The Stooping Saint and the Standing Savior

"But Mary stood weeping outside the tomb, and as she wept she stooped to look into the tomb. 12 And she saw two angels in white, sitting where the body of Jesus had lain, one at the head and one at the feet. 13 They said to her, “Woman, why are you weeping?” She said to them, “They have taken away my Lord, and I do not know where they have laid him.” 14 Having said this, she turned around and saw Jesus standing, but she did not know that it was Jesus...Jesus said to her, “Mary.” She turned and said to him in Aramaic, “Rabboni!”

- John 20: 11-16

Waking up early, she was unstoppable in her search for the One Whom her soul loved. Mary – the one who had once been filled with all sorts of unspeakable evil – lingered at His empty tomb that first Easter Sunday morning, overwhelmed with grief at the seeming loss of Her Savior's presence, unable to comprehend that even though it appeared that He was forever gone, He was always right there (and would shortly show Himself in answer to her diligent search). Although the other seekers had come and gone, not staying to search with her, she stood fast in her pursuit, stooping into the grave to look just one more time. In the loss of such a love, how could she not? Even the reward of seeing angelic beings at that moment wouldn't console her as she wept of her confusion. Majestic as they were, arguably the most glorious of all creation, still they were not enough.

All souls are born to know that nothing in all creation will satisfy except the Creator.

And then He spoke her name.

Her spirit within her leaped with recognition of her Shepherd's voice, just as He had said (“and the sheep follow Him, for they know His voice.” - Jn. 10:4). Instantly, she knew it was Him, for “Christ's way of making Himself known to His people is by His word, His word applied to their souls, speaking to them in particular” (Matthew Henry). His voice called her up out of the pit of despair, just as it does to all who – after finally dropping their false comforters - diligently seek to know Him. Her soul couldn't help but respond, My Great Master! - the One Whom she had unswervingly sought, knowing without Whom she was destitute.

This same Jesus is here with you, calling you to Him today. Even though the darkness in our lives may blind us from seeing Him for a season, we must press on to know Him. He is our only hope, the one true source of salvation, both from our sins in this life and the certain punishment they require in the life to come.

This Easter morning, may we fall at the feet of Jesus, the Creator and Sustainer of the universe, “the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of His nature” (Heb. 1:3). He is the only One Who, even though He holds everything together and sees all people for who they are, loves us with such an unfathomable love that He would come down and die for us, forever paying the price for our sins and clearing the pathway to God – our souls' True Home.

And even more than that, He is now seated at the right hand of the Father, interceding for us constantly. He has not left us, as Mary feared and as we sometimes feel. Often, the clouds of darkness that blind our eyes from seeing Him are the very necessary instruments of grace that will be used to humble, grow and ultimately stir in us an even greater love for our King.

And although we will most certainly fail Him - just as every disciple since that first Easter has done - His unfailing love will always seek to restore, comfort and strengthen us (although He could've called the first disciples “my betrayers”, He mercifully chose to call them “my brothers” - Jn. 20:17).

As Mary did, may we be unstoppable in our search for the Living Christ. May we hear His voice, turn to Him and let Him be our Great Master today and every day while we have breath. There is nothing in all creation that compares.

---

The One Thing Worth Chasing

Come, let us return to the Lord;
for he has torn us, that he may heal us;
he has struck us down, and he will bind us up..,

 

Let us know; let us press on to know the Lord;
his going out is sure as the dawn;
he will come to us as the showers,
as the spring rains that water the earth...”

For I desire steadfast love and not sacrifice,
the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings.
- Hosea 6: 1, 3, 6

If to know the Lord is to walk in clarity and light, just as the dawning sun illuminates the earth – if pursuing Him leads to refreshment, growth and renewal, as the rains of spring do to the winter-hardened earth (v. 3) – then when we find ourselves tired, confused and spiritually dry, we might do well to consider what we're chasing after.

