Life is Easy?

Life is easy. That's kind of an oxymoron. Life is far from easy. Yet we take great steps in trying to make our paths in life as easy and trouble free as possible. I'm sure your saying, "What's wrong with that?" In a sense nothing; but it's how we go about it, and what we try and prevent is the problem.

Everyday we see things that are marketed to make our life simpler, easier and hassle free. We are lulled into a state of complacency. We get to a point where we are comfortable, then put forth little effort to make our situations any better. Yet once troubles appear in our path, instead of pushing through, we just switch to an easier path.

I recently saw a commercial for Metro by T-Mobile, that had two bears trying to catch salmon in a river. The commercial itself was about switching your cellular service. But what stood out to me was while the other bears were trying to catch the salmon, the one bear says he's going to hit the sushi restaurant. So in essence instead of working toward catching the fish which takes time and could be difficult, he decided to just take the easier path and go to the sushi restaurant. So the commercial got me thinking about the treacherous journey a salmon must make.

You see, salmon were designed by God to return to the place of their birth. They will travel many miles upstream against the natural flow of things to get there. But instead of reaching their true destination many of them end up in a can on a supermarket shelf. So your calling as a believer is very much like that of a salmon. You are meant to go against the natural flow of the flesh, the world, of hate, of sin, discouragement, and darkness. You have the power to swim upstream. Your life has the potential to be a miracle.

It won't be an easy path; but that's why Christ said in Matthew 7:13-14-“Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it. It's a path that few will take. It's a path that is filled with hardships and sufferings. But it's a path that leads to the ultimate reward. The reward of returning to the place we were created, in the arms of our Father.

But the enemy will do everything he can to have you end up in a can. He wants your potential; the miracle in your life, the blessings, the ministry, the joy, and the victory that God has for you. If the potential in life is on a shelf somewhere in a can, God’s Word is still good, and His power is awesome. Spiritually you’ve got the power of God’s Spirit to go against the flow and reach your full
potential!

God's message for the path in your life can even be seen in secular music. There is a highway to hell, but only a stairway to heaven. So get set on the unworn path. It may look hard. It may be filled with temporary sufferings; but it's filled with eternal joy. So get going uphill, upstream, against the flow and out of that can.

May You Be Full Of Eucharisteo

Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you. (1 Thessalonians 5:18) Grumbling can be described as the accent of hell and gratitude as the accent of heaven. But as many of us prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving, let’s take a longer look at gratitude. More specifically, how is it possible to obey 1 Thessalonians 5:18 and “give thanks in all circumstances,” especially if our circumstances are horrible? What fuels thanksgiving when life seems to be one discouragement, disappointment, disease, disaster, and death after another? There is only one way. And Jesus both is the way and shows the way.

The best place to see Jesus showing us the way is in the upper room where he “took bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and gave it to them, saying, ‘This is my body, which is given for you. Do this in remembrance of me’” (Luke 22:19). The Greek word for “thanks” in this verse is eucharisteo. The root word of eucharisteo is charis, meaning “grace.” Jesus took the bread and saw it as grace and gave thanks. He took the bread and knew it to be gift and gave thanks. Eucharisteo, thanksgiving, envelopes the Greek word for grace, charis. But it also holds its derivative, the Greek word chara, meaning “joy.” Charis. Grace. Eucharisteo. Thanksgiving. Chara. Joy. Now, let’s think for a moment about what Jesus’s eucharisteo meant.

Thank you, Father, that my body, symbolized by this bread, is about to be brutally broken and I am about to be momentarily damned by your wrath (Isaiah 53:10) so that you will receive supreme glory in being able to forgive undeserving sinners (Philippians 2:11) and I will share eternally full joy (John 15:11; Psalm 16:11) with hundreds of millions of forgiven sinners made righteous through my sacrifice (Isaiah 53:11). Jesus’s thanks was not based on his present circumstances. He was about to endure the worst possible horror. He felt thankful to the Father for the grace and glory that was coming because of the cross and this gave him joy. Eucharisteo. Jesus’s eucharisteo was fueled by his belief in future grace. That’s what the author of Hebrews meant when he wrote that, Jesus, the founder and perfecter of our faith . . . for the joy that was set before him endured the cross, despising the shame, and is seated at the right hand of the throne of God. (Hebrews 12:2) Jesus’s eyes were on his future joy. He got through the cross by not focusing on the cross but on the promised joy that would result from it.

That’s where God wants your eyes: on the future joy he has promised you. And what is your future joy? The very best possible future you could ever imagine; if you will believe it.
You will have the free gift of complete forgiveness for all your sins extending into forever (Romans 6:23). You will never have to merit your justification by keeping the law (Galatians 2:16). You will have all your real needs provided while on earth (Philippians 4:19). You will receive all the grace you need at all times so that you will abound in every good work God has for you (2 Corinthians 9:8).
God will complete the good work he began in you (Philippians 1:6). You will be raised from the dead and never, ever die again (1 Corinthians 15:52–53). That means someday soon you will see Jesus, be with him (2 Corinthians 5:8), and be like him (1 John 3:2). In that day you will know for the first time full, unpolluted joy (Psalm 16:11). You will be completely free from all corruption (Romans 8:21).
You will have God forever (1 Peter 3:18) as your exceeding joy (Psalm 43:4).

And that’s just a small sampling! The joy set before you is the same joy Jesus had set before him, because you are an heir of the kingdom with him (Romans 8:17). So right now you have trouble. That’s okay. Jesus said that you would (John 16:33). And Jesus really understands (Hebrews 4:15). In fact, the trouble that you endure has a purpose: in it you are displaying the reality of Jesus to the world in a unique way. The kingdom of God is most clearly shown on earth when Christians gratefully suffer present trouble because they see a future weight of glory coming that makes everything this world throws at them as “light momentary afflictions” in comparison (2 Corinthians 4:17).

So, how can you give thanks in all circumstances? There’s only one way: Jesus’s way. Look to the joy set before you. Look to the joy! If the future joy Jesus promises is real and you believe him, there is no circumstance that can steal your thanksgiving. May all your Thanksgiving celebrations be soaked in eucharisteo.

Say "Thank You" Today

As we prepare to celebrate Thanksgiving with our families, I'm reminded of something that happened on one of our trips to New York. We were on our sixteen hour trip when we pulled into a rest stop. The day before Thanksgiving was a busy time at the rest area. As I walked in, I noticed that, despite how busy it was, the restroom was sparkling clean. I saw a woman hard at work, scrubbing the floors and sinks amidst others walking in and out. It struck me that, while most other people were home preparing turkeys or traveling to visit family, she was doing a thankless job. The bathroom was remarkably tidy and, as anyone would be, I was grateful.

I should say something to her, I thought to myself. When I came out of the restroom, she had disappeared. For a minute, I felt a sense of relief that I could avoid a possibly awkward interaction. But while walking toward the door, I felt a nudging within me to go find her and express my thanks. I walked around the corner to the other side of the restroom and found her reloading her supply cart in a closet. I slowly walked up to her and said, “I just wanted to thank you for doing such a great job cleaning this restroom. I really appreciate it.” A warm and curious smile spread across her face as she looked at me. I wondered if anyone ever thanked her for her diligent work.

