Awe

But God’s forever love cost him March 25, 2024

Psalm 103:17-18 But the love of the Lord remains forever with those who fear him. His salvation extends to the children’s children of those who are faithful to his covenant, of those who obey his commandments.

The Hebrew word for covenant (beriyth) in this verse is a blood covenant, a compact made by cutting flesh. Jesus offered his body to the thorns, the nails, the whip—out of love for us. He paid the whole price of his covenant with us on the cross. For you. For me. He is the only one with whom I have this kind of relationship. Yet how often do I honor other people’s opinion of me more than his, enough to get my tail in a knot when I think they don’t like or approve of what I believe or do or think or say or create?

Litany of Penitence 11

For seeking the praise of others

Rather than the approval of God,

Lord, have mercy upon us,

For we have sinned against you.

Chatting with a friend this week, we both admitted we tend to let other people’s opinions of what we do affect us too much. As we expressed it, we give them too much power over our emotions. I used the example of letting a negative review of something I have written cancel the joy of finding out someone was blessed by what they read. I’m learning to ask myself, “Is my conscience clear before God? Have I, as well and faithfully as I know how, followed what I believe was his direction?” If so, even though I always have room to grow, I can live from a center of peace no matter what others think or say.

Holy Spirit, cleanse, renew, and grow my awe of what Jesus did for me. Shutterstock: LovelyDay

This doesn’t mean I can’t learn from other people. I’m talking about letting their opinion rob me of joy and confidence. My temptation is to criticize myself and become self-centered (preoccupied with myself) rather than nurturing a solid confidence in God’s love that fosters a balanced perspective of both myself and others.

Here are a few more texts I’ve been thinking about in connection with today’s confession: Mt 6:1-2, 16-21, 23:5-12, Mark 6:1-3, John 12:42-43. Perhaps you can suggest other Scriptures on this topic.

Love Ran Red, by Chris Tomlin

“Self-denial is incomprehensible to our culture”

But God wants us to know and reflect his pure love

Psalm 103:7 The Lord revealed his character to Moses and his deeds to the people of Israel.

Litany of Penitence 4:

For our sexual impurity, our exploitation of other people,

And our failure to give of ourselves in love;

Lord, have mercy upon us:

For we have sinned against you.

What do you think of the heading to this post, from last Sunday’s sermon by Kevin Antlitz? (You can listen to the context of his statement here (Feb 25): we choose to say no to ourselves so we can say yes to God and to those we love and care for. How do you embrace self-denial personally?

O Love that will not let me go, sung by Dana Masters and Kristyn Getty

I trace the rainbow through the rain … Bray Head, Ireland, March 2023

Combining Valentine’s Day with Ash Wednesday

But God wants our hearts

Joel 2:12-13 That is why the Lord says,
    “Turn to me now, while there is time.
Give me your hearts.
    Come with fasting, weeping, and mourning.
¹³Don’t tear your clothing in your grief,
    but tear your hearts instead.”
Return to the Lord your God,
    for he is merciful and compassionate,
slow to get angry and filled with unfailing love.
    He is eager to relent and not punish.

Today and tomorrow, I’m helping get Caleb and Talita to school and home again because their dad is traveling for work and their mom is a nurse who leaves home early and gets back late. The kids have spent hours laboring over their valentines for their classmates and teachers. Caleb wrote his greetings by himself.

Valerie “dotted” the names for almost-four Talita to trace, and she wrote her name by herself on all these cards:

So much effort to communicate friendship and appreciation!

I’ve been musing over how to combine Valentine’s Day with Ash Wednesday. The prophet Joel gave me the answer. God’s heart is full of unfailing love for us, and he wants us to love him back. He wants to repair his broken relationship with us. He can do so if we turn back to him, admitting and grieving what we’ve done that hurts him.

Our “valentine” for him is humility, and honesty, and a desire to hear and honor his heart of love.

And there’s no better source of love for those we care about than his Spirit, free to flow within and through us (John 7:37-39). That’s why I’ve chosen a flowing river as an image for Lent. The Spirit wants to cleanse us and grow and water his fruit in the garden of our hearts. Starting with love.

Shutterstock: Liinna Lilli

The Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23).