What is our main pursuit in life – is it the approval of man, the satisfaction of our flesh, the avoidance of our fears? Or are we consumed with “pressing on” to know the Lord better every day, which is the only goal in life that will ultimately satisfy and revive the soul?

How are we like the ancient Israelites, offering up “sacrifices” instead of genuinely pursuing to know the Lord out of steadfast love (v. 6)? Sacrifices are the easy route – we simply muster up the spiritual zeal to serve in some way that we feel is important, and then we're done. We can move on with the rest of our week, relatively unchanged in our hearts, yet feeling good about having checked off our “service to the Lord” box.

But Christ desires our hearts, not just our hands.

 

He desires us to daily draw so near to Him that we cannot help but walk away changed by the experience of knowing Him better through His Word and prayer.

 

And as we “taste and see that the Lord is good” (Ps. 34:8), our love for Him will grow, and we will hunger for more of Him, pressing on to know Christ – whom to know is life eternal (John 17: 3). As we embrace Christ, we embrace eternal life in the here and now.

So let us daily draw nearer, knowing and therefore loving Him better. Let us fight against the temptation to put ourselves on spiritual cruise control and complacently sit back, content with the knowledge of Him that we've gained from previous days.

There is infinite goodness in Christ to be had! If we spent every one of our remaining waking ours at His feet, we would still not come close to drinking in all His beauty! But let us be found there. Let it be our goal that we do less “returning” (because we never left) and more remaining at His feet.

All throughout our days, let our hearts ever anchor themselves next to His. And “as sure as the dawn” - as certainly as the ever increasing morning light of a sunrise gradually reveals the world around us - God will steadily give us more knowledge of Himself and a deeper relationship with His Son if we stay awake and pursue Him.

International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church - Nov. 1 & 8, 2015





Even if our understanding of it is limited, there is no denying that prayer is a mighty weapon gifted to us from our Father, Who calls upon us to wield it "without ceasing" on behalf of our Christian brothers and sisters:

Continue to remember those in prison as if you were together with them in prison, and those who are mistreated as if you yourselves were suffering.

 - Hebrews 13: 3

 

And pray in the Spirit on all occasions with all kinds of prayers and requests. With this in mind, be alert and always keep on praying for all the Lord’s people.

- Ephesians 6: 18

 

Bear one another's burdens, and thereby fulfill the law of Christ. 

- Galatians 6:2

 

And if one member suffers, all the members suffer with it; if one member is honored, all the members rejoice with it. Now you are Christ's body, and individually members of it.

- 1 Corinthians 12:26-27

 

...you also joining in helping us through your prayers, so that thanks may be given by many persons on our behalf for the favor bestowed on us through the prayers of many.

- 2 Corinthians 1:11

 

 Today and Sunday, Nov. 8 are International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church. May each of us carve out time to "bear one another's burdens" out of love for our brothers and sisters in Christ. For great suggestions and verses to pray for the persecuted church, click the following links:

• International Days of Prayer for the Persecuted Church website http://idop.org/en/
• downloadable resources to help you pray http://idop.org/en/downloads/
• "How to Pray for the Persecuted Church" http://www.cru.org/train-and-grow/spiritual-growth/prayer/pray-for-persecuted-church.html
• http://www.persecution.org/
• "Why and How Should We Pray and Act for the Suffering Church?" http://christiananswers.net/q-eden/edn-persecutedchurch.html#howtopray
• "As You Pray" by Voice of the Martyrs https://www.vomcanada.com/prayer.htm
• "Pray for the Persecuted" http://www.bereanbiblechurch.org/transcripts/hebrews/pray-persecuted.htm
• "The Persecuted Church Taught Me to Pray" http://www.lausanneworldpulse.com/perspectives.php/1205/10-2009

 

And as we go about our daily lives here in America, may we also remember:

"The persecuted Church needs our prayers. But we also need their example. Often, they have told me that they pray for the Western Church—that we will be faithful to Christ in the midst of our materialism and the numerous temptations of our culture. We need their prayers, not least because they need for us to be strong in our faith in order to stand with them. Together we are one body—suffering together and rejoicing together." - Al Jannsen



