Thank You Lord

On Monday mornings, we often have this battle of good and bad; the joy of thinking back on what may have been a great weekend of fun or rest, combined with what may be the battle of a tough week ahead.   Or, the opposite might be true; something about the past few days may have been hard, and this morning brings some release or a moving forward.

“Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for me.
Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing now.
Thank you, Lord, for every little thing.
Thank you, Lord, for you made me sing.“

Life can be full of this constant contradiction of the good and the bad, the joyful and the sorrowful.  We rarely have times when it is all of one or the other; a mix is probably more true.

“When times are good, be happy;
but when times are bad, consider this:
God has made the one
as well as the other.” (Ecclesiastes 7:14)

Many people only know Bob Marley’s music as the foundation of the Reggae sound or as songs of praise for his country Jamaica.  But at a deeper level, his music provides much evidence that he was a man who had a deep love for God.  His song “Thank You Lord” is a simple song of gratitude.  (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z9DDDj_JdMA)  But, it is not just about being appreciative of the good things, it is also about the recognition that the challenges are reasons to be thankful too.

When a painful event is freshly behind us, it is hard to be thankful for it.  I don’t mean thankful it is done; that’s easy.  I mean being appreciative of the experience and the transformation it brought.  Yes, even the rough times bring value to us.  The hard times give us perspective.  No only can they provide a way for us to appreciate the easy and good times more deeply, but the tough spots change us.

In Romans 8:18, Paul talks about a comparative nature for the challenges:

“I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. “

I do not think Paul means this in a way that we should just quit complaining about the times when we are experiencing pain.  He is saying that we can embrace these times, knowing that they will pass, knowing that God can and will bring glory through this momentary trouble.  Being thankful for the hard times is about taking the same frame of mind as when we pray for someone who is “persecuting” us or bringing us pain.  The world would tell us to curse and hate that person; God tells us to bless and love.

“Thank you, Lord, for what you've done for me.
Thank you, Lord, for what you're doing now.
Thank you, Lord, for every little thing.
Thank you, Lord, for you made me sing.“

So, what is this Monday bringing you to be thankful for?  Is the world telling you to complain, hang your head in sorrow or lament your challenges?  Be thankful. Embrace the transformation being brought to you through the struggle.  Thank God for every little thing.

Slumber

Do you ever have those moments where you are so tired that you can’t keep your eyes open?  You may be pushing through a long day, waking up early to start a busy schedule or on one of those extended late-night drives to a far-away destination.  We all have times when sleep calls to us, when the peace of slumber compels us to stop moving.  Moments can draw us back to sleep; our lives can feel like a drudge.

“Days they force you
Back under those covers
Lazy mornings they multiply 

But glory's waiting
Outside your window 

So wake on up from your slumber
Baby, open up your eyes”

What about your life?  Are you awake?  I don’t mean just “not-asleep”.  I mean are your eyes truly open to the beauty around you?

“Slumber” was the first song I heard from NEEDTOBREATHE.  It was an introduction to what is now one of my favorite bands.  The images of how we are sleeping through the world and Word around us, eyes closed; that we have such low expectations for our lives, is a wake up call to a life of blessing waiting for us.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AfNKE9aiKmQ

It is not as if we have to accept the zombie-life of just barely getting by.

“All these victims
Stand in line for
The crumbs that fall from the table
Just enough to get by 

All the while
Your invitation 

Wake on up from your slumber
Baby, open up your eyes”

There is One calling to us, inviting us to His table.  A table where we can be fed and never hunger again, drink and no longer thirst.  Jesus did not promise us a life that would be “just OK”.  Yes, He calls us into a life that can be challenging, causing us to question the purpose of the struggle.  Those close to us might be living a life of pain; tragedies seem to abound.  But, there is more, there is better.

“Therefore Jesus said again, ‘Very truly I tell you, I am the gate for the sheep.  All who have come before me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep have not listened to them.  I am the gate; whoever enters through me will be saved.  They will come in and go out, and find pasture.  The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy; I have come that they may have life, and have it in abundance.’ “ (John 10:7-10)

We have so much available to us.  We can choose to go about our lives in this wandering through quiet mediocrity, or we can choose more.  Jesus does not promise enough just to get by.  He offers us a life which enjoys the richness of a new life with Him.  He brings to us a life where our eyes are open to all the blessings around us.

“Come on
Sing like we used to
Dance when you want to
Taste of the breakthrough
You’re open wide”

So, are you awake, or are you just getting by?  Drink in the richness and fullness He brings. “Awake, my soul! Awake, harp and lyre! I will awaken the dawn.” (Psalm 57:8).  Wake on up from your slumber.

