Lent Day 3: Seek Him As a Precious Jewel

"Cast your cares on the LORD

and He will sustain you;

He will never let the righteous be shaken."

-- Psalm 55:22, NIV

On this third lenten morning, a thought by Henry Benjamin Whipple (1822-1901) came to my attention. It reads:

“All we want in Christ, we shall find in Christ.

If we want little, we shall find little. If we want much, we shall find much;

but if, in utter helplessness, we cast our all on Christ,

He will be to us the whole treasury of God.”

What do you and I want in Christ?

Singer and songwriter, Laura Story, answers the above question in her song, Blessings:

"We pray for blessings, we pray for peace,

comfort for family, protection while we sleep.

We pray for healing, for prosperity;

We pray for Your mighty hand to ease our suffering.

And all the while, You hear each spoken need

Yet love us way too much to give us lesser things . . ."

Whoa!

The grocery list of items mentioned in Laura Story's song is a faithful replica of prayer list after prayer list most of us have encountered at local church prayer gatherings. How can these prized items be seen as lesser things?

Perhaps, better things might be spiritual feats or gratifying answers we want from God according to our own timeline . . . Maybe? Again, Blessings addresses us on that front:

"We pray for wisdom, Your voice to hear

We cry in anger when we cannot feel You near

We doubt Your goodness, we doubt Your love

As if every promise from Your Word is not enough

And all the while, You hear each desperate plea

And long that we'd have faith to believe . . ."

-- Extracted from Blessings, Laura Story

Believe.

Yes, that's it!

Belief in God, faith in God, trust in God is the rudder that guides our praying. It is "faith that precedes and undergirds the prayer life of a disciple of Christ" (Weeding Impatience, 24). It is faith that reveals our utter helplessness to and total reliance upon the Father.   Without the precious faith He has graciously deposited in the vault of our hearts, all requests of ours have no choice but to be considered lesser things. The writer of Hebrews says it like this, "Without faith it is impossible to please God, because anyone who comes to Him must believe that He exists and that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him" (11:6, NIV).

And how does He reward us?

The Holy Spirit comes to the rescue in inspiring songwriter Dennis Jernigan to pen this widely beloved chorus:

"You are my strength when I am weak

You are the treasure that I seek

You are my all in all

Seeking You as a precious jewel

Lord, to give up, I'd be a fool

You are my all in all."

-- Extracted from You Are my All in All, Dennis Jernigan 

Wow!

In other words, all the trials and battles that I face exist to heighten my utter helplessness and point me to discover amazing and potent truths about my Savior:

Christ is my jewel.

Christ is my greatest prize.

Christ is my life, my crown and glory.

Christ is the whole treasury of God available to me.

Examples abound in the Word of God depicting battles and situations where the people of God typified faith-induced reliance upon God while seeking Him, His presence, as a precious jewel:

-  Moses in front of the Red Sea 

-  David in front of Goliath

-  Esther before approaching King Xerxes 

-  Daniel in the den of lions 

-  Jonah in the belly of the great fish

-  the three Hebrews in the fiery furnace 

-  Stephen’s speech to the Sanhedrin before his stoning 

In all the stories aforementioned, prayer played a significant role in pointing onlookers to the glory of God as faith-filled servants, aware of their helplessness, turned to the Father in spirit and in truth. Long after their death, their prayers of faith are still reaping dividends in the hearts of individuals being added daily to the great throng of believers in Christ.

One particular instance chronicled in 2 Kings 19 paints a wonderful picture of what prayer can do in terms of unleashing the work of the Holy Spirit—divine victory over the forces of evil. The problem was given to us in the previous chapter when Sennacherib, the powerful and fierce Assyrian king, sent word to Hezekiah reviling God’s name and threatening to overtake Jerusalem.

In 2 Kings 19:1-4, we are given the response of Hezekiah -- he tore his clothes, put on sackcloth, and sought the Lord (going to the temple to be in God's presence). Such is the response we are invited to offer to every situation we face, every threat the enemy throws at us. 

