Grieving - With Hope

Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope. We believe that Jesus died and rose again and so we believe that God will bring with Jesus those who have fallen asleep in Him. According to the Lord's own word, we tell you that we who are still alive, who are left till the coming of the Lord, will certainly not precede those who have fallen asleep. For the Lord Himself will come down from heaven, with a loud command, with the voice of the archangel and with the trumpet call of God, and the dead in Christ will rise first. After that, we who are still alive and are left will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air. And so we will be with the Lord forever. Therefore, encourage each other with these words. – (1 Thessalonians 4.13-18)

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. – (Psalm 30.5, NLT)

It's been 19 months since my Dad went home to be with the Lord. He had fought his fight, spiritually and physically, and lost the battle with cancer, but won the spiritual war with Christ as his Savior and Victor. There’s not a day that passes that I don’t miss Dad – somedays his absence is an ache. I miss the frequent phone calls, talking about our faith journeys, politics, sports, hunting, fishing, birds and animals we’d seen. I miss the drives in the mountains, chatting while fishing, sitting in the woods or “road hunting” in his mobile tree stand, as he liked to call it. I miss our rituals at our camp in northwestern PA and the Father’s Day traditions. Dad was a great storyteller and he had many great ones to share – it was amazing how I kept hearing more stories I hadn’t heard before – I really miss that! I especially feel his absence as a confidant – he was always “there” to confide in about things I needed to talk out and hearing his honest and humble wise replies, drawing on his strength, experience, and unassuming counsel.

Now my family knew the day after New Year’s that it wasn’t going to be long. You see we had a family meeting with Dad’s medical team that morning and near the end of the meeting I asked a question none of us wanted to ask but everyone needed an answer for – how long or soon… how much time does he have? We already knew there wasn’t much, if anything, that could be done to turn back the advancing deadly cancer – but it got really real when the lead doctor, after asking Dad’s permission to answer, told us it was only a matter of weeks. It was the worst gut punch I’ve ever experienced.

In a few days Dad was moved to hospice care and was given medication to help make him comfortable as his last days ebbed away. It was winter outside and now it was winter inside – made more vivid with snow on the ground and frigid north central Pennsylvania air. There was one ray of light, however, that pierced the darkness and helped me endure the gloomy, gray skies and grim forecasts regarding my Dad – as he told us in his own words from his hospital bed, “I’m not afraid, I’m ready!” He said those words to my wife Kate and me in such a sure and steady manner. There was a, deep, settled quiet confidence. While his body was weakening his words were strengthening. His living faith was showing through his dying body and it instilled faith and hope in me.

There was a good amount of snow on the ground and a brisk chill in the air when we left the hospital that wintry January day. In just a few weeks I would get early morning calls that I had been dreading from two of my younger brothers that Dad had died in his sleep. Yes, it was a bleak winter season, but for those of us who have lived through some pretty long and tough winters, there is this one word that sustains us through it all. You know the word – SPRING.

You can make it through the winter because you know winter never lasts forever – there's going to be a spring! In fact, spring has never failed to come, no matter how brutal the winter may have been. With springtime – more light, more warmth, and new life bursting out of the long winter with buds, blossoms and blooms.

Now God comes to us with an interesting self-description through Paul’s letter to the Romans, chapter 15 and verse13, “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit.” He calls Himself "the God of hope." Because of Him, there will always be a spring. Because of Him we can make it through the darkest days of emotional and spiritual winter in our lives. I guess you could describe hopelessness this way: it will always be winter. But hope goes like this: every winter will be followed by a spring.

But let's say it's a winter season in your life right now – it's cold, it's dark, you're battling discouragement, despair, maybe even depression. Here's what the God of hope says He wants to do for you: "May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in Him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit."

Let's break this down. God wants to fill you with joy and peace when joy and peace are nowhere to be found in your circumstances. If you dwell on your burdens, on your fears, on your wounds, or how people are, you'll be filled with discouragement instead of joy and you'll be filled with stress instead of peace. But if you dwell on your all-powerful, always-loving “God of hope,” you can have a positive-ness and a peace that's humanly unexplainable. The problems are still there, but God's joy and God's peace are the wind beneath your wings that enables you to soar when otherwise you would be grounded. You get that joy and peace "as your trust in Him" – not in your feelings, not in what humans can do, not in what you can see, but in Him. It may be winter all around you, but it will be spring inside you! Here’s what God’s Word promises us when we trust Him, wait on Him and hope in Him… “But those who trust in the Eternal One will regain their strength. They will soar on wings as eagles. They will run—never winded, never weary. They will walk—never tired, never faint.” – (Isaiah 40.31, VOICE)

And it gets better. That joy and peace you download from your God of hope will enable "you to overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit." That's awesome! You will not only have enough hope to sustain you, you'll have enough to give away to others who are also going through a long winter. God wants you to be a hope receiver so you can become a hope dispenser! And as you encourage others, even as you're in your own winter season, your hope will grow as you give it to others. In the words of the Bible, "He who refreshes others will himself be refreshed" – (Proverbs 11.25).