Come To The River

Are you thirsty?  Do you try over and over again to quench an emptiness which is never sated?

“I'm torn between myself and your truth
These cursed memories, forever seeping through
My thirst for myself left me wanting more
Till I found myself face down on your shore”

The things we do to try and quench our thirst are myriad.  We think earthly relationships with people, power or purpose will satisfy.  We look to ourselves for this filling up.

The Rhett Walker Band has become one of my go-to groups.  Their sound is a great mix of country-western, gospel and rock, all with a focus on the Message.  I love “Come To The River” because of the images it brings about being at your end, trying everything else, and God being there to refresh. (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=R1f6fqSf8O8)

When Jesus meets the woman at the well (John 4:1-26), besides boldly professing to her that He is Messiah, He breaks down so many walls in this simple setting.  Whether it is men talking to women directly, Jews interacting with Samaritans or the lack of judgment on someone who has been married many times, Jesus approaches her as one of His own.  I love how He picks the most average people to deliver His message.  He did not come to minister to the healthy, He came to heal us who are sick and tired.

“Jesus answered, ‘Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.’ ” (John 4:13)

The image of water and its power to transform and heal appear throughout the Bible.  The stories of Noah, Moses, Jesus washing the feet of His friends all speak to the healing water can bring.  Jesus’ baptism in the river and the ancient, purposeful Jewish traditions of cleanliness and its relation to holiness also bring important lessons to us.

“My restless heart, led me astray
To my selfish pride I became my own slave
But you placed a thirst in me with no drink in sight
'Cause I could not see till I saw through your eyes”

Water is meant to flow, to move and to change things.  The funny thing about water is what it can become when it sits still for too long.  Jesus does not say that the Water He offers is a quiet pool; He designates it as a spring.  Water that is not moving can become stagnant, even poisonous.  The blessings we receive from the Living Water are not meant to stay within us.  The Water is meant to flow to us, through us and onto others.  The fact that Rhett Walker uses the image of a river, and not a calm pool of water, is no accident either.

“You say, come to the river
Oh, and lay yourself down and let your heart be found
You say come to the river
Drink from the cup I pour and thirst no more”

So, are you thirsty?  Come to the river that is Jesus.  Drink that which will satisfy now and forever.  Thirst no more.

You Are My Vision

Vision is a word that is thrown around quite a bit, especially in the corporate setting.  Creating a “vision” for an organization is seen as key to creating a foundation for its success.  Maintaining that same vision over time is critical, but can sometimes be lost or become dim.  But here, we’re going to talk about a different type of vision.  On what do we focus?

“You are my vision
O King of my heart
Nothing else satisfies
Only you Lord”

Setting foot in Ireland today, how could I not throw out a song from an Irish band?  Rend Collective, whose song “Build Your Kingdom Here” I wrote about back on St. Patrick’s Day, hails from Belfast.  This great tune is a fun take on “Be Thou My Vision.”  The album “Campfire”, from which this comes, is appropriately named. This version sounds like it was sung around a campfire with friends together, praising God.  The little fiddle at the end, with a quick measure of a jig, certainly hearkens to our daughters’ love and history of Irish dancing.
(https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e3Z7iQrzchQ&feature=kp)

In Philippians, Paul offers to us his encouragement for what we should be focused on.  This is one of my all-time favorite verses.  By the way, he wrote this during one of the many times he was sitting in prison.

“Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable – if anything is excellent or praiseworthy – think about such things.” (Philippians 4:8)

What should our vision be focused on?  What is the truest, simplest and most magnificent example of our best focus?  Our Heavenly Father.

“You are my best thought
By day or by night
Waking or sleeping
Your presence my light”

As we progress through life, the things we focus on can certainly change, but our vision should remain the same.  When we take our eyes off of God, off of Christ, we can lose that which keeps us on firm footing.

“ ‘Come,’ He said.  Then Peter got down out of the boat, walked on the water and came toward Jesus.  But when he saw the wind, he was afraid and, beginning to sink, cried out, ‘Lord, save me!’ “ (Matthew 14: 29-30)

The world, at times, demands that we take our eyes off God, looking to those things that distract, cause fear, bring doubt.  We lose our vision.  But He does not lose us.

“Heart of my own heart
Whatever befall
Still be my vision
Oh ruler of all”

So, what is your vision?  On what are you focused?  Do the things the world throws at you every day draw your eyes away from the Truth?  For me?  Every day.  But on my best days, when my eyes shine brightly with love, joy and light, my Vision is there.  “You and You only, the first in my heart.  High King of Heaven, my treasure You are.”

