While I’ve been doing my charity garden walk preparation all the way to its conclusion, I’ve been doing a lot of reflecting about how the end can be a comfort…knowing it is finished and there’s nothing more one can do.  Oh, I reflect on lots of things, especially sermons I’ve heard recently.  It’s part of the curse of seminary in that you can’t just passively listen anymore, you think about everything that’s said.  You think about it while it’s being said, but also days, weeks, even months later.

One of the things that I’ve been pondering is the great benefit of knowing how it all turns out in the end.  Jesus’ victory is a comfort to those of us who know Him as Lord.

The pastor I was listening to gave an example of a championship game which he couldn’t watch while it was happening so he recorded it to watch later.  He said he usually tries to avoid having a spoiler of the final score and to watch the game as if it is happening now.  But sometimes, he ends up knowing the score before he watches it.  Knowing the final score helps to relieve the white knuckle time of 3-2 counts, one’s team being down by runs in the top of the 9th or 6 points in the final minutes of the 2nd half.  Knowing that your team wins lets you simply enjoy the ride and marvel how your team gets there.

With the Christian life, it ought to be the same way. 

We ought to be able to enjoy the ride and trust God to see us through because we know the end.  It’s a comfort since we have confidence that God wins.

I was continuing to think about this idea in light of a brief trip my husband and I took to fish in Canada.  I went from fishing for men to fishing for fish.  Or as my son joked, “Give a man a fish and he’ll eat for a day.  Teach a man to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.  Let a man fish for men and his work results will be eternal.”

The Northern pike I caught didn’t know when it took the minnow that it would be hooked, that it would fight it with everything it had but fail, that I would enjoy hauling it into the boat, that our guide would teach this woman how to hold it for a photo, but that it would be released back into the water to live another day.  At the time of being hooked, it probably thought its world was coming to an end.

So, when every system in the US seems to be falling apart and good Christians are fighting the corruption with everything we’ve got; when ISIS seems to be scattershot all over the world bringing terror to every nation of planet Earth; when we hear of earthquakes and floods, hurricanes and tornadoes, mudslides and forest fires; when wars and despots are on the increase and in their wake, they leave behind only the dead, the persecuted, and the refugee, and when we see the life of this Earth pass before our eyes, we look to Jesus.  Knowing that He’s already victorious and the end of time ushers an eternity worth living for is a comfort.  He told us ahead of time (Matthew 24).

He told us not to worry and He gave us a vision of the end of the story.

Revelation 21:1 Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. 2 I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband. 3 And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. 4 He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.” 5 He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.” 6 He said to me: “It is done. I am the Alpha and the Omega, the Beginning and the End. To him who is thirsty I will give to drink without cost from the spring of the water of life. 7 He who overcomes will inherit all this, and I will be his God and he will be my son.”

Knowing the End is a Comfort to all whom Jesus knows as His followers!

I’ve been absent from writing posts for a while.  It’s not that my heart hasn’t wanted to write more, but rather my season of service has been elsewhere.  I’ve been dealing with the sewer systems in my hometown and caring for my neighbors.  Christian service is not like a horse race in which there is win, place, and show.  We all win when we cross the finish line having given our all to the race God has set before us.

It made me think about our walk of faith.  And seasons of service.  Moses didn’t always lead the Israelites.  For a while, it was sheep.  For a while, he was leading no one at all…he was trying to do it alone and was pretty bad at it.  And in his final days on earth, he only got to see the Promised Land.  He couldn’t enter it.

Why?  Because of the waters at Meribah, where Moses and Aaron broke faith with God.