This brings us to our key Scripture text found in 1 Thessalonians 4, beginning in verse 13, “Brothers, we do not want you to be ignorant about those who fall asleep, or to grieve like the rest of men, who have no hope.” Followers of Jesus Christ do not grieve as the world grieves. The world experiences sorrow without hope – sorrow and grief with no Spring, only a long, dark, endless winter. You see the Jesus-follower also has sorrow, but his sorrow is accompanied by hope. As Paul writes in the next verse, “We believe that Jesus died and rose again.” There is Spring after spring, Life after Death – hope!

Now in Jesus' day, a funeral was a time for an impassioned demonstration of grief. It was a sign of respect for the deceased to wail long and loud at a funeral. A person grieving the loss of a loved one had no power to change what had happened. There was probably no time in human experience where people felt more helpless, hopeless or vulnerable than at a funeral.

Jesus, too, wept at the funeral of a close friend, but His sorrow did not come from a lack of hope (John 11.35). Jesus knew that soon Lazarus would soon be alive again. He also knew that at His second coming, Lazarus and all of Jesus' followers would be resurrected from death to spend eternity with Him in heaven – never to face death ever again! Jesus wept because He saw the hopelessness felt by the people He loved. His friends had the Resurrection and the Life right in their midst, yet they were grieving! (John 11.25).

When Jesus conquered death, He forever changed the way His followers view death. As a follower of Christ, we still experience the sorrow of being separated (temporarily) from someone we love, but we have hope because we know that God can bring good out of any situation (Romans 8.28). We have hope because Jesus conquered the grave, taking away the fear of death and replacing it with the hope that accompanies victory and assurance of eternal life (Hebrews 2.14-15; John 17.3; 1 Corinthians 15.56-57). We have hope in the knowledge that nothing, not even death, can separate us from God's love (Romans 8.38-39). We have hope because Jesus will bring us to join Him in heaven, along with all His children (John 1.12-13) so that we might enjoy eternity in unhindered fellowship with Him (John 14.3). Winter is just a passing season – then comes spring!

Even though you may be a faithful follower of Jesus, you are not immune or exempt from life's sorrows. But you can temper your grief with the hope that Christ is risen – for He is your hope and your comfort. And, as Peter says, "Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have… For Christ died for sins once for all, the righteous for the unrighteous, to bring you to God. He was put to death in the body but made alive by the Spirit… Who has gone into heaven and is at God's right hand—with angels, authorities and powers in submission to Him."- (1 Peter 3.15, 18, 22) If you can be an island of hope in a sea of despair, people are going to want to know the reason. And the reason is Jesus. Which means you can use the winter you're going through now to help someone who's watching you go to heaven with you someday!

Spring inside you, even with the winter all around you - that's the hope God wants to give you and me – the hope He wants to give to us to share with others. You can be their breath of spring in the dark of their winter.

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of compassion and the God of all comfort, Who comforts us in all our troubles, so that we can comfort those in any trouble with the comfort we ourselves have received from God. For just as the sufferings of Christ flow over into our lives, so also through Christ our comfort overflows. If we are distressed, it is for your comfort and salvation; if we are comforted, it is for your comfort, which produces in you patient endurance of the same sufferings we suffer. And our hope for you is firm, because we know that just as you share in our sufferings, so also you share in our comfort. – (2 Corinthians 1.3-7)

Then I saw ‘a new heaven and a new earth,’ for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “‘Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and He will dwell with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, ‘I am making everything new!’ Then He said, ‘Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.’ – (Revelation 21.1-5)

Listen, I tell you a mystery: We will not all sleep, but we will all be changed — in a flash, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised imperishable, and we will be changed. For the perishable must clothe itself with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality. When the perishable has been clothed with the imperishable, and the mortal with immortality, then the saying that is written will come true: “Death has been swallowed up in victory.”

“Where, O death, is your victory? Where, O death, is your sting?”

The sting of death is sin, and the power of sin is the law. But thanks be to God! He gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. – (1 Corinthians 15.51-57)

And Jesus said, “I am the resurrection and the source of all life; those who believe in Me will live even in death. Everyone who lives and believes in Me will never truly die. Do you believe this?” – (John 11.25-26, VOICE)

Weeping may last through the night, but joy comes with the morning. – (Psalm 30.5, NLT)

See you in the coming Spring, Dad!

In a nutshell – in Him,

Web Shepherd

Becoming a Functional Atheist?

In the sixth month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of David. The virgin's name was Mary. The angel went to her and said, "Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you."

Mary was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting this might be. But the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, you have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a son, and you are to give Him the name Jesus. He will be great and will be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give Him the throne of His father David, and He will reign over the house of Jacob forever; His kingdom will never end."

"How will this be," Mary asked the angel, "since I am a virgin?"

The angel answered, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. So, the holy one to be born will be called the Son of God. Even Elizabeth your relative is going to have a child in her old age, and she who was said to be barren is in her sixth month. For nothing is impossible with God." – (Luke 1.26-37)

"Good morning, Mr. Phelps." If you were a fan of the classic TV series (or the more recent Tom Cruise movies), "Mission Impossible," you know those words always began a riveting and exciting adventure. Jim Phelps, the head of the Mission Impossible Force, would listen to a tape, which would start with the words, “your mission, should you choose to accept it…” Mr. Phelps would then listen to a brief outline of this assignment that seemed, well, impossible. Key word – “seemed.” The tape would then self-destruct and Jim Phelps would immediately begin building a team of specialists and concocting this elaborate, perfectly-timed plan to do what couldn't be done. And, yes, every time they did get the seemingly impossible mission accomplished.