Why is it that we often think thankful thoughts, but don’t express them with words? Are we afraid of looking foolish or weak? Are we too preoccupied with our own agenda to take the time to offer a word of encouragement? Are we concerned that giving too much praise to someone might inflate their pride? Most people seem much more freely speaking critical words. Encouraging, thankful words can bring life and refreshment to a weary soul. The Bible also exhorts us to give verbal thanksgiving to God. Hebrews 13:15 tells us, “Let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that acknowledge his name.” Continually offering up praise to God means we must be continually looking for evidences of his grace in our lives. We can thank him that we didn’t cry over the spilled milk at breakfast, or for the sunshine after a bleak winter day, or for the negative answer to our medical tests. Our private prayers and our public acts of praise will turn our hearts heavenward as we count our blessings and give thanks to the one true God.

Psalm 105 exhorts us to not only give thanks to God, but proclaim to others the mighty works he has done. Oh give thanks to the Lord; call upon his name; make known his deeds among the peoples! Sing to him, sing praises to him; tell of all his wondrous works! (Psalm 105:1–2) A central aspect of bringing up children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord (Ephesians 6:4) is simply to share with them our gratitude for the goodness and faithfulness of God in our lives. As we verbally pour out our admiration and gratitude of our great God, our children will catch a vision of the magnificent Lord we are worshiping. Our enthusiasm and love for Jesus will be evident through our words. Likely we all could stand to grow in recognizing all the reasons we have to be thankful, they are all around us. But simply becoming more grateful in our hearts is just the beginning. If gratefulness rises up in our hearts, but never spills out of our mouths, we are only experiencing the beginnings of joy. Gratitude is only fully enjoyed when we share it with others. As C.S. Lewis said, “We delight to praise what we enjoy because the praise not merely expresses but completes the enjoyment; it is its appointed consummation.”

So, the next time you find your mind dwelling on a thankful thought, here are three reasons to put those thoughts into words: 1. Expressing gratitude to God can strengthen your faith.
What new mercy has God given you? Did you sleep well at night? Were the bananas perfectly ripe for your breakfast? Is the baby you’re rocking a long-awaited answer to prayer? Did you avoid speaking a frustrated word to your spouse? Don’t let the hours of the day pass you by without stopping to consider what you can give thanks for. The more you see God’s faithfulness in your life, your family, your spiritual growth, the more confidently will you rest in that faithfulness in the future.

2. You will stir up God’s people to love and good deeds.Your friend who is willing to drop what she’s doing at a moment’s notice to help when you’re in need. Your mom who sacrificially gives her time and resources to your family. Your pastor who diligently prepares and preaches the word every week. Tell others in your life what you appreciate about them and why. It will bring fresh wind to their souls and spur them on to keep serving (Hebrews 10:24–25).

3. You will create a climate of gratitude. Psalm 145 tells us to commend our works to the next generation. Sharing how God answered a prayer, provided a necessary resource, or replaced your sorrow with joy will encourage others to find their hope and satisfaction in God. Gratitude can be as contagious as complaining. Work to cultivate the right climate in your home or workplace.

Our words of praise and thanksgiving have the power to lift wounded souls and point our hearts afresh to God. Speak your words of thanks and let God transform your life and soul.

Suffering Is For The Overcomer

Diana was only nineteen when her father was sent to prison for his faith. She and her sister Floarea were left in charge of the family, but soon they lost their factory jobs because of their father's imprisonment.

With a sick mother and four younger siblings at home, Diana and Floarea were desperate. So when a young man called them and said he could get Diana a work permit, they were ecstatic. She met him for dinner, where he gave her plenty of wine and then seduced her. Afterward, he gave her some money, and this became a pattern. Nothing more was said about a work permit, and Diana accepted the money because she was so desperate.

Diana continued to prostitute herself in order to support the family, although she was filled with guilt. Soon her sister became involved, and together they hid their shame. Now, as they looked into the face of their mother, they said, "How can you forgive us? We thought you would be disgusted."

She offered them words of love and comfort, "You feel shame over what you have done, and so you should. But this sense of shame and guilt will lead you to a shining righteousness. Remember, the soldiers not so much pierced Christ's side as "opened" it, that sinners might easily enter his heart and find forgiveness."

Being sorry for our sin and feeling sorry for ourselves are two different things. Many people who go through suffering feel sorry for themselves. They are all too eager to blame others for their misfortune. How tempting it would have been for the girls in this story to blame their mistakes on their father. "If he was not a Christian, then he would not have been arrested, and we would not be in this mess." Yet they came to their mother with true shame and repentance for their willful disobedience. And they found forgiveness.

Many times in life, our sufferings can take a toll on our lives. Suffering that is allowed to fester can send you into a dark place. Instead of releasing our pain to God, or even our family and friends, we begin to relish in it. It becomes part of us. A part that is a detriment to our lives, but we feel we can't live without it. Our sufferings and our pain become our existence. But Godly sorrow leads to repentance, which leads to forgiveness.

If we hand over our sufferings to God, take ownership of our mistakes and not push the blame on others, then true rehabilitation can begin. From true repentance comes the ultimate salvation from our sufferings.

2 Corinthians 7:10 Godly sorrow brings repentance that leads to salvation and leaves no regret, but worldly sorrow brings death.

Are you feeling sorry for yourself in your sufferings? Watch out! It can quickly lead you to disobedience.

Is It Real Love?

I started this as a note to my wife. It's something I often did when we were dating, but the responsibilities of life always get in the way. I feel sometimes, as I'm sure many of you do, that I don't always show my love like I once did. But what is love? Is it only in the value of the things we buy or in the activities we do? Is it only in the words we say? Those three little words are meant to say much more than just a daily reminder. Or is it in the daily, sometimes meaningless sacrifices we make to just help? Many times I sit down with the aspects of writing on something specific, only to find my path directed somewhere else. And quite often where it's directed, helps me as much as it may help one of you. So I broke down that one simple word into what real love should be.

 L: Love is Life; because if we have true love for someone, our entire life will revolve around that
One we've been joined to.

O: Love is One: You are One heart, One mind, and One soul.

V: Real love is a vibrant, vulnerable, and virtuous union; where there is not a hint of vanity, viciousness, vulgarity, vile, or a vengeful tone to it.

E: It is an Eternal, Eager, Earnest, Ecstatic, and Elaborate togetherness; that Elevates each other and Eliminates any sin the other has.

This is love, true love. The type of love that was intended from creation. A love given freely to us by God. The same love we are to show to the one that has joined with you to form a new entity. The same love that we will experience one day when we are joined with Christ as one. The love we should have for one another I feel can be expressed best in this verse from Romans 5:8 But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. Even though we were wretched sinners; even though we didn't know him or except him, Christ died for us. His love for all was so great, he laid down His life. Can we truly say we show that kind of love to those we know, or those we don't, or even those that may have hurt us? I, as well as most of you, would probably have to honestly answer no to that.


