One-a-Day Thursday, 9/25/14

Posted on by September 24, 2014
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number 1It’s time for Thursday with C.S. Lewis!

Have you ever really considered what Lazarus gave up when Jesus called him forth from the tomb?  It was more than we can comprehend.

Stephen to Lazarus

But was I the first martyr, who

Gave up no more than life, while you,

Already free among the dead,

Your rags stripped off, your fetters shed,

Surrendered what all other men

Irrevocably keep, and when

Your battered ship at anchor lay

Seemingly safe in the dark bay

No ripple stirs, obediently

Put out a second time to sea

Well knowing that your death (in vain

Died once) must all be died again?

One-a-Day Wednesday, 9/24/14

Posted on by September 24, 2014
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number 1C.S. Lewis Week—Day Three

Prayer

Master, they say that when I seem

To be in speech with you,

Since you make no replies, it’ all a dream

–One talker aping two.

 

They are half right, but not as the

Imagine; rather, I

Seek in myself the things I meant to say,

And lo!  The wells are dry.

 

Then, seeing me empty, you forsake

The Listener’s role, and through

My dead lips breathe and into utterance wake

The thoughts I never knew.

 

And thus you neither need reply

Nor can; thus, while we seem

Two talking, thou art One forever, and I

No dreamer, but thy dream.

 

He understands you better that you do, Beloved.  Enjoy your Wednesday with him.

One-a-Day Tuesday, 9/23/14

Posted on by September 23, 2014
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number 1Here it is, Beloved—Day 2 of C.S. Lewis week. 

I must admit…I identify with this poem far more than I would like.

Pilgrim’s Problem

By now I should be entering on the supreme stage

Of the whole walk, reserved for late afternoon.

The heat was to be over now; the anxious mountains,

The airless valleys and sun-baked rocks, behind me.

Now, or soon now, if all is well, come the majestic

Rivers of foamless charity that glide beneath

Forests of contemplation.  In the grassy clearings

Humility with liquid eyes and damp, cool nose

Should come, half tame, to eat bread from my hermit hand.

If storms arose, then in my tower of fortitude—

It ought to have been in sight by this—I would take refuge;

But I expected rather a pale mackerel sky,

Feather-like, perhaps shaking from a lower cloud

Light drops of silver temperance, and clover earth

Sending up mists of chastity, a country smell,

Till earnest stars blaze out in the established sky

Rigid with justice; the streams audible; my rest secure.

I can see nothing like all this.  Was the map wrong?

Maps can be wrong.  But the experienced walker knows

That the other explanation is more often true.

One-a-Day Monday 9/21/14

Posted on by September 21, 2014
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number 1I’m a big C. S. Lewis fan.  His apologetics are inspired, and Narnia is the home I long to find someday.  Recently, I have rediscovered his poetry, and I want to share a bit of it with you this week.  No, it isn’t Scripture—but it will definitely make you think about the One who loves you.

Legion

Lord, hear my voice, my present voice I mean,

Not that which may be speaking an hour hence

(For I am Legion) in an opposite sense,

And not by show of hands decide between

The multiple factions which my state has seen

Or will see.  Condescend to the pretense

That what speaks now is I; in its defense

Dissolve my parliament and intervene.

Thou wilt not, though we asked it, quite recall

Free will once given.  Yet to this moment’s choice

Give unfair weight.  Hold me to this.  Oh strain

A point—use legal fictions; for if all

My quarrelling selves must bear an equal voice,

Farewell, thou hast created me in vain.

Beloved, did you ever wish that God weren’t quite such a gentleman?  That he would back off just a bit on the free will and force us to be the person we want to be and only sometimes are?

Yeah…me too.  It seems we are in good company.

One-a-Day Friday, 9/19/14

Posted on by September 19, 2014
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number 1Though you have made me see troubles, many and bitter, you will restore my life again; from the depths of the earth you will again bring me up. (Psalm 71:20).

Sometimes life is hard.

In case you hadn’t noticed.

I’ve noticed recently that several people in my life are going through brutally difficult times.

And I have a fairly small life.

So much pain.  So much sorrow.  So much fear.  Sometimes I’m even afraid to pray for these people because I get caught up in it, swept up in it, and I feel like their pain will pick me up and carry me away.  And I want to help, but I know that there’s nothing I can do because I’m just Michael, and that’s really not so very much.

But then I read this verse.  I think back on yesterday’s verse.  I remember the troubles, many and bitter, that God has brought me through.  I remember that I am restored.

Redeemed.

And I know that, as painful as these times are, they are not eternal.

They may feel eternal…but that is a lie.

What is eternal, Beloved of Christ, is you.

And Him.

And you and him.

So remember, dear friend, that you are a child of promise.  And that promise is as strong and sure and certain as the One who made it.

He will lift you up.  Believe it.

If it helps…I’ll believe it with you.

Happy Friday, Beloved.

One-a-Day Thursday, 9/18/14

Posted on by September 18, 2014
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number 1Your righteousness reaches to the skies, O God, you who have done great things.  Who, O God, is like you?  (Psalm 71:19).

My name is Michael, in case you didn’t know.

The name Michael means, “Who is like God?”