That's the conclusion you reached after watching that show for a while. And for them, there was really no such thing as “Mission Impossible.” That's great fantasy stuff. It's a much greater reality when it comes to rescue missions undertaken by the One of whom the Bible says, "For with God, nothing shall be impossible" – (Luke 1.37)

That might be important for you to know right now – because there may be a person in your life that seems beyond His reach, a situation beyond your ability to manage, a struggle or maybe an addiction that’s been too great for you alone to overcome. Maybe you’re involuntarily unemployed and your financial situation seems increasingly impossible – the job prospects are bleaker than ever. Maybe you’ve just been given some really bad news about your health and what you will be dealing with is beyond the reach of modern medical cure and therefore seems just hopeless. Maybe there’s a relationship that just doesn’t seem possible anymore to deal with. Whatever seemingly “mission impossible” you are facing right now you need to know that with God – nothing is impossible… that with God – all things are possible!

The angel Gabriel told Mary that God was planning to do something humanly impossible. All human logic would agree that a virgin cannot possibly give birth to a child. It is simply impossible. Yes, that’s absolutely true, it is humanly impossible! And contrary to a frequently repeated saying, “God will not give you more than you can handle” (where is that in the Bible?!) – He does, in fact, give us more than we, within our own finite, human limitations, alone can handle. And, according to God’s own word – this is exactly what was to happen in the life of Mary and Joseph. That’s why Mary asks a perfectly natural question, “How can this be… since I am a virgin?” I believe Mary’s question was a realization of her own human limitations – not a reflection of a lack of faith in God’s supernatural ability. It probably just seemed crazy that a virgin could have a baby – it is still a crazy notion to many today. But when God speaks of doing the humanly impossible, it is no longer absurd. “For no word from God will ever fail” – (Luke 1.37, NIV 2010) When was the last time God did the impossible in your life? When was the last time God directed you about what He wanted to do and you were scared to death by its scope and magnitude?

You see, God still does the impossible! Too often we acknowledge our belief that God can do whatever He wants, but then we add a safety-escape clause: "But I’m pretty sure God will not do that with me!" In theory, we believe, but in practice, we become functional atheists, believing that maybe God can perform miracles but never expecting a miracle in our own lives. We say we believe – but our behavior often proves otherwise. Quite possibly, we may not even believe God does miracles anymore — that is something solely in the past — and we give some other natural explanation for what only could be God — something for which He should receive the honor, the glory, and the praise. So, has God changed? Is He still the Almighty, Omnipotent Creator?

God wanted to bring salvation to all of humanity. It was critical that Mary not only believed God could perform a miracle but that she also adjusted her life to the awesome miraculous work He planned to do through her. This illustrates the difference between a true follower of Jesus and a moral person – the Divine! The difference between the church and a social club is the reality of the miraculous. Some can imitate the morality of a Christian, but no one can reproduce the miraculous that is part of the new birth experience. Do you believe that nothing is impossible for God?

Now there's another thrilling aspect of how God works found in this first Christmas “Mission Impossible” for the young virgin and her husband to be. That Mary would travel from Nazareth to Bethlehem in her ninth month of pregnancy – probably a four or five day trip – is absolutely amazing. I've listened to people who have traveled the road from Nazareth to Bethlehem by car or bus, not as Joseph and Mary did. Whether they traveled on foot or rode on a donkey — from what I’ve heard it's a tortuous journey through hills and mountains, and it's about 90 long miles of rugged terrain. There's no way you're going to get a loving husband to go with his very pregnant wife on a trip like that on the eve of their baby's birth, right? Wrong!

You see, for 700 years the prophecies of God had promised that Immanuel (God with us) would be born of a virgin (Isaiah 7.14) and for almost 500 years, the prophecies also said that Messiah would be born in Bethlehem (Micah 5.2). Little problem: Joseph and Mary are living some 90 miles away in Nazareth. There's apparently no way you'll ever get Mary to Bethlehem when the Messiah in her womb is full-term. But the plan of God says born of a virgin and born in Bethlehem. What God does is absolutely amazing, and may prove to be a very special encouragement for you right now in your present circumstances.

We read in God’s word, "In those days Caesar Augustus issued a decree that a census should be taken of the entire Roman world ... and everyone went to his town to register. So Joseph also went up from the town of Nazareth in Galilee to Judea, to Bethlehem, the town of David, because he belonged to the house and line of David" – (Luke 2.1-4).

Now the man who appears to be making all this come together is the Roman Emperor, Caesar Augustus. History tells us that he murdered members of his own family, he actually was a mass murderer, and he instituted emperor worship. He was, in many ways, a monster. And here is Joseph caught up in the great whirlpool of history, appearing to be directed by an imperial decree. But that is an earthly perspective. The apostle Paul gives us the heavenly perspective when he writes, “But when the time arrived that was set by God the Father, God sent His Son, born among us of a woman…” – (Galatians 4.4, MSG). Note these Spirit directed words, “the time – set by God… God sent His Son.” It was God calling the shots – not any mere man!

