Zephaniah: An Unlikely Book (Part 1)

Since therefore the children share in flesh and blood, he himself likewise partook of the same things, that through death he might destroy the one who has the power of death, that is, the devil, and deliver all those who through fear of death were subject to lifelong slavery. For surely it is not angels that he helps, but he helps the offspring of Abraham. Therefore he had to be made like his brothers in every respect, so that he might become a merciful and faithful high priest in the service of God, to make propitiation for the sins of the people (Hebrews 2:14-17).

Nobody really thinks about Zephaniah. Sandwiched between Habakkuk and Haggai (two other Old Testament prophets with hard-to-pronounce names) Zephaniah seems like just another writer of gloom and doom, an old guy with a long white beard shaking his cane at people and hollering about the wrath of God. Like most writers of the Bible who make people uncomfortable, he probably doesn't get read very much.

But I think that, especially on Christmas, we should read a little closer. In this unlikely book, we find a story not of curse but of redemption.

Zephaniah only has three chapters, but even so, I could write on and on about each of them forever, so I'd best limit myself to a particular section, at least for this post. You can read the rest for yourself. (And maybe someday I will write a book. Finding Jesus in the OT just tickles me!) For the purposes of this post, we'll break down Zephaniah 1:7-18, which in my Bible is titled "The Day of the Lord is Near."

Be silent before the Lord God!
   For the day of the Lord is near;
the Lord has prepared a sacrifice
   and consecrated his guests.
And on the day of the Lord's sacrifice--
"I will punish the officials and the king's sons
   and all who array themselves in foreign attire" (v. 7-8).

This reminds me of the parable of the wedding feast in Matthew 22:14. The king (representing God) invites all his friends (religious people) to a wedding feast for his son (Jesus, who marries the church), but they refuse to come, mistreating and even killing the servants (prophets like Zephaniah) who have come to invite them. So the king destroys their city (their reputation for religious ritual), and instead, he invites anyone and everyone in the streets, including the homeless poor. He discovers one man who has gotten into the wedding feast without a garment. That guy gets thrown out. Basically, the story is a warning to those who consider themselves "religious," but who don't know Jesus and are not covered in the robe of righteousness that He bought for us on the cross.

These subtle few lines in Zephaniah set up the context for the following verses. I believe they indicate that the rest of the chapter is about the "sacrifice"--Jesus--whom God has prepared, which "consecrates His guests."

I don't often retype long passages of scripture (again, you're perfectly capable of reading it yourself), but I think it's important to go through verses 10-18 word-for-word so we can get a clear picture of "the day of the Lord." I'll insert scripture references rather than deconstructing each and every line in graduate school thesis fashion, just to spare you the pain of reliving your college English class. Those of you nerds like me (you know who you are) can go ballistic on it yourselves.

"On that day," declares the Lord,
   "a cry will be heard from the Fish Gate,
a wail from the Second Quarter,
   a loud crash from the hills [Matthew 27:51].
Wail, O inhabitants of the Mortar!
   For all the traders are no more,
   all who weigh out silver are cut off [John 2:16].
At that time I will search Jerusalem with lamps [Isaiah 9:2],
   and I will punish the men who are complacent,
   those who say in their hearts,
'The Lord will not do good, nor will he do ill.' [Revelation 3:15-16]
Their goods shall be plundered, 
   and their houses laid waste [Matthew 12:29].
Though they build houses, 
   they shall not inhabit them;
though they plant vineyards, 
   they shall not drink wine from them [Proverbs 10:30, Isaiah 65:22].

The great day of the Lord is near,
   near and hastening fast;
the sound of the day of the Lord is bitter;
   the mighty man cries aloud there [Mark 15:34 & 37].
A day of wrath is that day,
   a day of distress and anguish,
a day of ruin and devastation [Mark 15:38],
   a day of darkness and gloom,
a day of clouds and thick darkness [Mark 15:33],
   a day of trumpet blast and battle cry
against the fortified cities
   and against the lofty battlements.

I will bring distress on mankind,
   so that they shall walk like the blind [Matthew 23:24, John 9:39], 
   because they have sinned against the Lord;
their blood shall be poured out like dust [Matthew 26:28],
   and their flesh like dung.
Neither their silver nor their gold
   shall be able to deliver them 
   on the day of the wrath of the Lord [Matthew 27:3].
In the fire of his jealousy,
   all the earth shall be consumed [Song of Soloman 8:6];
for a full and sudden end
   he will make of the inhabitants of the earth [2 Corinthians 5:17].

As one of my favorite preachers, Joseph Prince, likes to say, "There are no insignificant details in the Bible." (And if you're really a nerd who loves scripture cross-references, you can check out his sermons.) I'm no Biblical scholar, and I am sure Zephaniah is layered with meaning and probably refers to multiple events. But if you check all my nerd references, you will see what I think about this passage: that it refers not to a complete destruction of sinners, but complete destruction of sin and deceit on the day of the crucifixion. It is not about doom and gloom and hopelessness, as the Jews would have read it. It is about Jesus' victory over death, His destruction of false pharisaical religious tradition, and His restoration of right relationship with us. In other words, I don't think this passage is about how horrible we've been, but about how good Jesus is.

The Jews who read this would have expected relentless devastation, the angry wrath of God. To them, it would have sounded like just another warning against sin. And indeed, God doesn't lie: He intended to punish the people. It's just that He poured out their punishment on one man, His Son, Jesus Christ. I think the "fortified cities" and "lofty battlements" that are destroyed in this passage are the strongholds of the devil. I believe "the cry of the mighty man" is Jesus' cry on the cross, and the "loud crash" is the sound of the curtain being torn in two. I think the "blood poured out" was Jesus' blood, for the sake of all the people. I think He did cause blindness to fall on the Pharisees, who refused to acknowledge that He was God. And I think His jealousy does consume us completely, into the restoring fire of His love displayed through Jesus Christ on the cross. I believe He destroys mankind--that is, the sin inside of us, so that we can be reborn as sons and daughters of the King.

In the Word of the Lord from Zephaniah, the Jews probably expected utter destruction and hopelessness. But through the lens of Jesus, we see that God is a merciful and a just God. Though His people expected judgment from Him, what they got was a Savior. The Messiah was not a militant warrior who came to overturn the Roman empire and restore Israel's autonomy, as the Jews believed; God had bigger plans than that. The Messiah came to be born of a human mother into an imperfect stable, and He grew up to save the entire world from the clutches of sin and death. Zephaniah seems an unlikely book in which to read the story of Jesus; but then again, Jesus, by the world's perspective, seems an unlikely man to become our savior.