Because of Hezekiah’s leadership in calling God’s people to pray, all kinds of things were set in motion. God's first response came through Isaiah (vv. 5-7)—“Do not be afraid.” When Sennacherib heard of God’s response to Hezekiah, he dared to discredit God to Hezekiah in a letter (vv. 9-13). However, Hezekiah did not answer him. Instead, he took the letter and spread it open to God, and PRAYED a powerful prayer in humility (vv. 14-19). God responded to Hezekiah's prayer through Isaiah again (vv. 20-34). God's answer was much more than what Hezekiah had asked for—it was a blessing! Then in verse 35, God fought the battle for Hezekiah while he was asleep, culminating in Sennacherib being destroyed/cut down by his own sons.

What is truly important to notice is that the entire time, not once did Hezekiah engage Sennacherib directly. He only sought the Lord as a precious jewel in prayer. 

Might we do the same, brothers and sisters in Christ? 

Might we starve the urge to engage our attackers directly?

Might we forgo the right to indulge our desire for lesser things?

Might we seek the Lord earnestly, living in Him and for Him today? 

Might we embrace the faith that leads us to rend our hearts to the Father?

Might we remember that our jealous God takes personally the threats and lies the usurper hurls at us? 

Might we remember that the Father will call forth all the reserves of heaven for the deliverance of His people? 

Indeed, the Father has opened His treasure chest to us. He has already granted to us His brightest Jewel by sending a Savior to fight against sin, a Light to overcome our darkness, and boundless grace in response to our numerous offenses. Let us surrender all our battles to the One who fights on our behalf while we are sleeping. Let us be mindful of Peter's words, "Cast all your anxiety on Him because He cares for you" (1 Peter 5:7, NIV).

Lent Day 2: Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy

"Come . . . 

whosoever will . . . 

take the water of life freely."

-- Revelation 22:17, KJV

You and I are awake and alive. 
Great news!
It is the day after Ash Wednesday.
What does that mean?

You may remember receiving or seeing or reading about ashes yesterday. Gone are the ashes now. Gone is the worship gathering allowing you to feed on the wonder and fervor of fellow Christ-followers. Gone is the hype of "giving up" on social media. You are now alone, going about your day packed with mundane tasks. As the excitement of the beginning of Lent wanes, may I remind you that Christ's invitation still stands.

"Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters;

and you who have no money, come, buy and eat . . .

Give ear and come to me;

listen, that you may live."

-- Isaiah 55:1 & 3, NIV

Known for its lilting and haunting melody, the beloved hymn Come, Ye Sinners, Poor and Needy, penned by Joseph Hart (1712-1768), is a fitting piece for Lent—captivating our hearts and inviting our minds to reflect upon Christ and to rend ourselves.

"Come, ye sinners, poor and needy

Weak and wounded, sick and sore

Jesus ready stands to save you,

Full of pity, love, and power."

What a special invitation addressed to anyone and everyone! Love being the common denominator, Christ's arms are open to all who are willing -- sinners and beggars and wanderers and weaklings and patients are all included and invited to partake in Christ's refreshing offer.

"Come, ye thirsty, come and welcome,

God's free bounty glorify;

True belief and true repentance,

Every grace that brings you nigh."

Highlighting God’s grace, the lyrics of this hymn bring hope to our oft-despairing hearts especially when our lives are peppered with difficulties, hardships, and frustrations. Each of us may be facing an impasse that clouds our vision from clearly seeing God’s love and humbly accepting His grace and truth.

"Come, ye weary, heavy-laden,

Lost and ruined by the fall;

If you tarry till you're better,

You will never come at all."

We are often waylaid by our tendency to worry and fret over items and events beyond our control. We are intercepted by our propensity to forget that our concerns do not escape His notice, that our heartaches do not take Him by surprise, that our hunger and thirst and loneliness are duly noted, that our tears are wiped by His gentle fingers and collected in His bottle.

"Let not conscience make you linger,

Not of fitness fondly dream;

All the fitness He requireth

Is to feel your need of Him."

O, how I need Him!
Don't you need Him?

Nothing expresses our need of Christ more than a life of prayer (James 5:13). When we feel overwhelmed by the problems in our world, we can turn to prayer. It is through prayer that we surrender our anxieties and concerns, our fears and hurts, to God in their raw and unpolished state. As we make our petitions known, the Lord unlocks our hearts and grants us the fullness of His comfort and presence.

