiles softly and picks us back up.

I would encourage you not to pretend to be strong if you're not. Don't approach God with a front, to impress Him. Don't try to purify yourself before you come to Him. Come as you are, and let Him purge you. He will not force you down a path you are too weak to take. He has promised to give you strength. He does not command that you meet Him where He is, although He longs to take you there... He comes down, and meets you were YOU are. The way to the Promised Land may be long. But He's willing to lead you down every step, until you see it.

Glimpses: Promise of Triumph

Dear All,

A friend just got a text message from her brother asking her to shower him and his parish in prayer. He is part of a mission and ISIS has taken over the town they are in today. He said ISIS is systematically going house to house to all the Christians and asking the children to denounce Jesus. He said so far not one child has. And so far all have consequently been killed. But not the parents. The UN has withdrawn and the missionaries are on their own. They are determined to stick it out for the sake of the families - even if it means their own deaths. He is very afraid, has no idea how to even begin ministering to these families who have seen their children martyred. Yet he says he knows God has called him for some reason to  be his voice and hands at this place at this time. Even so, he is begging prayers for his courage to live out his vocation in such dire circumstances. And like the children    accept martyrdom if he is called to do so. She asked me to ask everyone we know to please pray for them. These brave parents instilled such a fervent faith in their children that they chose martyrdom. Please surround them in their loss with your prayers for hope and perseverance. 

She was able to talk to her brother briefly by phone. She didn't say it but I believe she believes it will be their last conversation. Pray for her too. She said he just kept asking  her to help him know what to do and do it. She told him to tell the families we ARE praying for them and they are not alone or forgotten -- no matter what. Her e mail broke my heart. Please keep all in your prayers.

This message was forwarded to my Inbox Friday morning. So many questions flowed through my mind, as I read those heartbreaking words........ why the children?  How long will it be like this?  What am I doing HERE?  Why isn't it me, being abused and martyred?  How am I any different?

THIS is the world He came to save. This is the world Jesus sweated blood for. This is the world that crucified Him. This is the world He created. This is the world we destroyed.

Ever since Cain murdered his brother, creation has been crying out... HOW LONG?!  Will you reject us forever?

This is not what He created. In the beginning, it was Good. He walked with us. And we walked away.... into this world we know now.

But when He sent Adam and Eve out from Eden, He sent them with a promise:

"And I will put enmity

    between you and the woman,

    and between your offspring and hers;

he will crush your head,

    and you will strike his heel."

-Genesis 3:15

The Great Serpent has deceived and destroyed mankind from the beginning. Our struggle throughout history has not been against flesh and blood, but against the principalities of evil. Our fight... our cries... are not against the perpetrators of evil. We fight with the forces that control them.

Behind the black masks of the murderers in Iraq are children of God, living in a lie that commands them to destroy...because there was no one to tell them otherwise. When will we see what Betsie Ten Boom saw, when she looked at the Nazi guard who was beating her, and mourned because He did not know her Jesus?  Where are the Christians that are willing to carry their crosses, and forgive the ones who are nailing their wrists upon them?

Ever since the beginning, there was a Promise. He was the promise. The promise of souls set free, justice for the oppressed, vengeance for the martyrs, love for the broken, and triumph over the Serpent.

But that promise is not just for us. Jesus died to free you and Saddam Hussein alike. Some will reject Him. Some have, and thousands more will. But our role as Christians is not to fight the people whose hearts are contaminated by the Enemy's lies. Our struggle is against the very forces that are controlling them.

There will be a day, when the force of the cross' triumph will be witnessed by all nations, and every knee will bow. The Serpent will strike. That strike killed the son of God. But the fatal blow fell on evil. There will be a day when the final victory will be won. When every tear will be wiped away, every pain will be forgotten, every heartbreak will be healed, every broken piece restored, every repentant prodigal son brought home.

Until then, we wait. We fight. We pray.

This weekend, I have seen in unbelievable ways that there is no place more powerful than being on your knees at His feet. I have found myself there time and time again, crying out over the children that were lost, and the families that were left to suffer in Iraq. It's there that you realize that it's not your heart that breaks over stories like this..... it's His. These are God's precious children. He individually fashioned each one, and knew them from before the beginning. Jesus Himself said that His kingdom belonged to them. And He had to watch, as thousands of them were decapitated by sons that had rejected His love. Even as the realization came over me, I still had questions........ why did this happen?  Didn't you want to stop it?  How long will you wait?  But in that moment, He whispered one of the most beautiful things I have ever heard, to my heart:  They are safe with me. The Enemy can never touch them again.

Even in the waiting, it is still the Serpent's head that is crushed. Even the most horrifying things he could produce could not overcome the Promise. Triumph is here. Maybe we can't see it yet. We are still in the waiting. But John says we are also in the last days. We.... today, right now.... are closer to the coming of the final victory than anyone else in all of history has been. He will bring triumph.