I'll leave you with one of my favorite verses. 1 Peter 4:8-Above all, love each other deeply, because love covers over a multitude of sins. You see, any other love will not suffice, because if it doesn't show these aspects, as God has shown us, then is it really love?

Forgiveness Is For The Blind

In Genesis 27, Isaac is blessing his sons. He wants to bless Esau, but Jacob comes to him in disguise. Due to his poor eyesight, Isaac blesses Jacob instead, thus fulfilling prophecy. Are you having a hard time blessing, loving, or forgiving someone in your life?

When you look at them, do you see all their faults and all the things they've done wrong, and you can't forgive or bless them? The problem is that your eyesight is too good. It's hard to bless when you have good eyesight. In order to bless them, you have to have faith, not to see their sin, but to see the blood of Messiah.

In Matthew 6:14-15, Christ says, "For if you forgive others their trespasses, your heavenly Father will also forgive you, but if you do not forgive others their trespasses, neither will your Father forgive your trespasses."

C.S.Lewis has a great quote on forgiveness when he said: . . . "you must make every effort to kill every taste of resentment in your own heart—every wish to humiliate or hurt him or to pay him out. The difference between this situation and the one in such you are asking God’s forgiveness is this. In our own case we accept excuses too easily; in other people’s we do not accept them easily enough.

As regards my own sin it is a safe bet (though not a certainty) that the excuses are not really so good as I think; as regards other men’s sins against me it is a safe bet (though not a certainty) that the excuses are better than I think. One must therefore begin by attending to everything which may show that the other man was not so much to blame as we thought.

But even if he is absolutely fully to blame we still have to forgive him; and even if ninety-nine percent of his apparent guilt can be explained away by really good excuses, the problem of forgiveness begins with the one percent guilt which is left over. To excuse what can really produce good excuses is not Christian character; it is only fairness. To be a Christian means to forgive the inexcusable, because God has forgiven the inexcusable in you.

This is hard. It is perhaps not so hard to forgive a single great injury. But to forgive the incessant provocations of daily life—to keep on forgiving the bossy mother-in-law, the bullying husband, the nagging wife, the selfish daughter, the deceitful son—how can we do it? Only, I think, by remembering where we stand, by meaning our words when we say in our prayers each night ‘forgive our trespasses as we forgive those that trespass against us.’ We are offered forgiveness on no other terms. To refuse it is to refuse God’s mercy for ourselves. There is no hint of exceptions and God means what He says."

God has blessed you and chosen to not see your sins through the blood of Messiah. That's God's grace. Learn to have His grace towards others. Look through the blood of Messiah in order to not see all of their faults. The eyes of your heart need poor vision so that you will see only the face of God and you will be a blessing. For you are not only blessed by what you see but by what you don't. Today, have faith to not see the sins of others, but to see the blood of Messiah. Then speak a blessing over them.

You Won't Know Unless You Try

In Communist Romania, every prison had a doctor who would often be present during the interrogation sessions and direct the torturer in the best methods of inducing pain without causing death. But some doctors took their oath seriously and despised what the Communists were doing.

One such doctor was a Christian woman named Margareta Pescaru. All medical personnel were frisked when entering the prison, but Dr. Pescaru, at great risk to herself, was able to smuggle medicine in repeatedly. Her selfless efforts saved many lives.

Once she was assigned to a prison hospital that was especially designed for tuberculosis patients. During this time, the Communists assigned men as “reeducators” to use whatever means necessary to convince a person to denounce everything they believed and pledge complete allegiance to Communism.

These reeducators were ruthless, and many Christians died under their tortures. When Dr. Pescaru heard the news that they had arrived at the prison hospital to begin their destructive work on the tuberculosis patients, she did the unthinkable. She went to the top officials of all the prisons and pled the case of the helpless prisoners. No one knows how, but Dr. Pescaru gained favour with the officials.

For a time in Romanian Communism, the torture of innocents by the “reeducators” was stopped, thanks to her bold efforts.

Try. It’s the difference between advancing forward and remaining still. Trying. It’s what Christians are committed to doing when they are focused on the gospel of Christ. Tried. Saying at least one tried is the only way believers agree to meet failure. It’s true, we just never know what will happen unless we try it. Perhaps we too quickly dismiss the creative ideas that come to us concerning advancing the gospel message at work, at home, or in our community. We think they’ll never work. We convince ourselves that the opposition would be too strong. But we won’t know for sure unless we try it. Are you willing to try obeying Christ at any cost, starting today?

Why Did Jesus Drink The Second Wine?

Twice Jesus was offered wine while on the cross. He refused the first, but took the second. Why so?

The first time came in Mark 15:23, “they offered him wine mixed with myrrh, but he did not take it.” According to an old tradition, respected women of Jerusalem provided a narcotic drink to those condemned to death in order to decrease their sensitivity to the excruciating pain. When Jesus arrived at Golgotha he was offered wine mixed with myrrh, but he refused it, choosing to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed for him. This first wine represented an offer to ease the pain, to opt for a small shortcut; albeit, not a major one in view of the terrible pain of the cross, but a little one nonetheless. But this offer Jesus refused, and in doing so, chose “to endure with full consciousness the sufferings appointed for him.”

The second time came in Mark 15:35. After some bystanders thought he was calling for Elijah, “someone ran and filled a sponge with sour wine, put it on a reed and gave it to him to drink, saying, ‘Wait, let us see whether Elijah will come to take him down.’” A sour wine vinegar is mentioned in the OT as a refreshing drink (Numbers 6:13; Ruth 2:14), and in Greek and Roman literature as well it is a common beverage appreciated by laborers and soldiers because it relieved thirst more effectively than water and was inexpensive. There are no examples of its use as a hostile gesture. The thought, then, is not of a corrosive vinegar offered as a cruel jest, but of a sour wine of the people. While the words “let us see if Elijah will come” express a doubtful expectation, the offer of the sip of wine was intended to keep Jesus conscious for as long as possible.

So the first wine (mixed with myrrh) was designed to dull Jesus’ pain, to keep him from having to endure the cross with full consciousness. This wine he refused.

And the second (sour) wine was given to keep him “conscious for as long as possible,” and thus have the effect of prolonging his pain. This is the wine Jesus drank.

Other condemned criminals would have taken the first (to ease their torment) and passed on the second (so as not to prolong their horrific pain). But Jesus would take no shortcuts on the way to our redemption.

At the cross, he drank the wine of his Father’s wrath down to its very dregs, and he did so for us; that we might enjoy the wine of his Father’s love, join him at the Marriage Supper of the Lamb, and live redeemed forever in the glorious presence of the one who took no shortcuts in saving us.

Life or Ministry?

According to the New Testament, “ministry” is what all Christians do. According to Ephesians 4:11–12, pastors have the job of equipping the saints for the work of ministry. But ordinary Christians are the ones who do the ministry.

What ministry looks like is as varied as Christians are varied. It’s not an office like elder or deacon; it’s a lifestyle devoted to making much of Christ and meeting the needs of others. It means that we “do good to everyone, and especially to those who are of the household of faith” (Galatians 6:10). Whether we are bankers or bricklayers, it means that we aim at advancing other people’s faith and holiness to the glory of God.