 

Waking Up to the Syrian Refugee Crisis

A Confession

For far too long, I've been living unto myself, safely tucked away in my little American bubble with no real worries to speak of. I shamefully admit that, even though I'm saturated with far more blessings than most of the world would even know to dream of, I have daily battled against discontentment and self-pity. Whether I wanted to admit it or not, as a byproduct of being raised in modern America, I had bought in to the consumerist lies that permeate every facet of our culture. It nauseates me to confess the trivial thoughts that were constantly at the forefront of my mind: Could I find a good deal on outdoor sofa cushions? When will I finally get some “me” time? I wonder what's happening on Facebook? I'm so tired of my purse – I need a new one. Wouldn't things be so much better if I could just keep those five pounds off?

 

Although, through the years, God's Spirit within me had steadily moved my heart closer to what concerns His heart, my mind was still far too consumed with thoughts about myself.

Then came February 15, 2015, when ISIS released the graphic video of their brutal, systematic murder of 21 Egyptian Coptic Christians on the shores of Libya.

 

 



 As I stared into the determined eyes of those brave martyrs, my own eyes that were once sealed shut to the ISIS-induced crisis going on in the Middle East began to crack open. I was finally jarred awake to the magnitude of monstrosities that are being committed every second in the lives of my brothers and sisters in Christ. Men, women and children – children - raped, tortured, and beheaded on a daily basis, under the banner of a holy calling.

 

Refugees in crisis.

EPA

Life is so desperate for them that, in 2015 alone, of the 300,000 refugees attempting to cross the Mediterranean Sea by boat as they flee the terror of ISIS for the safety of European shores, over 2,500 have drowned, their bodies washing ashore as the world watches.

 

To understand more about the extent of the crisis, click here.

 

A woman removes the life jacket from a baby, who survived the journey,

moments after Syrian refugees arrived on a dinghy on the Greek island of Lesbos

Reuters/Dimitris Michalakis



How could I have missed this for so many years? Where had I been?!

 

I knew at the very least that I needed to start praying for this situation, so in February I set an alarm on my phone and began to pray every day for the relief, strengthening and protection of the persecuted Church. And now, six months later, I feel like God has been faithful to answer my prayers in a way I didn't expect as He has more fully removed the scales from my eyes and stirred deeply in not only my own heart, but in the hearts of my husband and close friends.

 

I came home last week to find a book titled Defying ISIS: Preserving Christianity in the Place of Its Birth and in Your Own Backyard lying on my husband's nightstand. He had devoured that book in only two days, and God used it to spark a raging flame in my husband's heart. I am now married to a man on fire who is consumed with prayerfully searching out how we can use our lives to bring God's light and love to those suffering through this crisis. And in His perfect providence, God has simultaneously been at work in the hearts of many of our friends as well, stirring us all more and more awake. This has caused my prayer focus to now shift toward asking God how my family, friends and I can specifically be the instruments of relief, strengthening and protection for which I was originally praying.

We've only just begun this journey, but for starters, my husband's and my whole outlook on how we spend the money with which God has blessed us has radically changed. We've become hyper-aware that every dollar that flows in and out of our home can either be used for eternal good, or for our own selfish gain (oh, how much money we have wasted!) – and so consequently we are in the process of completely re-vamping how we manage our funds so that we can free up more of them to go toward the refugee relief effort, as well as looking in to various ways we can make extra income to donate.

----------------------------------------------------------

 

A Call to Action

What if we all began to have the radical perspective that God allowed us to be born here in America not simply for our own comfort and gain, but so that we could maximize the opportunities we have in order to bless others with them? We did nothing to deserve being born here – why do we think we should just hoard all our gain unto ourselves? Who does that benefit? In the end, it doesn't even benefit ourselves – just look at the results of our national greed (obesity, depression, debt, addictions, etc.).

