The Love of the Father

“How great is the love the Father has lavished on us, that we should be called children of God!”  1 John 3:1, NIV

I’ve been teaching through the Lord’s Prayer with my kids in Bible class the last few weeks, and the idea that God is my Father has really been close to the forefront of my mind.  As a dad myself, I have constant reminders of the love a father has for his kids, and in those moments it’s as if my Father is tapping me on the shoulder and going “See!  If you love them THAT much, how much MORE do I love them, and you!”

I know I’m alone here, but sometimes, it’s just hard to believe that God really loves me that much.  I mean, I know the promises of Scripture.  I know the Truth of the Gospel of Jesus Christ.  Yet still, in the back of my mind, there’s always been this nagging doubt.

Yeah, I know I’m alone here.  Surely no one else feels this way.  But it goes like this:

“Yes, God loved the world so much that He gave His one and only Son…but think of all YOU’VE done!” (John 3:16)

or

“Yes, the blood of Christ cleanses us from sin (Hebrews 9:14)…but what about THAT?”

Or any other thousand accusations.

Now before you get all worried, I’m well aware of where these accusations come from.  I know that the accuser of the brothers (Rev.12:10) is working hard on all of us sons and daughters of God.  Day and night, right?

So back to the topic at hand:  lately, God has given me an extra dose of His love for me, in the form of my two daughters.  You see, though I’m the youngest (and some would say the most spoiled, but they’re just jealous) of five kids, and though I was/am loved greatly by my Dad, you never really understand just how deep a father’s love runs until you become one yourself.

Only when you’re holding your crying child in your arms after they hurt their toe, and you’d give anything to take away the pain, do you realize just how great the Father’s love for us is.

Only when you’re holding your fevered child, coughing and crying, and you pray that God would send the sickness on you instead of them, do you realize just how great the Father’s love for us is.

Only when you look in on your child late at night, and watch their chest rise and fall with each breath, and you utter a silent prayer of praise to the gracious God that blessed you with them, do you realize just how great the Father’s love for us is.

Only when you have to correct your child for disobedience, in order to steer them in the right path, and the saying you heard from your parents “this is going to hurt me a lot more than you” suddenly rings true, do you realize just how great the Father’s love for us is.

The list could go on.  Parents, you know what I’m saying.  Here it is in short:

There is absolutely nothing my kids could do that would ever make me stop loving them, or wanting the best for them.  There is nothing I wouldn’t do to give them exactly what they need.

And that’s just what the Father did for us.  We were sick, dying…no, dead in our sins.  And the Father, in His infinite love and mercy, sent HIS one and only Son, to pay the price we could never pay, that we might know and enjoy His love and mercy forever.  So when you think of the cross, when you think of what it cost, think of the heart of the Father that’s behind it.

Indeed, He has lavished us with His love.

Waiting…

I think it was Tom Petty that sang “The waiting is the hardest part.”  (Correct me if I’m wrong, Jr.)

Waiting on the Lord, however, was probably not what ol’ Tom was crooning about in that song, but the thought still rings true.  Waiting is a common theme in the Bible.  I did a quick search, and found the word “wait” used 139 times.  Narrow it down by adding “Lord”, and you get 41 times.  But just think about it, and you’ll find the idea of waiting on God coming up time and time again.

Adam and Eve waiting for the promised snake stomper.  Abraham and Sarah waiting for a child.  Jacob waiting for Rachel.  Joseph waiting to be remembered in his prison.  Israel waiting for the Lord to remember their slavery.  And Israel’s waiting for her Messiah (and they’re still waiting, because they did not recognize the hour of their visitation).  The list could go on and on, but you get the point.

Waiting on the Lord is a way of life in the Bible.  So why should we expect any different?