Sometimes, even in the New Testament days, we believers still expect judgment from God when we should be turning our eyes to the Savior.

I want to challenge you, on Christmas day, to rethink your expectations of God.

To all of you who feel that God is distant, angry, and wrathful: remember on this day that He came down Himself to a world full of sin, hopelessness, and brokenheartedness, just so He could bridge the distance between Himself and us. He left His throne (Philippians 2:4-11) in order to become Emmanuel, "God with us." His love is earth-shattering and sin-shattering.

Don't surrender to hopelessness today. The Redeemer lives, and His plan for your life is so much more wonderful than you expect.

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth (John 1:14).

A very joyous Christmas to you.

A Field Full of Blessings

And his father and his mother marveled at what was said about him. And Simeon blessed them and said to Mary his mother, 'Behold, this child is appointed for the fall and rising of many in Israel, and for a sign that is opposed (and a sword will pierce through your own soul also), so that thoughts from many hearts may be revealed.' (Luke 2:33-35)

This is a season when we remember a teenage mother, Mary, who submitted to God's great plan for her life. Because she said "yes" to God, the greatest miracle the world has ever seen came to have breath and walked on the earth. She actually gave birth to the whole world's (and her own) salvation.

And it was all because she believed what the angel had said.

I was reading 1 Samuel yesterday morning and was reminded of another mother who believed God's word would come to pass. Go back more than a thousand years before the angel visited Mary, and you'll find Hannah, who became the mother of Samuel.

Samuel was a mover and a shaker. He was the great priest of Israel who brought righteousness back to the house of the Lord and called Saul to be king. Although the book is called "1 Samuel" (yes, he was illustrious enough to have two books named for him), I think it is, at its heart, a story about his mother and her belief in the goodness of God.

You can read chapters one and two for yourself, but I will provide a brief synopsis here. Hannah was one of Elkanah's two wives. The other wife had children, but Hannah had none. Her barrenness caused her great distress (especially because her rival wife constantly provoked her). Hannah was so depressed that she refused to eat. So, eventually, she entered the temple and cried out to God for a son, promising that, if He would give her a child, she would dedicate him to the Lord from his birth. She prayed so fervently before Him that the priest, Eli, thought she was drunk and told her to go home. Her reply was basically, "Excuse me, I'm really upset, sir. Don't be trying to blame it on alcohol. I have real problems." Eli (probably taken aback) replied, "Go in peace, and the God of Israel grant your petition that you have made to him." After that, Hannah had a son, whom she named Samuel.

I think a lot of people read this and think, "Oh, this means I should bargain with God, just like Hannah did." But I don't think that's the message of this story at all.  I think this story is about intimacy with God, faith to believe that He means what He says, and initiative to go after the blessings He promises.

When Hannah came before the Lord in prayer, she didn't approach Him in pride with lofty words and hidden agendas. She did, however, approach Him with the confidence of a daughter. She knew He knew her longings already, so she let Him into her heart. The Bible says that she "was deeply distressed and prayed to the Lord and wept bitterly" (1:10), and that she "was speaking in her heart; only her lips moved, and her voice was not heard" (1:13). She was completely vulnerable before the Lord. She trusted Him with her heart and poured it out before Him (Psalm 62:8).

Although Hannah was in great distress, she had not given up. She never would have approached the temple if she didn't believe God would act on her behalf. She must have truly believed the blessings in Deuteronomy, which had been given to her forefathers and which promised to make Israel prosperous in the "fruit of the womb" (Deuteronomy 28:11).  She knew the God would not give her a desire for children if He weren't going to follow through on His own word.

Hannah was a woman of initiative. Faith in God's character isn't just a concept. It's an action. Hannah made a vow, and then she followed through on that vow. She returned to the temple herself, independently of her husband, and bringing sacrifices, to offer her son to the priest to be brought up as a man of God. The Lord didn't ask her to give her son to Him; she offered him willingly. She staked everything--her very heart's desire--on the promise that God is good. She acted on her faith, and the Lord saw that she meant what she said.

In giving her son to the service of the Lord, Hannah followed the way of Abraham and paved the way for Mary: she gave her most precious blessing back to God. Because of that, she was able to partake in a plan of cosmic proportions that were beyond her imagination. She perhaps believed her son would be an average priest. Instead, he turned out to be a leader who left a legacy of righteousness that lasts into our own generation.

This is a great story, and we can all nod our heads in agreement with the concept that God is good and can be trusted. But do we approach Him with the same confidence in His blessings that Hannah had?

I think all of us have looked upon the blessings of Deuteronomy 28--for prosperity, favor, victory, and abundance--in the same way adults look at a field of flowers. Sometimes we pick them, but then we scrutinize every petal and toss them aside in ingratitude, because they "don't look exactly like what we wanted." Other times, we don't even bother to pick them at all, because they are "too pretty for us" and "they must be meant for someone more special to God than me."

All of those are lies. Jesus said that we should become like little children, and that is how we inherit the kingdom of God (ie, the blessings, favor, and roles in His magnificent plan). Children don't think about why they should or shouldn't pick a flower, nor do they criticize what is in their hands. They don't assume that the beauty is not for them. They don't think twice about showing their emotions. They just go out joyfully and take what God has made just for them and express gratitude about it.

Hannah walked into the temple and asked for God's blessing. How much more do we, under the perfect priesthood of Christ, have a right to "approach the throne of grace with confidence" (Hebrews 4:16) and ask for His blessings?

Life is complicated, but our relationship with God is not. Like Hannah, we should simply trust that He cannot lie, and that, not only will He follow through on His promise, but He wants to, because He is a good and righteous Father. AND He has a plan to bless us with a destiny beyond what we can imagine.

After Samuel was born, the Lord came to Eli and said, "I will raise up for myself a faithful priest, who shall do according to what is in my heart and in my mind. And I will build him a sure house, and he shall go in and out before my anointed forever" (1 Samuel 2:35). This is a description of Samuel, but doesn't it also specifically describe the role of Jesus? (Check out Hebrews 4-8.) Hannah's son had a tremendous role to play in the appointments of the kings of Israel, who became symbols of God's authority on earth and were ancestors in the genealogy of Christ Himself. Following God's appointed purposes, Samuel helped pave the way for Jesus' birth more than 1,000 years later.

Deuteronomy 28 lists an abundance of blessings for an obedient Israel; and because Hannah believed Deuteronomy 28, all people (not just Israelites) have a chance to believe in the full obedience of Christ and thereby secure the blessings found in that book. Her life was bigger than she knew. But she did know one thing: that God was good, and that He would follow through on His promises. And she bulldozed everything that got in the way of her grabbing those promises for herself--including her own doubt.

