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Even If

One of my favorite songs right now is “Even If” from Mercy Me.

http://www.bing.com/videos/search?q=mercy+me&view=detail&mid=A96B04EC03620A378E8EA96B04EC03620A378E8E&FORM=VIRE

Today’s Bible verse reminds me of the point in the song — even if God doesn’t take away the hurt and the pain, even if He doesn’t swoop in and fix whatever it is we think needs fixing, our faith, our hope is in God:

For though the fig tree does not blossom, and no fruit appears on the vine, though the yield of the olive fails and the terraces produce no nourishment, Though the flocks disappear from the fold and there is no herd in the stalls, Yet I will rejoice in the LORD and exult in my saving God.

GOD, my Lord, is my strength; he makes my feet swift as those of deer and enables me to tread upon the heights.

Habakkuk 3:17-19

Even if things don’t go my way, I will rejoice in the Lord!  He is my savior.  He will save me when I need saving and how I need saving.  He is not a genie to grant me my every wish — He is so much more. God saves us from the wishes that don’t help us (and may hurt us).  His plan is much greater than ours — I can only imagine how screwed up things would be if my wishes or plans were always carried out!   A genie may satisfy our want for instant gratification, but God satisfies our need for eternal gratification.  The Lord is my strength, I just need to allow Him to be.

God,

Your mercy and love is great! Your wisdom is beyond my comprehension. I rejoice in you!  I am grateful for the gifts that you provide.  Allow me to be part of your plan.

 

 

 

 

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God’s plan, not my plan

I ask God for a lot of things.  Tonight I asked him to allow my son to get a hit in his baseball game.  He crushed the ball for a nice double.  The problem is that often what I want (or think I want) is not necessarily what God wants.  God reminded me of this when I opened the Bible today:

From that time on, Jesus began to show his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and suffer greatly from the elders, the chief priests, and the scribes, and be killed and on the third day be raised.  Then Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him, “God forbid, Lord! No such thing shall ever happen to you.”  He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”

Matthew 16:21-23

Jesus knew the plan for Him was going to be painful, and that most would run from it as fast as they could.  As humans, we often run from God’s plan because we think in the human world and what will benefit us now.  Jesus, knowing that His future will be hard and painful, rebukes Peter for suggesting that He not go through with the plan.  He calls Peter satan.  Satan tries to turn us from God’s plan, particularly when it may be hard.  Satan tempts us to take the easy route, which may not be the route God has planned.

Dear God,

Thy will be done!

 

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Sown dishonorable, Raised glorious!

Tonight the Bible takes me to Corinthians (actually,, I must confess it first opened to Revelations — but I cannot yet make heads or tails of it, so I let it open again).  In Corinthians, Paul talks about the resurrected body:

So also is the resurrection of the dead. It is sown corruptible; it is raised incorruptible.  It is sown dishonorable; it is raised glorious. It is sown weak; it is raised powerful.  It is sown a natural body; it is raised a spiritual body. If there is a natural body, there is also a spiritual one.

1 Corinthians 15:42-44

Paul goes on to state:

This I declare, brothers: flesh and blood cannot inherit the kingdom of God, nor does corruption inherit incorruption.  Behold, I tell you a mystery. We shall not all fall asleep, but we will all be changed, in an instant, in the blink of an eye, at the last trumpet. For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.  For that which is corruptible must clothe itself with incorruptibility, and that which is mortal must clothe itself with immortality.  And when this which is corruptible clothes itself with incorruptibility and this which is mortal clothes itself with immortality, then the word that is written shall come about:

“Death is 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 who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ. Therefore, my beloved brothers, be firm, steadfast, always fully devoted to the work of the Lord, knowing that in the Lord your labor is not in vain.

1 Corinthians 15:50-58

We cannot inherit the kingdom of God as flesh and blood.  We are corruptible, weak, dishonorable and mortal.  We will die corruptible, dishonorable, weak and mortal.  (who wants to live forever in this state?)  But God will raise us up so that we are incorruptible, glorious, powerful, spiritual and immortal.  Only He has power to change us.  What a glorious day that will be!  I can only imagine — actually I cannot even begin to imagine — a place with no corruption, no dishonor, no weakness, no death — no sin! I think about heaven as this beautiful meadow on a bright sunny day with a peaceful breeze blowing and everyone sipping lemonade on picnic blankets or walking in fields of flowers holding hands.  But it is not just a picnic afternoon — it is eternity without sin or weakness, pain or suffering, dishonor or corruption.  How glorious will it be!  How can we ever be worthy?