Deuteronomy 32:44 Moses came with Joshua son of Nun and spoke all the words of this song in the hearing of the people. 45 When Moses finished reciting all these words to all Israel, 46 he said to them, “Take to heart all the words I have solemnly declared to you this day, so that you may command your children to obey carefully all the words of this law. 47 They are not just idle words for you– they are your life. By them you will live long in the land you are crossing the Jordan to possess.” 48 On that same day the LORD told Moses, 49 “Go up into the Abarim Range to Mount Nebo in Moab, across from Jericho, and view Canaan, the land I am giving the Israelites as their own possession. 50 There on the mountain that you have climbed you will die and be gathered to your people, just as your brother Aaron died on Mount Hor and was gathered to his people. 51 This is because both of you broke faith with me in the presence of the Israelites at the waters of Meribah Kadesh in the Desert of Zin and because you did not uphold my holiness among the Israelites. 52 Therefore, you will see the land only from a distance; you will not enter the land I am giving to the people of Israel.”

Not just idle words…they are your life!  Wow.  Seasons of service are all about obedience and faith.  They are about honoring God, obeying Him, and by doing so, upholding His holiness and experiencing true life.

So while I would have preferred to write posts and think deep theological thoughts instead of about aquifers and hydrological cycles, I’d like to be able to enter the Land having kept the faith.  To say at the end of each season of service, what Paul said at the end of his life,

2 Timothy 4:7 I have fought the good fight, I have finished the race, I have kept the faith.

Psalm 4:1 For the director of music. With stringed instruments. A psalm of David. Answer me when I call to you, O my righteous God. Give me relief from my distress; be merciful to me and hear my prayer. 2 How long, O men, will you turn my glory into shame? How long will you love delusions and seek false gods? Selah 3 Know that the LORD has set apart the godly for himself; the LORD will hear when I call to him. 4 In your anger do not sin; when you are on your beds, search your hearts and be silent. Selah 5 Offer right sacrifices and trust in the LORD. 6 Many are asking, “Who can show us any good?” Let the light of your face shine upon us, O LORD. 7 You have filled my heart with greater joy than when their grain and new wine abound. 8 I will lie down and sleep in peace, for you alone, O LORD, make me dwell in safety.

Psalm 3:1 A psalm of David. When he fled from his son Absalom. O LORD, how many are my foes! How many rise up against me! 2 Many are saying of me, “God will not deliver him.” Selah 3 But you are a shield around me, O LORD; you bestow glory on me and lift up my head. 4 To the LORD I cry aloud, and he answers me from his holy hill. Selah 5 I lie down and sleep; I wake again, because the LORD sustains me. 6 I will not fear the tens of thousands drawn up against me on every side. 7 Arise, O LORD! Deliver me, O my God! Strike all my enemies on the jaw; break the teeth of the wicked. 8 From the LORD comes deliverance. May your blessing be on your people. Selah

Psalm 2:1 Why do the nations conspire and the peoples plot in vain? 2 The kings of the earth take their stand and the rulers gather together against the LORD and against his Anointed One. 3 “Let us break their chains,” they say, “and throw off their fetters.” 4 The One enthroned in heaven laughs; the Lord scoffs at them. 5 Then he rebukes them in his anger and terrifies them in his wrath, saying, 6 “I have installed my King on Zion, my holy hill.” 7 I will proclaim the decree of the LORD: He said to me, “You are my Son; today I have become your Father. 8 Ask of me, and I will make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession. 9 You will rule them with an iron scepter; you will dash them to pieces like pottery.” 10 Therefore, you kings, be wise; be warned, you rulers of the earth. 11 Serve the LORD with fear and rejoice with trembling. 12 Kiss the Son, lest he be angry and you be destroyed in your way, for his wrath can flare up in a moment. Blessed are all who take refuge in him.

Psalm 1

Psalm 1:1 Blessed is the man who does not walk in the counsel of the wicked or stand in the way of sinners or sit in the seat of mockers. 2 But his delight is in the law of the LORD, and on his law he meditates day and night. 3 He is like a tree planted by streams of water, which yields its fruit in season and whose leaf does not wither. Whatever he does prospers. 4 Not so the wicked! They are like chaff that the wind blows away. 5 Therefore the wicked will not stand in the judgment, nor sinners in the assembly of the righteous. 6 For the LORD watches over the way of the righteous, but the way of the wicked will perish.