What blessing are you believing for today? Is there a lack that is causing you distress? Is there a desire for something good that is unfulfilled in your heart? Talk to your Father about it.

During this Christmas season, we should flip back through Deuteronomy 28 and remember the blessed life God has promised us. We should read through Isaiah and remind ourselves of God's promise for a Savior, "a great joy that will be for all the people" (Luke 2:10). God sent Jesus so that you and I could know Him and live into the destiny He has designed for us. Don't count yourself out or toss your blessings aside. He has the inheritance of heaven waiting on you, if only you walk into the temple and ask.

Merry Christmas!

Intimacy

In my last post, I wrote about how purely good the Father is. If He is purely good, then His love for us is pure as well. The most miraculous thing about this is that our identities are not based on anything other than His goodness.

We are defined in light of His goodness and love, not our...well, our anything. It may sound strange, but if someone asks us who we are, our reply ought to be, "The Father is good."

Our meaning of the word "good" has been reduced to a bland generalization, thanks to phrases like, "Now, be a good girl," and "This pie is so good!"

But we ought to look to the Father for our definition of goodness. He doesn't lie (Numbers 23:19). He is just (Luke 18:7, 1 Thessalonians 1:6). His word is always true (Psalm 33:4, John 17:17). He is good.

Man fell in the Garden because he failed to believe this simple truth. Adam and Eve distrusted what God had told them. As they disbelieved His word, they also disbelieved an even more basic truth: that God is good.

The most disastrous result was not condemning rebellion or physical punishment, but loss of intimacy with the Father.

If you know that you know that you know that God is good in a general sense, then you know that the intentions of His heart toward you are good. His goodness seeps into your relationship with Him, steeping all your interactions with trust and openness.

Let's go back once again to my oft-cited favorite verses in 1 John 1:3-4.

...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete.

The whole aim of all that they had seen and heard--everything Jesus did, including His crucifixion and resurrection--was to bring us into fellowship with the Father, Jesus, and the church. The chief object was open, pure relationship, which produces joy.

John goes on: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.

This paragraph seems roundabout and repetitive, but I think John is trying very hard to express how good God is and how much we can trust Him with our hearts--even hearts that are sinful. He is not condemning sinners, but rather encouraging them to approach the light and be cleansed, because we have a Father who is good. God's intentions toward us are always good, so He doesn't hurt those who come to Him and confess their problems. He is just to forgive our sins, because Jesus has already paid the price for them; it would be unjust for Him to still hold us accountable.

In short, true, transformative change comes into our lives when we are honest with God about our sin and problems, when we give Him permission to come inside of us with His light, expose what needs exposing, and heal whatever He wants.

It's relatively easy to trust God with your eternity; billions of people around the world have done it. It gets harder to tell Him we'll trust Him with our daily circumstances on earth. It is even harder to give things up for the sake of following Him, and then even harder when we actually begin to follow Him by serving and sharing the gospel.

I think the hardest thing, though, is coming to the Father and offering yourself--your very being--without knowing the end result. It's saying, "I trust you to come inside of me and do your redemptive, healing work wherever you need to. Make me into the person You imagined, not who I can imagine."

It's one thing to trust Him with our stuff, even our lives; but it's quite another to trust Him with our pain, our sin, our shame, and our wounds, the parts of our very selves that are so deep and dark that even we don't want to go there.

I think the only way we can do this is to know that He is good. We have to trust that what He does in us won't hurt us, but will redeem and restore us.

We can see the Father's heart in Jesus' fervent prayer for us, recorded in John 17.

"Holy Father," He implored, "keep thm in your name, which you have given me, that they may be one, even as we are one...that they may have my joy fulfilled in themselves" (17:11 and 13).

And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete (1 John 1:4).

He is light, and in Him is no darkness at all. There is no chance anything dark can get us while we are in His presence. Know that today. He is asking us to go deeper into intimacy with Him. The thought can be scary, but the result is joy.

He is Good

I write to you, children, because you know the Father. I write to you, fathers, because you know him who is from the beginning. I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.--1 John 13-14

Much of the time, the things we think about ourselves are not what God thinks of us. As humans, we tend to construct our identities based what we can or can't do, how we fail, what we don't like about ourselves, what we wish were different about our circumstances, or bad things that have happened to us in the past. Our identities become this baklava made of a complex construction layers and filling, but instead of being crispy and delicious, they are grievous and hard to swallow.

Strip all of that stuff away, because the ONLY thing that matters about you is that God is ABSOLUTELY good, and this being who can do no evil loves you with an incorruptible love.

Taste and see that the Lord is good (Psalm 34:8).

Let me repeat: God is good, and the only thing that matters is that you are loved by Him.

A lot has happened since I last wrote almost a month ago. I have moved to a new state, started a new job, and seen the provision of God in the smallest of details during the transition. I have only been here a week, but He has made my path very clear down to the barest of details. I have stepped into blessings I did not ask for, blessings I couldn't have anticipated.

But one of the most important things that happened this month is that I really started to get it: my identity is that He loves me.

If you've read some of my past blog posts, you know that perfectionism and self-condemnation has been a struggle of mine. My natural tendency is to focus on what I have failed to acheive. When it comes to certain disciplines and weaknesses, I expect to disappoint myself.

Before I moved, I made several trips to Texas for interviews, housing searches, and general survey of the promised land. During one of these visits, my best good friend came with me, and she and I sat in the car to read the Bible outside of our lunch destination. (They have Chipotle here!!!! So exciting!) We were reading 1 John.

...that which we have seen and heard we proclaim also to you, so that you too may have fellowship with us; and indeed our fellowship is with the Father and with his Son Jesus Christ. And we are writing these things so that our joy may be complete (1:4).

John continues with a verse I've often quoted: This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all.

God is completely good and pure. He has lived with the Son in perfect, pure intimacy since the beginning of time. And He wants to have that intimacy with us, so that His joy and our joy may be complete.

We overcomplicate this so much in our human hearts.

As I sat there in the parking lot discussing how good the Father is, I started to share with my friend about the layers of my own identity that I don't like. I have often felt like I don't seek Him enough or love Him enough, and that I've been resistant to His ways. I started to tell her about the ways I feel disappointed in myself and frustrated with my own spiritual imperfection.

Here I was, being blessed with a new place to live in a new season of life, and I was considering the ways I fail and don't deserve to be blessed. I think people on the outside often see me much more accurately than I see myself, because they can see that my heart is with His heart. But my mind is a complicated place, and it is constantly over-analyzing every thought and feeling.

My friend responded by telling me who God sees when He looks at me: His beloved child, whom He can't wait to bless. He sees someone who has not been resistant to His love, but rather an active seeker of His presence.