Obviously we cannot be, because in our current state we are all of those things, weak and corruptible.  But Paul tells us to be steadfast.   “For the trumpet will sound, the dead will be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”  God will change us — we do not have to be incorruptible now — He knows we will fail.  We just have to keep trying — be steadfast — be firm in our faith in God.

God,

I am corruptible, dishonorable, weak and mortal.  I know this.  You know this.  Help me to be steadfast!  I want to be changed by you!

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A good night kiss from God (Sweet Dreams)

I am ready for bed.  The alarm clock went off way too early this morning.  It has been a long Monday.  Time to open the Bible and then quickly go to bed.  But first God gave me this goodnight kiss and hug:

But now, thus says the LORD, who created you, Jacob, and formed you, Israel:

Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have called you by name: you are mine.  When you pass through waters, I will be with you; through rivers, you shall not be swept away.  When you walk through fire, you shall not be burned, nor will flames consume you.  For I, the LORD, am your God, the Holy One of Israel, your savior. I give Egypt as ransom for you, Ethiopia and Seba in exchange for you.  Because you are precious in my eyes and honored, and I love you, I give people in return for you and nations in exchange for your life.

Fear not, for I am with you; from the east I will bring back your offspring, from the west I will gather you. I will say to the north: Give them up! and to the south: Do not hold them! Bring back my sons from afar, and my daughters from the ends of the earth: All who are called by my name I created for my glory; I formed them, made them.

Isaiah 43:1-7

Thank you God!  I love you too!  Good night!

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I want it all!

Can I have it all on earth and in heaven?  This is the question that haunts me.  Today’s verse once again drove this home:

Now someone approached him and said, “Teacher, what good must I do to gain eternal life?”  He answered him, “Why do you ask me about the good? There is only One who is good.  If you wish to enter into life, keep the commandments.”  He asked him, “Which ones?” And Jesus replied, “ ‘You shall not kill; you shall not commit adultery; you shall not steal; you shall not bear false witness; honor your father and your mother’; and ‘you shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”  The young man said to him, “All of these I have observed. What do I still lack?”  Jesus said to him, “If you wish to be perfect, go, sell what you have and give to [the] poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me.” When the young man heard this statement, he went away sad, for he had many possessions.  Then Jesus said to his disciples, “Amen, I say to you, it will be hard for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of heaven.  Again I say to you, it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for one who is rich to enter the kingdom of God.”

Matthew 19:16-24

I almost wish the young man had not asked the question.  I feel like I do “ok” with the commandments…  most of the time.   Of course a lot harder is the one Jesus throws on – love your neighbor as yourself.  But I feel like I can at least feel like I do that…  some of the time.  But give away my possessions?  All of them?  I like my possessions.  They provide me with a sense of security.  I grew up without many, scrounged for one meal a day in college, worked 3 jobs at a time on occasion.  Give up everything?  Do I trust God enough?  Is that what Jesus is asking me to do — trust God not the material world?  Honestly, every time I hear this verse, my blood pressure rises, I begin to panic and I feel depressed.  I am not sure I ever read the very next lines, though — which give me hope:

When the disciples heard this, they were greatly astonished and said, “Who then can be saved?”  Jesus looked at them and said, “For human beings this is impossible, but for God all things are possible.”

Matthew 19:25-26

I cannot do it without God — if I think I can, I will only end up panicked and depressed — because I know I will fail.  I am not strong enough.  I am not good enough to be perfect.  I am not able on my own to achieve eternal life.  But with God it is possible.

So I will continue to strive to do all these things, including giving more.  And I will continue to ask God for forgiveness when I fail, for mercy when my time on earth ends, and that it be His will that I might have eternal life with Him.

God,

I love you.  I want to spend eternity with you.  Please forgive me for the times that I have failed to keep your commandments, failed to love my neighbor, and acted selfishly with my time and possessions, focusing on worldly wealth rather than heavenly wealth.  Help me to do better.  I beg you to grant me your grace and your mercy, so that I may one day be with you.  I know I am not worthy of this, but I trust in your love.

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O Lord, Give Me Rest

Today the Bible opened in two places.

First:

The pronouncement of mortal man: “I am weary, O God; I am weary, O God, and I am exhausted.

I am more brute than human being, without even human intelligence; Neither have I learned wisdom, nor have I the knowledge of the Holy One.

Proverbs 30:1-3

And then:

Therefore, let us be on our guard while the promise of entering into his rest remains, that none of you seem to have failed.  For in fact we have received the good news just as they did. But the word that they heard did not profit them, for they were not united in faith with those who listened.  For we who believed enter into [that] rest, just as he has said:

“As I swore in my wrath, ‘They shall not enter into my rest,’”

and yet his works were accomplished at the foundation of the world.  For he has spoken somewhere about the seventh day in this manner, “And God rested on the seventh day from all his works”; and again, in the previously mentioned place, “They shall not enter into my rest.” Therefore, since it remains that some will enter into it, and those who formerly received the good news did not enter because of disobedience, he once more set a day, “today,” when long afterwards he spoke through David, as already quoted:

“Oh, that today you would hear his voice: ‘Harden not your hearts.’”