Well, we don’t like it, for one.  We live in the “now” culture.  Whatever you want, wherever and whenever you want it.  It’s right there.  Don’t have the cash?  Charge it!  Don’t have the time?  Download it for later!  Shoot!  My phone allows me access to virtually anything and everything, all at the touch of a screen!  Need an answer to a question, and what do we do?  Google it!  We are continually wired against waiting, against patience.  Face it:  Wal-Mart doesn’t want you to wait to shop.  No one wants you to be “fiscally responsible” that’s in retail.  They want you to want something, and get it right then.

But what happens when life doesn’t cooperate?  What happens when the baby just won’t come, according to your five year plan?  What happens when the job that you’re miserable in is the only one you have the possibility of having?  What happens when the plans you’ve laid just don’t come to life?  I ask these, because I’ve lived these.  Haven’t we all?  And if you’re in the middle of it all, I can say, quite honestly, “wait on the Lord.”  Trust me.

The following passage was one that the Lord continually brought up in our lives.  Hear the words of Isaiah the prophet:

“Even youths shall faint and be weary, and young men shall fall exhausted;

but they who wait for the Lord shall renew their strength;

they shall mount up with wings like eagles;

they shall run and not be weary;

they shall walk and not faint.”  Isaiah 40:30-31

What do I gather from this?  Try it on your own, try to make things happen on your own, and wear yourself out.  Push an agenda that’s not God’s, and get exhausted.  Try to bend your surroundings to meet your idea of the future, and get royally frustrated.  But wait…yes, WAIT on the Lord, and be renewed!  Wait on the Lord, and don’t grow faint kicking against the goads.  Wait on the Lord, and RUN the race before you.

Wait, and He’ll bring His plan to pass.  Trust Him, not your own wisdom.  Wait and see…

And oh yeah, the waiting, once it’s over, is always worth it.

And here’s the other thing:  you never stop.  Seems it’s the life of the believer.  Waiting on the Lord to bring about His promises and purposes in our lives.

So get busy…waiting.

Who Am I that I Should Go?

I just started reading through Exodus, and the old, old story never fails to come to life anew.  God’s promise of redemption, seemingly stalled out in the sands of Egypt, is resuscitated in the call of an unlikely hero:  Moses, the Hebrew-turned Egyptian-turned exile.

In reading the account of God’s calling of Moses at the burning bush (which is definitely one of the top 5 of my “wish I’d been a fly-on-the-wall” Bible events), I was struck, yet again, by Moses’ reluctance to answer the call.  He’s standing before the God of the universe, watching a bush burn, yet not be consumed, and being told what do do by a voice he can’t see the source of, yet he doubts the command he’s given.

“Who am I that I should go?”

“They will not believe me or listen to my voice!”

“I’m not eloquent (or qualified)!”

“Please send someone else!”

Can you sympathize with Moses here? I know I can.  God can show up, work powerfully in a situation (or situations!), show me a clear path to walk, and what do I do?  I doubt it.  I come up with excuses.  I think, in my hubris, that I know better.  God shows me again just how He’s going to work it out, tells me to trust Him, and what do I do?  Doubt some more.

The bottom line is:  we’re all totally incapable of anything.  On our own.  Apart from Christ, I can do NOTHING.  But with God, NOTHING is impossible.  So next time you’re thinking of arguing with God about what He wants you to do, remember Moses.

And go!

Homecoming

I’m still working on Tim Keller’s “The Prodigal God”, not because it’s a hard read (it’s really very short), but because it’s a good read.  While it could be read quickly in one sitting, it’s one of those that you read a little, then chew on it, then read a bit more, then chew.  It’s made me have a whole new appreciation for this well-known parable.

This week, I’ve been reading the chapter on homecoming.  Not the fried-chicken and potato salad gospel-sing homecoming, but the idea of really coming home.  In the prodigal son’s waking up and realizing that all the glitz and glamour of the world just didn’t satisfy, his yearning for home, for some sort of reunion (albeit not the one he had in mind!), drove him to risk it and set out for home.