River of Life by Mac Powell

Advent ABC: Jesus (Savior)

Matthew 1:21 (Isaiah 43:11, 62:11) [Gabriel told Joseph] “Mary will have a son, and you are to name him Jesus, ‘The Lord saves,’ for he will save his people from their sins.”

After posting Advent ABC: Holy One early last Sunday (the second Sunday of Advent), I was surprised to find holiness the theme of our service when I got to church. Kevin Antlitz preached a deeply moving sermon, clarifying many misconceptions about the holiness of God and what it means for us to pursue holiness: “It’s not about perfection. It’s about direction.” Jesus shows us that holiness is a human being fully alive; motivated by love, not by fear as we wait to see him again.

And we sang “Lord I Need You” by Matt Maher:

Where sin runs deep, your grace is more;

Where grace is found is where you are;

And where you are, Lord, I am free.

Holiness is Christ in me.

A Thousand Hallelujahs, Brooke Ligertwood

Advent ABC: Holy One

Isaiah 29:19 (40:25, 57:15, Proverbs 9:10), John 6:69 The humble will be filled with fresh joy from the Lord. The poor will rejoice in the Holy One.

My husband’s brother Bill and his family spent Thanksgiving with us. The next Tuesday, riding his bike home to Plano from For the Nations in Dallas where he volunteers, Bill was hit by a car, which shattered his legs and broke a rib, collapsing a lung. Last night on the phone he told Dave, “It’s an amazing thing. As I lie here, I feel like I’m in the presence of the Holy One. I feel joy.”

This is more than I usually write for Advent ABC, but I want to tell you my three year old granddaughter Talita, who had been thrilled with all the attention Uncle Bill gave her while he was in Pittsburgh, told me, “I’m sad about my boy Billy who got hit by a car and broke his legs like my Vovó [her Brazilian grandmother Luciene, who is walking now!].” Today I was able to tell Talita her “boy Billy” is home from the hospital, determined, he says, to walk in nine months.

Joy. May it be so.

Holy One by Paul Mwai https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MKDZSpy10Ew

Like a gentle river

But God longs to give us his peace

Isaiah 48:12-13, 17-18 “Listen to me … I alone am God, the First and the Last. It was my hand that laid the foundations of the earth, my right hand that spread out the heavens above. When I call out the stars, they all appear in order. … I am the Lord your God, who teaches you what is good for you and leads you along the paths you should follow. Oh, that you had listened to my commands! Then you would have had peace flowing like a gentle river and righteousness rolling over you like waves of the sea.”

Jeremiah 9:24 “Those who wish to boast should boast in this alone: that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things. I, the Lord, have spoken!”

Matthew 5:43-45 [Jesus said] You have heard the law that says, “Love your neighbor and hate your enemy.” But I say, love your enemies! … In that way you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven.

Peace flowing like a gentle river reminds me of the delightful days our family spent on a boat on the Rio Negro (a branch of the Amazon) in 1998, our son’s choice for his “family senior trip” before he graduated from high school and moved from Brazil to the U.S. for college. We discovered there weren’t even mosquitos to trouble us in the middle of that wide, peaceful river! (It averages 8,040 feet wide!) For more adventure, we had to venture into one of the more turbulent tributaries.

Remember the 2005 Jars of Clay song, “They Will Know We Are Christians by Our Love”? Isaiah links soul-peace, shalom, to following God’s commands. And Jesus clarified for us that the most important commands are to love God and love each other.

Like me, I’m sure you flinch when you hear people link hateful, UN-loving language and actions to the name of our precious Lord Jesus.

And, like me, you then say, “Lord, please show me any ways my own un-loving attitudes and choices bring dishonor to your name.”

Because when I empty myself of anger, hurt, bitterness, hatred, shame, and resentment by naming them and asking the Holy Spirit to cleanse and heal me, I create space for him to grow in me his multi-faceted fruit of love (Galatians 5:22-23). And his peace flows through my soul. I’ve had to practice this a lot, and it’s worth it, because that’s the way I want to live.

Our longing for the Spirit’s shalom, his holistic wellbeing, permeating all aspects of our lives, reflects God’s deep desire for each of us. The Lord told Jeremiah to tell us that he delights in these things. Harmony with him results in the kind of peace that bubbles with the creative energy of goodness, energy for building others up rather than tearing them down. For healing rather than harming.

