Mission Faithwalk

                 Yet as for me, I know that my Redeemer lives, And at the last, He will take His stand on the earth . (Job 19:25)              If you read the chapter, Job doesn’t seem to be in the mood to sing happy worship music. Of course, we know that he was impoverished, mourning, and ill. We also know that several friends showed up and did as ham-handed a job of comforting him as possible. This passage comes in the middle of one of his rebukes of those over-stuffed comforters. I can imagine him poking himself in the chest whenever he referred to himself.           As I listened to Chris Tomlin and Don Moen this afternoon, I thought it would be so nice to be that fervent, that zealous regularly. The same is true with today’s passage. I wish I could poke myself in the check and vehemently announce, “Yet as for me , I know that my Redeemer lives. And at the last, He will take his stand on the earth!”           But few of us – maybe none of us – can maintain that level of energ

                 In your relationships with one another, have the same mindset as Christ Jesus: Who, being in very nature God, did not consider equality with God something to be used to his own advantage; rather, he made himself nothing by taking the very nature of a servant, being made in human likeness. And being found in appearance as a man, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to death— even death on a cross! (Philippians 2:5-8 NIV)                 Have this attitude in yourselves which was also in Christ Jesus,   who, as He already existed in the form of God, did not consider equality with God something to be grasped,   but emptied Himself by taking the form of a bondservant and being born in the likeness of men. And being found in appearance as a man, He humbled Himself by becoming obedient to the point of death: death on a cross. (Philippians 2:5-8 NASB)                       There are two translations of the same passage provided above because I learned the passage in

                 There is a time for everything  and a season for every activity under the heavens: a time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot,  a time to kill and a time to heal, a time to tear down and a time to build, a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance, a time to scatter stones and a time to gather them, a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, a time to search and a time to give up, a time to keep and a time to throw away, a time to tear and a time to mend, a time to be silent and a time to speak, a time to love and a time to hate, a time for war and a time for peace.                  I’m writing this the day before I change ages, and you’re reading it the day after. Birthdays have been a challenge for me for as long as I remember. As I look back at my life, I regret all I’ve failed to do each year. By now, I should be so much more mature, accomplished, successful, wise, loving, helpful… This yea

                 To them God has chosen to make known among the Gentiles the glorious riches of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory. He is the one we proclaim, admonishing and teaching everyone with all wisdom, so that we may present everyone fully mature in Christ. (Colossian 1:27-28)               But solid food is for the mature, who by constant use have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil . (Hebrews 5:14)                  As I read the first passage above (the verse of the day on Biblegateway.com) the phrase that stuck out to me was “mature in Christ.” Maturity is our goal – and we recognize this when we’re kids. Kids can’t wait to grow up so they can do all those exciting things that grown-ups can do; most of which turn out to be less attractive than we anticipated. Once we can do them, we want to grow up to the point when we can retire and become freer – like children again. When we get there, we discover that our bodies and purses have faile

                 Therefore, the kingdom of heaven is like a king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants.   As he began the settlement, a man who owed him ten thousand bags of gold was brought to him. Since he was not able to pay, the master ordered that he and his wife and his children and all that he had be sold to repay the debt.                At this the servant fell on his knees before him. “Be patient with me,” he begged, “and I will pay back everything.” The servant’s master took pity on him, canceled the debt and let him go.                But when that servant went out, he found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred silver coins. He grabbed him and began to choke him. “Pay back what you owe me!” he demanded.                His fellow servant fell to his knees and begged him, “Be patient with me, and I will pay it back.”                But he refused. Instead, he went off and had the man thrown into prison until he could pay the debt. When the othe

                 David said to Gad, “I am in deep distress. Let me fall into the hands of the Lord, for his mercy is very great; but do not let me fall into human hands .” (I Chronicles 21:13)                  For I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and acknowledgment of God rather than burnt offerings . (Hosea 6:6)                  Mercy: compassion or forgiveness shown toward someone whom it is within one's power to punish or harm.                  As promised, today’s topic is mercy. The unofficial definition is above, but often, I hear grace described as our getting what we don’t deserve, and mercy as our not getting what we do deserve. When I referred to God showing me mercy yesterday, I was correct, because I don’t deserve to be allowed to live, let alone to build garden beds. God caused the rain to stop getting in my way. But I was also incorrect. God gave me a couple of hours to work on the garden that I didn’t deserve. While we differentiate between them, I suspect the