My God has promised, and He cannot lie. 

Glimpses: God of Riches

"In the beginning.... GOD."

These opening words of Genesis are some of the most beautiful ones ever written. God was, and always will be. He is the Creator of all things, the Maker of everything beautiful, the Designer of the universe. 

But how many of us actually feel an adrenalin rush when we think about those descriptions?  How many hearts stir when we pick up the timeless Word of God?  

This morning, I was helping out in the two-year-olds Sunday school class at church. When the main teacher instructed the kiddos to sit down for a story, a little boy I'd been playing with stood up, and looked at me with tremor in his eyes. "Oh no!  The Bible!  I don't like the Bible!"  I tried not to laugh, as I told him the story would be fun. (I also thought it was funny that this little boy happened to be the pastor's son :))

Often, like li'l Isaiah, reading the Bible is one of the last things we feel like doing. Why?  Because we have lost the spark of glory that was once seen within it. 

Modern Americans have a very simplistic view of God. He seems to be nothing more than an outdated, possessive, demanding overlord who has too many rules, is followed by a band of hypocrites who call themselves Christians, and has theoretically spoken an ancient piece of literature into being. All I can say when I hear something like that is..... really?  Have you encountered Him?!?!

What if we truly saw our God, not for what culture has made Him out to be, but for who He truly is?

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"I am sitting on the beach this evening, watching the swells roll in toward me. Each wave builds as it approaches, ascending, taking shape, deep greens below sweeping upward into translucent aquamarine. A sculpture in motion, curling forth like shavings from a jade carving. The sheer elegance is enough to take my breath away. The wave I'm fixed upon crashes to the sand like a work of art toppling from its pedestal, but before I can feel the loss another is rushing to take its place, sweeping upward, forward, utterly mesmerizing beauty...

All things were made through him, and without him nothing has been made that has been made. What are the waves telling us about Jesus?"

-John Eldredge, Beautiful Outlaw

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Such a portrayal is anything but dry and outdated. Have you ever been in a scene like the one described above?  I'll never forget the time I flew to India for the first time, when I was 11 years old. I had spent almost the entire 13 hour flight sick to my stomach. But when the plane flew over Nepal, all of the nightmarish hours before were worth it. Suddenly, I was passing the snow-covered peaks of the tallest mountain range in the world, with a glorious roseate sunset behind them. After the sun went down, a pure white crescent came to take its place, surrounded by glittering gems of light, to dimly reveal the mountains under their soft light. 

When I think back to that precious hour I spent over the Himalayas, I can't help but wonder how someone could think God was stingy. He is a Father, who lavishes blessings abundantly on His children and His world!  Yes, there is an Enemy out to destroy. But think about it. We're the reason he has that precedent to destroy. Before humanity sinned, there was no destruction. Yet even after we ruined the perfect works of His hands, He still pours out glorious riches upon us.

Take a minute to reflect on John Eldredge's description of the waves. Think of the extravagance of design poured into each one. It would take a human artist years to even come close to make something as beautiful, and yet God's masterpiece is alive with changing motion. There are thousands around the world every second.... crashing to pieces, receding, and rising up with white ribbons of foam to take your breath away all over again.

Think of the sky, stretched out farther than eyes can even see. It has color. It's not brown, or dull. It's arrayed in spectacular shades of blue, and streaked with whisps of water and air that are, by an incredible molecular process, visible from the ground. Think of how the colors change as the sun's position changes. At the end of the day, blue is replaced by an array of color that would make a painter's mouth water.

Trees are arrayed in glorious, towering splendor all across the world. They can self-sufficiently repopulate forests, and create sustenance for their environments. The green of their leaves brings color to the surface of the planet, even from outer space. And, as if those glorious shades of green weren't enough, they change colors in the fall to create a show of nature beyond belief.

Or what about tiny little often-ignored flowers?  The extravagance poured into them, in their variety, color, scent, and shape is mind-blowing. Each one is different, yet beautiful.

"Look at the lilies of the field; they do not labor or sow, yet your Heavenly Father feeds them. Are you not more valuable than they?"

We serve a God of riches. If we only understood who Jesus was, think of how much bolder our God-prayers (not for selfish gain) would become!  Why would we have any reason to doubt that the God of glory and riches would bring His glorious presence to those who ask?  Why would we need to question whether or not He wanted to save one that is lost, when He sees them as even more valuable than the lilies of the field, into which He pours so much beauty?  Why would we think that the God who purifies the gray from a clear sky after a storm would hesitate to purify our hearts?

So often, we are afraid to approach the feet of Jesus with our specific needs. How easily we forget that we serve a God of glorious Riches!!  He is not stingy with His blessings. As Jesus Himself said, "Ask and you will receive; seek, and you will find; knock and it will be opened to you."