Listen with me to Joni Eareckson Tada sing “When Peace Like a River.” Her passion and generosity to others with disabilities tell me no circumstances are incompatible with God’s peace—certainly not mine.

Healing at the lake, Part 4

But God knows our story

John 21:3-6, 17, 19-22 [After Jesus’s resurrection] Simon Peter said, “I’m going fishing.” “We’ll come, too,” [six other disciples] said. But they caught nothing all night. At dawn Jesus, standing on the beach, called out, “Children, have you caught any fish?” No, they replied. Then Jesus said, “Throw out your net on the right-hand side of the boat.” So they did, and they couldn’t haul in the net because there were so many fish in it. …

Psalm 32:1-2 Oh, what joy for those whose disobedience is forgiven, whose sin is put out of sight! Yes, what joy for those whose record the Lord has cleared of guilt!

[After breakfast] A third time, Jesus asked Peter, “Simon son of John, do you love me?” Peter was hurt that Jesus asked the question a third time. He said, “Lord, you know everything. You know that I love you.” Jesus said, “Then feed my sheep.” … Then Jesus told him, “Follow me.” Peter turned around and saw behind them the disciple Jesus loved. … He asked Jesus, “What about him, Lord?” Jesus replied, “… What is that to you? As for you, follow me.”

Have you ever wondered why Jesus chose this particular setting for his pivotal conversation with Peter after the crucifixion and resurrection, after Peter’s denials warranted a return to the moniker “Simon”?

This miraculous catch of fish is a reprise of Luke 5, offering Peter another chance to recognize and reconnect with Jesus, and with God’s call on his life. A chance to accept forgiveness and to move beyond his failures. A chance to heal his story.

God met me as well, on ensuing visits to the lake. Fast forward from the story I told in the last post. I’m now fourteen, graduated from boarding school, fearful of the future. Sitting alone overlooking the lake, I told the Lord I wasn’t ready to leave Guatemala because I had not yet learned to love. I acknowledged my heart full of resentment and bitterness. I didn’t want to take all that with me into whatever awaited me in my new life in the United States, where my parents would send me for high school. But how could I change? I had confessed my anger and hurt, but it refused to die, rearing its ugly head on a daily basis.

Romans 12:2 was the verse I was considering: “Don’t copy the behavior and customs of this world, but let God transform you into a new person by changing the way you think. Then you will learn to know God’s will for you, which is good and pleasing and perfect.” You’ll have to do it, Lord. I have no idea how to change the way I think. On the surface, nothing (apparently) happened. But it was a place marker, an anchor, an intention, a hope: “Someday, somehow, I will learn how to love other people.”

Shutterstock: Christopher Moswitzer

Fast forward twenty-five or so more years. A different country, a different lake, a different language. A big difference this time because I’m not alone. A dear friend is listening to my despair over Ephesians 5:1-2, “Follow God’s example, therefore, as dearly loved children, and walk in the way of love, just as Christ loved us.”

“For most of my life,” I confessed to my friend, “I’ve begged God to teach me to love him and to love other people. But I don’t know how. I have no idea what it feels like to be a dearly loved child.”

“Then let’s ask him to show you,” she said. What followed was one of the most powerful prayer visions I have ever experienced. It healed a fracture line in my soul. It changed forever the way I knew Jesus and the way I viewed myself and other people. Literally, it saved my life. It was the beginning of learning the Romans 12:2 different way of thinking I had begged God for at fourteen.

Why did this healing take so long? Why did I have to go through so much trauma and drama between fourteen and forty? I’ll probably never know. But I’m grateful, so thankful that it did happen. It was an essential foundation stone in the healing journey that has continued through the almost thirty years since that day.

Tomorrow Dave and I plan to board a plane for Ireland, for a “triple trip,” celebrating our 45^th wedding anniversary last August, Dave’s St. Patrick’s Day 70^th birthday, and researching Book 3 of the Cally and Charlie series. I have the sense—though I don’t know how, exactly—that the week in Ireland will be another significant step in the healing God continues in my life. I’ll let you know!

How can it be

But God finds joy in us

2 Peter 1:16-18 For we were not making up clever stories when we told you about the powerful coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. We saw his majestic splendor with our own eyes when he received honor and glory from God the Father. The voice from the majestic glory of God said to him, “This is my dearly loved Son, who brings me great joy.”We ourselves heard that voice from heaven when we were with him on the holy mountain.

