Bless the Lord!

Bless the Lord, O my soul! Bless His Holy Name!

"Let him who walks in darkness and has no light

trust in the name of the Lord and rely on his God.

Behold, all you who kindle a fire, who equip yourselves with burning torches!

Walk by the light of your fire; 

and by the torches that you have kindled!

This you have from my hand:

you shall lie down in torment."

Isaiah 50:10-11

This morning was the first cloudy morning in quite some time in Seattle.  It was also warm.  Today I had the privilege of sitting on my porch reading God's word, talking to Him in prayer, and watching the sun come up.  It was wonderful!

Today my heart is at peace and full of joy.  I am often asked what it is like to know God and to "feel" His presence.  Our faith is often hard to express and explain.  We worship a God who is everywhere, but who can't always be seen or felt.  Yet, there are times and place when we are walking in faith when He is so close and real that it is scary.

How do you explain this to someone who is not walking in faith?  I think it is impossible.  All we can do is testify that the Lord is good and He is worthy of our trust.

Today, I testify that the Lord was so kind and gracious to me.  He reaffirmed my birthright as His child.  He reaffirmed His unfailing love.  He will provide and I have followed His leading.  I trust Him because He is worthy of trust.

Today I testify that the Lord honors those who honor Him.  Seek to honor Him in all things!

You can hold to this promise.  It might not feel like it at the time, but it is true.  Often it seems like death to not trust in yourself (particularly if you are like me and you are someone who loves to trust in himself!).  No matter what, seek to honor God.  Follow His leading and His Word.  He will bring about His justice and His truth.

Bless the Lord, O my soul!  Bless His holy name!

Prayer and Joy

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Ps. 16:11

Many years ago, while I was in seminary, I had a friend who shared my passion for seeing the lost come to know Jesus.  We were talking about what we did when someone embraces Jesus by faith.  I shared that I would get them immediately into a bible study and a discipleship group.  In the tradition of fundamentalism in which I had started my Christian journey, knowing scripture and being in an accountability and growth relationship was key.

My friend shared that while he thought that was interesting, but he did not do this.  Instead, he taught them how to pray because he figured if they learned how to pray, they would learn how to walk with God.

For years I have thought about this conversation and its implications.  I do not believe there is anything wrong with bible study and discipleship groups.  In fact, I still encourage them!  Yet, I think my method of encouraging a new believer to grow was a bit short-sighted.  

Why?  I had a mistaken belief that if I changed a person's mind, it would transform them.  Experience has taught me that this is not always true.  In fact, transformation through changing one's mind often does not bring about lasting and deep change.

You see, there is a vast and categorically different experience between knowing about God and knowing God.  

Knowing about God can bring a sort of intellectual satisfaction.  Yet, unless it leads to knowing God it does not lead to the fullness of joy found in the path of life.  Knowing about God apart from experiencing the presence of God through fellowship with Him will grow stale.  It leaves us with the knowledge that we should know better, but it does not have the power to change our heart that actually directs our whole being.  In other words, the heart will not serve the mind, but it must be transformed by the grace of God.

On the other hand, knowing God leads to fullness of life now and eternal life forevermore.  Knowing God transforms the heart.  In so doing, it will activate the mind and demands that the mind come to know more about the God whose presence brings fullness of joy.  Thus, the mind serves the transformed heart.

In light of this, the first question we must ask is do you know God?  Have you tasted the sweetness that is Jesus?  If you have, nourish this relationship by learning how to pray.  If you have not, pray and ask for God to lead you to the path of life.  This path is marked by a faith relationship with Jesus.  Such a relationship begins with prayer and it is nourished by prayer.

Prayer is not merely just us sharing with God our needs.  While this is part of prayer, prayer is much more.  It is also learning how to listen to Him.  The surest means of listen to God is through His Word.  Pray with the Bible open.  Pray through what you read and ask how the Living God wants to apply His Word to you.

Most importantly, pray!  Do not neglect this gift of fellowship with the Living Lord.  Learn how to pray often.  For God's presence is found as we meet with Him in prayer.

Have you known Jesus for years?  Do you find that your relationship has grown a bit stale?

I know at times in life, I found myself in exactly this situation.  Please go back to the basics: pray, and learn how to listen to God in prayer.  Seek after God until His presence is known, for in His presence there is fullness of joy!