As we journey through this season that points to Easter, might we turn our minds to the value of God’s invitation and command for us to pray? Could we be reminded of the apostle John who instructs us that God cherishes our prayers, keeping them in precious bowls in heaven (Revelation 5:8) as a fragrant aroma to His nostrils?

A convicting truth accompanies John’s reminder: The divine command of prayer does not merely connote a sense of resignation on our part to the tune of  “I guess, the only thing I can do now is pray”; rather, it unearths a spirit of gratitude and excitement on our part, leading us to say, “What a privilege to pray to the Lord of lords since prayer is a gift the Father values for all eternity!”

Still, prayer is more than a privilege; it is a necessity. God’s Word highlights several disadvantages tagging alongside prayerlessness:

-   Failing to pray is a sin. 1 Samuel 12:23 says, “Far be it from me that I should sin against the Lord by failing to pray for you.”
-   Failing to pray is a direct act of disobedience to the Word of God. 1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray continually.”
-   Failing to pray turns us into prey. Matthew 26:41 says, “Watch and pray so that you will not fall into temptation.”
-  Failing to pray alienates us from God. Deuteronomy 4:7 says, “ . . . the Lord our God is near us when we pray to Him.”

Another hymn says it this way:

"Oh, what peace we often forfeit,

Oh, what needless pain we bear,

All because we do not carry

Everything to God in prayer!"

-- Joseph Scriven (1819-1918)

In other words, prayerlessness limits our relationship with God, preventing us from growing in intimacy with Christ, and knowing His will and His way in our lives. It forces us to rely on what we can do instead of what God can do, leaving us depleted and harried. Gratefully, our gracious Lord invites us, “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light.” (Matt. 11:28, NIV)

"View Him prostrate in the garden

On the ground your Maker lies

On the bloody tree behold Him

Sinner, will this not suffice?"

Turning toward Him, seeing Him, fixing our eyes upon Him is sufficient.
His grace is more than sufficient. 

Let us, then, respond to Christ’s invitation. 

"I will arise and go to Jesus

He will embrace me in His arms;

In the arms of my dear Savior,

O there are then thousand charms."

Let us “arise and go to Jesus,” taking to Him all that concerns us in prayer. In so doing, we will be contributing to the eternal gift that God cherishes. Indeed, “there are ten thousand charms . . .”

Lent Day 1: Ash Wednesday

"Therefore . . .

I repent in dust and ashes."

Job 42:6, NIV

Welcome to the first day of Lent, my friend!

I invite you to join me on this Lenten journey. Since this is a blog, you may be tempted to simply scroll down while deciding whether or not this is worth a true read, a deep read from your busy eyes . . . overly crowded mind . . . and restless heart.

Let me humbly suggest that there is much value in pausing and giving this journey a chance.  This trek seeks to encourage one and all to become purposeful or intentional about turning the mind, the heart, the soul, and the body to the reality of Christ and the splendor of His Passion and Resurrection. 

And let me gently nudge you to not spectate. In fact, I hope you will participate. As you do, my prayer is that you and I will "grow in the grace and knowledge of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ" (2 Peter 3:18) -- knowing Him personally on a deep and intimate level. I also pray that you and I will grow in humility and sacrificial love as we gaze upon His face steadfastly for the next seven weeks.

It is all about Christ!

*******

Today is Ash Wednesday in the liturgical calendar. It marks the onset of the Lenten season, a period of preparation for the celebration of Easter. In certain traditions, ashes will be used and applied on the foreheads of myriad Christians today as a sign of mourning over sins and a gesture of humbling oneself in the sight of the Lord.

Traditionally, the ashes come from palm fronds or branches used by congregants on the Palm Sunday of the previous year. Said palms are burned, consecrated, and collected as ashes for the first day of Lent. Christ-followers from religious traditions that celebrate Ash Wednesday usually leave ashes on their foreheads for the whole day as a genuine and vulnerable expression of their faith in the humble Christ.

Yet not all Christians agree with the celebration of Ash Wednesday. And even among those who do, not all Christians use ashes. Still, the ashes point to an invitation Christ sends to all of His followers -- to come to Him in humble repentance because our best waving palms, our righteous acts, are nothing but filthy rags next to the radiance of His glory.

"All of us have become like one who is unclean,

and all our righteous acts are like filthy rags;

we all shrivel up like a leaf,

and like the wind our sins sweep us away."