For me, it reminds me of how I ran from the Truth for so many of my teen/early twenty years, only to wake up one day in a “far country”, just like the prodigal son, and come home.  The seeds of the Word of God that had been planted in me for years, even when I was unwilling soil, finally began to sprout.  The realization that nothing but Jesus could ever satisfy me gave me a hunger like nothing else.  The Holy Spirit began to work in me again, after years of my rejection of His overtures.  And I came home.

But what I have here is just a faint glimpse of the homecoming we all desire.  Talking with my 3 year old tonight, she told me she didn’t want to go to heaven, because she wanted to be “home with you and mom.”  Wow.  I told her, of course, that heaven was cooler than anything she’d ever dreamed of, that as cool as Disney and Mickey Mouse are, they are not even close to how cool Heaven will be with Jesus.  Not so sure she was buying, but I’m trying to plant those seeds!  But she got me thinking.  I see the same questions in the eyes of my sixth graders when we talk about the life to come.  I see it when we talk about suffering for Christ because all that He has for us in this world is just a faint glimmer of the awesomeness that awaits in heaven!  I’m not sure they’re buying it either, but I’m sowing hard.

I know this world allures us.  I know full well how even the good things, the gifts from God above, can make us lose sight of the ONE thing:  Jesus.  I know how hard it is to put your trust in a home you can’t see, when there is a real brick-and-mortar world out there that has everything you can think of, and then some.

And I remember how I was, not that long ago.  I remember how I, too, put all my hope and dreams in this world, instead of in Christ.  And I remember how empty I ended up.  No matter what I had, it never satisfied.  Only He will satisfy the desires of my soul.

So I dream of homecoming.  I dream of the day when all these faint glimmers, these shadows, give way to the overwhelming reality beyond all realities.  Do you?

(Here’s a link to an example of these desires being stirred up in real life)

Prodigal Newt

A friend recommended I read Tim Keller’s book “Prodigal God” a few months back, and, thanks to a Barnes and Noble gift card, I picked up a copy this week.  If you haven’t yet read this marvelous little book, I highly recommend it.  It’s a look into what Jesus was really saying in the parable that we all know as the Prodigal Son, or, as Keller calls it, the Parable of the Two Lost Sons.  He makes the point, rightly I think, that we often focus on the wayward younger brother who goes and squanders his share of his father’s estate and comes home to be embraced by a grace-full father.  Not that that’s a bad thing!  But his point is this:  when we stop there, we miss the very point Jesus was trying to make to His audience.

You see, Jesus was talking to the Pharisees, the religious elite, the Sabbath-keeping, law-abiding, good folk.  He was talking to the ones who, like the older brother in the story, sneered at the wild living of the younger brother, and at the reaction of the father upon the younger’s return.

The older brother in the parable does all the right things.  He stays home.  He’s dutiful.  He’s committed to doing the right thing.  He says he’s never disobeyed his father.  He’s the “good son.”  He’s the one that thinks he’s good because he does what he’s supposed to do.  He thinks he’s righteous because of what he’s done.  He thinks he deserves something from the father because of the way he’s obeyed.  He’s stuck around in order to get what’s coming to him: his share of his dad’s estate.  When the brother returns and is welcomed back without reserve, he’s indignant!  What about his party?  What does he get for being the “good” son?  He’s so mad, he won’t even rejoice that his brother who was “dead” has come home!

I realized as I read the parable anew that, while I always have read it like I’m the younger brother, I’m much more like the older than I’d care to admit.  Oh how I’ve tried to earn God’s blessing by keeping the law, by following the letter of the law!  Not to get closer to God, mind you!  Not to sit as His feet and be blessed by just being with Him!  No, but to somehow force His hand into blessing me.  How may times I’ve felt that, if I was just a little better, then God would have to bless me.  In effect, I’ve viewed God as my own personal genie in a bottle, with my good works being the proverbial rubbing of the bottle that guarantees my three wishes.

I’m not halfway through this little book, but it’s rocked my world.  Again, I can’t recommend it more.  But beware:  prepare to be smacked down, and yet lifted at the unmerited grace of a loving father who welcomes us all, both the younger and older brothers!