Fulfilling your ministry is more important than staying alive. This conviction is what makes the lives of radically devoted people so inspiring to watch. Most of them speak the way Paul did about his ministry here in Acts 20:24: “I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may finish my course and the ministry that I received from the Lord Jesus.” Doing the ministry that God gives us to do is more important than life.

Before he was known as a civil rights leader, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. was a preacher. For King, faith and practice had always been inseparable. Both his grandfather and father were pastors and civil rights leaders. In 1958 a woman stabbed Dr. King when he was signing autographs.The blade went in so far the tip was on the edge of his aorta. After surgery the doctor said if he had merely sneezed he would have died. But he didn't sneeze and God restored him to full health so he could complete his mission.

Ten years later while giving a speech in Memphis he said, "I'm happy I didn't sneeze. Because if I had I wouldn't have been around to take part in several improvements that moved America a few steps closer to the dream." But in the same speech Dr. King spoke as though God had given him a prophetic look at what was to come. "Well I don't know what will happen now. We've got some difficult days ahead. But it doesn't matter with me now. Because I've been to the mountain top. And I don't mind. Like anybody, I would like to live a long life. Longevity has its place. But I'm not concerned about that now. I just want to do God's will. And He's allowed me to go up to the mountain. And I've looked over. And I've seen the promised land. I may not get there with you; but I want you to know tonight, that we as a people, will get to the promised land. And I'm happy tonight. I'm not worried about anything. I'm not fearing any man. Mine eyes have seen the glory of the coming of the Lord."

The next day, on April 4, 1968, standing on his balcony, he was assassinated. You may think you need to save your life in order to do your ministry. On the contrary, how you lose your life may be the capstone of your ministry. It certainly was for Jesus — only in his thirties.

We need not fret about keeping ourselves alive in order to finish our ministry. God alone knows the appointed time of our service. He will decide when our death is not an interruption of our ministry, but the last act of our ministry.

Henry Martyn was right when he said, “If [God] has work for me to do, I cannot die.” In other words, I am immortal until my work is done. Therefore, ministry is more important than life.

Are You Worn Out?

Why do we all feel like we are not measuring up? We’re all exhausted from trying so hard to do so. Does that sound familiar? It sounds similar to a question people asked Jesus: “What must we do, to be doing the works of God?” And do you remember Jesus’s answer? “This is the work of God, that you believe in him whom he has sent” (John 6:28–29). Jesus is not looking for workers who measure up; he’s looking for rest-ers who will trust him.

In John 15, Jesus tells us to stop trying to be vines and learn to be branches. He’s the Vine, and we’re meant to live out of his abundance. It’s as if he says, “Listen, your work is to stick near me, abide in me, pray to me, soak in my words, be with me, and love me. All you need to be is a little, dependent branch; I will make you to bear fruit.” Yes, Jesus has a big mission for us, but he will cause the big part to happen. He says to us, “You’re going to display me and my power, not yours. I’m going to give myself to you in the form of the Holy Spirit, and then you’re going to go out and I will grow fruit through you.”

Are you tired too? Worn out? Are you burned out on trying to measure up, trying to prove yourself? Maybe we’re doing life wrong. Maybe we haven’t grasped the gospel as well as we’d like to think.
What if instead of waking up feeling empty, you were so full of wisdom and joy you were giving it away? What if instead of living in fear of others’ disapproval, you were watching God touch others through you in ways you didn’t think possible? What if instead of feeling intimidated, you were seeing a future bursting with potential? What if instead of craving things that always seem out of reach, you were content and at peace? What if instead of numbing your exhaustion and anxiety with Netflix, you were free to enjoy your life as God intended? Jesus has a remedy for our emptiness, our fatigue, our inadequacies, our sin: “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” (John 7:37–38)

Do you hear what Jesus is saying? Keep coming back to me and I will keep satisfying you. And out of that life with me you will overflow and bring life to others. Our chronic feeling of not measuring up comes from trying to drink from the wrong fountain: ourselves. No wonder we keep coming away thirsty. A thirst that keeps leaving us depleted tells us the well’s broken and empty. Let anyone who is thirsty go to Jesus and drink. Things began to change for me when I got into the book of Acts and read what the disciples were like after the Holy Spirit had filled them. I found myself wanting what they had. And then I realized, I have what they had! What I needed to do was drink what Jesus offered me.

How do we do that? We begin by really believing Jesus will satisfy us if we trust him. We go to Jesus thirsty — thirsty for him. We get alone with him. We pour out our heart before him. We get in his word and we soak in it, memorize it and drink from it. We ask, seek, and knock. We also jump fully into our local churches to receive the grace Jesus wants to give us there. We receive biblical teaching and pursue authentic community. We decide to be honest about our struggles, and stop pretending and performing. And we force ourselves out of our own discouraged heads by serving others.

We abide in Jesus. And the more we do, the more his Holy Spirit fullness will overflow out of us to refresh others. That’s what the thirsty world out there needs; not impressive people, but an impressive God. Your neighbors are going through divorces, the death of children, the effects of abuse, and many hope there is a God and long for what only God can do for them. You can take God to them. Do not miss getting to give God away to people. It’s what we were built for; it’s what our gifts are for.

Don’t worry about size or numbers or reach. Think about souls. The biggest things don’t happen on stages or in books or online. They happen face-to-face, around tables, in living rooms, and in neighborhoods. The people who have the biggest impact on our lives are almost always those who personally invest in our lives. The truth is that we aren’t all losing. We just forgot what winning actually is. We need to give up trying to measure up. Because what we really need is to be filled up. Apart from Jesus we can do nothing (John 15:5). But nothing can stand against the force of God moving through a soul completely in love with him.

Are Your Nets Empty?

How is your faith for evangelism? Too frequently mine is too small. A reluctance to fish for men, whether from fear, selfishness, weariness, or skepticism that it will actually work exposes that I trust my own perceptions and not Jesus. And the story of Peter and Jesus and empty nets filled is strengthening my faith to “fish.” It may strengthen yours too. Peter knew Jesus was extraordinary before Jesus filled Peter’s fishing nets to the breaking point in Luke 5:1–11. He had already been introduced to Jesus through his brother Andrew and received his new name (John 1:40–42). Jesus had already been in Peter’s home and healed his mother-in-law (Luke 4:38–39).

So in Luke 5, Peter was already grappling with Jesus’s call on his life. Jesus had become the most famous preacher in Israel. He was performing incredible signs and wonders. Crowds followed him wherever he went. Peter must have felt profoundly unqualified to be Jesus’s disciple, having no formal theological training. The one thing Peter knew how to do was fish. Or so he thought. Actually, Jesus was about to teach Peter the most important fishing lesson of Peter’s life. That morning after Jesus had man-fished from Peter’s boat, he instructed Peter, “Put out into the deep and let down your nets for a catch” (Luke 5:4). Peter’s faith may not have even been mustard-seedish. He had fished all night and the sea might as well have been a desert.