Isaiah 64:6, NIV

What are our best waving palms?

Generosity.
Compassion.
Humility.
Tenderness.
Respect.
Love.
Joy.
Peace.
Patience.
Kindness.
Goodness.
Faithfulness.
Gentleness.
Temperance.

What a formidable portrait!

Yet it all comes crashing down as more and more people perpetuate, "You are the most generous, most compassionate, most humble . . . person that I know" and as our hearts grow more and more accustomed and reliant upon such praise. 

How easily the very items we aim to rend to the Father become instruments that puff us up! How quickly the Christian virtues we seek to practice turn into forceful gusts of wind that threaten to sweep us away!

We are ever learning yet never quite reaching true wisdom.
We are ever reading holy writings yet never quite living in holiness.
We are ever memorizing verses yet never quite retaining the lessons learned.
We are ever drawing from the well of grace yet never quite holding the water of freedom.

Indeed, in accumulating knowledge and religiosity, we become overly stuffed -- stuffed with too much pride, too much esteem, too much recognition, too much adulation, too much plunder . . . much too much of anything and everything. Human praise keeps us so full of the 'self' and so full of oozing sin that there is very little (if any) room left in the heart or mind for the worship of Christ.

In His mercy, the Holy Spirit reveals to us that accumulating does not equate retaining. In the economy of God's grace, we can only retain one thing and one thing only -- that is, the person of Christ Himself. And in order to retain Him, He graciously invites us to rend ourselves -- allowing Him to empty our hearts of all the odious filth that repels God's holiness. Our Savior is so pure that He will not share His place with any other entity. He wants to be the only occupant of our hearts.

Hence, Ash Wednesday reminds us that Jesus beckons us, "Come!"

-  Would you and I come to Jesus today "with all [our hearts], with fasting and weeping and mourning" (Joel 2:12) rending our hearts and not our garments? 
-  Would we present our 'waving palms' to Him, letting Him burn them, consecrate them, collect them, and place them not merely on our foreheads but on our very hearts? 
-  Would we come to Him as an act of willingness and readiness to receive the Holy Spirit's guidance and wisdom? 
-  Would we offer Him our fasting as an invitation for the Holy Spirit to sweep our hearts clean and make room for Christ, the sole occupant of our ever so lowly hearts? 
-  Would we come to Him not just during this lenten season but for the remainder of our lives on earth, exposing our hearts to Christ's X-radiating power to excise entangling sins and relying on His grace alone?

I invite you to join me in prayer.

Even coming to You, O Christ, is a gracious wonder. Had it not been for Your grace, I would not even know how to take the first step. Had it not been for Your cords of loving-kindness, I would instead be drowning in sinking sand and shame. Thank You for claiming and reclaiming my soul in Your mercy. O Lamb of God, I come to You with my 'waving palms' and talents. Burn them before they forge their way into my heart. Please, place the ashes on my heart and prepare me to be Your living sanctuary for all to see. In the precious name of Jesus, I pray. Amen!

50 Days

50 days . . .

. . . of waiting
. . . of anticipating
. . . of relinquishing

50 days . . .

. . . of fasting
. . . of praying
. . . of surrendering

50 days.

If I am still alive 50 days from today, I will be grateful to celebrate an event that both informs and secures my faith -- the Resurrection of Jesus.

At dawn, on a Sunday over 2,000 years ago in Jerusalem, a tomb was found empty and that single discovery brought fear and joy and peace and trepidation and awe to many people--so many people. The Roman officials and the Jewish leaders were afraid that their plan had gone array whereas the disciples and the multitudes who believed in Christ were rejoicing.

The Master is indeed the One.
He is the Messiah, the Anointed One!

Ever since I gave my heart away to Jesus, my Messiah, at the ripe old age of 5, Easter Sunday has been truly special to me. As a youngster, I remember counting the months, weeks, days, and hours leading up to it -- alert and expectant of the glorious celebration of the Man of sorrows rising from the tomb. That sense of anticipation and expectation grew more intense since I was also involved in plays and musicals that focused on the Passion and the Resurrection of Christ. By the time Easter Sunday came around, I was ripe and ready for it -- beaming with joy and glowing in adoration of the crowned King.