John 17:18, 22, 26 [Jesus prayed,] “Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world. … I have given them the glory you gave me, so they may be one as we are one. … I have revealed you to them, and I will continue to do so. Then your love for me will be in them, and I will be in them.”

Last Saturday, August 6, the Church worldwide remembered the Transfiguration of Jesus, another pivotal moment in his life when, as at his Baptism, God the Father reminded his Son that he loved him and found great joy in him.

So it seems fitting that we conclude our consideration of Peter’s writings by returning to chapter 1 of his second letter, when he recalls the impact of Jesus’ transfiguration on his own life. Peter was there! He saw the glory of the Lord revealed on that mountain. He must have recalled his own inept response, yet that was swallowed up into the wonder of this intimacy with his Lord. We saw with our own eyes … we heard … we were with him.”

After his baptism, the Spirit sent Jesus into the desert, where he was tempted. After his transfiguration, Jesus turned toward Jerusalem, where he would be killed. In both moments of his life on planet Earth, Jesus carried as an anchor in his soul his Father’s love and his own deep resonance with his Father’s joy.

One of the greatest delights of my life is to walk into the home of either of my daughters and be met with cries of “Grammy! Grammy!” Talita does a little dance. Caleb runs to show or tell me something. Liliana stretches out her arms. And my heart responds with profound gratitude. “Thank you, Lord, that through these little ones you communicate your love and joy to me. I receive it with thanksgiving and wonder.”

There’s another side, though, to August 6. It’s also the anniversary of the first bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima. Greater even than the wonder of the love of children is the mystery that God still loves and claims his children even when they destroy one another. Even when they crucified Jesus. Even then, Peter tells us, God is patient, not wanting anyone to be destroyed but rather to repent (2 Peter 3:9). On the cross, Jesus said about those who were driving those horrid nails into his flesh, “Father, forgive them, for they don’t know what they are doing” (Luke 23:34).

“Tis mercy all, immense and free. … Amazing love, how can it be.”

What love language do you speak?

But God has given each of us a gift, by David Kornfield

1 Peter 4:8-11 Most important of all, continue to show deep love for each other, for love covers a multitude of sins. … God has given each of you a gift from his great variety of spiritual gifts. Use them well to serve one another. Do you have the gift of speaking? Then speak as though God himself were speaking through you. Do you have the gift of helping others? Do it with all the strength and energy that God supplies. Then everything you do will bring glory to God.

I just spent two precious hours participating in a virtual retreat with beloved friends in Brazil, a wonderful gift from God to me. I felt deeply loved through their prayer for me after I shared what God had put in my heart to speak to them.

What makes the difference between doing something for someone as a job or responsibility and doing it with positive spiritual impact? I believe the difference is whether we offer our service with love mediated by the Holy Spirit. An example comes from the experience of my friend Carol. She told a group of friends Tuesday night that she believes God has put her in exactly the right place. She has started her new job at the information desk of a large hospital this week. Already a person requested a form to tell the hospital Carol’s service to him had been exceptional.

“It’s not me, it’s the Holy Spirit,” Carol told us. “I try to see each person who comes to the desk as God sees them. I’ve been amazed at what God has shown me and has filled my heart to say as encouragement to each one. Hospitals are stress-filled places. I want them to carry a sense of peace and support as they leave me.”

She then told us the story of a man who left the desk to visit his wife and returned to tell her his wife had died. “Why would a total stranger tell me that?” Carol wondered. “Only because he somehow felt the sweet presence of the Holy Spirit calming and comforting him.”

Peter’s linking of the concepts of love and gifts reminds me of Gary Chapman’s “love languages.” So I asked my husband Dave to share from a conversation he had with God about one of his growth goals, to better love the people around him. God showed him how he (God) expresses all five of Chapman’s love languages:

In my devotional life, I talk with God, and he talks with me. This calls for a sanctified imagination, but I believe it’s real. What follows is God speaking to me about His love languages.