I started to cry. (In a parking lot...awkward, I know.) But my tears were not tears of frustration. Rather, they were tears of relief.

There is an incredible relief in realizing that my identity as a believer is not based on who I think I am, but what He thinks of me. My identity isn't based on anything having to do with me at all, really--it's only based on who He is.

And He is perfect and good. His love is complete light--absolutely without any negative intention or thought. It is so incredibly simple, yet so powerful that it crucified sin and defeated death for the sake of the beloved.

The beloved is YOU.

He has one expectation of us: that we receive His love.

Ironically, I think that is the thing we fail most at as Christians, and it is the thing that matters most to His heart. As we struggle to succeed in so many areas of morality and service, we neglect the one thing He treasures the most: our ability to accept His love.

I want to ask you today what my friend asked me: What are the ways in which you think you are inadequate?

And then: Why does that matter?

Go back to the list of Christian identifiers in 1 John 2:12-14.  There are only three verbs in this description: you know (the Father and His Word), you are (forgiven), and you have overcome. That's past tense. The evil one has been overcome, not because of what you did, but because of what you know and believe.

Our identity is that we are loved by a perfect God. That's it. There is nothing else.

Know and believe that today. Strip away the layers of lies and abide in the simple, pure light of an identity of love.

You might have to cry in a restaurant parking lot. But believe me, the realization is worth it.

Glow Stick

“No one after lighting a lamp puts it in a cellar or under a basket, but on a stand, so that those who enter may see the light. Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eye is healthy, your whole body is full of light, but when it is bad, your body is full of darkness. If then your whole body is full of light, having no part dark, it will be wholly bright, as when a lamp with its rays gives you light” (Luke 11:33-36).

This passage can be kind of confusing. After all, how are lighting a lamp and your eye being your lamp related? They appear to be two different concepts: 1) sharing your faith and 2) refusing to look at ungodly things. But I think this teaching of Jesus goes much deeper than that.

It’s about casting the light of the revelation of Christ over your own perspective.

Sometimes we translate Jesus’ saying in the most simple way: “All of you people have burning lamps, and you shouldn’t hide them under a basket. Share your faith!” However, that doesn’t make sense in the context, because this metaphor is sandwiched between admonishments against religious people who couldn’t see signs. In other words, they had no faith to share! I think this statement can be more accurately interpreted this way: “Um, y’all are in darkness. Y’all need to go get a lamp and light it.”

In the previous paragraph, Jesus had been telling his audience that they were looking for signs when all the scriptures of the prophets were right in front of them, pointing straight at Him. But the people either had so little faith in the Word of God spoken through the prophets, or they were so blind that they couldn’t see the obvious prophetic signs in front of them, that they got stuck on seeing miracles and wonders on the earthly level—and were missing the bigger divine picture that was happening right before their eyes.

Jesus was telling the people that they needed to see things from His perspective. They were seeking to prove His identity with a checklist of signs. But He knew that if they would believe His identity, they would begin to see the signs.

If you go to the trouble to find and light a lamp, you are going to use it to light your way. Only a crazy person would light a lamp and hide it—that’s not even really an option. The intentionality of lighting a lamp naturally brings light.

So what’s the lamp? It’s the true revelation of Christ’s identity. This is the reason He says that your eye is your lamp. Since an eye takes in light, rather than putting it out, this seems kind of confusing.

However, think about your eye as your perspective. For example, if you believe your roommate/friend/husband/wife/parent is angry with you, you are probably going to interpret all of his or her actions as aggressive or confrontational, whether they are or not. In the same way, if you live your daily life believing that God is mad at you, displeased with you, or wanting you to live up to some standard before He blesses you, you are more likely to think that He is punishing you when things don’t go the way you think they should go.

On the flip side, if your perspective is that God loves you, wants to bless you, and is on your side in the fight, you are likely to think that, when things don’t go your way, it must be because He is working on something even better.

“Lighting your lamp” is choosing to believe that He has good intentions for you and will fight for you. It’s lighting up your own world—your own “body,” the "room" of your own circumstances—with the bigger perspective of God’s kingdom.

Beware of interpreting the Word of God through your limited experience, rather than interpreting your experience in the light of the Word of God. Light up your eyes to see His goodness. Then your whole body will be aglow with His perspective.

That’s easier said than done when you are in a season of waiting, like I am. I have applied to many programs and jobs in another state, and I am just waiting for the process to unfold. I know the “where” and “what” of His calling on my life right now; I just don’t know the “how” and “when.”

Even more disconcerting at times is realizing that, since I've committed to a life with Jesus, my life path will always be lit up one step at a time. I'm not the one in charge of the plan here.

So, when I am rejected (as I have been many times over the past few months), I can choose to think that God is punishing me or wants me to “improve” in some way before He gives me what [I think] I want. This is the darkness of the world creeping in on my perspective. God’s promises are too good to be true, it says. You can’t measure up to what He wants. He won’t give you what you ask for.

Fortunately, I have another choice. I can believe that, when I am rejected from a job I thought wanted, it’s because He’s preparing something much better. The “best” He has for me will not only be concretely better (more pay, better conditions, better location), it will also be full of surprises that will take me into blessings I cannot expect. Only God knows who I need to meet and what I will need; He’s the one looking so much farther into the future than me. And He is thinking eternally. He is trying to bless me both in the moment and forever.

You know why?

This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). His intentions towards me are always good. He can no more forget me than a nursing mother can forget her child (Isaiah 49:15).

Everyone knows that if you try to read a book in the dark, you won’t get very far. But if you choose to interpret your circumstances in light of the grace and favor of God, you are letting light into your body. Then, you can’t help but be a little glow stick that lights up a whole room. Not only will you bring peace to your own perspective, you will also show others the way.

I form light, says the Lord (Isaiah 45:7).

Light your lamp and, just like your Father, you just won’t be able to help beaming.

Return to Sender

And you, who were dead in trespasses and in the uncircumcision of your flesh (your sensuality, your sinful carnal nature), [God] brought to life together with [Christ], having [freely] forgiven us all our transgressions, having cancelled and blotted out and wiped away the handwriting of the note (bond) with its legal decrees and demands which was in force and stood against us (hostile to us). This [note with its regulations, decrees, and demands] He set aside and cleared completely out of our way by nailing it to [His] cross (Colossians 2:13-15, Amplified Bible).

Ransom is a simple mathematical calculation, a one-to-one ratio, a balanced equals sign. Our legal debt has been paid by Jesus, our substitute, leaving a balance of zero. Anyone can rationally understand this. Most of us have heard it preached that we are cleansed by the blood of the Lamb and that our sins have been cleared completely out of our way.