A person can never be truly satisfied if they are living only for their own gain. If you want to see a truly joyful person, find someone who is following Paul's example in Philippians 2:17 and pouring out his every day for a cause greater than himself. In the inspirational words of George Bernard Shaw:

 

This is the true joy in life...being used for a purpose recognized by yourself as a mighty one...being a force of Nature instead of a feverish selfish little clod of ailments and grievances complaining that the world will not devote itself to making you happy...I am of the opinion that my life belongs to the whole community and as long as I live it is my privilege to do for it whatever I can. I want to be thoroughly used up when I die. For the harder I work the more I live. I rejoice in life for its own sake. Life is no brief candle to me. It's a sort of splendid torch which I've got to hold up for the moment and I want to make it burn as brightly as possible before handing it on to future generations.

The ultimate joy is to align our lives with the mission of pushing back the darkness by holding out the light of Christ. Jesus rightly said in Matthew 10: 39 that unless we lose our lives, we cannot find them.

 

The persecuted Church knows all about this.

 

Syrian refugees in Bulgaria

But as modern Americans, we are pummeled daily with the completely opposite message: YOU are what it's all about. Seek comfort, pleasure and protect whatever is YOURS above all else. We are fools to think this self-absorbed, antichrist mindset has not permeated the American Church.

 I challenge you to spend some time asking Christ how you specifically have bought into this lie, and to help you see that, as His children, our lives are not our own, they were bought with a price, and truly there is no greater joy than laying them down out of gratitude and love for Christ.

 

As Defying ISIS author, Johnnie Moore, writes, “It has always been a mystery to me why so many Christians in the West struggle to live for what so many Christians in persecuted countries are willing to die for.”

 

It is a difficult exercise, but for the sake of compassion, just take a moment and try to really understand what life is like for those being hunted down by ISIS. Allow yourself to imagine what it would be like if ISIS showed up on your front doorstep, lined your family up and then demanded that you all either convert to their ideology or die. And then imagine what it would be like if the last thing your eyes ever saw before you entered eternity was the murder of your own children for their refusal to deny Christ. As seemingly impossible as it sounds in our modern era, this is no nightmarish fairy tale – this is the brutal reality for thousands of Christians this very moment.

 

The stories are endless. And it could very easily be our own reality sooner than we think.

 

We are living in a time of laying down lives – our persecuted brothers and sisters lose theirs because they would rather die than deny their precious Savior. Let us follow their stunning example and, at the very least, lay down our comforts, taking up the mandate to live simply, so that our storehouses are opened to their needs, and perhaps somehow we can offer them relief.

 

Syrian refugees.

Photograph: Sedat Suna/EPA

In the words of Sister Rose, a young Iraqi nun who is bravely risking her life to save those hunted down by ISIS, “Americans are wonderful people. It's shocking to me that they are so silent in the face of our genocide. Please help us. Raise your voice for us. Our children are dying. In America you care for your pets so well, can you care for your Christian brothers and sisters who are suffering?” (Defying ISIS, p. 70).

 Start asking God how He wants you to help:

•  For an excellent article on practical ways to get involved , check out 8 Ways to Help Refugees a World Away.
• How can you encourage your friends, family and church to get involved?
• Whatever job God has given you to do, do it for a greater purpose! If you write, write for this greater purpose. If you create, create for this greater purpose.
• Take a hard look at how you spend the money with which God has blessed you. What if you only lived on half your income and donated the rest of it, instead of saving up for another toy that you'll tire of in two weeks? Or, what if it was a given that, of course we all lived on one income and gave the other one away?
• What do you have lying around your house that you could sell and donate the money to help refugees? What about all that old jewelry getting tarnished in your closet? How many bags of gently used clothing can you fill up to donate? 

We all know that in the end, we can't take anything with us when we are done with this life. Scripture speaks again and again of our need to not be tied down with the love of money, but to be satisfied with living simply. If the Church would take this Biblical mandate seriously, billions of dollars would be released to serve those in need. According to the Status of Global Mission 2010, only 1.73% of the total global church member annual income is given to Christian causes.