How do you know when you have found Him?  Joy, pleasure, contentment, peace, love, and grace.  You will not just know the definition of these words, but you will taste and know them in your heart.  Such grace will transform your mind, your actions, and your life!

May this week be marked by the incredible life-changing grace of God in our experience.  Seek His face and find the fullness of joy in his presence!

Praying through the Path of Life

You make known to me the path of life;

in your presence there is fullness of joy;

at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.

Ps. 16:11

Many years ago, while I was in seminary, I had a friend who shared my passion for seeing the lost come to know Jesus.  We were talking about what we did when someone embraces Jesus by faith.  I shared that I would get them immediately into a bible study and a discipleship group.  In the tradition of fundamentalism in which I had started my Christian journey, knowing scripture and being in an accountability and growth relationship was key.

My friend shared that while he thought that was interesting, but he did not do this.  Instead, he taught them how to pray because he figured if they learned how to pray, they would learn how to walk with God.

For years I have thought about this conversation and its implications.  I do not believe there is anything wrong with bible study and discipleship groups.  In fact, I still encourage them!  Yet, I think my method of encouraging a new believer to grow was a bit short-sighted.  

Why?  I had a mistaken belief that if I changed a person's mind, it would transform them.  Experience has taught me that this is not always true.  In fact, transformation through changing one's mind often does not bring about lasting and deep change.

You see, there is a vast and categorically different experience between knowing about God and knowing God.  

Knowing about God can bring a sort of intellectual satisfaction.  Yet, unless it leads to knowing God it does not lead to the fullness of joy found in the path of life.  Knowing about God apart from experiencing the presence of God through fellowship with Him will grow stale.  It leaves us with the knowledge that we should know better, but it does not have the power to change our heart that actually directs our whole being.  In other words, the heart will not serve the mind, but it must be transformed by the grace of God.

On the other hand, knowing God leads to fullness of life now and eternal life forevermore.  Knowing God transforms the heart.  In so doing, it will activate the mind and demands that the mind come to know more about the God whose presence brings fullness of joy.  Thus, the mind serves the transformed heart.

In light of this, the first question we must ask is do you know God?  Have you tasted the sweetness that is Jesus?  If you have, nourish this relationship by learning how to pray.  If you have not, pray and ask for God to lead you to the path of life.  This path is marked by a faith relationship with Jesus.  Such a relationship begins with prayer and it is nourished by prayer.

Prayer is not merely just us sharing with God our needs.  While this is part of prayer, prayer is much more.  It is also learning how to listen to Him.  The surest means of listen to God is through His Word.  Pray with the Bible open.  Pray through what you read and ask how the Living God wants to apply His Word to you.  Most importantly, pray!  Do not neglect this gift of fellowship with the Living Lord.  Learn how to pray often.  For God's presence is found as we meet with Him in prayer.

Have you known Jesus for years?  Do you find that your relationship has grown a bit stale?  I know at times in life, I found myself in exactly this situation.  Please go back to the basics: pray, and learn how to listen to God in prayer.  Seek after God until His presence is known, for in His presence there is fullness of joy!

How do you know when you have found Him?  Joy, pleasure, contentment, peace, love, and grace.  You will not just know the definition of these words, but you will taste and know them in your heart.  Such grace will transform your mind, your actions, and your life!

May this week be marked by the incredible life-changing grace of God in our experience.  Seek His face and find the fullness of joy in his presence!

Being Specific about Thanksgiving

"Be joyful always; pray continually; give thanks in all circumstances,

for this is God's will for you in Christ Jesus."

1 Thessalonians 5: 16-18

From the sound of cars on the roadway, I would say that the Thanksgiving holiday has begun.  People are leaving work, heading off to visit relatives, preparing for a Thanksgiving meal of some sort, or just using the holiday as an excuse to cut off work a bit early!  I am so thankful I work 3/4 of a mile from home, so I do not have to travel anywhere on major roads.

This morning and last night I took some time to thank folks through notes and e-mail.  I was struck by how odd it felt.  Particularly the first couple of notes felt decidedly odd.  Why?  Because I do not tell people how much I appreciate them near enough!  Even if I feel thankful, I often do not express it.

I have to say to my friends, colleagues, parishioners, and especially my family, I apologize for not being more forthcoming with praise and thankfulness.  It is so much easier to be self-consumed than to be other focused.  Please forgive me!