I gotta admit, when I was a kid I thought the name was a statement, “One who is like God.”  It did wonders for my ego.  When I found out it was actually a question, it took me down a peg or five.

But really—how cool is that? Every day, all the time, my own name reminds me that there is no one greater, no one stronger, no one with more authority over this universe than the One who loves me.

The One, by the way, who loves you.

Remember that as you head into your Thursday.

Walk in confidence, Beloved.

One-a-Day Wednesday, 9/17/14

Posted on by September 17, 2014
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number 1Since my youth, O God, you have taught me, and to this day I declare your marvelous deeds.  Even when I am old and gray, do not forsake me, O God, till I declare your power to the next generation, your might to all who are to come (Psalm 71:17-18).

A life spent with him.

Do you remember when you first came to Christ?  I was nineteen years old, and for the first time everything made sense.  I read my Bible cover to cover within the first month of being saved. I felt a freedom and a strength I had never known.  I was off on an adventure, and I was coming home—all at the same time.

Twenty-many years later, I see the power of his love working in and through me.  I’m not yet the man I want to be, but I have learned the wisdom of Popeye—I yam what I yam, and his grace has not been without effect.

The day is coming when the salt will outweigh the pepper.  My body will be old, though I will probably still act like a ten-year-old and make my daughter roll her eyes.  I trust that God will hold me tight even then.  I will get to look back on a life lived with him, and I will pass the torch to my children and theirs knowing that the One who has been faithful to me will continue to work long after he has taken me home.

Kinda cool, when you think about it.  Sorta gives perspective.

It’s Wednesday, Beloved.

Enjoy the journey.

One-a-Day Tuesday, 9/16/14

Posted on by September 16, 2014
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number 1My mouth will tell of your righteousness, of your salvation all day long, though I know not its measure.  I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord; I will proclaim your righteousness, yours alone. (Psalm 71:15-16).

Do you talk about him?

I know that you love him, you trust him, you worship him.

But do you talk about him?

Considering all that he has done for me—you know, forming me in the womb, providing my every breath, saving my soul—it would make sense that I talk about him every day, all the time, to everyone I meet.

But I don’t.

Oh, I talk about him to other Christians, telling them, “How God is working in my life,” because that is safe and expected and makes me look good.  But the nonbeliever, the one who desperately needs to know that there is a God who is real and true and faithful and at work in everyday schmoes like me?

I am often remarkably silent.

Why?  No good reason.

Partly I don’t want to make them uncomfortable, which is silly.  After all, if they don’t know Christ, they need to be uncomfortable.

Partly I don’t want them to think I’m a fool, which is just too pathetic to talk about on a Tuesday morning.

Partly—and this scares me the most—sometimes God simply does not come to mind.  I am so wrapped up in my daily world that…

Yeah.

I really hope I’m alone in this.  I hope you have no idea what I’m talking about, because you’re out there proclaiming Christ every day, all the time.  I hope you never let your foolish flesh get in the way of God’s work through you.

That is my hope for you today, Beloved.

And my prayer.

One-a-Day Monday, 9/15/14

Posted on by September 16, 2014
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number 1

 

But as for me, I will always have hope; I will praise you more and more (Psalm 71:14).

I bought a car yesterday.

No, not because I wanted to.  I bought it—or rather, I began the multi-year process of buying it—because Coco Puff, our faithful minivan of many years and many miles, finally vroomed her last vroom.

Those of you paying attention to such things will note that this is the second car that has died on me in the last three months.  Add to that the dishwasher and the stove, and a picture emerges.

This guy’s infrastructure is falling apart.

Now, this is the part where I tell you that I’m not stressed by any of this, because God is my hope and I trust him completely and so should you.  This is the part where you look at your own circumstances, which may well be more difficult than mine, and take encouragement and strength from my bold proclamation of faith.

Except I am stressed.  Sorry about that.

Don’t get me wrong.  My faith isn’t crumbling over some financial difficulties.  I trust him; I know he has me in the palm of his hand, and not because he is in the process of crushing me.

Still, some days that, “I will praise you more and more” part is a real act of will, you know what I mean?

Yeah, I’m thinking you do.

So, today I will exercise my flabby will.  I will choose to rejoice in him.  I will choose to remember the many ways he has shown his faithfulness in the past.  I will choose to trust him today.  I will lift tired hands and heavy heart and praise him, because he is worth it.

Because…he is worth it.

Care to join me, Beloved?

One-a-Day Friday, 9/12/14

Posted on by September 12, 2014
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number 1For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my youth (Psalm 71:5).

Think about it.

It doesn’t say, “You have given me hope.”

Or “You give me reason to hope.”

It says, “You have been my hope.”

God himself is our hope.  He is our confidence.

I gotta tell you…I’m not even sure what that means, but this passage seems to be not about what God does, but about who he is.

I’ve been walking, stumbling, slipping, and striding with Christ for twenty-seven years now.  I can’t count the number of times he has been hope and confidence and joy and strength and peace for me, when there was no earthly reason I should have any of those things.

I can’t count the number of times…but it’s fun to try.

As you head into your weekend, consider the times that God has supported you, not just with his gifts, but by his very nature.  And praise him, not just for what he does, but for who he is.

Happy Friday, Beloved.