 

Beloved Church, our brothers and sisters are desperate, displaced, and dying every day...and yet we are shamefully far more concerned about where our next vacation should be or what restaurant we'll eat out at tonight.  

 It's far past time for us to wake up to the vicious reality of what is happening on the other side of the world (and is rapidly on its way to our shores). Christ calls us to help those who are suffering, especially those of the family of faith (Galatians 6: 10), and when we do, it is as if we are doing it for the very Lord Himself:

“For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me, I was naked and you clothed me, I was sick and you visited me, I was in prison and you came to me.’ Then the righteous will answer him, saying, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you drink? And when did we see you a stranger and welcome you, or naked and clothe you? And when did we see you sick or in prison and visit you?’ And the King will answer them, ‘Truly, I say to you, as you did it to one of the least of these my brothers, you did it to me.’ - Matthew 25: 35-40

Christ's Body is floating in the Mediterranean Sea, beaten and bruised. How can we sit idly by and do nothing?

This is the greatest humanitarian catastrophe we will ever see in our lifetime, and it's happening to our Family members. We can no longer turn a blind eye with the hopes that it will just all go away. It is happening, even as I type these words – and we need not deceive ourselves with the thoughts that it will never happen on the presumed safety of American soil.

We each have to decide in our hearts whether we will be a part of the silence, or will we join with those who are standing up, speaking out, sacrificing comforts, and serving?

We were born for such a time as this.

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The Lord Will Not Forsake His People

Psalm 94
O Lord, God of vengeance,
    O God of vengeance, shine forth!
2 Rise up, O judge of the earth;
    repay to the proud what they deserve!
3 O Lord, how long shall the wicked,
    how long shall the wicked exult?
4 They pour out their arrogant words;
    all the evildoers boast.
5 They crush your people, O Lord,
    and afflict your heritage.
6 They kill the widow and the sojourner,
    and murder the fatherless;
7 and they say, “The Lord does not see;
    the God of Jacob does not perceive.”

8 Understand, O dullest of the people!
    Fools, when will you be wise?
9 He who planted the ear, does he not hear?
He who formed the eye, does he not see?
10 He who disciplines the nations, does he not rebuke?
He who teaches man knowledge—
11     the Lord—knows the thoughts of man,
    that they are but a breath.

12 Blessed is the man whom you discipline, O Lord,
    and whom you teach out of your law,
13 to give him rest from days of trouble,
    until a pit is dug for the wicked.
14 For the Lord will not forsake his people;
    he will not abandon his heritage;
15 for justice will return to the righteous,
    and all the upright in heart will follow it.

16 Who rises up for me against the wicked?
    Who stands up for me against evildoers?
17 If the Lord had not been my help,
    my soul would soon have lived in the land of silence.
18 When I thought, “My foot slips,”
    your steadfast love, O Lord, held me up.
19 When the cares of my heart are many,
    your consolations cheer my soul.
20 Can wicked rulers be allied with you,
    those who frame injustice by statute?
21 They band together against the life of the righteous
    and condemn the innocent to death.
22 But the Lord has become my stronghold,
    and my God the rock of my refuge.
23 He will bring back on them their iniquity
    and wipe them out for their wickedness;
    the Lord our God will wipe them out.





Guard Against the Joy Thieves

“The thief comes only to steal and kill and destroy.

I came that they may have life and have it abundantly.”

- John 10:10

When I think of a thief, I instantly picture a cartoon figure clad in a striped shirt and sporting a black eye mask – not too sneaky of a get up for a thief, if you ask me.





But the thieves Christ is speaking of are so much less obvious than what our minds imagine. They show up in the subtle lies whispered by our sinful hearts, the world and Satan, whose main goal is to trick us into believing that there is something else in life that will make us happy. These thieves never rest; they are ever attempting to lure us away from chasing our joy in Christ. When we fold to them, we fling open the door to our hearts and allow them to wreak havoc on the peace Christ died to give us – the abundance of life we are offered in Him.