You see it is Caesar Augustus who turns out to be the bit player in this divine drama, the footnote to history. He thinks he's flexing his muscle with this universal census, but this most powerful man on earth is only an unsuspecting instrument in the hands of sovereign, Almighty God — (“The Lord can control a king’s mind as He controls a river [The heart of a king is a canal-stream in the hand of the Lord]; He can ·direct [turn; incline] it as He pleases” – Proverbs 21.1, EXB). And God will get His destiny people to His destiny place to accomplish His destiny purpose, even if He has to move an entire empire to do it!

So, as the Christmas story is still maybe lingering in our hearts and minds, let’s not miss this very powerful statement — that God's missions are not impossible! No, they’re unstoppable – including His plans for you. Plans, as He says in Jeremiah 29.11, “to prosper you and not harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." As The Message puts it, “I know what I'm doing. I have it all planned out—plans to take care of you, not abandon you, plans to give you the future you hope for” – (Jeremiah 29.11, MSG). Plans for you that the apostle Paul declares, “There has never been the slightest doubt in my mind that the God who started this great work in you would keep at it and bring it to a flourishing finish on the very day Christ Jesus appears… The One Who chose you can be trusted, and He will do this” – (Philippians 1.6, MSG; 1 Thessalonians 5.24, CEV)

Now it may be that at this very moment there appears to be no way things can turn out right – it really does look to you as just completely, totally impossible! The money simply isn't there, your health just isn't there, the relationship looks impossible (or even being in a relationship seems impossible), the job frustrations are mounting, the mountain isn't moving and it’s getting bigger and bigger, and the answer isn't coming. It looks as if there's no way for things to work out, not enough time for an answer to come – it’s just impossible! Now, the moment of truth — do you really believe “nothing is impossible with God”?

You belong to the same God who, with the stroke of an evil man's pen, moved an empire to place His kids, Joseph and Mary, right where they were supposed to be, for God to do what He had promised hundreds of years earlier. So, yes, there was a difficult process, there was a humanly impossible mission, but God delivered them exactly where they were supposed to be to accomplish exactly what He planned at just the right time – “All this took place to fulfill what the Lord had said through the prophet: ‘The virgin will be with child and will give birth to a son, and they will call him Immanuel’—which means, ‘God with us’ ” – (Matthew 1.22-23, NIV) And God will get His plans for you accomplished if He has to move an empire to do it, or use even a godless instrument to do it.

Jesus was born in Bethlehem… of a virgin – the one a definite human impossibility, the other a human improbability at the very least! Don’t forget that getting Him there in the first place was an act of divine orchestration! So relax in the strong arms of the God of Bethlehem and trust the One who entered this world in the flesh through the womb of a young virgin. He will move whatever or whomever He has to move and do whatever He has to do in order to finish what He has started in your life!

Remember, whatever “seemingly” mission impossible you may be facing – “With men it is impossible, but not with God; for with God all things are possible.” – (Mark 10.27, NKJV)

So, your mission today, should you choose to accept it, is to trust an all-powerful God Who loves you with a steadfast, enduring, unfailing, perfect, everlasting love, demonstrated most dramatically in the sending of His Son into this world to die for your sins and mine. And then, quite possibly, no matter what is or isn’t going on right now in your life, with Him and by Him and for Him, you will have a peaceful, joyful, Happy New Year!

In a nutshell – in Him,

Web Shepherd 

Punching Holes in the Darkness

Nevertheless, that time of darkness and despair will not go on forever. The land of Zebulun and Naphtali will be humbled, but there will be a time in the future when Galilee of the Gentiles, which lies along the road that runs between the Jordan and the sea, will be filled with glory. The people who walk in darkness

will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine. — (Isaiah 9.1-2, NLT)

Treasure Island… Kidnapped… The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde… New Arabian Nights… Prince Otto ... A Child's Garden of Verses – those are just some of the literary classics written by Robert Louis Stevenson. Well he must have had a way with words from the time he was a little boy. Anne Graham Lotz, in her book, “Just Give Me Jesus,” tells of a night in his boyhood when his nanny just couldn't get him to bed. Young Robert just kept staring out the window, oblivious to her talking to him. Finally, she said, "Robert, what in the world are you looking at out there?" As she pulled back the curtain, she realized he was watching the lamplighter making his way down the street, lighting one street lamp after another. Young Robert Louis Stevenson saw something more. He said, "Look at that man! He's punching holes in the darkness!"

Now that is an awesome description of what light does – isn’t it?! Punching holes in the darkness – light has a way of doing that – no matter how small, how dim or how far away. A little light will pierce the darkness.

We like light – don’t we?! We need light to live. If we didn’t have light we would die. There is no life without light. Without the sun’s light – planet earth would not be able to support and sustain life – it would be a cold, dark, dead, barren ball.

Well, we need light physically – and we need light spiritually to live in eternal splendor. Otherwise we are walking in darkness – dying in darkness, really. Our key Scripture text is found in the Old Testament book of Isaiah, chapter nine, verse two, which says, “The people who walk in darkness will see a great light. For those who live in a land of deep darkness, a light will shine.” That’s a pretty apt description of Christ’s coming into this dark world! Through the sending of His Son – Jesus the Messiah – God punched a hole in this world’s spiritual darkness. This story, His story, blazes with light. The prophet Isaiah speaks of the coming Messiah when foretells, “And the glory of the LORD will be revealed, and all mankind together will see it. For the mouth of the LORD has spoken" – (Isaiah 40.5) Jesus brings into our world the light of the glory of God.