Could I Be Job? Could You?

In the reading plan I’m on for the Bible this year (in my attempt to actually read through it in a year!), I started the book of Job today.  The story is old (some say the oldest in the Bible), but, as is usually the case with the Bible, each time I read it, I’m amazed anew.  Today, as I was reading through the beginning of Job, I had the thought that I’m sure everyone that’s read the book has:  could I be Job?

If God gave Satan enough leash (and I love the image we get in Job of Satan only being allowed to do what God permits; God is SOVEREIGN) to take down my livelihood, would I still praise God?  If Satan destroyed all that I own, would it be said of me “in all things, Matt didn’t sin and charge God with wrong”?  Food for thought:  how many times do I freak out when I feel like I’ve been cheated out of something I deserve?  Hmmmm….

If God gave Satan enough leash to destroy that which is most dear to me, would I rise up and call God blessed?  If Satan was allowed to take my girls from me, would it be said “in all this, Matt did not sin and charge God with wrong”?  Hmmmmm…do I praise God even when my kids are sick?  Do I trust Him with their care, or do I doubt?

If God gave Satan the leash to smack me with ulcers and boils, would I simply sit in the dust and scape my sores?  If my health was taken from me, after I’d lost everything, would I simply shut my mouth and sit?  Or would I rage at the heavens and curse God?  Job didn’t.

Can you imagine?  Can you fathom such loss?  It’s hard for me to comprehend.

But think of this:  God allowed it to happen because He KNEW Job was capable of taking it.  He KNEW Job would stand, no matter what Satan threw at him.  So, if you’re going through the wringer, if you’re being attacked on every side and, like Job, you know you’ve done no wrong to deserve it (important point!!!), remember Who holds the leash.  And think of God saying, “Hey Satan…have you considered my servant (insert your name here)?”

A (Belated) New Year’s Greeting

Yeah, I know the New Year is already three days old, but give me a break.  I’ve been…well…for once, I can’t say it’s because I’ve been busy.  I started the year out taking something that I hope will not be as rare in ‘10 as it has been in previous years:  a sabbath.  And by sabbath, I mean a day of rest folks.  Amanda, the girls, and I spent Friday together, doing absolutely nothing that had to be done.  It was glorious.  I felt more rested after that day that I have in a long while.  Amanda said she felt lazy.  I said that we got to enjoy a rare jewel.

I thought about posting a long list of resolutions, but, you know how that goes.  What’s the point?  So instead, I thought I’d post a few of my hopes for the coming year.  Here it goes:

• To be a much better husband to my lovely wife that I’ve ever been before.  To continue becoming the man of God she’s always deserved, but not received.
• To make sure to love on, tickle, cuddle with, and play with my kids each and every moment I can, because they’re growing up so dang fast.
• To do my best to model the Father’s love to my kids
• To actually finish reading through the “Bible in a Year” plan.  Day three, and all is good!
• To be a better son, brother, and uncle this year.  The past few have pretty much not been great for that.
• To be a better friend.  See previous bullet.
• To be a better teacher.
• To laugh more, smile even more, and enjoy the blessings God pours out on this undeserving soul

I begin the year hopeful.  I begin the year excited.  I begin the year, as we all do perhaps, looking forward to what lies ahead.  As Paul said, I’ll keep pressing forward toward the prize that awaits me in Christ.  I pray you’ll do the same.  I pray this year brings untold blessings your way, friends.  God bless.

Shadows

I’m spending the week at Disney with my girls, thanks to my amazing in-laws. It’s been crazy, to say the least. Let me just warn you if you’re planning a trip: the week before Christmas is NOT a good time if you don’t like crowds! And for those of you that know me, you know that’d be me.

But, in spite of the madness of waiting an hour and a half to ride one thing, it’s been fun. It is an amazing place, and my girls, both young and old, are enjoying it. So I take a lot if deep breaths, and I try not to say really stupid things to ruin situations. Again, if you know me, I don’t have the greatest track record with that!