These thieves are opportunists, knowing that our physical lives this side of heaven will very likely be one of trials and struggles. They've helped twist the understanding of this verse and promoted the “prosperity gospel” lie that the abundant Christian life is one marked by a full bank account and a clean bill of health. While most of us, if we are honest, desire those things, what Christ is talking about here is so much more than just our material security, which we all know is fleeting and can change on a dime (no pun intended).

So what is the abundant life? When we are born into God's family through faith in Christ's redeeming work on the cross, His Spirit dwells in us and the abundant life can be experienced in our daily decision to be satisfied in Him alone. Our simple lives become supernaturally empowered, allowing us to live life to the fullest in the strength He supplies, just as He designed it to be lived.

It seems like a foolish question, but who doesn't want a MORE joyful, fulfilling life? That is the abundant life that Jesus promises – that in Him (and Him alone), we are graciously given the chance to operate infused with his unshakable joy every day; and when our days on Earth are done, eternal joy. Let's make it a habit to ask God for the grace to stop being satisfied by lesser joys, as C.S. Lewis famously wrote,

“It would seem that Our Lord finds our desires not too strong, but too weak. We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

Lord, help us to lock out the thieves and vigilantly guard our hearts (Proverbs 4:23), turning our minds toward the face of Christ by saturating them in Your Word, our main weapon, as often as we are able, knowing that a richer, fuller life marked by joy and strength in Christ alone awaits us.

Rome: An Unexpected Lesson on What Falls and What Stands

So, Rome. It's hard to walk away from a visit to what has been called the “Eternal City” without, at least on a sub-conscious level, pondering the question of what is truly eternal and worthy of ultimate trust.

“Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God.
They collapse and fall, but we rise and stand upright.” (Psalm 20: 7)

Imperial Rome, although at one point it ruled all of what was the known world at the time, had a set time for its reign, and eventually collapsed. It doesn't take a lengthy glance back at human history to see clearly that the same has gone (and will go) for all other man-made institutions of this world. Anything that is not based on what is eternal will inevitably fall.

So, the question looms large before us – at this point in human history, where is our hope based? Is it our country, our financial security, technology, medical advancement, our philosophies, those around us, ourselves? Or is our trust, our final sense of assurance, based on the only One Who sits on the everlasting throne?

As we watch our country struggle, we do well to remember that even though we should stand firm in graciously speaking the Truth in love, when all is said and done, we can rest in knowing that God's providence cannot be thwarted. We can trust in the name of the Lord our God, even if all that we know collapses and falls, because if we are in Christ, His saving work on the cross will ultimately cause us to “rise and stand upright” in the end.

 

Until that Day, may God help us to remember and live out His command to love with a true love:

"Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for each other, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. For,

“All people are like grass,
    and all their glory is like the flowers of the field;
the grass withers and the flowers fall,
but the word of the Lord endures forever."(1 Peter 1:22-25)

What's On Your Mind?

“...whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things...practice these things, and the God of peace will be with you.”
 - Philippians 4:8, 9b

Every year the mud martins came – pretty little birds who would build their muddy nest in the safety of our front porch. We welcomed them because they were fun to watch, but any time we attempted to walk out our front door, they dive bombed us with military fervor. Pretty little birds with a pretty impressive attack mode.

When it comes to our thoughts, there's great wisdom in the old saying that you can't stop a bird from flying over your head, but you can stop it from building a nest in your hair. Often thoughts can seem to bombard us out of thin air, and before we know it, we find ourselves, sometimes even subconsciously, letting them “build a nest in our hair” by dwelling on that which is unhealthy, unhelpful, and unholy.