However, Peter didn’t refuse. He replied, “Master, we toiled all night and took nothing! But at your word I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). His expectations may have been very low, but he was at least willing to obey. He and his partners dropped the nets. Then unexpectedly the nets became heavy! Really heavy. It took everything Peter and Andrew had not to drop the bursting nets in the sea as they waited for John and James to come help. Somehow they managed to heave up the nets and fish filled both boats. Peter, overwhelmed with conviction, said to Jesus, “Depart from me, for I am a sinful man, O Lord” (Luke 5:8). His sin of unbelief was exposed. He knew that it was not his expertise, experience, work-hard ethic, or his puny faith that had brought in the fish. All he did was net them. Jesus brought the fish in, something only God could do. And now he had a new fear and a new faith. And that was precisely the result Jesus was after. A Peter who now thought much less of himself and much more of Jesus was ready for real fishing. And so Jesus said to him, “Do not be afraid; from now on you will be catching men” (Luke 5:10).

If our faith for “fishing” is small, this story has at least three encouragements:
1. Jesus calls us in our weakness.
Jesus determined that the best time to call Peter as an evangelist was when he was at his weakest. Having done his human best at the thing he was best at, Peter’s nets were empty. Plus, he was exhausted, having worked all night. Why was this the best time? Peter needed his pride, unbelief, and weakness exposed. He needed to see himself as someone who, apart from Jesus, could do nothing (John 15:5). He needed to know who rules the fish and who fills the nets. Then he would be able to fish in faith.
2. It really doesn’t take great faith to drop the nets.
Even though Peter was skeptical that anything was going to come from the Master’s fishing trip, he still responded, “at your word I will let down the nets” (Luke 5:5). Peter was willing to it for Jesus’s sake. He trusted Jesus’s word more than his perceptions. It wasn’t a bold faith, it wasn’t a lot of faith, it even appears a reluctant faith, but nonetheless it was faith willing enough to obey. Peter did what Jesus said and Jesus honored it.
3. Jesus provides the fish.
When Peter and his partners dropped the nets, Jesus filled them. It was a powerful, ministry-shaping moment. Jesus rules fish and will fill nets with many or few according to his choosing. Our job as evangelists is to listen to Jesus and prayerfully, faithfully drop the nets, whatever nets the Lord has provided us, and let him fill them.

When Jesus tells us to “fish,” we must not place our faith in our expertise (or lack thereof), experience, or the current level of our faith. At his word let’s just faithfully go out and let down our nets. Let’s trust him to fill them (or not). The fish are his. We may just find that he will give us more than we can handle. Lord, fill our nets!

The Commission

When I speak of the commission, I'm not necessarily talking of the Great Commission. The Great Commission was the command from Jesus to go forth and make disciples of all nations. While this is the focus of the church, I feel there is another commission that must come first if we are to succeed in the Great Commission.

Jesus was asked what was the most important commandment, and in Mark 12:29-31 he says, “The most important one,” answered Jesus, “is this: ‘Hear, O Israel: The Lord our God, the Lord is one. Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.’ The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’ There is no commandment greater than these.”  To make all nations disciples of God, we must first make them all children of God. Disciples are not made overnight. The twelve disciples spent three years learning hands on with Christ and were still not able to comprehend many things. Just as a child must learn to talk, walk, feel, and know what's wrong and right; so must a child of God. Once we have given our lives to Christ, we are born again.

Just as a baby being born from the womb, we are born into a new spiritual life knowing the same as a baby would. We must learn to do all the same common things a baby would, but in a spiritual sense. We must change the way we talk to people, the way we feel and show emotion to people, and the way to walk a Christ centered life. This is not a overnight conversion. In 1 Timothy 3, Paul gives the qualifications of a disciple or leader, and in verse 6-7 he says,  "He must not be a recent convert, or he may become conceited and fall under the same judgment as the devil. He must also have a good reputation with outsiders, so that he will not fall into disgrace and into the devil’s trap." Just as a child can easily fall into temptation and get in trouble, so can someone that has just recently been born again.

So first and foremost, before we can make disciples of our own churches or other nations; we must first learn to show love to all and be that beacon of light we are called to be. We must first be harvesters before we can be teachers. We must first show love before we can teach love. And we must first be Christ to a fallen world before we can expect to teach Christ to the world. There is a poem I read that encapsulates what we as the Church are supposed to be.

The Commission
I asked the Lord to help my neighbor, And carry the gospel to distant lands, And to comfort the sick, but he said to me, If you love me, be my hands.

I asked the Lord to go to the dying, And the orphan in the street, And visit the prisoner, but he said to me, If you love me, be my feet.

I asked the Lord to look to the poor, And to watch over each babe that cries, And see each man's need, but he said to me, If you love me, be my eyes.

I said to the Lord, I want to serve you, But I don't know where to start. To love is the answer, he said to me. If you love me, be my heart. G. Shirie Westfall

The Church must be Love. The Church must be His Hands. The Church must be His Feet. The Church must be His Eyes. The Church must be His Heart. I often hear people who are unbelievers say, "If there is a God, why does he allow all this suffering?" That's a pretty profound question. Why is there so much pain and hate in this world? Why won't God help? You see, the issues in this world can all be attributed to mankind. We are responsible for the pain, the hate, the wars, the poverty, the destruction, not God.

But just imagine if the Church was God's feet, hands, eyes, and heart in this world, what kind of picture would people see of God then? We are the representation of God here on Earth. If we are showing His heart and love, then they will see God. If we are not, then all they will see is the world. Our Commission is to love God with all our hearts, and our fellow man the same. If our lives show this, than all the nations of the world will come to Him.

Acts 2:43-47-They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer. Everyone was filled with awe at the many wonders and signs performed by the apostles. All the believers were together and had everything in common. They sold property and possessions to give to anyone who had need. Every day they continued to meet together in the temple courts. They broke bread in their homes and ate together with glad and sincere hearts, praising God and enjoying the favor of all the people. And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved. This was the first century church. A group of children of God. Showing the love of God to all those around. Helping meet the needs of everyone. Now pay close attention to that last verse, And the Lord added to their number daily those who were being saved.

They went out showing the love of God to all that came. Helping the poor, the sick, and the lost. And in showing the people the love and heart of God with their hands, and feet, and eyes; what happened? God added to their number daily those who were being saved. God's love thru them brought them to Christ. The answer to the problem is the Church. The Church's commission has to be His Love.

Forgiveness Is Liberating

Forgiveness is a word that easily rolls of the tongue, but the actual act of forgiveness is almost impossible sometimes. Sometimes the pain someone caused us or someone else we know is so profound, we don't see anyway of forgiveness. So why don’t people just forgive? That is a very good question. If forgiveness is easier and more beneficial, why isn’t it more popular? The sad reality is that there is short-term, relational destructive power in refusing to forgive. Holding onto the other's wrongs gives us the upper hand in our relationship. We keep a record of wrongs because we are not motivated by what honors God and is best for others but by what is expedient for ourselves.