However, even though the note of our debt has been totally cancelled, the devil still likes to send us nasty little envelopes full of accusations.  We need a personal, fresh, daily, divine revelation of God’s grace toward us to combat this nonsense. In other words, we need to be assured of our identity in Christ so that, even if the devil mails a condemnation surprise, we will refuse to sign for the package.

We all have sins we feel condemned about. They may have happened yesterday or ten years ago, but somehow we’ve absorbed the idea that we are not worthy of God’s love because of we’ve messed up. They may be concrete actions (stealing, sexual sin, lying), perceived spiritual failure (I don’t measure up because I don’t read my Bible or pray “enough”), or just attitudes (judgmentalism, quick temper, impatience).

Many times, these are lies that have been spoken over us, either directly or indirectly, from our childhoods. Words have great power. We heard at church, “If you don’t [insert spiritual discipline], you’re not a good enough Christian.” Or some teacher told us that we talked too much, we were too messy, we had a bad temper, etc. Sometimes the wounds are even deeper—a friend questioned our sexuality in junior high, someone spread lies about us in high school, or a parent told us we wouldn’t amount to anything. These false accusations of our childhoods have blossomed into destructive beliefs that we’ve internalized.

A lot of times, we haven’t even committed the sins we’re ashamed of—just the fact that we have been tempted or even just accused brings us shame. Somehow, through the sneaky lies of the devil, these sins and attitudes have become part of our identity.

We start to expect accusation from others, and we self-condemn regularly. We all have some sensitive area of our life that can cause us to fall into an identity crisis. For most of us, it’s become habit to pick up the mail that the devil is sending.

If it seems like I’m harping on the subject of self-condemnation lately, it’s because I am. I have been realizing just how insidious the attitude of condemnation can be. It is often woven directly into the fabric of who we are so that we don’t even recognize it. Usually, all of these thoughts are subconscious. For each of us, there is a place or set of places in our hearts that identify with the person we once were, who was crucified on the cross. The result is that we try to raise that person from the dead—start thinking, acting, and feeling like the person we were before we were saved by grace.  

Can I help you out? Even if you completely committed every sin in the book, the sin itself is still a lie. When you are saved by grace, not only are you no longer defined by sin, you never were defined by it in the first place. It’s as if the sins never happened. It’s not that God has taken a broken pot and repaired it. He creates a new, beautiful vessel and completely obliterates the old pot, as if it never existed.

You have no holes, chips, or imperfections. It’s become as though you never had them in the first place. They are gone.

Even when we make mistakes (which we inevitably will, because we are human beings with feelings), we need to realize that God cannot and will not condemn

us, because we have been completely redeemed by the blood of Jesus. The debt balance is still zero.

On the cross, Jesus took the things that rightfully belong to the devil—sin, shame, accusation, and condemnation—and brought them straight back down to hell, where they came from. Legally, they don’t belong to us anymore. If we think they do, it’s a lie. Even when we sin, that’s a lie—an action that reflects a person whom we are not, a result of believing the lie that we are sinners. (Wrap your mind around that for a second.)

When we take up mentalities of self-condemnation, fear of accusation, and shame, we are actually stealing stuff that really belongs to the devil.

Of course, he’s more than happy for us to take it back. I mean, who wants to hang on to that stuff? So he packages it up, ties it with a bow, and delivers it to us in the hope that we will be convinced that it is ours.

But when he does, you just remind yourself of the completed work of the cross. Tell yourself that God sees you whole, pure, and sinless. Then stamp a big “RETURN TO SENDER” on the envelope and stick it back in the mail.

God Is Not Displeased With You

I mean, that's pretty much what I wanted to say. But I can elaborate.

I began my last post with this Scripture:

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?--Romans 8:29-31

God is for us.

I think some of us just need to hear that today. God isn't sitting up in heaven, looking down on you, wondering how He can make your life more difficult. He isn't wringing His hands over all your sin. You're His child, not a toy He created to play with. He wants the best for you, and he will fight--and has already fought--on your side.

I heard a pastor say that you can tell how valuable a thing is by the price that was paid for it. Why would a God who sacrificed His only beloved, precious Son be against the people He paid such a high price to ransom?

The craziest thing is, those whom he predestined [to be conformed to the image of Jesus] he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified.

He is making you into the image of His Son, who is the firstborn among many brothers (that's us). We have a family resemblance to Jesus. We are His brothers and sisters, just like Him in our Father's eyes. And do you know what the Father said about Jesus? "In Him I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17; Mark 1:11).

He is pleased with His children.

If you believe in Christ today, He has already justified you and glorified you. Those verbs are in the past tense. To claim that God is "disappointed in you" implies that God was surprised by what you did. He's omniscient....aka, never surprised. (I heard that from another pastor. The good thing about being a Christian is that it's impossible to plagiarize the wisdom of God!)

You don't have to be perfect to approach Him. In fact, the more messed up you are, the more eager He is to welcome you. He knows you can never fix all your problems. He's the only one who can.

So if there are things right now that you think are between you and God, just remember: God is not a person. He won't shame you, blame you, or slam you with lightning. Jesus has already paid for all your sins, issues, depression, worries, imperfections. Everything you don't want to share with Him, He's already experienced full-force on the cross. You can't scare Him.

Trust in him at all times, O people; pour out your heart before him; God is a refuge for us.--Psalm 62:8

And that's in the Old Testament, guys.

Pour out your heart. He wants to hear it all. He is not displeased, and He wants to be your refuge.

The Best Offense...Is a Good Offense

For those whom he foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, in order that he might be the firstborn among many brothers. And those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified. What then shall we say to these things? If God is for us, who can be against us?--Romans 8:29-31

When you were reborn in Christ, He remade you in His image, with the spiritual DNA of a royal heir. And if you are like Christ, you are destined to win against the devil. As believers, we not only have the ability to recognize evil, but we have the authority to do something about it.

I don't normally write about the devil (after all, he and I are not really on good terms). However, I want to address an important concept that we HAVE to absorb if we want to live a victorious Christian life: we have authority to chase away evil. Not only that, but we can use our authority to gain valuable ground for the kingdom of God when we resist evil forces (aka kick devil butt) in the smallest of situations in our lives and in the biggest problems all over the earth.

Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.--James 4:7

We don't flee from him; he flees from us. I think in church culture, we largely believe that the devil is in control of the earth. At some point, we have all nodded our heads in agreement with the saying, "The world is going to hell in a handbasket." When we hear horrible reports on the evening news, we shake our heads in resignation; if we remember, we might mention the issue in a brief, half-hearted shout-out during Sunday morning prayer. When something bad happens to us, we say, "Oh well, I'll just hide out and wait until Jesus comes back." Often, we believe that when it comes to the devil, the best offense is a good defense. 