When we turn over to the New Testament, Luke records in his Gospel, chapter 2, verses 8-16, this story of glory and light punching holes in the darkness:

And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. But the angel said to them, "Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; He is Christ the Lord. This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger."

Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, "Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom His favor rests."

When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, "Let's go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about." So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, Who was lying in the manger.

John’s Gospel tells the Advent story this way:

In Him was life, and that life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not overcome it… The true light that gives light to every man was coming into the world… The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, Who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” – (John 1.4-5, 9, 14)

Talk about punching holes in the darkness! Here’s how the Amplified Bible renders John chapter 1, verse 5, “And the Light shines on in the darkness, for the darkness has never overpowered it [put it out or absorbed it or appropriated it, and is unreceptive to it].” The light isn’t just coming from Jesus – The Light is Jesus (read John 8.12; 9.5) and He came into this world, our world, your world, my world – to punch a hole in the darkness. And the light pierces the darkness and overcomes the darkness – every time, all the time! It’s always been that way from the very beginning (Genesis 1.1-3), because God says so.

Now, let’s take a moment to probe this world of darkness…

You know there are people that look great on the outside and even all religious, but they have problems on the inside. It could be true of a marriage, a church, an organization, a leader, or maybe even you.

The Word of God in Matthew 23.25-28 says:

“Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders—hypocrites! You are so careful to polish the outside of the cup, but the inside is foul with extortion and greed. Blind Pharisees! First cleanse the inside of the cup, and then the whole cup will be clean… Woe to you, Pharisees, and you religious leaders! You are like beautiful mausoleums—full of dead men’s bones, and of foulness and corruption. You try to look like saintly men, but underneath those pious robes of yours are hearts besmirched with every sort of hypocrisy and sin.” – (NLT)

We live in a world where external image and outward appearance are everything, don’t we?!. Why, we work on our fitness, our hair, and our wardrobe, making good comments, making good impressions, looking like we have it all together. I look at job resumes frequently and it is amazing how good we can make ourselves look on paper – and then when the interview comes around… well, it’s totally like another person.

Maybe there might be another you… maybe when you're alone and when you're thinking honestly, you can feel that emptiness and hollowness inside. You can't explain it or deny it. Beneath that image you work so hard to maintain and protect you know the darkness and sense the sin. You know the struggle. Like one young woman said, "There's a darkness inside me that scares me." Mickey Mantle said not long before his death, "I filled my emptiness with alcohol." What are you doing or using to fill the darkness in your life?

Jesus said in John 8.12, "I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will not walk in darkness." Jesus wants to be invited into that deep inner darkness and emptiness so He can fill it with the light of the glory of His Presence. He said later in Matthew 23, "How often I had longed to gather your children together, but you were not willing."

Jesus has been knocking on the door of your life. It's time to give the emptiness and the darkness to the One who knows all about you. He sees past the image and can forgive that sin. He can cleanse you from the sin and punch holes in that darkness and make you free from it.

Don’t let the darkness bring you to depression, but to the cow stall in Bethlehem where God entered this world of darkness as one of us and then on to the cross where He died knowing the sin inside of you and wanting to set you free. Jesus builds people from the inside out. Open the door of your heart and let The Light in. He will make you strong inside and you can finally have that hollow, dark place in your heart filled.

So, through the sending of His Son, Jesus the Messiah, God is punching a hole in this world’s spiritual darkness – and through us, God wants to continue punching holes in the darkness. God wants to enter your world and punch holes in your darkness so you, in turn, can punch holes in the darkness in the lives of those in the world around you.

Here’s what the apostle Paul writes in Ephesians 5.8-14:

For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light (for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness and truth) and find out what pleases the Lord. Have nothing to do with the fruitless deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. For it is shameful even to mention what the disobedient do in secret. But everything exposed by the light becomes visible, for it is light that makes everything visible. This is why it is said:
   

"Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you."

Did you catch that? “For you were once darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Live as children of light… and Christ will shine on you.”

And Christ will shine on you… and in you and through you.

And what an awesome description of the reason God has placed you where you are! You're not there to shake your head and bemoan how dark it is where you work or go to school or whatever your environment. You're there to punch holes in the darkness! So, how are you doing so far?

Just listen to what Jesus said in Matthew 5.14-16, to those who belong to Him, (He's including you in this) – “You are the light of the world." Think of your personal world and the people in your world. Jesus says you are their light. "A city on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp or put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its' stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before men, that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven."

Yeah, we live in a pretty dark world. But it is not a world without light – unless the follower of Jesus, in a situation, fails to punch holes in the darkness by living like Jesus would live there, treating people like Jesus would treat people, and handling situations and temptations as Jesus would handle them. So many of Jesus' followers don't realize who they are – His ambassadors… His personal representative in their personal world.

You punch another hole in the darkness every time you show up with joy instead of gloom on your face, with good things to say instead of griping, every time you stop for someone who's struggling, when you consciously put someone else ahead of you, when you insist on taking the high road when it's tempting to cut corners, every time you weep with someone who's weeping, rejoice with someone who's rejoicing, and reach out to someone who is acting very unlovable.

The folks around you, who are still walking in darkness, probably won't be all that impressed with your do’s and don'ts or all the religious meetings you go to. They need to see meaningful differences in you because Christ is shining in you.