Debt is power. There is power in having something to hold over another’s head. There is power in using a person’s weakness and failure against him or her. In moments when we want our own way, we pull out some wrong against us as our relational trump card. Debt is identity. Holding onto another's sin, weakness, and failure makes us feel superior to them. It allows us to believe that we are more righteous and mature than they are. We fall into the pattern of getting our sense of self not by the comfort and call of the gospel but by comparing ourselves to another. This pattern plays into the self-righteousness that is the struggle of every sinner. Debt is entitlement. Because of all the other person's wrongs against us, he or she owes us. Carrying these wrongs makes us feel deserving and therefore comfortable with being self-focused and demanding. “After all I have had to endure in relationship with you, don’t I deserve . . . ?” Debt is weaponry. The sins and failures that another has done against us become like a loaded gun that we carry around. It is very tempting to pull them out and use them when we are angry. When someone has hurt us in some way, it is very tempting to hurt them back by throwing in their face just how evil and immature they are. Debt puts us in God’s position. It is the one place that we must never be, but it is also a position that all of us have put ourselves in. We are not the judge of others. We are not the one who should dispense consequences for other's sin. It is not our job to make sure they feel the appropriate amount of guilt for what they have done. But it is very tempting to ascend to God’s throne and to make ourselves judge.

This is nasty stuff. It is a relational lifestyle driven by ugly selfishness. It is motivated by what we want, what we think we need, and by what we feel. It has nothing to do with a desire to please God with the way we live with one another, and it surely has nothing to do with what it means to love others in the midst of their struggle to live God’s way in this broken world. It's also scarily blind. We are so focused on the failures of others that we are blind to ourselves. We forget how often we fail, how much sin mars everything we do, and how desperately we need the grace that we are daily given but unwilling to offer to others. This way of living turns the people in our lives into our adversaries and turns the locations where we live into a war zone. Yet, we have all been seduced by the power of un-forgiveness. We have all used the sin of another against him or her. We have all acted as judges. We have all thought we are more righteous than the people around us. We have all used the power of guilt to get what we want when we want it and in so doing have not only done serious damage to the fine china of our relationships, but have demonstrated how much we need forgiveness.

Former Beatle, George Harrison died in December 2001. During his final days his wife and child, and his sister, Louise were at his bedside. It was Louise’s presence that was especially poignant. You see, she and George had been feuding with each other for almost forty years. Their feud began when Louise opened a bed and breakfast named “A Hard Day’s Night”. The rift was healed only when George realized he would probably die from his cancer. Louise reports that their reconciliation was difficult but satisfying. “We sort of held hands like we used to do” she said. “We used to talk for hours about life and God and the universe. We were able to look into each other’s eyes again with love. It was a very, very positive and loving meeting,” This episode tells us exactly what reconciliation is – two people who have been at odds with one another, coming together in a renewed and restored relationship, one where they are able to “look into each other’s eyes again with love.” This is what it means to reconcile with God, and with our fellow human beings.

The tragedy of course, is that George and Louise took so long to reconcile, that they missed out on so much. Similarly, it is a tragedy when we wait so long to be reconciled to those we love and to God.
Don't wait to forgive those that hurt you. Especially those that are close to you. One day you'll wake up and it will be too late. Decades will have past and those who you did not forgive will be gone.
Matthew 6:14-15 For if you forgive other people when they sin against you, your heavenly Father will also forgive you. But if you do not forgive others their sins, your Father will not forgive your sins.

Are You Wasting Your Life?

Judas simply could not understand Mary’s ridiculous decision. During dinner she had just taken a jar of expensive perfume and dumped it on Jesus’ feet! That perfume was worth almost a year’s wages. What a waste! Just think what could have been done with that money. Judas said, “Why was this ointment not sold for three hundred denarii and given to the poor?”

But helping the poor wasn’t really Judas’ concern. “He said this not because he cared about the poor, but because he was a thief and being in charge of the moneybag he used to help himself to what was put into it” (John 12:6). Judas was Judas’ concern. John 12 shows Mary and Judas in stark contrast. One “wasted” her costly perfume on Jesus’ feet. The other stole from Jesus’ moneybag.

What was motivating them? Gain. They both pursued the treasure they believed would make them happy. To Mary, Jesus was the Pearl of Great Price, far more precious than money. To Judas, thirty pieces of silver was a fair price for the Pearl.

Once again the Bible beautifully illustrates Christian Hedonism. We pour out our love, our time, our energy, our money, and in other words, our worship, on what we treasure most. And when we see others worshiping what we consider less valuable, we view it as a waste. In Judas’ criticism of Mary we hear what the world thinks of those who give something precious to Jesus. Why this waste? Couldn’t your time or money or mind have been better spent?

To follow Jesus means sometimes choosing to lose what the world sees as gain. Jesus said, “Whoever loves his life loses it. And whoever hates his life in this world will keep it for eternal life” (John 12:25). “Hating your life in this world” means foregoing worldly gain to have eternal gain.

The truth is that this kind of life is worship, not waste. Like Mary pouring out her perfume, a life of sacrificial love for Jesus shows how precious he really is. And it preaches to a bewildered world that Christ is gain and the real waste is gaining the world while losing your soul. One last encouraging thought from John 12.

Jesus put a thief in charge of his moneybag! And he knew exactly what he was doing! Isn’t that remarkable? Jesus showed us by example where not to put our trust. He himself said, “You cannot serve God and money” (Matt. 6:24). Jesus trusted his Father to provide everything he needed so he slept in peace, even knowing that Judas was embezzling.

Here’s the point: When we seek the kingdom first, everything we need will be provided. And our Father can easily out-give what any thief can steal. Isn’t that good news? We do not need to fear giving lavishly to Jesus. We do not need to fear losing what the world can steal. God will provide all we need. Because he is all we will ever really need.

So who is telling you that you are wasting your life? The world? Or Jesus? You eventually hear it from one or the other. Whose opinion influences you the most?

Coincidence or Divine?

I have come to believe that in life there are no coincidences. I often tell my wife of the massive amount of tiny minute, or big decisions that would have had to been made by just her parents in life, that would have brought us to meet. Trust me there are way too many to go into. But the fact remains, this goes for anyone. Look back at your life and think of what all occurred to bring you to where you're at now. Yes I'm sure many of us have had bad things happen, or have made bad decisions. But if only one of those decisions or events were changed just slightly, where would you be?

Now can you look back at all of your life and just say that it was all chance?  Alanis Morissette’s album Jagged Little Pill debuted in 1995, just as the first wave of Millennials was crashing into America’s high schools. Her music became one of the soundtracks for these critical years for many of us, not chosen, or even necessarily positive, but unavoidable. Her distinctive voice, catchy tunes, and conspicuous distress aired nonstop on the radio and at the mall. Her biggest song was “Ironic.” And it’s proved to be her most enduring, still playing almost two decades later, having reached a kind of classic status. If you’ve been in public at all in the last twenty years, you’ve likely heard it.