But Jesus has already defeated the devil. John spells it out for us pretty plainly: "The reason the Son of God appeared was to destroy the works of the devil" (1 John 3:8). 

In speaking of evil spirits, John goes on: "Little children, you are from God and have overcome them, for he who is in you is greater than he who is in the world" (4:4). The resurrection power that raised Jesus from the dead--the Holy Spirit--lives inside of you (Romans 8:11).

In the Holy Spirit, we have the power to affect big change in a world that looks so impossibly unredeemable. With Him living inside of you, you're a warrior, more than a conqueror (Romans 8:37). Warriors go out and win back ground that has been lost to the enemy. God has given you authority to spread the gospel, resist sin, and bust down some stinkin' strongholds so you can show others the way to freedom. 

So put on your armor.

Finally, be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might. Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand agains the schemes of the devil. For we do not wrestle against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers over this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places.{I mean, give credit where credit is due. Don't be deceived: no bad things come from God (James 1:16-17). Anything bad you experience is not part of God's plan for His children; but He will redeem it and turn it around (Romans 8:28).} Therefore take up the whole armor of God, that you may be able to withstand in the evil day, and having done all, to stand firm (Ephesians 6:10-13).

We know the parts of the armor. There's the belt of truth, which is God's word about who He is and who you are, and it holds up your britches so you can fight. Next is the breastplate of righteousness (won for us by Jesus) and shoes of peace (in Christ, which passes all understanding; these are not running shoes). After that, we have the shield of faith and helmet of salvation, which guard your heart and mind against the "flaming darts" of the devil, the only weapons in his pitiful arsenal. Lastly, you need a weapon: the sword of the Spirit. This is the Holy Spirit, the power that raised Jesus from the dead and has already defeated the devil. He's a weapon who can be trusted. When you pray in the Spirit, you pray His words, sharper than any two-edged sword.

If you were supposed to run and hide from the devil, you wouldn't need armor. You'd need a bunker. 

I'm not advocating for the idea that people suffer from problems because they "didn't take authority over them." This mentality twists the truth of our authority by blaming people for their own sickness or distress. Jesus said that the rain falls on the evil and the good (Matthew 5:45). There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus (Romans 8:1). We know who the accuser is, and, as we've already been discussing, we know he's a liar. Like I said, bad things don't come from God, so let's give credit where credit is due.

I'm also not advocating devil-chasing, like the world does with it's weird Halloween ghost specials on TV. I actually saw one of these playing when I was at the gym. The people on the show were trying to get "ghosts" out of their house by performing creepy rituals. The homeowners were burning tiny bags or something in every corner of the house (at night, of course), huddled up and spooked out. If you think Christian talk about demons and angels is weird, just take a look at what the world believes.

But we are not children of the night; we are children of the light (1 Thessalonians 5:5). The point I'm trying to make is, we don't have to light candles, chant magic words, or ask "ghosts" politely to go away. We don't have to play with the devil. We don't have to appease him. We have the authority to tell him to leave. And we can make serious headway for the kingdom of God by recognizing where evil comes from and then exercising our authority over it, in our own lives and in others'.

We know that we are from God, and the whole world lies in the power of the evil one, writes John (1 John 5:19). 

But John only writes this after he explains, For everyone who has been born of God overcomes the world. And this is the victory that has overcome the world--our faith. Who is it that overcomes the world except the one who believes that Jesus is the Son of God? (5:4-5).

Why does believing in Jesus Christ overcome the devil?

By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear (1 John 4:17-18).

We don't have to be afraid of the devil, and the reason is simple: we love God, and He loves us, and His relationship with us gives us life. Resist the devil by praising God. Believe that Jesus loves humanity, and exercise that faith by praying His love and goodness over every dark corner of the earth. Love smashes the schemes of the enemy to peices.

As a follower of Christ, you are part of a grand design of victory. You're on the winning team. You're a light that shines in a dark place, and all the powers of darkness cannot overcome you (John 1:5). We know the voice of the Good Shepherd (John 10:27). When the devil's voice starts speaking lies to you, tell yourself just who you are, why God made you, and how much God loves you. (If you need to find out more about these things, just pick up your Bible!) Remind the devil that he's already been defeated in every situation on earth. Then use your God-given, grace-given authority to tell him to go back where he came from! He can even go in a handbasket if he wants.

I think he better start running.

Person-Pleaser

By this we shall know that we are of the truth and reassure our heart before him; for whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart, and he knows everything (1 John 3:19-20).

This post is for everyone who struggles with self-condemnation. That is, this post is for every human being on earth. (It is not for cats. Good thing they never struggle with self-condemnation.)

Nearly a year ago, I wrote a post about self-deprecation. My Father has been working on me, and I want to tell you about how He lovingly took my hand and drew me even further upwards and away from this issue.

For am I now seeking the approval of man, or of God? Or am I trying to please man? If I were still trying to please man, I would not be a servant of Christ (Galatians 1:10).

I am a people-pleaser. I sign myself up for every activity and strive to do my best at the things that interest me. But in all this over-scheduling and intense competition, I am not seeking the approval of everyone else. I am seeking my own approval, which I measure by some standard that I have created for myself based on my human perception of my abilities and gifts.

I must fulfill "my potential" by enrolling in every activity that interests me or that I'm good at. I fear settling on one thing, because then I have "limited myself." If I choose one thing, I'll never live the thousand lives that I have dreamed for myself. I will never prove to myself that I can do all the things I think I can do.

In other words, I'm not people-pleasing, exactly. I'm person-pleasing. And the person is me.

I have spent my life comparing myself to others, struggling with self-condemnation when I make mistakes, and becoming irritated at myself, all in the attempt to earn my own approval.

This all came to a screeching halt as I journaled and prayed. Unexpectedly, God revealed to me that I am harboring unforgiveness against myself for past mistakes.

He doesn't condemn me (John 8:11; John 3:17). He isn't sitting around remembering all my transgressions. Jesus died on the cross so all of that could be cleared away. He's not looking for opportunities to bring up my failures; He's removed them from me as far as the east is from the west (Psalm 103:12).

The only one bringing my failures back up again is me. He has approved me, but somehow that isn't enough for me. I feel like God, the creator of righteousness, is not a harsh enough judge. I need to approve myself. I need to prove myself, in fact, by competing in every race I can, always trying to beat my own time.