Now if Joshua had given them rest, he would not have spoken afterwards of another day.  Therefore, a sabbath rest still remains for the people of God.  And whoever enters into God’s rest, rests from his own works as God did from his.  Therefore, let us strive to enter into that rest, so that no one may fall after the same example of disobedience. Indeed, the word of God is living and effective, sharper than any two-edged sword, penetrating even between soul and spirit, joints and marrow, and able to discern reflections and thoughts of the heart.  No creature is concealed from him, but everything is naked and exposed to the eyes of him to whom we must render an account.

Hebrews 4:1-13

I often feel like I need rest.  A few more hours of sleep.  A few hours to sit down and just breathe in and out, enjoying the day.  Just a little rest.  Just a few minutes.  I am weary.  I am exhausted.  Weary from the stress of life.  Exhausted from the fast pace of today’s electronic, mobile phone, everything at out fingertips, I-want-it-now life.  When I ask God for rest, I often think in terms of sleep.

Today, the Bible reminds me of the real rest that I am seeking.  God’s rest.  The peace and rest that comes from knowing God.  Proverbs talks about mortal man being weary — because he does not have wisdom, he does not know God.  Hebrews reminds us that we have been promised rest — through God.  It is not something we can achieve without Him.  True rest comes through faith in God, listening to His word and being obedient.  Without that faith the weight of the world can be overwhelming.

Lord,

Let me hear your voice.  Harden not my heart.  Help me to be open to your words and your plans.  I want to find rest in you.

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Pick me! Pick me!

We live in a world of competition.  We live in a world of rankings.  We live in a world of 24/7 “news” and gossip.  Why?  Why do we care who is first?  Who is “best”? Why do we put down and isolate those who may have failed in one way or another — so much so that we need 24/7 news coverage to make sure we are aware?

Thank goodness there is no competition to get into heaven.  We don’t have to beat someone out.  We don’t have to be picked over someone else.  There is room for everyone.  Indeed, to the extent we try to compete (or push others out of the way), Jesus told us repeatedly that the first shall be last.  Today, the Bible opened here:

Peter turned and saw the disciple following whom Jesus loved, the one who had also reclined upon his chest during the supper and had said, “Master, who is the one who will betray you?”  When Peter saw him, he said to Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” Jesus said to him, “What if I want him to remain until I come?  What concern is it of yours? You follow me.”

John 21:20-22

“You follow me.”  That is all we need to do.  We do not need to put others down or for that matter worry about what God has planned for them.  We certainly do not need to try to step over them or around them.  Just like we tell our kids when they spend all of their time tattletaling: “you worry about yourself.”

What concern is it of ours?  Our reward in heaven is no less valuable if others are allowed in as well.  We are all sinners.  Is any sin really greater than another? They are all acts against God. At the end of the day, I (selfishly) want God to be merciful!  Isn’t it better if more get in?  Am I really so arrogant to believe that I am better than anyone else or if there were a cut, that I would make it.  Shouldn’t we all be trying to help and encourage good with everyone (rather than blaming and tearing down) so that we all get in?

Dear God,

Be merciful!  And help me to be forgiving and merciful to those around me.  Help me to remember that rankings on earth are meaningless to you.  Better that I help someone than to try to beat them out, or put them down or try to look better next to them.  Your love and your mercy are greater than anything we know or can fathom here on earth.  I yearn (but struggle) to be a small reflection of that.

 

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Hope in Heaven

Some messages stand the test of time:

When the time came for Mattathias to die, he said to his sons: “Arrogance and scorn have now grown strong; it is a time of disaster and violent wrath.  Therefore, my children, be zealous for the law and give your lives for the covenant of our ancestors.

“Remember the deeds that our ancestors did in their times, and you shall win great honor and an everlasting name. Was not Abraham found faithful in trial, and it was credited to him as righteousness?  Joseph, when in distress, kept the commandment, and he became master of Egypt.  Phinehas our ancestor, for his burning zeal, received the covenant of an everlasting priesthood.  Joshua, for executing his commission, became a judge in Israel.  Caleb, for bearing witness before the assembly, received an inheritance in the land. David, for his loyalty, received as a heritage a throne of eternal kingship. Elijah, for his burning zeal for the law, was taken up to heaven.  Hananiah, Azariah and Mishael, for their faith, were saved from the fire. Daniel, for his innocence, was delivered from the mouths of lions. And so, consider this from generation to generation, that none who hope in Heaven shall fail in strength.