But it isn't enough that they just see that you're different. They need to know why, or they'll never be able to get out of the darkness themselves. They need The Light – they need Jesus. And He put you in their life so they could find out what Jesus did for them by coming into this dark world of sin and dying for them on the cross; so they could find out from someone who's living proof that Jesus is alive and how they, too, can have a life-changing relationship with Him. Have you told them about your Jesus yet? Humanly speaking, you may very well be their best chance of heaven.

I want you to remember – every morning, before your Lord, agree with Him by telling yourself, "I am the light of my world." And then you go out there, showing a harsh and lonely and self-serving world that there's another way to be. Defy the darkness wherever you go. Allow the reality of the Christmas story to live in you all year round – punching holes in the darkness with the brilliant light of Jesus Christ! After all, that’s why He came, and that’s why you and I are still here!

“Hail, the heav’n-born Prince of Peace! Hail the Sun of Righteousness!

Light and life to all He brings, Ris’n with healing in His wings.

Mild He lays His glory by, Born that men no more may die,

Born to raise the sons of earth, Born to give them second birth.

Hark! The herald angels sing, Glory to the newborn king!”

"Arise, shine, for your light has come, and the glory of the LORD rises upon you. See, darkness covers the earth and thick darkness is over the peoples, but the LORD rises upon you and His glory appears over you” – (Isaiah 60.1-2)

For God, who said, “Let light shine out of darkness,” made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of God’s glory displayed in the face of Christ. – (2 Corinthians 4.6, NIV)

In a nutshell – a very Merry Christmas to you and a happy, healthy and prosperous New Year – in Him,

Web Shepherd

Seeing from Believing

So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen… For we live by believing and not by seeing. – (2 Corinthians 4.18a; 5.7, NLT)

In the blockbuster film, Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade, Harrison Ford plays Dr. “Indiana” Jones, a daring, adventurous archeologist who travels the world in search of historic treasures. In the third movie in the series, Indiana and his father (played by Sean Connery) are searching for the Holy Grail, the cup reputed to have been used by Christ at the Last Supper.

Indiana's father is shot just at the end of their quest. With his father quickly dying, Indiana's search for the Grail takes on new intensity and urgency, because legend has it that the cup is said to bring healing to those who drink from it. With his father groaning in the background, Indiana walks ahead, following an ancient book that gives clues to guide him through a maze of death-defying obstacles to the place where the Grail is hidden. Through the gauntlet Indy comes to the brink of a chasm deeper than the eye can see and there is no visible way for him to cross the chasm. Indiana is faced with the impossible. All he sees is the sheer cliff’s edge and the vast gulf beneath him. Then, as he studies his guidebook, his face relaxes in realization, and he exclaims, "It's a leap of faith."

With his father whispering, "You must believe, boy, you must believe," Indiana looks straight ahead, gathers his courage, and believing the book, slowly raises one foot into the empty air in front of him. With a thud, his foot lands on solid ground. We next see Indiana standing on a narrow rock bridge which appears in front of him and is deceptively carved to match the exact outline of the ravine beneath it. Overcome with relief, he quickly crosses the chasm, discovers and retrieves the Grail on the other side, and is ultimately able to save his father from certain death with a drink from the cup.

It may be that right now you are facing what seems like real life impossibilities – and it appears to you that there is no visible way to get through your circumstances. Maybe today, as you read this Footnotes, you’re at your own cliff’s edge and your problems seem so deep that you can’t see the bottom or so great there is no way to cross the chasm directly in front of you. Perhaps you’re surrounded by seemingly overwhelming odds… you may feel trapped, maybe even hopelessly doomed.  It could be that you’ve been trying really hard, doing the best you can but now you’re running out of resources, out of options, running out of ideas, and there is so much at stake but no bridge appearing to get you over your troubled waters.

Today, our heavenly Father is saying to you and me that there is a way over, a way through to safety… to security, to fullness of life. And He’s speaking to each one of us, “You must believe, boy, you must believe.” That’s in essence what God tells us in our key Scripture text, found in 2 Corinthians 4.18a and 5.7: “So we don’t look at the troubles we can see now; rather, we fix our gaze on things that cannot be seen… For we live by believing and not by seeing” – (NLT)

First, God’s Word says here to stop focusing on “the troubles we can see now.” Now our Lord isn’t saying to ignore your problems or pretend they don’t exist or just wish them away. However, dwelling on your troubles… obsessing and worrying about your problems is not the way to your Holy Grail. God says, “Instead, fix your gaze on the eternal… for we live by believing and not by seeing.” Because that’s the way through – He’s the way through! Jesus declares that, “With man this is impossible, but not with God; all things are possible with God… Everything is possible for one who believes… For what is impossible with man is possible with God... I can promise you this: If you had faith no larger than a mustard seed, you could tell this mountain to move from here to there. And it would. Everything would be possible for you.” – (Mark 10.27; 9.23; Luke 18.27; Matthew 17.20, NLT)

