A Life Worthy

Category: Holiday

  • Freedom One-a-Day Wednesday  7/4/18

    Freedom One-a-Day Wednesday  7/4/18

    It is for freedom that Christ has set us free.  Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by the yoke of slavery (Galatians 5:1).

    Today is Independence Day.  Today we celebrate our freedom.  Of course, as Americans we celebrate our national and political freedom. As men and women of God, we celebrate our spiritual freedom.  Christ has set us free from our bondage to sin. He has set us free from our need to try to earn our salvation, to somehow save ourselves.  He has set us free from the stress and worry and angst and anxiety which so often attack us.

    Hear me, Beloved.  I’m not saying that those things are gone.  On the contrary, sin and self-righteousness and anxiety are still very much evident in this world and, at times, in our lives.  What I am saying is that you are no longer in bondage to them.

    When Paul wrote the above verse to the Galatians he was talking about freedom from the Mosaic Law.  Some Jews had chosen to follow Christ, but still felt compelled to meet the demands of the old covenant.  Paul was pointing out that a person who has Christ no longer needs the old law, and to try to follow it is to be like a slave who, once free, returns to his chains.

    I’m gonna go out on a limb here and say that, for some of us, worry and stress operate in the same way as the Mosaic Law.

    It’s about power.

    The Judaizers liked the Law because it gave them a sense of control over their destinies.  They had rules to follow, stuff to do, that they thought would get them to Heaven.

    “But Michael, I don’t worry because I feel powerful.  I worry because I feel powerless.”

    Yes, but it’s still about power.  About control. You worry because you know you are not in control, and you desperately want to be. Because if you’re not in control, someone else is, and there’s a part of you that just cannot handle that.

    I’m in the same boat, by the way.  May I steer? Of course not.

    Sometimes trust seems beyond our grasp.  And without trust, there is no rest.

    So let’s pray for trust today, shall we?  I’ll pray for you, and you for me. Maybe we can both be set free.

    Today is the day to celebrate your independence.

    And your dependence.

    Happy Fourth, Beloved.

  • Remember Monday 5/28/18

    Remember Monday 5/28/18

    Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13).

    We are called to remember.

    So…remember.

    Remember the One who died that you might live,

    who was bound that you might be set free.

    And remember those who have followed His example, leaving their homes behind to travel to foreign soil, where they give their lives that you and I might be free.

    Right now, as I write this, some warrior shoulders a rifle, or climbs into a chopper, or races toward a bomb blast, knowing that today could be the day that they are called to give “the last full measure of devotion.”

    They may be terrified.

    They go anyway.

    For you

    and me.

    Remember, Beloved.

    Happy Monday

  • And Today Monday 4/2/18

    And Today Monday 4/2/18

    I will exalt you, my God the King; I will praise your name for ever and ever. Every day I will praise you and extol your name for ever and ever  (Psalm 145:1-2).

    So

    Easter’s over.

    It’s Monday.

    I hope yesterday was very special for you. I hope you worshipped and prayed and rejoiced and felt especially close to Jesus as you celebrated his resurrection.

    And now there’s today.

    Monday

    Mundane

    As we move into our week, as all the stuff and garbage that we put aside yesterday comes flooding in with a power that only Monday can muster, can I ask you to do something?

    (And by you, I mean me, too.)

    Let’s try to approach Monday with the same joy and reverence and celebration that we felt yesterday.

    The tomb is still empty.

    He is still risen, indeed!

    The One who made you and knows you and died for you and rose for you still loves you more than you can possibly imagine.

    Walk in that love today, Beloved.

    Happy Monday

  • Risen! One-a-Day Sunday  4/1/18

    Risen! One-a-Day Sunday  4/1/18

    For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave (Psalm 86:13).

    Lost

    Alone

    Confused

    Empty

    That’s how I imagine the disciples felt on that Sunday morning. They must have figured that, after all, Jesus had failed.

    After all the hopes

    after all the struggles

    after all the trials

    after all the miracles

    after all the moments of doubt and grace and glory

    Jesus had failed.

    Has anyone ever been more gloriously wrong?

    On Sunday morning, Mary Magdalene went with some of the other women to make sure that the body of Jesus was properly cared for. Oh, the surprise they got! The tomb was empty, the body was gone, and an angel announced, “He is not here; He has risen!”

    Can you imagine?