In “Ironic,” Morissette, once crowned “the queen of alt-rock angst,” plays the part, it seems, of the observant but powerless nihilist, noting how “life has a funny way of sneaking up on you when you think everything’s okay.” It’s not just a clever and humorous celebration of irony, but it subtly begs the deeper question as it personifies “life.” At worst, it’s just a playful lament of life’s endless torrent of troubles, but at best it’s suggestive of something personal behind it all. Someone. It only takes a few lines to catch the gist of “Ironic.” "A traffic jam when you’re already late, A no-smoking sign on your cigarette break, It’s like ten thousand spoons when all you need is a knife, It’s meeting the man of my dreams, and then meeting his beautiful wife." We’ll leave the debate to the critics as to whether Morissette really understands what irony is in its strict sense, or whether what she’s really lamenting is bad timing. But however that goes, the song’s wild popularity, and sticking power, is owing not just to the mesmerizing tune and her riveting mezzo-soprano, but to the fact that we all can relate to what seem like profound ironies in our lives.

For those suppressing the innate knowledge of a Creator, noting the humor in the ironies is one small way of straining for some silver lining in the disappointments that come our way. But in the end, there’s no meaning to it for the nihilist. Making light of the irony, or the bad timing, is just one place to step your foot near the harrowing cliff of meaningless, right before sliding off. But for the Christian, life’s ironies are pregnant with meaning. They aren’t just humorously coincidental and then ultimately empty. They are profoundly personal. They are pinpricks in the veil, little reminders that every moment and every detail are known and ordained by a personal God, who’s in and beneath all the minutia, working all things, even and especially life’s most tragic ironies, for our everlasting good (Romans 8:28). Life’s ironies, whether advantageous or dreadful, make us freshly aware that our existence isn’t random, that everything coming our way has been lovingly sorted for our good, and that there is a greater goal, and deeper joy, than our comfort in the moment.

It’s not just the big details that are from the divine hand, but the small as well; “from him and through him and to him are all things” (Romans 11:36). Even the things which otherwise would seem most left to chance, like the roll of the dice: “The lot is cast into the lap, but its every decision is from the LORD” (Proverbs 16:33). It is our God, personal and loving, the Father of Jesus, “who makes the clouds rise at the end of the earth, who makes lightnings for the rain and brings forth the wind from his storehouses” (Psalm 135:7). He’s the one behind the ironies and everything else. When a tree falls in the woods, and no human’s there, he’s still onsite in all his sovereign sway. And “not one [sparrow] will fall to the ground apart from your Father” (Matthew 10:29). If there is a God in heaven, there is no such thing as a mere coincidence, not even in the smallest affairs of life.

For the Christian, the seeming ironies of life, whether they make us smirk, grimace, or weep, are not random, but the fingerprints of God, majestic mementos that the Absolute who rules the universe, down to every detail, is also Personal. And that he is loving toward us who are in his Son. Often we call them providences when we spot the fingerprints. It is the best of all worlds, when the one to whom we’re joined by faith is both sovereign and good. Morissette hints at one point how suggestive life’s ironies can be. She asks, “A little too ironic?” and answers, “Yeah, I really do think.” Whether she would say more or not, the song contains no further clues. But at least it may make us wonder. Whether she will admit to it or not, she knows deep down that life’s many ironies are too evocative to be explained away every time with chance and coincidence.

Isn’t it providential, don’t you think?

Wounded By A Friend

"I thought we were friends." The pain behind those words can overshadow years of life, love, and memories. All the good times fade to black when a friendship is betrayed. Investment, down the drain. Vulnerability, restrained. Trust shattered. Love questioned. Friends hurt friends. It’s inevitable because every friend is a sinner, and sinners gon’ sin against one another and hurt one another, intentionally or unintentionally. Either way, it’s always harder to recover from the pain inflicted by a friend. The pain of conviction that comes through the godly rebuke of a friend who speaks truth in love is a real gift (Proverbs 27:6). But what if you’re the one sinned against, and you’re hurt because of unkind words, betrayal, or manipulation by a person you consider a friend? How do you address it with your friend, and how do you move past the pain and toward reconciliation?

In the midst of your hurt, trust that God is working in your relationship to grow you both in the grace and knowledge of Christ: “Trust in him at all times, O people” (Psalm 62:8). It is one’s glory (or beauty) to overlook an offense (Proverbs 19:11). This requires prudence, patience, maturity, and wisdom. Overlooking an offense adorns the gospel and is a loving response that demonstrates we are indeed Christ’s disciples (John 13:35).

In the Disney film Frozen, (can you tell I have a little girl); Elsa abandoned caution and prudence, giving up her good-girl persona to unleash her cold fury on the town of Arendelle. Her actions negatively affected everyone and everything around her. In our flesh, we’re tempted to unleash our pent-up, frozen fury on our friend rather than trust our Lord. Wisdom does not “let it go” like an ice queen. Instead, it dies to self, showing constraint and turning the hurt over to Jesus, who most identifies with us in our pain and who meets us in our times of need.

One caveat: overlooking an offense is not a license to use silence as a weapon, or to harbor ill feelings that will come back to haunt the relationship later. Instead, it is having a clear conscience before God that this hurt is not at a level that it needs to be addressed (at least not right now), but a resolve to “forgive and forget.” It is much better to win your friend than to win an argument. Sometimes you can’t just overlook an offense. If your first thought is “they need to be told,” this may be your self-righteousness talking and not the Spirit. Our goal must be reconciliation born from love.
However, we will find legitimate times and occasions when we need to address a hurt. We can attempt to right the wrong, but remember that vengeance is the Lord’s and he will repay (Romans 12:19). So this is not a call to lash out and fight back. This is a loving call to biblical rebuke.

In Jesus’s teaching on sin, he says to his disciples, “If your brother sins, rebuke him, and if he repents, forgive him, and if he sins against you seven times in the day, and turns to you seven times, saying, ‘I repent,’ you must forgive him.” (Luke 17:3–4) To rebuke is to reason frankly with your neighbor (Leviticus 19:17), to tell him his fault (Matthew 18:15), with a spirit of gentleness (Galatians 6:1) in hopes that your friend would repent. But Jesus’s teaching goes much further by saying that we may be hurt again, and we must be ready to forgive every time. Forgiveness may seem almost impossible if we forget Christ. He has “forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us” (Colossians 2:13–14). When we were in open rebellion against him, he died for us (Romans 5:8). Even now, as ones whose sins have been nailed to the cross with Christ, and whose lives have been raised with Christ, “if we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness” (1 John 1:9).

If you have been hurt by a friend, pour out your heart to them in prayer for wisdom, for forgiveness, for reconciliation (Psalm 62:8). Here are some prayer points that may help you deal with hurt with wisdom and grace: Pray for God to search your wounded heart (Psalm 139:23). Were you hurt because your sin was exposed? Were you overly sensitive to something that was said? Were you tired? Is what you were hurt by a pattern from your friend or a first-time offense?

Pray for the grace to think about what is true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent, praiseworthy in yourself and in your friend (Philippians 4:8). Pray for discernment: does God want you to overlook or address the offense? If you must address the offense, pray that you would be honest and gracious with your friend about the way you were hurt, and that your friend would respond with humility.

Pray that you would love your friend at all times, even the difficult ones, and that you would be able to “live in harmony with one another” (Romans 12:16).