                 Have mercy on me, Lord, for I am faint; heal me, Lord, for my bones are in agony. (Psalm 6:2)                “But the tax collector stood at a distance. He would not even look up to heaven, but beat his breast and said, ‘God, have mercy on me, a sinner.’ (Luke 18:13)                  It’s been a challenging day so far. I got up with such plans, but the rain moved in and the temperatures dropped. I knew they would, but I hoped to fill the blueberry bed. While waiting, I did a little research about the peat moss part of it, and I put it in a big container out in the rain to soak up water, and I added water because it wasn’t raining hard enough. So I have the blessing of doing the peat moss part right, but it’s… not…done. There are other things. My writing isn’t going as I’d like. I feel like a failure in several areas of life, especially regarding my relationships with God, myself, and everyone else. It doesn’t matter whether those feelings are associated with rea

                 if my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and will heal their land . (II Chronicles 7:14)                  This is the verse for today because as I was walking and praying this morning, I couldn’t quote it. I’ve quoted it many times, but this morning, I was losing parts – and not always the same parts! Since the recent topics have been seeking God and building community, this verse is at least one of the keys.                The problem is that this verse has been the basis for lots of commentaries, including mine. It’s easy to be tempted to skim over it. “Yeah…yeah…read that all before.”  But let’s try.                If My people, who are called by my name . That’s Christians. That could be (according to their own thinking) the Jews or the Muslims, but it’s assuredly Christ-ians.                Will humble themselves .

                 Jesus went throughout Galilee, teaching in their synagogues, proclaiming the good news of the kingdom, and healing every disease and sickness among the people. (Matthew 4:23)                  For where two or three gather in my name, there am I with them . (Matthew 18:20)                  I may go back to looking at the wells mentioned in the Bible, but I searched for the word in the New Testament on a whim. It’s used a lot, but only in John 4 (the woman at the well) does it refer to a place where one gets water. The only mentions of a pool are in John (Bethesda and Siloam.) So, while the heroes of the Old Testament met and formed treaties near springs and wells, in the New Testament, the synagogue seems to have taken their place. Synagogues are mentioned 67 times in the gospels and Acts. Things don’t really change in the epistles, but the word does. Instead of synagogue, they refer to the church .                This is not to say that a person can’t meet Go

                 Early the next morning Abraham took some food and a skin of water and gave them to Hagar. He set them on her shoulders and then sent her off with the boy. She went on her way and wandered in the Desert of Beersheba . (Genesis 21:14)                  So that place was called Beersheba, because the two men swore an oath there. (Genesis 21:31)                  Then Abraham returned to his servants, and they set off together for Beersheba. And Abraham stayed in Beersheba. (Genesis 22:19)                  About fourteen years passed after Hagar and her son returned to Abraham and Sarah. At some point, Ishmael, being a young teenager, picked on Isaac; Sarah was Sarah and took exception; and Abraham, being Abraham, gave Sarah her way. This time, God met Hagar at the Desert of Beersheba. There seem to be a lot of deserts in Genesis, and therefore, a lot of wells.                I discovered that Beersheba means either Well of the Oath or Well of Seven. Its naming is

                 She gave this name to the Lord who spoke to her: “You are the God who sees me,” for she said, “I have now seen the One who sees me.” (Genesis 16:13)                  “The God who sees me” is El Roi in Hebrew. It is found in the story of Hagar, a historic “Handmaid” of the sort from Handmaid’s Tale . She’s a surrogate mother who makes a bad situation worse by getting a big head because she got pregnant, and Sarai didn’t. For her part, Sarai was the sort of person in this story that we’re told we shouldn’t be – the wicked stepmother, the evil queen. Hagar ran away, which means she went from bad to worse. Her situation with Sarai wasn’t good, but now she had no one to protect her, no one to provide for her, no place to live, no food to eat. Then she met God.                The place of the meeting was a spring along the road to Shur. As I read this passage, my thoughts turned to another encounter at a spring between God and a woman - spring had been developed into a w

  For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God . (I Corinthians 1:18)                    Optical illusions are fun. The one above is famous. Is it a picture of a girl or an old crone? For some folks, it is definitely one or the other and even if you show them both, they won’t see it. But when you finally see the second image, it’s almost transformative. Technically, it’s a paradigm shift, but another name for it is the “A Ha! Moment.”                Today’s passage speaks of a sort of optical illusion. Some people look at the cross, and see foolishness. How could anyone believe that someone who died came back to life? How could anyone believe that His doing so could be the key to anything? How could His death and resurrection have anything to do with our lives? How can you even say there is anything beyond the material universe? All that stuff Christians talk about is just n.o.n.s.e.n.s.e.     