On this Easter 2016, make every effort to rekindle your faith in the One who was victorious over death.  Jesus is Risen.  He is Risen, indeed! 

Luke 24:1 On the first day of the week, very early in the morning, the women took the spices they had prepared and went to the tomb. 2 They found the stone rolled away from the tomb, 3 but when they entered, they did not find the body of the Lord Jesus. 4 While they were wondering about this, suddenly two men in clothes that gleamed like lightning stood beside them. 5 In their fright the women bowed down with their faces to the ground, but the men said to them,

“Why do you look for the living among the dead? 6 He is not here; he has risen!

Remember how he told you, while he was still with you in Galilee: 7 ‘The Son of Man must be delivered into the hands of sinful men, be crucified and on the third day be raised again.'” 8 Then they remembered his words. 9 When they came back from the tomb, they told all these things to the Eleven and to all the others. 10 It was Mary Magdalene, Joanna, Mary the mother of James, and the others with them who told this to the apostles. 11 But they did not believe the women, because their words seemed to them like nonsense. 12 Peter, however, got up and ran to the tomb. Bending over, he saw the strips of linen lying by themselves, and he went away, wondering to himself what had happened.

Today is the day on the church calendar in which Jesus was dead, in the earthly grave. What was happening in the spiritual realm however, was marvelous. We must rekindle our wonder at it all.

It was spoken about all the way back at Jesus’ birth.  Rekindle your wonder by remembering how His incarnation began and pointed forward to Jesus as Savior.

Luke 2: 6 While [Mary and Joseph] were there, the time came for the baby to be born 7 and she gave birth to her firstborn, a son. She wrapped him in cloths and placed him in a manger, because there was no room for them in the inn. 8 And there were shepherds living out in the fields nearby, keeping watch over their flocks at night. 9 An angel of the Lord appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were terrified. 10 But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news of great joy that will be for all the people. 11 Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is Christ the Lord. 12 This will be a sign to you: You will find a baby wrapped in cloths and lying in a manger.” 13 Suddenly a great company of the heavenly host appeared with the angel, praising God and saying, 14 “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men on whom his favor rests.” 15 When the angels had left them and gone into heaven, the shepherds said to one another, “Let’s go to Bethlehem and see this thing that has happened, which the Lord has told us about.” 16 So they hurried off and found Mary and Joseph, and the baby, who was lying in the manger. 17 When they had seen him, they spread the word concerning what had been told them about this child, 18 and all who heard it were amazed at what the shepherds said to them. 19 But Mary treasured up all these things and pondered them in her heart. 20 The shepherds returned, glorifying and praising God for all the things they had heard and seen, which were just as they had been told.21 On the eighth day, when it was time to circumcise him, he was named Jesus, the name the angel had given him before he had been conceived. 22 When the time of their purification according to the Law of Moses had been completed, Joseph and Mary took him to Jerusalem to present him to the Lord 23 (as it is written in the Law of the Lord, “Every firstborn male is to be consecrated to the Lord”), 24 and to offer a sacrifice in keeping with what is said in the Law of the Lord: “a pair of doves or two young pigeons.” 25 Now there was a man in Jerusalem called Simeon, who was righteous and devout. He was waiting for the consolation of Israel, and the Holy Spirit was upon him. 26 It had been revealed to him by the Holy Spirit that he would not die before he had seen the Lord’s Christ. 27 Moved by the Spirit, he went into the temple courts. When the parents brought in the child Jesus to do for him what the custom of the Law required, 28 Simeon took him in his arms and praised God, saying: 29 “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you now dismiss your servant in peace. 30 For my eyes have seen your salvation, 31 which you have prepared in the sight of all people, 32 a light for revelation to the Gentiles and for glory to your people Israel.” 33 The child’s father and mother marveled at what was said about him. 34 Then Simeon blessed them and said to Mary, his mother: “This child is destined to cause the falling and rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be spoken against, 35 so that the thoughts of many hearts will be revealed. And a sword will pierce your own soul too.” 36 There was also a prophetess, Anna, the daughter of Phanuel, of the tribe of Asher. She was very old; she had lived with her husband seven years after her marriage, 37 and then was a widow until she was eighty-four. She never left the temple but worshiped night and day, fasting and praying. 38 Coming up to them at that very moment, she gave thanks to God and spoke about the child to all who were looking forward to the redemption of Jerusalem.

