"Strengthen the Feeble Hands, Steady the Knees That Give Way."
Devotional
God With US
Mar 2nd
Without the incarnation we are alone in our plight.
We are left here as orphans to fend for ourselves.
Without the incarnation we might question that God knew
what it was like to be beaten to be hated and shunned.
We may doubt He knows what it’s like to be lonely and to be tempted to sin.
what it’s like being us.
Without the incarnation and the Word made flesh,
God’s words are mere distant commands
shouted from a place we have never been
by a being we have never known,
about things we are certain do not concern us
—words hurled from safe sterile boundaries.
And we have no reason to hope that He cares
or to take his reproach as measured by love.
If not for the person Christ
we’d have no faith worth talking about.
No reason or cause beyond just the grave,
No reason to think that justice would reign.
We’d have no reason to believe He knows what is best
or has tested His theories in life for Himself.
But we do have a God who is “with us.”
And the Word was indeed made flesh.
The suffering servant was crushed for our sins
and He purchased for us life by rising from death.
We are not left alone and His we know that He cares.
He speaks in the Continue Reading >>
Await No Other
Nov 25th
“When John heard in prison what Christ was doing, he sent his disciples to ask him, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?” Matt. 11:2-3
Even for John the wait had been too long. Earlier, upon seeing Jesus, he had proclaimed, “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sins of the world” (John 1:29). He had seen and testified that Jesus was the “Son of God” (John 1:34). But there, in the darkness of that prison, doubt had made its way into John’s heart. He must have thought, “What if I was wrong? What if this is all just a dream?” And who could have blamed him, after all “even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall” (Is. 40:30). The saving of the world is slow business.
I suspect he was bold at his arrest and only began to doubt as the days dragged on, as the months dragged on. Perhaps his faith increased as he heard of the miracles and healings but then the darkness and loneliness made him doubt. Perhaps the memory of Jesus’ baptism gave him strength but somewhere along that dark road doubt found him. I Continue Reading >>
An Audience With The Holy
Jul 24th
If we do not see God as holy it is because we do not perceive our own wretchedness, do not perceive the depth of our own sinfulness. If we do not see God as holy it is because the clothes we wear, the people we know and our own ability to achieve have clouded our judgment. We have been brought to the brink of spiritual bankruptcy and filled with self-pride.
Or perhaps we have suffered greatly. Perhaps our lives have been filled with such misery that we now count ourselves as deserving the New Life. Neither wealth nor poverty can purchase an audience with the holy. We could no more intrude on His holy presence than we could dance barefoot on the surface of the sun.
Holy means that God is in every way, shape, and form—other. He is not like us, not of us but completely and distinctly other. While we may enjoy the privilege of calling Him Abba Father, while it IS a name of familiarity, we dare not grow too familiar. We may stand on the precipice to observe the majesty of the mountain but dare not forget we stand on a precipice. He loves us and cares for Continue Reading >>
No Great Mystery
Jul 23rd
I know not where He will lead,
the things He will ask,
how much He will demand,
by what means He will work,
or when it shall all be.
I don’t know what it will cost,
how much I must expend,
how deep shall be the pain,
or what I must suffer for His name.
But the unknown with Him,
is better than all I do know,
more certain than my frail wisdom,
more comfort than all my hopes,
more real than all I am.
Where cost is concerned…
I am certain His Deposit in me will cover the cost,
that what I expend He will provide,
and quite certainly His pain,
is sweeter than any earthly pleasure.
Consider for a moment who it is that speaks. If it were just anyone, if it were the musings of a confused mad man it would make sense that doubt pervades our senses, but it is God who speaks. God who beckons us to take up our cross. No great mystery.
To follow Christ is to take up your cross. It is to walk that long inglorious road towards the hill of the skull. It is to stumble along the way and be cut by the splintered wood. It is to arrive, too late for that crucifixion and be told, “Now, you Continue Reading >>