 

Do you ever find this to be true in your life? Your day starts out fairly smoothly, but then somehow - totally undetected - some lie begins to sneak into your thoughts, clouding the Truth in your heart, and slowly turning your mind towards that which is negative, fearful, selfish, just ugly...And before you know it, your perspective on life is completely tainted by that insidious lie's shadow, causing your actions (usually regrettable) to follow suit. It's been rightly said, “Sow a thought, reap an action. Sow an action, reap a habit. Sow a habit, reap a character.” What we allow ourselves to think on, we will do, and what we do, we will become.

Any time I find myself covered with the splattered mud of my selfishness (or any number of sins), I can always trace my actions back to my mind's believing in some sort of lie that my sin nature, the world or Satan has thrown at me. Every sin is rooted in wrong thinking – just as, conversely, every godly act is rooted in right thinking. When we find ourselves slowly sinking into a mental pit of stinky thoughts (jealousy, worry, selfishness, insecurity, anger, idolatry, etc.), we are believing some sort of lie that has been sown into our minds. And we can be sure that if we continue to brood on it, the inevitable result is sin – which, if we have God's Spirit dwelling in us through faith in Christ, will always destroy our peace.

So how do we conquer "the life of the mind"? God knows that, since the Garden of Eden, we humans have been easy targets for the swaying of our minds toward the dark and untrue (and we've been watching the results of wrong thinking wreak havoc on human history ever since). So, out of the Father's tender love, He commands us to get control of our thought life by continually redirecting our minds to that which is:

true

honorable

just

pure

lovely

commendable

excellent

and praiseworthy

 

– essentially, turning our minds toward Jesus and His Word, which embodies all these qualities.

 

To do this, we must trust Him. God's Word promises,

 "You will keep in perfect peace all who trust in you,

all whose thoughts are fixed on you!"

-Isaiah 26:3

 

Do you trust in the Lord? Does your heart rest in the fickle fact that you have enough money in the bank, your last health check-up was good, you've got a ring on your finger, or you're just feeling generally well-liked at the moment...

 

Or does your heart truly, moment-by-moment, peacefully rest in the unchangeable fact that - no matter what - the Lord is

sovereign,

faithful, 

all-powerful,

merciful,

loving,

patient,

forgiving,

gracious,

and will work all things together for the good of those who love Him?

 

People (including ourselves) will fail us. Our health will fail us. Whatever we are leaning on to maintain our false sense of security will ultimately fail us.

 

Only Jesus is fully trustworthy and will never fail us.

 

When we discipline ourselves to think on this Truth (and a huge tool to help us do that is memorizing Scripture), we are much more likely to fulfill the next verse's command: to put these things into practice.

 

As we think God's thoughts, which are clearly laid out for us in His Word, and should be in our hearts through memorization, we are forever changed as His Spirit redeems our minds. We begin to see life from God's perspective, and we can then live out the kind of walk He desires. And as obedience leads to deeper intimacy with Jesus, we are promised that “the God of peace will be with [us].”

Are you lacking peace in your life today? Do you want more intimacy with God?

 

First check your thoughts – what is your mind's “default setting”? What do you think on when you're just “spacing out”? If it's not Jesus and all His beauty spilling forth through Scripture and His grace around us, then ask the Lord to help you learn to trust Him and learn His Word (see links below) - so that, even if you're bombarded daily with all manner of thoughts, you will find your mind always returning to its safe haven, always being restored and grounded, settled and ultimately wrapped in peace and not fear, as you learn to dwell on Jesus and His powerful Word, which alone is

 true, honorable, just, pure, lovely, commendable, excellent and praiseworthy.

Father God, please give me the grace to capture every thought that is not from You and replace it with Your Truth, as I seek to write it on my heart. My mind desperately needs to be renewed by Your Spirit through Your Word every day. Thank you that no lie from the Enemy, world or my own sinful nature can stand up to the purifying light of Truth found in Your Word. Amen.

[P.S. To learn more about God and how to have His peace, click http://www.cru.org/how-to-know-god/would-you-like-to-know-god-personally.html
P.S.S. www.fighterverses.com is an excellent tool for Scripture memory! Find someone to be your partner in memorizing God's Word to hold you accountable - it'll make all the difference.]