At First CRC of Seattle, we are praying for and laboring to create a culture where people are appreciated and affirmed.  Why are such marks often lacking in the church?  If any place should take care of its volunteers and staff, it is the church.

I encourage you this holiday season to let people know how much you appreciate them as well as what specifically makes you thankful about each person.  Be specific.  Be truthful.

I encourage you to do the same with our Living God.  Let Him know about what you are thankful.  Be specific.  Be truthful.

My guess is that being thankful does not come naturally for most of us.  We have a general feeling of thankfulness, but we lack the focus to make it specific.  May this Thanksgiving and this holiday season be about making it specific!

For all my readers in the United States, have a wonderful Thanksgiving.  For the many readers around the world, thanksgiving is not only a holiday, but also a frame of mind.  May we be marked by specific and truthful thankfulness!

Christ's Love in Joy and Sorrow

When the transcendent God becomes immanent, when the far-off God comes near, our lives are changed forever.  Into our lives comes a new lightness and joy, as expressed in the "Ho! ho! ho!" of this prayer.  The gravitas has disappeared and there is a levity that is quite uplifting.  It reminds me of the saying, "Angels fly because they do not take themselves too seriously."  When we personally meet God on the road, or when we take off our shoes, or our hat, because we are on holy ground, that place should become for us a lifting place.  As we are believers in the resurrection, our encounters with God should be life-enhancing and enriching.  We need to take to heart the words of Jesus when he said, "I came that they may have life, and have it abundantly" (John 10:10).  We who believe this must truly want to pass it on to our loved ones and friends, for we cannot keep such good news to ourselves.

David Adam, The Road of Life, 57.

This morning the Lord awoke me early.  I enjoyed some time in prayer and fellowship with Him as I tried to decide if I could get back to sleep.  After an hour, I found I could not sleep any more, so I wandered out of bed into the half-lit house.  After making my morning coffee, I sat down to read the Word of God and to pray some more.  I was completely blessed and overwhelmed by the sight of the sun coming up through the clouds over the Cascades.  I was reminded of the passage "But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, which shines brighter and brighter until full day." Pro. 4: 18

This morning I feel such a lightness of spirit.  I find that the touch of the Lord brings such lightness and joy.  David Adam is right.  Yet, why do we so often lose these feelings of joy?  Why do we often need the Lord to lead us to a "lifting place" because we are beaten down?

My father's side of the family comes from deep Appalachia.  They were very simple folks from the hills and hollers of West Virginia.  As basic sustenance farmers and workers, my Grandparents, Aunts, and Uncles understood the hardships of life.  They had experienced and witnessed children dying.  They had known true economic hardship and despair.  They had very little economic or social blessing.  As I knew the older ones as a child, they also were experiencing the pain of broken bodies.

When you would talk with these folks, they would share their burdens and heartaches.  It would be hard to listen to all of their ailments and difficulties as they would catch us up on what was going on in their lives.  Then they would affirm that, "Well, the Lord has been good to me."

On the one hand, you would think their "complaining" ruined their testimony.  Yet, if you knew them better, you would know they really meant it when they affirmed "The Lord has been good to me."  I have lived in many places in the world and seen many different types of people.  Yet, these simple folks taught me much about life.  They knew hardship, but they also found joy in the presence of the Lord.  

In worship they would cry and be undone before the Living God.  In prayer they were serious and authentic.  With people they would emphasize with another's pain and rejoice greatly with another's smallest triumph.  Somehow they had learned two facts.  First, life is extremely hard in our fallen world.  Second, God is our only cure and joy is found in His presence.

I must confess that this post is going in different directions than when I started to write!  Yet, I marvel at what can be learned from these simple people.  

How much time, energy, and joy do we spend trying to make life less hard and difficult?  We do everything we can to numb our pain.  I wonder if in the process we also work hard to diminish our need to find our rest in the Living God? 

In other words, we become so earthly and now focused that we forget or perhaps we never knew that joy is found in the Lord.

Jesus came that we may have life and have it abundantly.  This does not mean a life without difficulty!  It does mean that in the difficulty, we can find and know Christ's presence and love.  He is the healer of our souls!  Do you need healing and joy today?  Repent of your unbelief and believe that Jesus can touch you with His love.  

May the Lord draw us close this day.