Second, God promises hope when we apply this Scripture – “we live by believing… not by seeing.” Did you catch that? “We live by believing.” “We live!” God’s promise to you and me is that there is life above and beyond our present circumstances, and that life is experienced “by believing.” Now what is it that we need to believe so that we are no longer “under the circumstances”? We simply need to believe God and what He says in His book, the Bible. This is how we get through our maze of obstacles… how we get over the great chasms we all will face in this world. This is how fullness of life is really experienced and how we can get through anything, no matter what, no matter how great the challenge or difficulty may seem. You see, God has infinite resources – God Himself is our infinite resource – and we tap into Him with all that He is and all that He has for us by believing Him. And by believing the One Who created 125 billion galaxies and counting, we begin seeing ourselves, our present circumstances, our past, our future, from His eternal perspective: “There’s far more here than meets the eye. The things we see now are here today, gone tomorrow. But the things we can’t see now will last forever” and “He shows for all time the tremendous generosity of the grace and kindness He has expressed towards us in Christ Jesus” – (2 Corinthians 4.18, MSG; Ephesians 2.7, JBP; read also 2 Corinthians 4.7-11; 4.16-5.7)

Now there’s one great chasm every one of us shares in common, and that’s the massive gulf created between us and a holy God because of our sin — “For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of [literally, lack] God’s glorious standard” – (Romans 3.23, NLT) But God makes a way even over that insurmountable canyon – all through believing His Son: “Yet God, with undeserved kindness, declares that we are righteous. He did this through Christ Jesus when He freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin. People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed His life, shedding His blood” – (Romans 3.24-25, NLT) Jesus said, “Do not let your hearts be troubled (distressed, agitated). You believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely on God; believe in and adhere to and trust in and rely also on Me… I am the Way and the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except by (through) Me… ” (John 14.1, 6, AMP)

Jesus is the Way through to the Father… He’s the Way through your circumstances… the only Way through to the things that last forever – things that maybe you cannot see right now with the natural eye. Again, there so much more than meets the eye, when we believe God (cf. 2 Kings 6.8-22; Hebrews 12.18-24). “Heal my heart and make it clean… Open up my eyes to the things unseen.”[*]

So many of us go through our days, make our choices, plan our schedule, set our agenda, plot our course, and we give it our very best – but there’s a problem. If we are walking through our daily life based on what looks best or what feels best, based on what we can see – we’re operating according to our own finite human senses. We can’t see the long-range consequences of the choice(s) we’re making today – right now. We don’t see things from an eternal view or perspective… we don’t see from God’s vantage point. But the Spirit of God can — and does! God sees the beginning from the end (Isaiah 46.9-10)

Often, we can't see what choice is best for us and would fit best into God's plans for us, but the Spirit does. We can't see where the resources will come from or the people, but the Holy Spirit can and does. Frequently, in the midst of our circumstances, we can’t see the right path forward, but the Holy Spirit knows. The Holy Spirit of God has come to dwell inside your personality to train you and teach you, guide you, direct you, lead you, prompt you, convict you, nudge, enable and empower you on to the right place at the right time in today's schedule. Jesus promised His followers, “And I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Comforter (Counselor, Helper, Intercessor, Advocate, Strengthener, and Standby), that He may remain with you forever — The Spirit of Truth, Whom the world cannot receive (welcome, take to its heart), because it does not see Him or know and recognize Him. But you know and recognize Him, for He lives with you [constantly] and will be in you.” – (John 14.16-17, AMP) So our job is to learn to follow the Spirit’s leadership and recognize His inner pushes and pulls, tugs and nudges, urgings and promptings, and to respond to Him by believing and obeying Him.

A friend of mine says, “Big God, little problems – little God, big problems.” The more you know God for Who He really is, the more you can believe and trust Him… and the greater your confidence will be in Him… and the deeper and stronger your faith in Him will grow. You will find yourself believing Him more and more, like the words from an old hymn, “I know the Lord will find a way for me!”

The first disciples had Jesus there and He said, "Follow me." And it was easy, because He was right there physically, and they could see Him. Well, you can do it today if you are a Jesus-follower because you have His Spirit inside saying, "Come this way." If you’re a believer, don't just pray in the morning and then go run off for the day with your pre-set course and then check back at bedtime. You need the security, the adventure of following the Spirit's leading all day long. After all, you can walk but you can't really see without believing and trusting the Word of God and the Spirit of God to shepherd you through anything and everything.

“I say this to you: Let the Holy Spirit lead you in each step. Then you will not please your sinful old selves… If the Holy Spirit is living in us, let us be led by Him in all things” – (Galatians 5.16, 25, NLV)

“Yes, even if I walk through the valley of the shadow of death, I will not be afraid of anything, because You are with me. You have a walking stick with which to guide and one with which to help. These comfort me” – (Psalm 23.4, NLV)

“The fundamental fact of existence is that this trust in God, this faith, is the firm foundation under everything that makes life worth living. It’s our handle on what we can’t see. The act of faith is what distinguished our ancestors, set them above the crowd. By faith, we see the world called into existence by God’s word, what we see created by what we don’t see” – (Hebrews 11.1-3, MSG)

In a nutshell – in Him,

Web Shepherd

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[*] From the song Hosanna, lyrics by Brooke Fraser.