When I engage in the self-justification process, I ALWAYS come out judged unworthy. But the opposite is true of God. The Bible consistently refers to God as a parent to us. A new mother is extremely attentive to an infant, and when her little one is in trouble--sick, dirty, tired, screaming--she doesn't pay less attention to it, but rather gives it more care.  And God gives us more attention when we are in trouble. While we were yet sinners, he died for us (Romans 5:8). As soon as we open our mouths to cry, he runs to us (Isaiah 30:19).

A baby has nothing more to offer its parents than a smile, but the parents treasure that smile above all else. God responds to us the same way. He has already designed a perfect plan for me based on His {completely and utterly accurate} perception of me as a beloved daughter. I don't have to prove anything to Him. He knows everything and loves me constantly. I just have to smile while He cares for me.

Remember not the sins of my youth or my transgressions; according to your steadfast love remember me, for the sake of your goodness, O Lord! (Psalm 25:7)

Wait, by whose goodness is God remembering you and your past?

Not yours. His.

So why am I remembering my past in the darkness of my failures, when His steadfast love is pouring His righteousness over me? Why do I waste time telling myself that my mistakes "aren't as bad" as others, when that really doesn't matter anyway, because He has approved all who bear the name of His Son?

I would never harbor such deep unforgiveness toward another person, but apparently I have trouble letting bygones be bygones when it comes to my own sin. Self-resentment is sneaky, lurking beneath the surface to arise and accuse us when we are weakest.

It is especially hard when we are in the thick of the battle, fighting to overcome a familiar sin. Sometimes, overcoming big issues is a process, and we are always moving forward, but the enemy tries to sow lies into our situation by telling us that we will always struggle with sin. Sometimes the lying voice you hear the loudest in those times is your own.

"You'll never do right," you tell yourself. "You will always bring yourself down with this sin. The second you forgive yourself, it will come back to haunt you. Grab onto it and don't let go, or it will come back to attack you! You will ruin yourself!"

If we hold onto our sin to prevent it from attacking us, we can't let it go. We are forgetting that it has already been completely obliterated, defeated, demolished, vaporized in the power of the cross.

In speaking of his responsibilities as a gifted leader, Paul said, But with me it is a very small thing that I should be judged by you or by any human court. In fact, I do not even judge myself (1 Corinthians 4:2-3).

Paul understood that, in his merely human wisdom, he didn't have the right to judge himself. The law, the word of God, is the only righteous judge. In my last post, I wrote about how Jesus IS the law made flesh. And the law has already sacrificed itself to fulfill itself. (Is your mind blown yet?)

The Word fulfilled the Word. The law fulfilled the law. The righteousness of God made you righteous. Then who is there to judge you? When you're covered with the blood of Jesus, He's already forgiven you. Who are you to accuse yourself, when the one against whom you sinned has already forgiven you?

Like the woman at the well, we struggle to earn our water, to "pull ourselves up by our own bootstraps," trying to prove to ourselves that we are worth approval. All the while, Jesus is sitting on the well, holding nothing against us, offering us living water that comes with no price.

I had to forgive myself of my past sins. My prayer to God was that He would change my mindset like an air filter. I want to be consumed by His love for me, not by an all-consuming need to compete against myself. I am learning that the one I was created to please isn't me. In fact, He isn't a person at all, and He is already just as well pleased with me as He is with His Son.

The Law

And the Father who sent me has himself borne witness about me. His voice you have never heard, his form you have never seen, and you do not have his word abiding in you, for you do not believe the one whom he has sent. You search the Scriptures because you think that in them you have eternal life; and it is they that bear witness about me, yet you refuse to come to me that you may have life. I do not receive glory from people (John 5:37-41).

The Pharisees in Jesus' day loved the word of God. They spent all day reading the scriptures, striving and striving to gain eternal life, just one drop of God's righteousness, from the words on the page.

I imagine this must have been a very frustrating life. Have you ever read Deuteronomy? There is no way any human can fulfill every single mandate of the Mosaic law.

So Jesus' revelation in Matthew 5:17 was probably a bit shocking to everyone: "Do not think I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfill them."

Say what?

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made, writes John (1:1-3).

If that don't deserve a "hallelujah!", I don't know what does! Hold onto your head, because it's about to get even more mind-blowing.

For by him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities--all things were created through him and for him (Colossians 1:16).

My silly mind imagines Jesus as a nebulous plasma of God's Word floating around the throne of God. He looked down on man and said, "Well, I guess they can't fulfill me themselves. Looks like I better go down there and do it for them."

Clearly this is an oversimplification, but it shows the nature of God. His Word stands forever: it does not return void (Isaiah 55). It will be fulfilled, no matter what. That's just who He is.

So what Jesus was telling the Pharisees in John 5 was, "Hey, you have your nose in the Scriptures, searching for the Word that gives life, but I am the Word! Lift up your eyes to me, and receive eternal life!"

It's no wonder they didn't really get it. Whoever heard of the Word--God's promises, laws that characterize His righteousness, the spoken truth of His love, the creative power of His tongue--coming to life as a real, live human being? That's just crazy.

But it happened.

Jesus went on to say: Do not think that I will accuse you to the Father. There is one who accuses you: Moses, on whom you have set your hope. If you believed Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote of me. But if you do not believe his writings, how will you believe my words? (John 5:45-47)

The more you learn to love the Bible, the Word of God, the more you love Jesus, because He is the Word. And in fact, He hasn't stopped speaking. Just as easily as Jesus prophesied over the woman at the well, we can speak a true word of life to those around us who are dying and change their lives forever. Sometimes this word is an actual scripture, given to us by the Holy Spirit in that moment; sometimes it is not, but agrees with the character and desires of God as displayed in the Bible.

If you don't think you hear from God, I would encourage you to listen. Jesus came to open the door to the Holy of Holies so that you could walk in and have a conversation with Him. He longs to give you a word of direction and healing for every situation in your life. He wants to speak to us just as He spoke to the prophets--and even more clearly, because now we can all know Him (Jeremiah 31:34).

The Word of God laid Himself down on the altar to fulfill His own demand for righteousness. He never fails, and He will never stop speaking.

Give Me a Drink

There came a woman of Samaria to draw water. Jesus said to her, "Give me a drink." (For his disciples had gone away in to the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, "If you knew the gift of God and who it is that is saying to you, 'Give me a drink,' you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water."
                                                                                                     --John 4:7-10

On assignment from God, Jesus went where He "wasn't supposed to go." He met with a woman he "wasn't supposed to talk to." And the first thing He said to her is interesting: "Give me a drink."