Crave

Living during the “in between”.  There are times in our lives when we are in a moment where we know something is coming, but we don’t know what it is.  Maybe we have received some news, and its full reveal and impact is yet to come.

“Hope sleeps without me
Her sweet dreams surround me,
But I'm left out
I'll need a reason
To believe, to feel”

A very good friend of mine is in one of these times.  The love of his life, who has battled and beaten cancer not just once, but twice, now faces its return yet a third time.  The doctor’s words, “It might be nothing, but we should check it out” do not bring hope in his situation.  They are words which leave that sick feeling in your stomach.  A simple procedure comes next, just to see if there is anything there.  And now he waits.  She waits.

“Hope is what we crave,
And that will never change 

So I stand and wait
I need a drop of grace
To carry me today,
A simple song to say 

It's written on my soul
Hope's what we crave”

Although it might have been easy to use Tom Petty’s “The Waiting” today, using that famous chorus, “The waiting is the hardest part”, or my man Bob Marley’s “Waiting In Vain”, but I thought this great selection from For King and Country offered something a little different.  Their song “Crave” speaks of this same yearning for hope and the challenge of waiting for God in a different way (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYq55gv-H2o).  These guys also have a great tune “Middle of Your Heart” which I really like too, and was my original introduction to their music.

“I won't turn to dust now
Let these tears rust now
On my face
Give me the spark now
To believe, to see”

Does worrying while we wait help?  Of course, there is that planning element which allows us to play out various scenarios, determining what actions we might take, depending on the outcome of a situation.  But there is also worry.  That is different.  It’s the heart-racing stress we feel while we wait, while we sit in fear of what is to come.  It can consume us as we anticipate the pain, heartache or disappointment that may be in store.

God’s Word offers us many encouragements for this waiting.

“I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits, and in His word I put my hope.” (Psalm 130:5) 

“Therefore judge nothing before the appointed time; wait until the Lord comes. He will bring to light what is hidden in darkness and will expose the motives of the heart.” (1 Corinthians 4:5)

I really like what this last one says.

“Therefore you do not lack any spiritual gift as you eagerly wait for our Lord Jesus Christ to be revealed.” (1 Corinthians 1:7)

The implication that while we wait, there is this opportunity to use the spiritual gifts God has given to us; wisdom, knowledge, faith, healing (1 Corinthians 12:4-11).  He offers these to us as tools to use while we wait.  I don’t see “worrying” on the list.  The greatest gift He gives is Hope.  He promises that through His Love for us, all will be well.  Although our definition of healing and answered prayers can often be different that what we expect, different from God’s definition of these, but believe.  They do come.

“It’s written on my soul
Hope’s what You gave”

So, please pray for my friend and his love.  Pray that their waiting will be one of waiting on the Lord, in peace, knowing that through Christ, all things are possible (Philippians 4:13).  Knowing that He works all things for the good of those who love Him (Romans 8:28).  Pray for their time of waiting, that Christ will be revealed.

Stars

When is the last time you were able to go outside at night and look at the stars?  If you live in a city or a place with lots of streetlights fighting against their brightness, it is not easy to do.  But when you have and you can, looking at the deep darkness with brilliant pinpricks shining brightly, it’s hard not to feel something special, something Holy.

“But when I look at the stars,
when I look at the stars,
when I look at the stars I see someone else”

There is peace in their expansiveness.  Our problems somehow seem smaller.  My dad tells a story of a night when my baby sister Abbi was pretty sick with pneumonia.  He took her outside on a chilly night to let the cool, dry air calm her lungs.  Looking up into a clear cold sky, he was also calmed and knew all would be well.

“Stars lookin at our planet watching entropy and pain
And maybe start to wonder how the chaos in our lives could pass as sane
I've been thinking bout the meaning of resistance, of a hope beyond my own
And suddenly the infinite and penitent begin to look like home”

Switchfoot is another one of those special bands whose music often spans the divide between so-called secular music and Christian Contemporary.  Their song “Stars” is a pretty heavy rocker with some booming guitars.  But for this morning, we’ll listen to their acoustic version.  For me, the message here reminds me that when I stare up into the vast expanse of bright stars on a black velvet tapestry, I can feel like everything and nothing at the same time.  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v21K5gZgJo

Because we are all a part of God’s creation, because He made us all from the same mélange of beautiful chemistry, we feel a strange kinship to things of beauty in this world.  When we recognize the Holy in those things around us, we are in essence seeing a part of ourselves…seeing God that is within us…in what is outside of us.

