A Life Worthy

Tag: a life worth living

  • One-a-Day Tuesday, 11/25/14

    number 1…give thanks in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus (1 Thessalonians 5:18).

    Over the past several months, I have replaced both cars (going from no car payments to two car payments), the stove, and the dishwasher.  I have had major work difficulties and have been the victim of a threatened lawsuit and minor religious persecution.  My daughter just went through an agonizing bout of oral surgery, and I spent the vast bulk of my yesterday at the urgent care with my son.

    Seriously?  I should give thanks in all that?

    Over the past several months, I have seen both of my ancient cars fall apart, in traffic, without anyone getting hurt.  I have received a pay raise to cover (barely) the cost of car payments.  God has used work difficulties, potential lawsuits, and mild persecution to take my wisdom up a much-needed notch and give me a platform for sharing Him with coworkers.  My daughter has turned the corner on her pain.  My son and I got to spend the vast bulk of our yesterday people watching, before he overcame his fear of needles and learned that his heart is strong and his pancreas fully functional.

    Seriously.  I should give thanks in all that.

    Sometimes it’s a matter of perspective, Beloved.

    Remind me of that the next time you need to talk me in from the ledge, will you?

  • One-a-Day Monday, 11/24/14

    number 1Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good.  His love endures forever (Psalm 136:1).

    He doesn’t have to be.

    Good, I mean.

    Well, sure, I know that goodness and love are at the very root of God’s character, so you could argue, “Of course he has to be good.  It’s his nature.”

    But what if it weren’t?

    What if God were all-powerful, but not all-loving?  What if he were great without being good?

    A cruel, angry, malicious god would still be God—still deserving of our obedience, our service.

    But our love?  How could I love him if he weren’t good?

    How could I love him if he didn’t love me first?

    Let’s be thankful that we will never need to find out.

    Give thanks to the Lord, Beloved.  For he is good.

  • One-a-Day Friday, 11/21/14

    number 1The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders; the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

    The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic…

    The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars…

    The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning…

    And all in his temple cry, “Glory!” (Psalm 29:3-9)

    It’s 3:45 a.m. where I live, and I was just awakened by a rainstorm.

    The lightning is flashing.

    The thunder is booming.

    The wind is howling.

    The dog is trembling.

    The backyard is flooding.

    And my heart is crying, “Glory!”

    Glory! to the One who created it all.

    Glory! to the One who has power beyond imagining.

    Glory! to the One who brings life and death, creation and destruction, by the merest thought.

    Glory! to the One who commands the cosmos

    and yet stoops to notice

    and love

    my shriveled little heart

    and call me

    Beloved.

    Happy Friday, Beloved.  Take today by storm.

  • One-a-Day Thursday, 11/20/14

    number 1Search me, O God, and know my heart; test me, and know my anxious thoughts.  See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting. (Psalm 139:23-24)  

    This psalm ends with a request.  Like I said last week, this is a powerful way to check the state of your relationship with Christ.  If the thought of God searching your heart frightens you, you’ve got to ask, why?  Two things to notice here:

    1. The psalmist asks God in.  God is a gentleman when it comes to our hearts; he won’t barge in where he’s not invited.
    2. The psalm began with the line, “O Lord, you have searched me…”  So this is not a one-time event.  It is a recurring, ongoing process.
    3. The psalmist asks for four things: search me, test me, examine me, and lead me.  We present ourselves before God so that he can show us what is getting in the way of our relationship.  Essentially, we’re trying to clear out the junk so that God can bring us closer to him.

    Are you in a place where you can ask this of God?  Can you afford not to?

    Be courageous, Beloved.  Ask him in.

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 11/19/14

    number 1If only you would slay the wicked, O God!  Away from me, you bloodthirsty men!  They speak of you with evil intent; your adversaries misuse your name.  Do I not hate those who hate you, O Lord, and abhor those who rise up against you?  I have nothing but hatred for them; I count them my enemies.  (Psalm 139:19-22)

    Wow.  Right in the middle of this psalm celebrating the wonder of God’s love and care for me, I get a call to holy war.  What’s that about?  If you do a little study on this verse, you find that it echoes the ancient Near East covenant language between King and Vassal.  The vassal swears that any enemy of the king will be his enemy.

    Are you impressed with my scholarliosity?  I love those study bible footnotes.

    But God is a God of love, right?  Aren’t we supposed to love everyone?

    Show me where it says that in the Bible.

    Well, Jesus said, “Love your enemies, and pray for those who persecute you.”

    Oh yeah, he did…huh.

    I’ll admit—this is a toughie.  I’ll be happy to hear from any of you who have thoughts about this passage.  It seems to me that, in light of the gospel, we should be pretty careful about hating people.  There is plenty for us to hate—the ways of the world, the devil and his schemes, our own flesh—plenty that rises up against God.  People seem pretty far down the list.

    I think this passage is a call to total allegiance.  You have a God who knows every thought you have ever entertained and loves you anyway.  He surrounds you, literally, with his love and protection.  Pledge your fealty to him again.  Go forth into your Wednesday as the sworn enemy of all that stands against him.

    Serve the king who loves you, Beloved.

  • One-a-Day Tuesday, 11/18/14

    number 1How precious to me are your thoughts, God!  How vast the sum of them!  Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand.  When I awake, I am still with you.  (Psalm 139:17-18).

    Can you imagine what goes on in the mind of God?

    No, I don’t suppose you can.  Me neither.

    It’s like the worm I dig up in the yard knowing my thoughts.

    No…it’s more like the microbial parasite living in the worm that I dig up in the yard knowing my thoughts.

    No…it’s more like the subatomic particles that make up the microbial parasite living in the worm that I dig up in the yard knowing my thoughts.

    Which probably doesn’t happen.

    And yet, God wants us to know at least a portion of his thoughts.  That’s why he gave us his Word.  You can fall asleep with his thoughts in your mind and awake with his thoughts in your heart.  You can move through this day meditating on his Word, and making his thoughts your thoughts.

    Because he wants you to know him.

    Because you are his Beloved.

    Which is just another of many reasons it is better to be you than a worm.

  • One-a-Day Monday, 11/17/13

    number 1All 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, Monday morning is not the time to get into a discussion that heavy.  Let me just say—it’s both.

    No, really.

    God created all things, ya? Therefore, he created time.  He is not bound by time, the way we 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 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 mess you might be on this particular Monday morning.

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

    Chew on that today, Beloved.

  • One-a-Day Friday, 11/14/14

    number 1For 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 being 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.

  • One-a-Day Thursday, 11/13/14

    number 1If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; night will shine like day, for darkness is as light to you. (Psalm 139:11-12)

    Look, I hate to be redundant, but are you seeing the pattern here?

  • One-a-Day Wednesday, 11/12/14

    number 1Where 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 that 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?