    No, seriously, can you imagine it?  Imagine going with Mary and seeing the stone rolled away, hearing the angel’s words.  Imagine being with the disciples when she brings them the news. Imagine running with Peter and John to see for yourself, and finding the tomb empty, the grave clothes neatly folded.  Imagine standing with Thomas, the doubter, as he touched the wounds on his living Lord.

    Imagine.

    His death satisfied the requirements of the old covenant—a perfect sacrifice to cover all sin always.

    His resurrection broke the power of Death forever, and ushered in the New Covenant—a promise of grace and hope and peace.

    His return will bring the fulfillment of history, as he gathers those who put their trust in him and takes them home forever.

    He is risen, indeed!

    Walk in joy today, Beloved.

  • Alone One-a-Day Saturday  3/31/18

    Alone One-a-Day Saturday  3/31/18

    Strike the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered, and I will turn my hand against the little ones (Zechariah 13:7b).

    Everybody loves you when you’re winning.

    What happened to the crowds?  Was it just last Sunday that the people were lining the streets, cheering for Jesus?  Now where are they?

    Gone.

    When the soldiers came for Jesus, the disciples scattered.  John followed, but at a distance. He needed to know what was happening, but he couldn’t bring himself to intervene.

    Peter, like John, followed at a distance.  He mingled with the crowd, where he could blend in and, hopefully, go unnoticed. While he was standing with a group, a servant girl recognized him. Here was Peter’s chance to stand tall for Christ.  Here was his golden opportunity to proclaim his loyalty to Jesus and stand with him—die with him, if need be. After all, that is what he had promised Jesus he would do.

    What did he do?  You know what he did.  He denied his Lord. Big, strong Peter couldn’t stand up to the questions of the lowliest servant girl.

    What of the rest?  All we know is that they ran for it.

    Don’t be too hard on the disciples.  I’m convinced they genuinely believed that they were up to the challenge.  When Peter said he would never betray Jesus, I think he meant it down to the marrow of his bones.  He didn’t have the courage, because he was only human. Like us. We know that John, and Mary, and a few others came to the cross before Jesus died; Jesus even spoke to John from the cross. But in the end, Jesus had to fulfill his purpose himself.

    In the end, Jesus went to the cross alone.

    He went to the grave alone.

    He rose from the dead alone.

    Because he had to.  That was the point—if anyone else could have done it, if anyone else could have helped, we wouldn’t have needed the perfect Son of God.

    Jesus stood alone so that you will never have to.

    Because he loves you.

    Yes, you

    Walk in thankfulness today, Beloved.

  • Good Friday One-a-Day Friday  3/30/18

    Good Friday One-a-Day Friday  3/30/18

    Even my close friend, whom I trusted, he who shared my bread, has lifted up his heel against me (Psalm 41:9).

    Betrayal

    It’s a bitter, ugly word for a bitter, ugly deed.

    Perhaps the worst thing about betrayal is that, by its very nature, it involves someone you trust.  In a sense, you have to give the betrayer the power to hurt you by making yourself vulnerable. Those who never make themselves vulnerable to others can never be betrayed.

    But then, they can never really love, either.

    The most powerful of all persons made himself vulnerable, opened himself to rejection, let himself be betrayed, to rescue his beloved.

    That would be you.

    Good Friday, Beloved

  • No Surprises One-a-Day Thursday  3/29/18

    No Surprises One-a-Day Thursday  3/29/18

    I offered my back to those who beat me, my cheeks to those who pulled out my beard; I did not hide my face from mocking and spitting (Isaiah 50:6).                          

    He knew what was coming.  

    It was no surprise.

    He knew he would die to pay the price for our sins.  He also knew that more than death would be involved.  There would be pain, and humiliation, and loneliness. The soldiers would slap him around. They would laugh at him.  They would dress him up to look like a petty king, complete with crown of thorns. They would take his clothes. They would spit on him.

    And he would take it.  

    For you.  

    For me.

    The thing to remember today is that Jesus was not surprised by any of this.  He didn’t accidentally let his guard down. He didn’t get caught up in circumstances beyond his control.  There are no circumstances beyond his control. As he spent this day teaching in the temple, he was moving purposefully and steadily toward the pain that waited for him.   At any point along the way, Jesus could have ended this. He chose to wait until he could say, “It is finished.”

    The spiritual accomplishments of the Cross are so monumental that sometimes we forget about the physical agony Christ endured both after his arrest and on the Cross.  Remember it today, Beloved. Remember what he suffered, and why. And don’t ever, in all the days ahead, wonder if you are worthy of any good thing.

    You are worthy of every good thing.