How can God create and care for the universe and all that is in it, and still care for me?

“Lord, our Lord,
how majestic is your name in all the earth!
You have set your glory in the heavens.
Through the praise of children and infants
you have established a stronghold against your enemies,
to silence the foe and the avenger.
When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers,
the moon and the stars, which you have set in place,
what is mankind that you are mindful of them,
human beings that you care for them” (Psalm 8:1-4)

This is the awesomeness of God.  Even though there a million-billion other people, places, events and things for God to be mindful of at any given moment, He still loves and cares for me as a individual and unique part of His creation.  When I feel a Holy connection to those stars in the sky, reveling in their majesty, I say to myself “I am nothing like this”, but it is God saying to me, “You are this to me”; perfect, beautiful, infinite and Holy.

“When I look at the stars,
the stars, I feel like myself”

So, on the next clear night, find a quiet dark place to go outside and look at the stars.  When you stand in awe of their beauty, recognize that you are not seeing something outside of you, but merely looking in the mirror of God’s creation, seeing the beauty that is in you.

The Struggle

What’s your battle today?

“There's a wreckage, there's a fire
There's a weakness in my love
There's a hunger I can't control
Lord, I falter and I fall down
Then I hold on to chains You broke
When You came and saved my soul. Save my soul”

We humans certainly like to fight and re-fight the same things over and over.  Even when a battle is done and won, we can tend to revisit the issue and drag it out longer than necessary.  When we have been bound by a challenging situation in our lives and freed from it, our tendency to return to that same struggle is a curious part of our being.  The cliché “the devil you know…” comes to mind.

Today’s selection is another from Tenth Avenue North.  The Struggle paints a great picture of our repeated turning to our battle, especially the battle Jesus has already fought for us and won. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4MQcd1wEosw

“So, why, Lord, do I still fail,
Do I wear thin?
Why do I still give in to temptation?
On my own, I am bankrupt,
I don't trust You or take You at Your word
What You've promised”

(On a YouTube-related note, if you have an extra 15 mins today enjoy this video of “Oceans” http://youtu.be/4g-iYws5868 which I wrote about a couple of weeks ago.  Need to see the Holy Spirit moving?  The audience singing along will move you.)

The Bible is full of stories about people struggling with God.  In Genesis, we see our sneaky friend Jacob again.  Remember, he took his brother Esau’s birthright…twice…and although not the nicest thing to do, it is evidence once again of how God uses the imperfect to accomplish the Perfect.  In this part of Jacob’s story, we learn how his name was changed as a part of his struggle.

“So Jacob was left alone, and a man wrestled with him till daybreak.  When the man saw that he could not overpower him, he touched the socket of Jacob’s hip so that his hip was wrenched as he wrestled with the man.  Then the man said, ‘Let me go, for it is daybreak.’  But Jacob replied, ‘I will not let you go unless you bless me.’  The man asked him, ‘What is your name?’  ‘Jacob,” he answered.  Then the man said, ‘Your name will no longer be Jacob, but Israel, because you have struggled with God and with humans and have overcome.’ ” (Genesis 32:24-28)

My favorite part of this story is the meaning of the word “Israel”.  In Hebrew, the last part of the word “-el” is an ancient name for God.  The first part, “yisra-“ literally means “to struggle” or “to prevail”.  As the man with whom Jacob wrestled (assumedly as angel) points out, Jacob “struggled with God”.  What I love is that you can read this in two ways.  One option is to think of the name as “struggling against God”, meaning, constantly battling God and His will for us.  We all do this…I do this.

Jacob is struggling with God, and God knocks him down…literally takes his legs out from under him.  There are many times in our lives when we get thrown for a loop or our world is rocked.  The question we should ask ourselves, it is because we are unnecessarily fighting against something?

But consider another way to think about “struggling with God”.  We can also chose to read this as “struggling, but doing so with God at our side.”  When we are doing something “with” someone, it can also mean that we are doing it together, in partnership, as co-warriors in the fight.  I like this one better, even though I know the other way to look at it is just as true.

“Hallelujah
We are free to struggle
We're not struggling to be free
Your blood bought and makes us children
Children, drop your chains and sing”

So, are you struggling with God as an adversary in a battle, or are you struggling with God as a partner in the fray?  Has the fight left you bruised and battered, limping around?  There is One on whom you can lean, who will gladly fight beside you.  But remember, He already did, and the battle in which you struggle is already won.