It’s worth it to overlook an offense if you can, and to trust God is working in you and your friend’s heart, to pray for wisdom, love, and reconciliation, to rebuke gently, and to be ready to forgive. Christ teaches “greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). He then calls his disciples his friends (John 15:14–15), and shortly thereafter he literally died for his friends.

If Jesus could make such a radical, loving sacrifice for his friends, friends who would doubt and deny him, surely we can work to restore our broken friendships. Godly friendships are a witness to the world. In them, we put our love for Christ and for one another on display.

Your Pain Will Not Define You

Pain is real, it is hard, and it is guaranteed to us in this life. Our Lord himself wrestled in anguish (Luke 22:44), sighed in sorrow (Mark 7:34), and wept in grief (John 11:35).

Some of these pains have wounded us so deeply that the healing is still underway. It will take time for the balm of comfort to soothe our sores, the bandages of truth to seal us back together, and the medicine of faith to restore us to health. We desperately want to be healed, and are in the process of daily receiving it. But we may also face another kind of long-lingering wound — the kind that puts us on the other side of the same question Jesus asked the invalid at Bethesda: “Do you want to be healed?” (John 5:6). And to our own amazement, we may discover in honesty that our answer is not yet a wholehearted and expectant Yes. Perhaps our wounds have become so entangled with the identity we now claim that surrendering them would require also surrendering who we mistakenly believe ourselves to be.

Our enemy longs to steal, kill, and destroy our true identity in Christ by convincing us our pain will always define our past, disparage our present, and darken our future. By turning our eyes continually to our mistakes and our suffering, the great deceiver aims to imprison us with remorseful pity, assumed limitations, and downright despair. He tells us our wounds will mark us forever with no hope of being healed. And as these pains usurp the throne of power and authority in our lives meant for God alone, we may begin to find our identity more in our own suffering than in the One who suffered for us.

Our society urges us to identify ourselves by whatever we perceive with our eyes and feel with our flesh; even when that identity misconstrues reality and ignores the definitions written by the very Author of Life (Acts 3:15). But when we look up from our visible, temporary circumstances to our invisible, eternal Creator, we see who we were truly created to be in relation to him. And we are not our pain. You may have had a friend desert you, but you are not deserted. You may have had a spouse abandon you, but you are not abandoned. You may have failed, but you are not a failure. You may have never known your father, but you are not fatherless. Life may be crushing, but you are not crushed. The only way to take back our true, God-given identity, with unshakable confidence, is to look to the One who gives us our identity in the first place.

For those of us who are in Christ Jesus, we can be sure that because he is love, we are loved. Because he is the King, we are heirs to the kingdom.
Because he is merciful, we are shown mercy.
Because he is the Defender, we are defended.
Because he is a good Father, we are children of God.
Because he is freedom, we are free.
Because he is always with us, we are always with him.
Because he holds all things together, we are held together in him.
And because he calls us his own, we are his.

With eyes unveiled by Jesus, we turn from the dark portrait painted by the father of lies (John 8:44) to behold the glory of the Lord, placing our faith and hope in the promise that we are being transformed into his very image (2 Corinthians 3:18). Only then will we earnestly desire to be healed. In this world, we will grieve, but not as those without hope (1 Thessalonians 4:13). We will be sorrowful, but we are not without reason to rejoice (2 Corinthians 6:10). We will have trials of many kinds (James 1:2), but we can always take heart, because he has overcome the world (John 16:33). Even today, as we lie before the One who alone can heal us, he offers us the same invitation he offered the man at Bethesda, to let go of our identity as invalids, get up from the paralysis of our pain, roll up the mat of hopeless defeat, and walk forward into our true identity as new creations in Christ.

When we look to the pain of our wounds, we see ourselves as wounded. But when we look to the pain of the cross, we see the wounds of Jesus (Isaiah 53:5), by which our Healer tells us that we are forever healed in him.

When Trust Is All That's Left

Fifteen-year-old Nadia Naira Masih is a committed Christian. Her normal practice when she lived at home was to pray and read her Bible early every morning. Although her parents haven't seen her since February 2001, they assume that she continues this practice in the home of her captor. A Muslim named Maqsood Ahmed abducted Nadia. Maqsood's mother, then a friend of Nadia's family, helped lure Nadia out of her home, where she was forced into a car with Maqsood, two of his brothers, and a friend who were all armed with automatic weapons. She has not been seen since then.

The abduction of young girls is rare in Pakistan, but it is common for Pakistani police to look the other way when crimes are committed against Christians, especially when offered a bribe. This is allegedly the situation in Nadia's kidnapping, and local police have been slow to pursue the case.
A certificate was delivered to Nadia's home saying she had married Maqsood. The certificate explained, by virtue of her marriage, Nadia had officially converted from her Christian faith to Islam. Nadia is only a teenager, however. Facing anger and loss, Nadia's parents still don't say anything against Maqsood. Instead, they trust that God is powerful enough to do what is needed to bring Nadia back.

Trust is something someone can never fully understand until it is all someone has. Nadia's parents know what it is to trust. They do not necessarily trust that Nadia will indeed one day return. Instead, they have full confidence that God is able to bring her back safely. The difference is enormous. If they were to trust in a particular outcome, their trust could be shaken if it did not come to pass. But they are choosing to place their trust in God's unfailing power and ability to bring it to pass. If God in his wisdom decides not to permit her return, they will trust him all the more.

We can learn a lot about why we can trust God from the story of Job. In the midst of great trouble, Job had to trust the Lord. I can only imagine the fear he experienced as one horrible event happened after another. If you remember the story of Job, then you know that he lost everything. And by “everything,” I mean everything that was of any importance to him. Job lost everything. At the end of his story, as he repents and sings great praise to God, Job proclaims, “I know that you can do all things, and that no purpose of yours can be thwarted” (Job 42:2). Job suffered greatly, and, I imagine, he was very confused. His friends didn’t do a good job of comforting him; Job even called them “miserable comforters” (Job 16:2). But Job turned to God and was convinced of the wisdom of God, even in the midst of great pain and confusion.

We get a glimpse of Job’s view of God when he says, “His wisdom is profound, his power is vast. Who has resisted him and come out unscathed?” (Job 9:4 NIV), and, “With God are wisdom and might; he has counsel and understanding” (Job 12:13). Job isn’t thinking about how he feels at the moment or even his current circumstances, though there is no problem with considering those things. Instead, Job realizes that in order to minister to his own heart he must remember the character of God, who God is, and why he can be trusted. Job doesn’t ignore his pain, but he does remember his King. And what did God do? He restored Job and his fortunes. He gave him twice as much livestock as he had previously possessed and gave him more children: seven sons and three daughters. Job was restored to his family and friends.

God doesn’t do anything in his sovereign will that isn’t both wise and loving. If God is for you, who can be against you? We don’t trust God simply because someone tells us to. We trust God because he is God. He is holy and awesome and righteous in every way. We can trust God because we don’t serve a God who is only sovereign and wise. He is also infinitely loving. Do you trust God only so far, depending on the outcome? Or do you trust him despite any outcome?