When I feel a bit discouraged or sad I like to cue up songs that remind me that my hope was, is, and will always be in Jesus. Today I listened to Michael W Smith sing a hymn that was written in 1918. That makes this week’s song even older than me. Helen Lemmel, an accomplished hymn writer and soloist, titled the song“The Heavenly Vision”. But most of us know it by the first line of the refrain, “Turn your eyes upon Jesus”. Turn your eyes upon JesusLook full in his wonderful faceAnd the things of earth will grow strangely dimIn the light of his glory and grace I love the concept of turning my eyes toward Jesus but I am all about application. How can that action cause my struggles to dim in the light of His glory and grace? I think there are two foundational steps to get me to that place of comfort with Jesus. Step one
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Sometimes I just want to step away from people. I get tired. Living in honest community can be frustrating and discouraging. And then the song “Lean On Me” cycles up my playlist. That is not funny Lord. The lyrics sung by Bill Withers talks about being there for others. Sometimes in our livesWe all have painWe all have sorrow But if we are wiseWe know that there’sAlways tomorrow Lean on me, when you’re not strongAnd I’ll be your friend I confess that I struggle with the cost of walking in honest relationship with people. It is hard. I have come to understand why legalism is so much easier than grace. Legalism allows me to assess the situation and then apply a verse or assign a task. If that person rejects that Biblical admonition or task then legalism allows me to withdraw because they are disobedient. Grace does not give me that option. Grace demands that I move toward the struggle
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I can’t remember a more contentious cultural climate in my lifetime. Followers of Christ are wondering how to make a difference in an unfriendly environment. I think modeling a parable related by Jesus is desperately needed today. You probably know the story well. One day an expert in religious law stood up to test Jesus by asking him this question: “Teacher, what should I do to inherit eternal life?” Jesus replied, “What does the law of Moses say? How do you read it?” The man answered, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, all your strength, and all your mind.’ And, ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’” “Right!” Jesus told him. “Do this and you will live!” The religious “expert” should have quit right there. Instead he did what many of us try to do when Jesus tweaks our hearts. We look for the loopholes. The man wanted to justify his actions, so he
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When I got serious about following Jesus there was a song we sang regularly at gatherings. We are one in the Spirit, we are one in the LordWe are one in the Spirit, we are one in the LordAnd we pray that our unity will one day be restoredAnd they’ll know we are Christians by our love, by our loveYeah they’ll know we are Christians by our love What a difference the body of Christ would make in today’s contentious world if we believed and lived these very simple words. We are one in the spirit. There should be no separation by wealth, color, talent, or power. We are one in Jesus. We pray that our unity will one day be restored. We are still praying that today. It is not a difficult concept to understand how important unity is to achieve any goal. Can a team of self-centered football players win a championship? A team needs to have one
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I love how life experiences can teach you new lessons or reinforce lessons learned. Joni and I just returned from a week long retreat in Colorado at a beautiful B&B that I highly recommend called The Silver Lake Lodge. Less that a mile away from our awesome retreat was the trailhead that leads you to Saint Mary’s Glacier and the beautiful lake beneath it. We looked at the trail description. The hike was approximately 3/4 of a mile to the lake and the hiking app listed it as moderate. On our first full day in Colorado we decided to make the trek. The sign at the base of the trail was a bit sobering. But we sent a text asking our kids to pray for us and the location of our wills. Immediately we were taken aback at how rocky the trail before us appeared. Okay. This is doable. Just step carefully and take your time. This is not a
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Not all of us have experienced the joy of Psalm 133. “How good and pleasant it is when God’s people live together in unity!” (Ps.133:1, NIV) There is no more powerful community than a group of believers who live in unity. Nothing levels the playing field like Jesus when we genuinely follow Him. In Paul’s letter to the Thessalonians he offered the benefits of honest community. “And we urge you, brothers, admonish the idle, encourage the fainthearted, help the weak, be patient with them all.” (1 Thessalonians 5:14) Interesting that the challenges from Paul are listed from easiest to hardest. I can admonish the idle all day long. I am pretty good about encouraging the fainthearted. On my good days I help the weak. But be patient with them all? Come on Paul. Do you know these people? But that is the beauty of community. It is messy and beautiful. Frustrating and fulfilling. It is life. And it is best
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I love to watch Maggie when she is overseeing her backyard domain. Sometimes she goes to the fence and lets out a couple of deep-throated barks to let some perceived threat know that she is on duty. Or she patrols every inch of the yard, sniffing as if it is her first and not her one-thousandth time to do this. But the routine I love most is when she lies in the yard with head high, surveying her kingdom in silence. She is completely dialed in, listening for any disturbance that might need her attention. Maggie is most able to take in her world when she drops the barking and growling. Well played, Maggie. You are doing something most of us humans have a difficult time mastering—simply being silent and observing God’s world. There is hardly ever a complete silence in our soul. God is whispering to us well-nigh incessantly. Whenever the sounds of the world die out in the
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