Tonight, we were privileged to see the Osbourne Family Spectacle of lights at Hollywood Studios. It was really amazing! Millions of lights all flashing in sequence to the Trans-Siberian Orchestra! Hard to describe unless youve seen it. It was one of many moments at Disney that make you want to smile, laugh, and cry all at the same time.

And as I watched, it hit me why it feels that way. It’s a shadow of what’s to come. It makes me happy because it’s a small, incredibly tiny glimpse of the coming Kingdom. It makes me smile because, for a moment, I don’t worry about anything, I just enjoy. It’s a view into the joy that will one day fill our hearts as we stand before the One Who created all things, and holds them all together! The lights I watched tonight will be so pale in comparison to the glory I will oje day behold when I see Jesus Christ face to face! Oh! What a day!

And I think I know why these moments make me want to cry, too. It’s because I know that day is not here yet. I know what I’m seeing are just shadows of what’s to come. They are just a faint outline of what’s really real. So, until that day comes, I’ll enjoy what glimpses I get.

Giving Thanks

As I sit in my mom and dad’s living room tonight, still stuffed from an absolutely amazing meal that my mom slaved over all day, I am overwhelmed.  I am a blessed man.  There are so many things I have to be thankful for, and as I go over them, I realize that I could write for days and not encompass them all.  The top of the list is the salvation that was bought for me by the blood of Jesus Christ.  Everything else stems from His grace.  And as I think about all He’s blessed me with, my family tops the list.

I’m so very thankful for my wife.  I married WAY above my head, and not a day goes by that I’m not aware of that.   I don’t say it enough, but I’m so thankful God gave her to me.  She’s stuck with me through a LOT, and I can’t say thanks enough.  She’s given me two kids, and is the most beautiful woman in the world.

My two beautiful daughters.  Their smiles light up the room, and they bring so much joy to our lives.  They’re growing up so fast, and I’m just trying to enjoy every fleeting moment.

I’m sitting here with my dad beside me, and my mom is reading my 3 year old to sleep.  I have quite a few good friends who can’t say that tonight, and believe me, I’m very thankful.

And while we all couldn’t be together today, I’m very thankful for my brother and 3 sisters. A big family is a huge blessing, and I’ve got one.  We may be separated by 1100 miles, but when we’re together, it’s like we’ve never been apart.

My in-laws.  Yeah, I realize how unusual it is to say that, but I am VERY blessed to have Amanda’s parents in our lives.  They have done so much for us, and words can say how grateful we are.

And we have been blessed with better than a baker’s dozen of nieces and nephews ranging in age from 24 on down to my 3.  They’re all amazingly different, and I love each and every one of them.

And in this year where both sides of my family have lost extended members, I’m very thankful for the uncles and aunts that we are still blessed to have.  What a heritage we’ve been given!

So as you count your blessings this year, I wish you all a Happy Thanksgiving!  G

It Still Stings

“Death is swallowed up in victory.  O death, where is your victory?  O death, where is your sting?”

The Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:55

For me, as a believer, the personal sting of death has been swallowed up in the victory that Christ Jesus won on the cross.  Praise God for that victory!  In that hope, I can endure.  I can go on.  I know where my final home is.

So where is the sting?  I’ll tell you.  It’s in the tear stained face of a young man who lost his mom this week.  It’s in the weary eyes of a teacher who yet again has to face students struggling far too early with the harsh realities of life in this fallen world.  It’s in the hurt I see in my wife countless times a day when something in our house makes her think of her aunt that left us earlier this year.  It’s in the voice of my mom as she talks about how my aunt is dealing with the loss of her husband a few weeks ago.  There is literally no where I turn that I’m not faced, daily, with the sting.  It’s very real.

Death still stings.  And it hurts.  What do you say?  What possibly do you say when you’re constantly dealing with this hurt?

Maranatha…come Lord Jesus.

One day, the sting will be fully swallowed up.

Amen.