                 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will. (Hebrews 12:2)                  And 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 . (Hebrews 11:6)                  These verses came to mind summing up my thoughts on seeking God.  One of the big things that has to happen is that I must throw away my pity card. When my prayers come around to me, I tend to get too busy whining to God about what a miserable failure I am for Him to get a word in edgewise. And then I assume that His “silence” means I’m a horrible, miserable failure.                In Hearing God , Dallas Willard provides a process for working truth into our lives: 1.      Information. 2.      Longing for it to be so. 3.      Affirmation that it m

                 Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.   Let perseverance finish its work so that you may be mature and complete, not lacking anything. If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord.   Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do. (James 1:2-8)                  It’s springtime! That means a huge chunk of my life is focused on my garden. On April 1, my brain says, “P.L.A.N.T!” but I can’t. The weather isn’t ready and it won’t be ready for at least a month – maybe two. The garden beds aren’t ready, and until it warms up, disturbing the soil may mean disturbing

                 Shortly before dawn Jesus went out to them, walking on the lake. When the disciples saw him walking on the lake, they were terrified. “It’s a ghost,” they said, and cried out in fear.                  But Jesus immediately said to them: “Take courage! It is I. Don’t be afraid.”                  “Lord, if it’s you,” Peter replied, “tell me to come to you on the water.”                  “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 14:25-30)                  Now that same day two of them were going to a village called Emmaus, about seven miles from Jerusalem. They were talking with each other about everything that had happened.   As they talked and discussed these things with each other, Jesus himself came up and walked along with them; but they were kept from recognizing him. (Luke 24:13-16)

                 for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, and all are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus . (Romans 3:23-24)                  “For God knows that when you eat from it your eyes will be opened, and you will be like God, knowing good and evil.” (Genesis 3:4)                  And we all, who with unveiled faces contemplate the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit . (II Corinthians 3:18)                  When I read the first half of this passage, I tend to think that because all have sinned, therefore, all fall short of the glory of God. And as far as it goes, that’s true. It was today’s verse of the day, and as I read it, my mind hit the brakes too late to avoid slamming into Genesis 3:4. Yes, because we have all sinned, we all fall short of the glory of God, but what tends to lead us to sin is our recognition that

                 Then he said to them all: “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me. For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will save it. (Luke 9:23-24)                “Anyone who loves their father or mother more than me is not worthy of me; anyone who loves their son or daughter more than me is not worthy of me. Whoever does not take up their cross and follow me is not worthy of me. (Matthew 10:37-38)                  Today’s passages may seem a little extreme. Are we supposed to hate our parents or our own lives?  Is the only way we can be His disciple to go live in a cave or a monastery where every thought and deed is focused on Him all day? Before we start looking at the concept more seriously, what if it did? Is God worth that? I suspect everyone (including me) is hearing a “Now wait a minute!” somewhere in their minds. God gave us our families and may have called us int

                 Folly is bound up in the heart of a child, but the rod of discipline will drive it far away . (Proverbs 22:15)                  Great faith, like great strength in general, is revealed by the ease of its workings.                                                                              Dallas Willard                  Recently, I shared the Dallas Willard quote from above. This morning, I listened to John Ortberg, who quoted Prof. Willard in saying that discipline are those things we choose to do that enable us to do things we cannot currently do.  One of the amusing things that happened repeatedly this past winter was my being stopped by people who were amazed that I can crochet while walking. Now, I’m not going to say that my crocheting is top-notch, but now that I’m back north and must walk on the roads here, I’m noticing how much I don’t like not being able to crochet or do plastic canvas while walking. I also notice that I’m praying more as I walk bec

                 But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well . (Matthew 6:33)                       A psalm of David. When he was in the Desert of Judah.                You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water. (Psalm  63:1)                  While walking this morning, I prayed for three friends facing big physical challenges and their wives. I prayed about my work, my writing, and my garden. There are times when I pray through Jesus’ example prayer (mistakenly called “The Lord’s Prayer,”) but today, my prayer is about needs, desires, and God’s blessings; it was not about God.                And we are supposed to pray about our needs and desires and those of others. We’re to cast our cares on Him and pray for one another that we may be healed. But I remember when I was jogging, the first half of my route was spent fussi

                 The Son is the radiance of God’s glory and the exact representation of his being, sustaining all things by his powerful word. After he had provided purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty in heaven. (Hebrews 1:3)                  Some claim that the God of the Old Testament is not the same God as the God of the New Testament. “The Father”  is demanding, grumpy, and even cruel, while “The Son” is loving, tolerant, and compassionate. Anyone who has studied either testament, or both, can only shake his head at such a foolish claim.                When you give a speech about a problem, you generally begin with an exploration of the problem. After that, you might move into a historical exploration of the problem's consequences and the efforts made to deal with it. Only after you’ve shown how big the problem is and how past attempts to solve the problem have failed is it likely to be useful to present a new and radical solution.