Seeing in 4-D

“I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw." — (Proverbs 24.32)

When I was a kid someone came up with a new idea for entertainment — no, not offering dinosaur rides, or an afternoon at the Coliseum in Rome to watch the gladiator games. No - it was called 3-D movies! If you're old enough to remember this I hope you're enjoying your senior citizen discounts. You see you'd go to the theater and they'd hand you these glasses that looked like cereal box prize cardboard sunglasses and you'd settle in to enjoy the 3-D (three dimensional) picture show. But not for long - especially if it was at Disney World’s “Honey I Shrunk the Kids” 3-D show. You see, at one point in the show there were rats that would start running towards the screen and then right out of the screen, through the aisles and under your seats, practically into your face! And they had other special effects to enhance the terror – like air blowing against your legs, arms and face to make it seem like the rats were actually rushing close by. A lady sitting next to me at the show, a total stranger, was so scared that she dug her long, razor sharp fingernails deep into my arm and drew blood – which made the experience even more vivid for me (at first I thought it was one of the rats biting me!).

Of course, if you took those glasses off it was just a flat old screen again and a flat pack of rats – but everything on the screen was now out of focus and fuzzy. However, when you had those glasses on, you saw things that you otherwise would miss!

Now, sometimes people will ask me, "Where do you get the ideas for the analogies you use when you are teaching or writing?" Well, our key Scripture text for these Footnotes is part of the answer, Proverbs 24.32,   “I applied my heart to what I observed and learned a lesson from what I saw." Here old King Solomon, what a wise man he was, says, "I go out looking for lessons in the things I see. I apply my heart to the things that I see around me all day." You see, he has got his special lenses on to see the hand of God in everyday stuff. There's an old hymn you may remember, “I am His, and He is Mine" where the second verse says, "Heaven above is deeper blue, earth below a deeper green, there's a brightness in each hue, Christ-less eyes have never seen."[i]

If you know God as your Father, because you put your trust in Jesus as Savior, this is your “I am His, and He is Mine!” He's working all around you all the time, every day, and you can see Him, you can learn from Him, if you put your glasses on each new day — your 4-D (four dimension) glasses to see that God-dimension that is working all around us.

If you've been sort of moping around lately it's probably because you've lost the perspective that David said made each day joyful. Psalm 118.24, "This is the day that the Lord has made, let us rejoice and be glad in it." Now, who made this day what it is? You go, "Oh, my boss, man, my family made this day, my mate, my bills, my health, my 'to-do' list makes this day what it is." Sorry! You're stuck in the boredom of a three-dimensional world. This is the day that the Lord has made, so you do what I recently learned one married couple calls "going on a God-hunt every day” — looking for the Lord in the events of your day, the conversations of your day, the traffic jams, the delays, the surprises, the people, the chores.

Moses saw the Lord in a desert bush! Balaam heard God's voice through his donkey! Levi met Jesus in the middle of a work day in his office! That's where praise comes from, in the middle of the crummiest day. You're not looking at just your circumstances, you're looking for your Lord at work, in your phone call, in an accident that was avoided, in a word of encouragement, there's the Lord in that little child, there He is speaking through that powerful storm, in the geese going by overhead, through the tiger lilies growing wild along the road, through some unanticipated help in your life, through the presence of a friend. You find yourself thanking God often throughout the day, and you lose the complaining.

Too many times we have our God confined in our theology and our beliefs and our church buildings ― the religious compartment of our life. Too often we cannot see (perceive) God at work because the eyes of our hearts are closed to Him and we don’t even expect to see Him outside our little religious box we want to confine Him to in our minds.

The disciples came to Jesus and asked, “Why do you speak to the people in parables?”

He replied, “Because the knowledge of the secrets of the kingdom of heaven has been given to you, but not to them. Whoever has will be given more, and they will have an abundance. Whoever does not have, even what they have will be taken from them. This is why I speak to them in parables:

Though seeing, they do not see; though hearing, they do not hear or understand. In them is fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah:

‘You will be ever hearing but never understanding; you will be ever seeing but never perceiving. For this people’s heart has become calloused; they hardly hear with their ears, and they have closed their eyes. Otherwise they might see with their eyes, hear with their ears, understand with their hearts and turn, and I would heal them.’  But blessed are your eyes because they see, and your ears because they hear. For truly I tell you, many prophets and righteous people longed to see what you see but did not see it, and to hear what you hear but did not hear it.” ― (Matthew 13.10-17, NIV)

We miss out on so much because we have “God in a box.”[ii] Job said it this way ― “He performs wonders that cannot be fathomed, miracles that cannot be counted. When He passes me, I cannot see Him.” – (Job 9.10-11) But when you put on your 4-D glasses you start to walk with your God throughout your day, you see His fingerprints on things you never saw them on before, and God becomes real to you!

As the words of the song say so well, “Open the eyes of my heart, Lord, I want to see You… to see You high and lifted up, shining in the light of Your glory, pour out Your power and love, as we sing ‘Holy, holy, holy!’”[iii] God wants to show Himself to you in all kinds of real stuff in your day ― but just like I experienced, in that movie theater at Disney World, the view will look pretty flat and fuzzy unless you put your 4-D God-hunting glasses on. However, if you’re seeing in 4-D, the scenery of even the drabbest day comes to life because you can perceive that your awesome God is all over it – and through His Spirit you can begin to see what is really real!

“I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know Him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people, and His incomparably great power for us who believe.” – (Ephesians 1.17-19a)

In a nutshell – in Him,

Wes Shepherd 

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[i] Lyrics by George W. Ro­bin­son, 1876.

[ii] God in a Box, http://skitguys.com/videos/item/god-in-a-box.

[iii] Lyrics and music by Paul Baloche, 2000.