Yet as I grew older, and the plays and the musicals and whatever else were snatched away from my life, the anticipation grew increasingly less intense -- it became almost blasé and nonchalant. There was no time for preparation, no time for active remembrance of that special and faith-defining event save Holy Week, a movie about the life of Christ, and some isolated sermons. Sadly, that was my dispassionate approach to Easter for a very long time.

Then it all changed.
One word did the trick.

Lent.

"What is that?"

I remember pondering the above question in college when I heard the word lent for the first time. One positive element of attending Biola University in La Mirada, CA was the fact that it is a non-denominational school. And so, it came to be that I was communing with students who were Baptists, Catholics, Lutherans, Presbyterians, and everything in between. Through our interactions, I came to appreciate the richness of Lent -- a 49-day season used to aid any willing believer to focus on the Cross, the finished work of Christ, the provision of the Father, and the indwelling presence of the Holy Spirit.

As I reflect further on the benefits of Lent, I see life on earth in general as a God-designed Lent for anyone who believes in Christ. Every day I am called to participate in the active remembrance of who Christ is, what He has done for me, what He is doing on my behalf, and where He is taking me. As I am reminded by the Holy Spirit of these truths, my sense of dependence on the God-head grows and grows and grows.

So, I want to take this lenten season as a gracious opportunity to be reminded of potent truths from Scripture that point me to the Savior and prepare my heart for the glorious celebration of the King who has vanquished the grave.

Would you join me?

Let us begin tomorrow on Ash Wednesday!

Soli Deo Gloria!

My Plea

Holy Jesus, 

Make of me a blueprint of Your likeness.

A man empowered by Your glorious might

A man full of mercy and compassion

A man overflowing with gratitude

A man of unhesitating humility

A man filled with Your Spirit

A man of profound wisdom

A man of boundless joy

A man of sincere love

A man of deep faith

Blessings

Scripture invites me to surrender everything to God, a heavenly Father who delights in blessing all of His children.

Who wouldn't want blessings?

Naturally, all my senses unite their efforts in prompting me to quip:

"Where do I sign up?"

Just like that, I find myself enrolled in Surrender 101, emotionally singing,

"All to Jesus, I surrender
All to Him I freely give
I will ever love and trust Him
In His presence daily live . . ."

What a heart-stirring hymn!
What a blessing!

Perhaps, it was the melody or the harmony or . . . the Holy Spirit Himself . . . but my singing stopped as I slowly began to realize the clash existing between human and divine interpretations of the word 'blessing.'

By human standards, all too often items deemed pleasant are seen as divine blessings or rewards afforded by high spiritual performance whereas items deemed unpleasant are seen as consequences of subpar spiritual performance. 

You've heard the critics:

Bad grades.
"You must not have prayed hard enough."
Bigger salaries.
"God has blessed you tremendously, my friend."
Botched performances.
"You must not have relied on God's strength."
Benign tumors.
"God wouldn't give up on the health of a good person like you."

What does that even mean?

Does it mean that only A+ students are good prayer warriors?
Does it mean that my father's meager salary was an evident lack of divine blessings?
Does it mean that memory slips in a voice recital result from the singer's lack of surrender?
Does it mean that my cancer-stricken loved ones have been abandoned by the very God who promises never to leave nor forsake them?

Certainly, a God like that would be hard pressed to find worshipers.

However, the Father paints a completely different picture of Himself in Scripture. He is the God who delights in His children whether in want or plenty, in sickness or health, in sorrow or joy. 

In fact, His concept of 'blessing' takes the world upside down. In His sermon on the Mount, Jesus challenges all with ears to hear to think of 'blessing'  in a way that differs from that championed by human wisdom: 

-  It is not necessarily the rich but the poor in spirit who are blessed
-  It is not necessarily the cultured and the chic but the pure in heart who will see God
-  It is not necessarily the smug and the self-righteous but those who are persecuted because of righteousness who will inherit the kingdom of God
-  It is not necessarily the polite, close-mouthed, overly private, passive, tolerant, politically correct individual but the vibrant, imaginative, empowered, and radical person who is not ashamed to let their light and faith shine before mankind who will cause the unconverted to praise our Father in heaven
-  It is not necessarily the ones for whom everything is going well financially, emotionally, psychologically, relationally, and on every level but those who have been brought to a place of acute mourning and deep grieving who are blessed with the Lord's comfort

Job got it.