Give it up for Lent: a stale version of the Easter story

Today, meditate on the how the Scriptures have pointed forward to Jesus’ life of revelation, His death as the perfect sacrifice, and Jesus’ victory over death which happened on Good Friday. The Easter celebration tomorrow is simply the revealing of what had already occurred as Scripture foretold. Experience the wonder…

This concludes ReKindle, the 2016 Lenten devotional series from Seminary Gal.

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Today is Good Friday which hardly seems “good” on a surface level. Sure didn’t seem that way to the disciples of Jesus at the time. Jesus is arrested. He is tried. He is beaten and bloodied. Forced to wear a crown of thorns and carry His own cross onto which He would be nailed as He suffered an excruciating death and gave up His spirit.  Jesus was obedient to death.

We have been discussing obedience and you know what? Jesus modeled it perfectly. 

John 14:28 “You heard me say, ‘I am going away and I am coming back to you.’ If you loved me, you would be glad that I am going to the Father, for the Father is greater than I. 29 I have told you now before it happens, so that when it does happen you will believe. 30 I will not speak with you much longer, for the prince of this world is coming. He has no hold on me, 31 but the world must learn that I love the Father and that I do exactly what my Father has commanded me. “Come now; let us leave”.

Love God and love man. Obey God’s command and overcome the world as you love others. This is true victory in faith and something we could all rekindle in our own lives. That same thought from verse 31 is also what it says in 1 John 5:1 Everyone who believes that Jesus is the Christ is born of God, and everyone who loves the father loves his child as well. 2 This is how we know that we love the children of God: by loving God and carrying out his commands. 3 This is love for God: to obey his commands. And his commands are not burdensome, 4 for everyone born of God overcomes the world. This is the victory that has overcome the world, even our faith. 5 Who is it that overcomes the world? Only he who believes that Jesus is the Son of God.

How many of us think we can love God without obeying Him or without loving our siblings in the Christian faith? Scripture makes it plain that the world learned Jesus loved the Father by Jesus’ obedience to Him. Why would we be any different?

Give it up for Lent: thinking you can love God without loving all your brothers and sisters in Christ

Questions regarding John 14:28-31 and 1 John 5:1-5

1. On this Good Friday, how do we see Jesus’ love and obedience in action?
2. Nearly 2000 years after the fact of the Crucifixion, how does this still form the greatest example of love and obedience even known to man? What overcoming and victory were evident at the Cross?
3. Have you ever been passed over by a fellow Christian, snubbed for their small group, maybe unfriended on Facebook, or ignored in a restaurant because they really don’t like you? It’s fairly common. What does our passage say we ought to do regarding our siblings in Christ?
4. In what ways is the command to love our neighbor an easy command to overlook? Maybe believing that it doesn’t seem like it matters because it doesn’t involve God? What does our passage say about that?

Tomorrow is the final day of ReKindle, the 2016 Lenten devotional series from Seminary Gal.

To receive further devotionals to your email inbox, please fill in your email address in the space provided on my Home Page in the sidebar (right) and respond to the verification email.  If you already receive devotionals and articles, no need to do anything else.  You’ll get them automatically.  Thank you!  Or log onto the SeminaryGal Facebook page and see them reprinted there.

Acknowledging that former years’ devotional series remain popular, Be Still and Know that I AM God can be obtained through the archives beginning in March 2014 and With Christ in the Upper Room  is archived beginning February 18, 2015.