Embrace

A regular morning routine at the Severson house often includes breakfast for our three kids who sit on stools belly-up to the counter. Of course they each have their own specific stools to sit on. One morning I leaned over the counter with a clear, unmistakable look on my face indicating that I just had to tell them something both extremely important and exciting. I said to them, “I have something very important that I need to share with you.” All three kids stopped eating, had their eyes locked on me, and waited with as much patience that a four, six, and eight year old could muster. I must admit that I loved the moment of anticipation. With each passing second the tension thickened. Finally I continued, “I just have to tell you how much I love you.” Immediately Mackenzie, our eldest, smirked and replied, “I just KNEW you were going to say that.” Even so, it didn’t seem to curb her appreciation for hearing those words from her daddy. Like most parents, I love telling my kids how much I love them, and I do so often.

In Scripture there are many parallels of God’s love for us and an earthly father’s love for his children. I am an imperfect father and yet I see the value of taking great delight in my children and the worth of expressing my love to them. How much more does God, in His perfection and holiness, take great delight in expressing His love towards His children? I am reminded of a passage that simultaneously humbles me and encourages me. Zephaniah 3:17 (ESV), “The Lord your God is in your midst, a mighty one who will save; he will rejoice over you with gladness; he will quiet you by his love; he will exult over you with loud singing.”

Perhaps it is my awareness of my own sinfulness that causes me to rarely think of God rejoicing over me. But He does! My own children are imperfect and yet I take great delight in them. Why then do I not relish and embrace the idea of God rejoicing over me? He does, and He has gone to great lengths to show me this love. Today, let us celebrate, embrace, and be continually changed by God’s amazing love for us.

Gut Check

Recently I revisited and reflected on the story of Cain and Able found in Genesis 4. You may remember that in this story both men brought sacrifices to the Lord. God accepted Able’s sacrifice but rejected Cain’s sacrifice. Though the offering itself brought by Cain was technically good enough, God rejected it because of the condition of Cain’s heart.

From this story I am reminded of a few key thoughts for spiritual health and evaluation. First of all, I must approach God and interact with Him according to His terms. I cannot attempt to connect with God by just any means that seem appealing to me. Now under the New Covenant, God has graciously provided a way for me to have fellowship with Him, but it is only accomplished through the work on the cross and my acceptance and faith in the freedom and salvation that it brings. Secondly, my attitude, demeanor, and overall heart’s condition is pivotal in my ability to enjoy and connect with God. Thirdly, it is possible to pursue spiritual practices, and appear spiritual, yet be far from God because of my heart’s condition.

Cain’s story serves as a constant reminder for me. It is beneficial for my spiritual vitality to frequently pause and reflect on my attitude by asking key questions. Have I recently attempted to please God by going through half-hearted, empty religious disciplines? Spiritually am I just going through the motions? Have I recently made any heart-felt significant sacrifices to the Lord done in love and out of spirit of joy and deep appreciation for Him? Like Cain toward Able, have I become jealous when I’ve observed other believers walking closely with God?

As we live out our faith as an act of worship, may we do so out of joy and appreciation for what God has done for us. And may the message of the Gospel transform our hearts and give us the ability to truly worship God and approach Him with great delight. Finally, let us frequently examine our own hearts, intentions, and attitudes in order to assure that they are in alignment with God’s desires for us, that we may be able to enjoy our relationship with Him to the fullest.

Being Prepared

Every culture since the creation of the world has possessed values and philosophical beliefs that have grated against the message of redemption found in Scripture.  Our culture is not unique to this either.  In fact, Ravi Zacharias has made a profound statement about our culture in his book, Jesus Among Other Gods.  “Philosophically you can believe anything, so long as you do not claim it to be true.  Morally you can practice anything, so long as you do not claim it is a ‘better’ way.  Religiously, you can hold to anything, so long as you do not bring Jesus Christ into it…Such is the mood a the end of the twentieth century.”

 

How do we connect the message of Jesus Christ with a culture that holds these values?  At first it can be easy to feel frustrated, like our hands are tied.  But are they?  No doubt the values of our culture make it difficult to share God’s story of redemption.  However, Ravi, in his book, reminds us that there are many ways to engage our culture, and one way is using simple logic and reason.  For instance, a statement like, “there is no absolute truth” is logically a self-defeating statement.  You cannot state that there is no absolute truth through an absolute statement!  Using simple logic and reason can help reveal the inconsistencies of some positions.

 

At the end of the day, however, people are generally not going to surrender to Christ because they lost a debate regarding spirituality (this is not stated to devalue the importance of sharpening our minds in order to skillfully share the Gospel).  People are going to be drawn to Christ when they see Him in us – through our attitudes, authenticity, convictions, and genuine love for God and others.  May we remember the charge given in 1 Peter 3:15-16 to always be prepared to vocally share and physically show our love for God and others. ^“But in your hearts set apart Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect, keeping a clear conscience, so that those who speak maliciously against your good behavior in Christ may be ashamed of their slander.”

Winter Reflection

This time of year the days are short, nights are long, and bitter cold temps prevail.  Even as I right this temperatures outside have plummeted and the winds have escalated, causing me to pause and carefully weigh the necessity of venturing outside.  Enjoying a nice long, relaxing walk is for me just a distant memory or fleeting thought.  In fact, spring can almost seem like an eternity away.  Will it ever come?  Though the signs outside give little indication that spring is on the horizon, we know that it will arrive (though not soon enough for most of us!).  And so we hang on and endure the cold, and we patiently wait (or not so patiently) for warmer, more pleasant weather to settle in.

The Christian journey, while amazing and rewarding, can be filled with spiritual winters – where we long for better, more enjoyable days.  Perhaps your current spiritual condition mirrors that of the season of winter, the days are short and the nights are forever long.  First of all, please know you are not alone.  All Christians go through dark, difficult days.  Even Paul expressed difficult times in his writings.  In 2 Corinthians 1:8b-10 he wrote about the struggle to endure.  However, notice where he placed his hope.  Also take notice of his reasoning for his hardship. “We were under great pressure, far beyond our ability to endure, so that we despaired even of life. Indeed, in our hearts we felt the sentence of death. But this happened that we might not rely on ourselves but on God, who raises the dead.  He has delivered us from such a deadly peril, and he will deliver us. On him we have set our hope that he will continue to deliver us”

You see, his hope was in Christ, and the reason for the difficult season was to create within him a deepening dependency on God.  May the Lord use the winters in our lives (both literal and figurative!) to develop within us an ever-increasing dependency on Him.

Clean Slate

There is always something inviting about venturing into a new year.  Perhaps it is the idea of a fresh start that compels many of us to whole-heartedly welcome in another year.  Based on the number of people who make New Year’s resolutions, I assume that many will enter the start of a new year with good intentions, determination, and high hopes.  We eagerly embrace the idea of a clean slate.  In fact, I would venture to say that this is an innate longing and an inherent part of being human.

We desire restoration and newness since we are fallen beings living in a fallen world.  Unfortunately the start of a New Year or other new beginnings, like a move or new job, can sometimes give us a false sense of a new beginning.  There is only one way to experience true restoration, and that is through the forgiveness offered to us through the sacrifice of Jesus Christ on the cross.  All other ways of trying to experience restoration in our lives are a masquerade of true renewal.  May our attention this year focus on Jesus Christ, the one who can offer true restoration and a clean slate!  May we meditate and reflect on the familiar passage of 2 Corinthians 5:17-19.   “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting men’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation.”