A Life Worthy

To you, O Lord, I lift up my soul; in you I trust, O my God. Do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me.  No one whose hope is in you will ever be put to shame…(Psalm 25:1-3a).

Shame

Not embarrassment…not awkward self-consciousness, but full-blown shame.

Look, I’ve been embarrassed a time or two

or twelve.  

I’ve blown my lines in front of a large audience, I’ve driven my car over a curb amid a symphony of honks and jeers.  I’ve dropped the fly ball that should have been an easy out.

Hey, I once walked into a tether-ball pole in full view of the entire playground.  

I know embarrassment.

But shame, the way David is talking about it here–shame is different.  Shame strikes to the very core of your being. Shame isn’t about what you did.

It’s about who you are.

So…who are you?

If you are a child of God, you cannot be put to shame, because the very core of your being is Christ.

Because you are his Beloved.

So whether your enemy is some guy named Ted, or some disease named Cancer, or some life-wrecker named Self, you will not be put to shame, because your hope is in Him.

But, I gotta tell you, if you walk into a tetherball pole you’ll still feel like an idiot.

Happy Tuesday, Beloved.

All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be (Psalm 139:16).

Predestination…or free will?

Look, first thing on a Wednesday is not the time to get into a discussion that heavy.  Let me just say—it’s both.

No, really.

OK, here we go.  God created all things, ya? Therefore, he created time.  He is not bound by time, the way you and I are. God exists at all moments in history simultaneously.  Simply put, all time—past, present, and future—is now to God.

This brings up all sorts of cool thoughts, but let’s just focus on one: You know the moment you ache for, that moment when Christ returns and you get a glorified body and there will be no more night or pain or sorrow or sin or tears?  That blessed someday?

Well, Beloved, it isn’t someday to God.

It’s Today.  It’s Right Now.

When God looks at you, he sees you as you are today—pimples, gray hairs, and all.  (And, by the way, how is it that I can have both pimples and gray hair going on at the same time?)

But God also sees you as you will be—glorified, complete, utterly and thoroughly his.  That is as real and immediate to him as the blotchy mess you might be on this particular Wednesday morning.

There is only One who can actually see the finished product, and he says it’s perfect.

Chew on that today, Beloved.

Happy Wednesday.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb.  I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; all your works are wonderful, I know that full well.  (Psalm 139:13-14)

You were made by God, my friend.  Do you know that? Seriously…are you really realizing that the Lord of the entire universe, he who put the stars in their places, he who designed the atom, he who called it all into being just by the force of his will—he knit you together?  Every fiber of your youness was specifically designed by him. You didn’t come off an assembly line; you didn’t rise from the muck. You are no accident. You were custom made by God.

You are his work; you are wonderful.

You are Beloved.

Know that full well.

Happy Monday

Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?  If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.  If I rise up on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me; your right hand will hold me fast  (Psalm 139:7-10).

There is simply no place where God is not.  I love this image. Overwhelmed by God’s presence, I try to flee from him—but there is nowhere to go. Wherever I run, he is already there, waiting to guide and protect me.

Question for today: Where, and why, do you try to hide from God?

Happy Thursday, Beloved.