Challenge of the week: Just look up, and rest in Him. He's waiting.


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All pictures via Pinterest

Glimpses: Introduction

Many years ago, an ambitious young missionary set off for a tribal area in India. After months of labor for Christ, he finally brought his first converts to the gospel; just one man and his family. When the village chief heard of their conversion, he brought the little family to the public square in front of the entire community, and declared that, if the man would not renounce his faith, his children would be killed before his own eyes. The man stood firm, with these words:

I have decided to follow Jesus,

No turning back.

Enraged, the chieftan commanded the children to be put to death before the community. He turned to the man again, and threatened to do the same to his wife, if he would not deny Christ. With trembling hands, but a steadfast heart, the man responded:

The cross before me, the world behind me.

No turning back.

Within minutes, the man's wife had followed her children to their cruel fate. The village leader declared that this was the man's final chance; if he would not deny Christ, he, too, would be murdered. His brave response was simple:

Though none go with me, still I will follow.

No turning back.

These were the last words he ever spoke. Within minutes, his body lay on the ground next to those of his family. The community was silenced as they witnessed his brave martyrdom. That hour, the entire village was brought to salvation because of the testimony of one man and his tiny family...... including the chief who had initiated their deaths.

Thus begins the story of one of the greatest worship songs ever composed; one written by the blood of one man whose entire life was resolved to show the world that the life of Christ had not been poured forth without a purpose. He had entered a covenant with his precious king of kings, and he was determined never to turn his back on Jesus.... even if it meant giving up his own life.

You call yourself a Christian. 

You talk the Good talk.

But if they slighted you, would you still walk the walk?

You call yourself a Christian.

You sing, you praise Christ.

But would you keep rejoicing if it cost you your life?

2,000 years ago, one man set foot on the surface of Nazareth. His mission was intense, and beautiful in its simplicity. With one word from his lips, he lead a dead man from the grave, and stilled a raging storm. This man touched water, and it became wine; touched a blind man, and he could see; touched a paralytic, and he walked. He was the fulfillment of an ancient covenant, with a mission to restore. He was the long-awaited one. People caught a glimpse of God Himself in this man, and followed him by the thousands. This was the one, who would fulfill what countless generations of law could not. This was the one, who would take death's own weapon and, while nailed upon it, struck all of hell a fatal blow in the climax of all time. This was the one, who would cast out demons and fight to protect the integrity of the temple.... yet would gently invite the least of these, by name, to His side. This was the one, who would lead legions of angels to victory in the final battle.

This is Jesus Christ.

"Glimpses" is about His person. The goal of this series is to delve deeper into who Jesus was, and is, as revealed all throughout scripture. I think if we only knew truly who Jesus was, not as an idea, but as a person, we would gladly pick up our crosses, and die with Him.  From Genesis to Revelation, glimmers and promises of this Messiah appear. Over the next few weeks, I'm excited to explore them throughout this series. This is going to be a diverse exploration, going from the depth of wealth shown in Creation and the "Son of Man" in Ezekiel, to the heart-wrenched cry, "I Thirst" as described by Mother Teresa... and everything in between!

Because of its diversity, I'm anticipating that this series will continue through the end of this year, and blend in with our second advent series in December. As I'm starting to get ready for this series, I'm amazed by how much this particular topic is growing me spiritually. Through initiating Real Christianity for over a year now, I'm seeing more and more that it's those who write the posts that truly gain the most from them, because they know the material the most intimately. I am always excited to receive devotionals that each of you have written, but I would like to specifically open an invitation to you, to write for this particular series. If you truly want Jesus Christ, it's not going to be enough to just take my word for it. I would encourage you to dig deeper for yourself, in your search for Christ. Don't just read my thoughts on His miracles and parables; write some of your own. Don't just hear about my experience with the cross through the Gospels; see it for yourself. See Him for yourself.

"You will seek me, and find me,

when you seek for me 

with all your heart."

                                     -Jeremiah 29:13

As Christians, we have all, in a sense, "decided to follow Jesus". But do we truly understand what that means?  Do we understand who we're following?  Have we caught a glimpse of the pain, majesty, beauty, purity and glory that defines true Christianity?  My hope and prayer is that this series will stretch us, challenge us, and build us. I think it would be hard to say that any of us who sits down and really takes a serious look at their faith doesn't have a longing, on some level, for something more. The goal of this series is to take that longing to the bank, and pursue what we were created for. I would invite you to dive fully into this series with me. Try not to approach these devotionals with a distracted mind. This isn't about me, or anyone else who may contribute devotionals. This is about the glory of Jesus Himself, and a deeper knowledge of Him. All I can ask is that you take HIM seriously. Because, when you do, you will never regret it.

Are you ready to catch a glimpse of God's son?

I have decided to follow Jesus,

No turning back.

No turning back.

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Sneak Peak to next week's devotional!!