I love you. I never get tired of telling you that. It would be tricky to try to limit my love to any given love language, but verbal love is certainly a very big part of my love! Consider how I express all five:

Verbal love. “In the beginning, was the Word and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” (John 1.1). My verbal love starts there and never stops. You can track it through other key references like John 1.14-18; 5.39, 40; 2Tm 3.16-17 and Heb 4.12 for starters. Then you can pick it up in my love expressed in my creation (Ps 19.1-7), spilling over to my written Word (Ps 19.8-14; all of Ps 119!).
Touch or physical love. Go through the Gospels some time and notice how often Jesus touched people physically or they touched him physically. Dozens of times! And since his Ascension, the Body of Christ is his hands and feet, touching others physically and tangibly (Mt 25.31-46).
Gifts. John 3:16 declares how my love expressed itself in the greatest gift of all, which opens the door for spiritual birth and transformation (John 1.12-18). And then my love goes on to spiritual gifts – Eph 4.9-116; 1Co 12-14; Rm 12.8-16; 1Pe 4.8-11 – all of them in the context of love. And that’s only the beginning of the gifts I’ve poured out on you – physical, financial, social, spiritual, relational – so many!
Service. Mt 20.25-28; Ph 2.1-9. My utter and profound commitment to being ezer [helper, a frequent descriptor of God in the Old Testament, e.g. Psalm 46:1, and of Eve in Genesis 2:18]. Serving. Elevating. Raising up. For the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve others (Mark 10:45).
Quality time. That’s what you experience with Me at the beginning of every day and in your divine encounters, in my kairos. I make everything beautiful in My time (Ec 3.11).

I am off any scale you can picture in using all five. Try finding the horizon of any of those and you will find it’s like looking at the ocean. There is a horizon, but that’s simply the limit of your vision. It doesn’t come close to reaching the end of the ocean! That’s how I am toward you in each of these five love languages.

My (Dave’s) response to God:

Hmm, why am I not surprised, Lord? I guess the only surprise is that I haven’t seen this so clearly before. I’ll find it easier now to learn and use all five languages. Looking at you, I see how to do it. This adds depth to Your words “Walk with me and work with Me – watch how I do it!” [Matthew 11:29, The Message].

Help me today, Lord, to walk in Your love and be a conduit of Your love to each person I meet virtually, by email, WhatsApp, Zoom or in any other way, including personal connection with Deb and anyone else you bring to my home today. I pray in your holy name, so be it.

A suggestion from Dave:

Ric Warren’s The Purpose-Driven Life is a wonderful forty-day devotional describing how God fulfills His purposes in each of us. Days 29-35 focus on God shaping us for His service. Day 31 in particular highlights the S.H.A.P.E. he used for each of us: Spiritual gifts, Heart, Abilities, Personality, Experience. You can learn more about that here.

What gift(s) have you received from God? Today is a great day to tell him thank you, and to ask him to make his gifts to you even more effective in sharing his love, through the Holy Spirit.

Radical love

But Jesus’ message is different

Matthew 28:16-20 Then the eleven disciples left for Galilee, going to the mountain where Jesus had told them to go.When they saw him, they worshiped him—but some of them doubted! Jesus came and told his disciples, “I have been given all authority in heaven and on earth. Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Hebrews 10:24 Let us think of ways to motivate each other to love and good works.

The contrast between the message the guards were ordered to spread by the Jewish leaders and the message Jesus told his disciples to teach could not be more different:

The premise of the Jewish leaders: If we lie convincingly enough, we can get away with murder. Jesus’ premise: God loves you so much I was willing to lay down my life for you.

The intent of the Jewish message: to save their own skin. Jesus’ intent: to save the world.

The authority on which the orders of the Jewish leaders were based: human distortion of biblical teaching (Matthew 23:23 “You ignore the more important aspects of the law: justice, mercy, and faith”). Jesus’ authority: given him by his Father, the Creator, Sustainer, and Sovereign over heaven and earth.

The heart of the Jewish message: “Maintain the status quo with us in charge.” The heart of Jesus’ message: Love God and others (Matthew 22:37-39); lay down your own life to serve others (Matthew 20:28).

Radical love. Radical service.

What does that mean to you today? I’m on a retreat with a group of lovely and strong-minded people. Many opportunities to recognize ways I’m more like the Jewish leaders than like Jesus, and to realize how generous Jesus’ love is (even for me!). Opportunities to grow!