When pressed to curse God and die, he held on to his integrity and allegiance to God by reasoning, " . . . Shall we receive good from God, and shall we not receive evil?" (Job 2:10b, ESV) Job surrendered his heart, his body, his life, his all into the hands of God -- the Creator to whom Job later said, "You will call and I will answer You; You will long for the creature Your hands have made" (Job 14:15, NIV).

Now, THAT'S my God!

One who yearns and longs for me.
One who holds and sustains and protects me.
One whose dealings reveal His absolute best for me.

In my pain . . .
In my losses . . .
In my anguish . . .
In my heartaches . . .
In my earthquake . . .
In my tornadoes and tsunamis . . .

His grace is sufficient for me for His power is made perfect in weakness and brokenness.

Therefore . . .

I am blessed!

Because . . .

HE IS LORD!
HE IS LOVING!
HE IS ALTOGETHER GOOD!

So, I surrender to You, O my precious Jesus!

Stumbling through the Lens of Grace

"Stumbling seven times

BUT . . .

recovering eight."

-- Japanese Proverb

Stumble.
Stumbled.
Stumbling.

"To stumble" is a verb that means "to trip or momentarily lose one's balance or almost fall," according to my dictionary.

Who does not stumble?
Who has never stumbled?
Whom has stumbling left unscathed?

I know I am a stumbler.

I lose my footing when the ground shakes and rumbles under me.
I stagger in my heart when situations and circumstances feel like earthquakes.
I trip when words I never intended others to hear come rushing through my lips.
I proceed falteringly when any and every time my carefully planned agenda runs amok.

I stumble.

I make mistakes.

I win one day and lose the next.

I fail to plumb the depths of genuine truth.

I do not always confess the Lordship of Christ in my actions.

Indeed, I am a stumbler.

Yet, grace and redemption delight in turning stumblers into pillars and trees -- firmly grounded, stumbling never again. This delightful, stable, and life-altering transformation occurs in the form of a transaction called surrender.

Wanting me to experience the blessed truth of His presence, Christ pleads with me to tune out the enticing lies of the "do it my way" mindset. More than a jaded nod to this wake-up call, He urges me to respond with more gravitas -- to descend to ground zero and surrender my independence to Him in humility and with trust.

Ground zero is the place where I am invited to admit my infidelity toward my heavenly Husbandman. It is the location where I deposit on God's altar my insolent chasing after fleshly enticements and worldly ways--selfish patterns that have wreaked havoc in my relationship with God and in my relationships with others.

Therein Christ's loving, gentle, gracious voice invites me to surrender . . .

. . . my wallowings, 

                        

                          wants, 

                               warts, 

                                   welts, 

                                      whims, 

                                          whinings, 

                                                    whys, 

                                                         wills, 

                                                            winters, 

                                                                    woes, 

                                                                        worries . . .in order to accept His full provision:

-  every spiritual blessing in Christ (Ephesians 1:3).
-  everything needed for life and godliness (2 Peter 1:3).
-  the peace that passes all understanding (Philippians 4:7).
-  grounding and fruitfulness in season (Psalm 1:2).
-  being rooted and built up in Christ, growing in the faith, and overflowing in thankfulness (Colossians 2:6-7).

Oh, glory!

My stumbling does not cause the Father to move away from me. In fact, He approaches me, woos me, listens to me, approves of me, holds me, speaks to me, receives me because . . . 

Christ was born

Christ lived a sinless life

Christ died on the cross for me

Christ rose victoriously from the grave

Christ is preparing a place for me in glory

Indeed, I can only kiss stumbling goodbye and remain standing if, and only if, Christ alone is my hope, my life, my all.

"His oath, His covenant, His blood

Support me in the whelming flood;

When all around my soul gives way,

He then is all my hope and stay.

On Christ, the solid Rock, I stand;

All other ground is sinking sand,

All other ground is sinking sand."

Lord Jesus, thank You for providing salvation when I was lost, understanding and wisdom when I am confused, grounding when I stumble, renewal when I am depleted, wholeness when I am broken, and fullness of joy when I am discontented. Amen!