Because of her reputation as a sinner, this woman sought to avoid the gossip and rejection of the other women on their early morning walk to the well. Instead, she preferred to go alone, even if it meant enduring the intense heat of midday. She probably would have avoided going to the well altogether, except that the water she drew there was her life source. It kept her hydrated in the merciless heat of the desert climate. But soon it was gone, and the very next day she would have to hike back across the hot land and draw water again, simply so she could stay alive.

So her reaction to Jesus when He asked her for a sip of her precious life source was predictable: "How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?" 

In other words, "Why are you even here? Go draw your own water!" She had been disregarded by Jews (who believed Samaritans were the "red-headed stepchild" of Judaism, to use a Southern phrase) and counted as worthless by her own people. She couldn't understand why any Jewish person (and a man, no less) would approach her with a heart full of good intentions.

She figured that Jesus was like everyone else: He only wanted to take from her.

But Jesus had quite a different thing in mind. In exchange for the water that kept her alive, He would give her a baptism into new, everlasting life.

Naturally, though she saw that Jesus was tired and thirsty, the woman wanted to hold onto the tiny jar of water, so hard-won, that she thought was preserving her life. She had no concept that God could preserve her life eternally. Instead, her initial reaction was to deny Jesus the mercy He asked of her, not knowing that He was stretching out His hand to offer her an infinitely greater mercy.

To her, a woman worth nothing, her tiny bucket was priceless. To Him, she was priceless.

How often do we shy away when Jesus says to us, "Give me a drink"? He asks for our hearts, our sense of identity in our reputation or circumstances, all of the things we believe we have worked so hard to obtain. He asks for nothing less than our very lives. But in exchange, He gives us something greater: streams of living water--His life!

And the Lord will guide you continually and satisfy your desire in scorched places and make your bones strong, writes Isaiah, and you shall be like a watered garden, like a spring of water, whose waters do not fail (58:11).

The woman at the well was not an unbeliever. She was a Samaritan who worshipped the one true God, but she didn't have the tools to understand who He was. She probably knew that, for all her fighting, she was still dying inside. Since the Jews held onto the holy scriptures and were unwilling to share God's word with this woman, God Himself came to her and gave her a word. Though she was cautious and probably a little surly at first, she softened when Jesus revealed what He knew about her supernaturally, proving He was sent from God.

As she suddenly understood Jesus' identity, the woman responded in a beautiful way.

So the woman left her water jar and went away into town and said to the people, "Come, see a man who told me all that I ever did. Can this be the Christ?" (John 4:28-29)

Because she had a sudden revelation of Jesus' identity, the woman abandoned her precious water jar without a second thought, fleeing from the well that was both a source of physical life and a source of condemnation for her. In her excitement, she forgot that she was thirsty. And she went to the very people who had rejected her to offer them the acceptance of a Savior.

Jesus desires not only that we would have eternal life, but that we would have the infinite joy of becoming like Him, so full of water that we would share it generously with all who thirst.

"Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty forever. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life" (John 4:13-15).

People who are dying of thirst will be unwilling to share even a sip of water from their jars. They find Jesus' request too demanding. But everything changes when you realize that He is a God who wants to take your rejection, exhaustion, condemnation, and hopelessness in exchange for a life that lasts forever. Give Him your water jar, your life, today.

"Come, everyone who thirsts, come to the waters; and he who has no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without price. Why do you spend your money for that which is not bread, and your labor for that which does not satisfy? Listen diligently to me, and eat what is good, and delight yourselves in rich food" (Isaiah 55:1-2)

All Over You

O Lord, you have searched me and known me!
You know when I sit down and when I rise up;
     you discern my thoughts from afar.
You search out my path and my lying down
     and are acquainted with all my ways.
Even before a word is on my tongue,
     behold, O Lord, you know it altogether.
You hem me in, behind and before,
     and lay your hand upon me.
Such knowledge is too wonderful for me;
     it is high; I cannot attain it.

Where shall I go from your Spirit?
Or where shall I flee from your presence?
If I ascend to heaven, you are there!
     If I make my bed in Sheol, you are there!
If I take the wings of the morning
     and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea,
even there your hand shall lead me,
     and your right hand shall hold me.
If I say, "Surely the darkness shall cover me, 
     and the light about me be night,"
even the darkness is not dark to you; 
     the night is bright as the day, for darkness is as light with you.

For you formed my inward parts; 
     you knitted me together in my mother's womb.
I praise you, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made.
Wonderful are your works; my soul knows it very well.
My frame was not hidden from you, 
     when I was being made in secret, intricately woven
     in the depths of the earth.
Your eyes saw my unformed substance;
in your book were written, every one of them,
     the days that were formed for me,
     when as yet there were none of them.
{Psalm 139:1-16}

A lot of people go to Psalm 23 ("The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want") when they are upset or scared. I go to Psalm 139.

When I'm having out-of-control emotions or worries, it's usually because I've forgotten who I am  and how God sees me. Psalm 139 reverberates with the reassurance of my identity and the anchor of God's love for me. My favorite name for God is "El Roi"--"the God who sees me." I take great comfort in simply knowing that He not only knows me, He knows who He created me to be--no matter if I forget.

Sometimes, we feel paralyzingly condemned by the sins of our past. Sometimes, we feel overwhelmed by the burden of our futures. But it's important to remember the consistency of God. "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever" (Hebrews 13:8).

That's one of the things I love about Jesus. He went to the cross, and He hasn't changed His mind about it.

In order to rescue us and bring us into relationship with Him, God sent the one thing that was most precious to Him--His Son--as a sacrifice to buy us (1 Corinthians 7:23). That's how much we are worth to Him: He couldn't just throw down any old bull or goat.  

When we get worried about our pasts or our futures (both of which have tried very hard to claim me this week), we need to remember that God wouldn't sacrifice something so precious to get us, then throw us aside. "Ok, kids, I've bought you out of hell. Now you're on your own. Hope you can hide from the devil until I return for you. Good luck!"

Why would anyone do that?

We're like kids climbing a tree, scared to take another step up, unaware that Dad has been standing below us the entire time to catch us if we fall. In fact, Dad even created the tree. Our security in Him is so strong and so unshakable, yet we are inconsistent in our ability to understand that.

Good thing He's consistent. He "hems us in behind and before." He knows what we're going to say before we say it, what we're going to think before we think it. He wrote your story before you were born.

He surrounds you and swaddles you around like a baby blanket and guards you on all sides like powerful armor. He is all OVER you. I mean, ALL OVER YOU, child! And if you know what goodness, what care, what everlasting love is in the heart of a Father, that thought should be your comfort and confidence.

Sometimes, when I get worried, I imagine Him laughing and saying, "If only you knew, silly girl!"

He will never change His mind about you.