Do not fear the words of sinners, for their glory ends in corruption and worms.  Today exalted, tomorrow not to be found, they have returned to dust, their schemes have perished. Children! be courageous and strong in keeping the law, for by it you shall be honored.

1 Maccabees 2:49-64

Thousands of years later, the same advice is pertinent to me and my son.  “Arrogance and scorn have now grown strong; it is a time of disaster and violent wrath.”   No one can argue that these are our times too.

There are so many pitfalls in life.  So many people and things pulling you in different directions, and often pulling away from God.  Promises of glory and happiness and immediate gratification.  “Today exalted” but “tomorrow not to be found.”

It is easy to give in.  So hard to be courageous and strong in keeping God’s law.  As I read about the faithfulness, zeal, innocence, obedience and loyalty of some of the “greats” from the Bible, my eyes keep going back to the same line:  “And so, consider this from generation to generation, that none who hope in Heaven shall fail in strength.”

So many of the Bible’s teachings are really so simple — it is we who make them complicated.

Dear  God,

My hope is in you and in your salvation.  I ask you to help me here on earth.  Please provide me with sufficient grace.  Please provide me with sufficient faith, zeal, innocence, obedience, and loyalty.  Grant me the courage that I may be steadfast despite all of the pulls and promises of today.  It is my tomorrow that I want to focus on.  My hope in heaven.

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Return to Me

How many times does God call out to us to return to Him?  It seems like a recurrent theme in the Bible.  It doesn’t matter what we do, why we turn away, or how many times we turn away.  God is always there patiently waiting and calling us back.

Today the Bible opened to Malachi:

Return to me, that I may return to you, says the LORD of hosts.  But you say, “Why should we return?”

(Oh wow — don’t we do that?  What’s in it for us, we ask)

Can anyone rob God?

I have reread this line several times, trying to understand what it is saying.  God seems above being robbed — how can we take anything away from the one who has everything.  But maybe that is just it.  We take Him for granted.  Because He is always there and we know we can screw up and still return to Him, I think we (or at least I) take Him for granted and don’t pay attention to the hurt that we cause when we turn away.  He has plenty of others who are much better than me, what does He care if I turn away.  As I reread this passage what I am struck with is, HE DOES CARE!  How amazing and important is that?!

But you are robbing me!  And you say, “How have we robbed you?”  Of tithes and contributions!  You are indeed accursed, for you, the whole nation, rob me.  Bring the whole tithe into the storehouse, That there may be food in my house.

Put me to the test, says the LORD of hosts, And see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure!

Malachi 3:7-10

Although this passage talks about tithes and contributions, it seems to be much more than that.  Trust me God says.  Let me show you.  Put me to the test — put your faith in me — let go of your worldly possessions, your money, your fears that you will be without — put your faith in me “And see if I do not open the floodgates of heaven for you, and pour down upon you blessing without measure!”

Dear God,

I am sorry for all of the times I have robbed you, robbed you of my heart, my trust, my faith and my tithe.  I do not want to turn away from you again.  Thank you for calling out to me again and again.

 

 

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Evicted! For the Cross

Tonight I watched two Catholic high schools play a baseball game.  And mid way through the game one of the boys from our team was ejected from the game.  Not for fighting.  Not for cursing at the umpire or even arguing with the umpire.  Not for taunting or excessive celebration.  Not for reckless or injurious play.  He was ejected for wearing a cross on a chain around his neck.  Now , yes there is a rule against wearing any jewelry and so yes, he was in violation.  And in some sports a necklace can be dangerous — but in baseball?  When both teams are from Catholic high schools?  It warmed my heart to see this 15 year old proudly wearing the cross.

Fittingly, tonight the Bible opened to Romans:

“The word is near you, in your mouth and in your heart” (that is, the word of faith that we preach), for, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.  For one believes with the heart and so is justified, and one confesses with the mouth and so is saved.  For the scripture says, “No one who believes in him will be put to shame.”  For there is no distinction between Jew and Greek; the same Lord is Lord of all, enriching all who call upon him.  For “everyone who calls on the name of the Lord will be saved.

Romans 10:8-13

“For, if you confess with your mouth that Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”  Tonight on the baseball field,  a high school teenager confessed that Jesus is Lord.

Lord,

Help me to spread your good news!  Help me to spread it not just on an anonymous internet page but in my every day life.  I know that you can save me.  I believe that you will raise me up.  I know that righteousness comes from faith and your grace.  Only you can save me.  You are my hope and my salvation.

Jesus is Lord!

Alleluia!