    You, Beloved, are worth dying for.

    Happy Thursday

  • New Covenant One-a-Day Wednesday  3/28/18

    New Covenant One-a-Day Wednesday  3/28/18

    “The time is coming,” declares the LORD, “when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel and with the house of Judah.  It will not be like the covenant I made with their forefathers when I took them by the hand to lead them out of Egypt, because they broke my covenant, though I was a husband to them,” declares the LORD. (Jeremiah 31:31-34)

    Most Christian churches take communion on a regular basis.  If you have been part of a church for many years, you can probably recite Paul’s words from memory

    “The Lord Jesus, on the night he was betrayed, took bread…”

    How many times have you eaten the bread…or gluten-free cracker, and sipped the wine…or juice?  What does it all mean?

    The first communion took place during the Passover, a reminder of the Old Covenant.  The Passover celebrated the night that God supernaturally broke the power of the Egyptians over the Hebrews. He established a covenant with them, promising that he would be Israel’s God, and they would be his people.

    Always.

    For the most part, people in today’s world deal with each other through contracts.  A contract is a business relationship between partners.  Each side has obligations to and expectations of the other.  If these obligations and expectations are not met, the contract is broken, and the terms become invalid.  The people who were wronged by the violation of the contract can seek justice through an impartial third party, the court.

    A covenant is more like family.  I give my children rules to follow, but those rules are for their benefit as much as, or more than, for mine.  If they violate those rules I will discipline them, but they will not cease to be my children. My covenant with my children to love and support them as their father remains, even if, from time to time, they don’t live up to their end of the bargain.

    Which they don’t.

    Because they’re children.

    Jesus brought his disciples, and all of us, a new covenant.  This covenant was not based in rules, but in relationship—in the person of Jesus himself.

    Think about the relationships in your life.  Do they feel more like covenants, or contracts?  What about your relationship with God? Do you feel like you are under the grace of his covenant, or like you are bound to a contract which you cannot possibly fulfill?

    You are a child of the covenant, Beloved.  He makes the promise. He paid the price. All you need do is accept the grace that he offers.

    Walk in that grace today, Beloved.

    Happy Wednesday

  • Love One-a-Day Wednesday  2/14/18

    Love One-a-Day Wednesday  2/14/18

    …God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us. (Romans 5:8)

    It’s Valentine’s Day, right?

    OK, so let’s talk love.

    Forget the hearts and flowers.  Forget the candy.

    OK, remember candy.  Candy is good.  But set it aside for the moment.

    Real love sacrifices.  Real love gives, even when there is no reasonable expectation of a return on the investment.  Real love sees you at your worst, and does not turn away.

    While we were still sinners.  While we were totally unworthy and unlovable.  Beyond pot bellies and vanishing hairlines.  Beyond bad hair and no makeup.  While we were steeped in darkness, inside and out, Jesus died for us.

    For you.

    Want him to prove his love?

    He did.  We call it the Cross.

    When I write these One-a-Days, I often call you “Beloved.”  I’m not putting the moves on you, nor am I trying to be J. Vernon McGee. I’m praying, along with Paul, that you, “May…grasp how high and long and wide and deep is the love of Christ.”

    In the Song of Songs, God gives us a picture of the love between a man and a woman.  Beyond that, though, he paints a picture of Christ’s love for his Church.

    He calls the Church his Beloved.

    He calls you his Beloved.

    And so you are.

    Happy Valentine’s Day, Beloved.

  • Brotherhood Monday 1/15/18

    Brotherhood Monday 1/15/18

    How good and pleasant it is when brothers dwell together in unity! It is like precious oil poured on the head, running down on the beard, running down on Aaron’s beard, down upon the collar of his robes. It is as if the dew of Hermon were falling on Mount Zion. For there the Lord bestows his blessing, even life forevermore (Psalm 133).

    When I was little, my mom used to sing to me at bedtime. One of my favorites went like this:

    Jesus loves the little children, all the children of the world

    Red and yellow, black and white, they are precious in His sight 

    Jesus loves the little children of the world.

    In today’s climate, some will consider that song wildly inappropriate. “Red children? Yellow? How racist!” Others will ask, “What about brown children? Why are they left out?” None of those questions ever came into my little-kid brain.  All I heard was that Jesus loved us all; all children were precious to him.

    Today we honor Martin Luther King, Jr. The best way to do that? Dwell together in unity, brothers and sisters of the One who loves us all.

    The oil is entirely optional.

    Happy Monday, Beloved