Do Not Depart

Encouragement and Tools to Abide in God's Word

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Jennifer lives in Houston with her husband and four energetic children. After training and working as a pediatrician, Jennifer transitioned to be home full-time and has found life at home to be wild but wonderful. Homeschooling fueled Jennifer‘s passion for education, offering the opportunity to learn, read, and draw alongside her children. Her favorite day is Thursday, when her family escapes their urban surroundings to walk in the woods and dig in the dirt.

About Jennifer Hong

Jennifer lives in Houston with her husband and four energetic children. After working as a pediatrician, she transitioned to be at home full-time and has found life at home to be wild but wonderful. Homeschooling fueled Jennifer‘s passion for education, offering the opportunity to learn, read, and draw alongside her children. Her favorite day is Thursday, when her family escapes their urban surroundings to walk in the woods and dig in the dirt.

Series Wrap-Up: The Lord Is My Light

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Today we wrap-up February’s series The Lord is My Light, reflections on the Light of God.

We began this month with a look at light in creation in both Genesis and the Gospel of John. Creation began as God spoke light into being and separated it from darkness. Christ, the Word, was with God from the beginning. Creation was accomplished through Christ, and in Christ is life that is the light of men (John 1:3-4). And while the light of Christ will one day obliterate the night and illuminate heaven for eternity (Revelation 21:22-24), today that Light shines in the darkness.

We then looked at the life-giving nature of light. Both biologically and spiritually, life begins with and is sustained by light. “The Lord is our life-giving light – our Creator, our Provider, and our Sustainer from whom all life flows. When our energy wanes, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, we can turn to God, our light source and life source, for healing and nourishment, for knowledge and wisdom.”

Ali wrote about how Christ’s light illuminates us.  He’s the true light, our source of light. And His light within us makes us as lanterns and the Church as a lit city on an otherwise dark hillside. She said, “Jesus’ light will never stop. He will always be the true light of life. Because God is light, and in Him is no darkness. And when He puts His light in me, my little candle can shine brightly in my dark little corner, bringing glory to the Father.”

Kristee then shared in her post Though I Sit in Darkness  about truth that pierces with hope into our darkest moments. “Though I sat in the darkness, believing the lies about hopelessness, the Lord would be my light. I prayed and the Spirit gently showed me the truth. My darkness became light again. The Lord shows what is true. He is our hope. He is our light.”

Writing about the grief of losing her father in a post titled When the Darkness Deepens, Sabrina reminded us that the Holy Spirit is always near. “This we can depend upon: even in our darkest night, Jehovah Shammah, “The Lord is There,” is with us. He sees us. He sees the darkness, and He has overcome it (John 16:33). Jesus is, in fact, the Light of the World and shines His light into all our darkness—our sin, our pain, our unbelief—and it is not dark to Him, but bright as day. Even in our Sheol-like moments, He is there holding onto us and waiting to lead us on.”

And on Tuesday, guest author Bethany Williams wrote on the marvelous, merciful light of God as Peter described in 1 Peter 2:9.  “I began praying for my children last year: ‘Please, Lord, keep them in your Light.’ With the many darknesses our whole world has experienced in recent years, with so many darknesses within the culture around them, with the humility that I do not know all the days in their futures, I’ve begun to pray with imagery of God’s light surrounding my children. I pray they can always see Jesus in the dark.”

What a beautiful image to hold in prayer for our children.

The People Who Walked in Darkness Have Seen a Great Light

As we wrap up this end-of-winter month of reflections on light, I am reminded of something I read a few years ago. I wish I could recall where. While we may not know the exact day of Christ’s birth, and there may be historical and cultural factors that played into the designation of December 25th as Christmas, there is also beautiful providence in the fact that, in the northern hemisphere, our celebration of the Incarnation falls just after the very darkest day of the year. This winter, December 21st is the longest night of the year. Then Christmas dawns just as the light begins to advance again on the dark, slowly and steadily exchanging minutes of night for minutes of light until spring breaks through. On December 25th, there is no evidence of spring. The hardest, longest freezes and winter storms may yet be ahead. But already the forces have come into play that assuredly bring spring.

There is such beauty and comfort in the arrival of light. Centuries before the birth of Christ, the Son of God, here with us, the prophet Isaiah wrote:

“The people who walked in darkness
    have seen a great light;
those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness,
    on them has light shone.
For to us a child is born,
    to us a son is given;
and the government shall be upon his shoulder,
    and his name shall be called
Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God,
    Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.”
(Isaiah 9:2,6)

 

Life-Giving Light

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life giving light

As we delve into a month of reflections on “The Lord is My Light,” I find myself turning over the idea of light, life-giving light.

What do I know about light, from Scripture, from observation, and from school?

Light was the beginning of creation, and it was created by the spoken Word of God (Genesis 1:3-4). It was separated from the darkness; it penetrates the darkness; and it is not overcome by darkness (Genesis 1:4-5, John 1:5).

Light illuminates our way, revealing paths that were hidden by darkness, allowing for sure footing. Light dissipates the confusion of darkness, where we cannot tell what is present and what is not. By revealing both our surroundings and the actions of people, light makes dangerous places safe.

And light fuels life on earth.

It is this point I’d like to explore a bit more today. Humor my inner scientist for a moment. I just can’t get over the beauty here!

Physics tells us that light is energy. Light can be transferred to objects, and it changes them in the process. When an object absorbs light, it is warmed, as its teeny molecules begin to quiver faster.

From a biologic perspective, the daylight created in Genesis 1 fuels all life on earth. Light received by plants is converted to other forms of energy. This light-fueled plant life is the foundation for every ecosystem. Whether you’re a vegetarian or a “second-tier vegetarian” as my son, who eats animals that eat plants, calls himself, every calorie you use for life and growth originates with light. 

Just as God tenderly grows and nourishes our bodies with sunlight-fueled food, His light is similarly the origin and sustenance of our life. For human life began with the breath of God (Genesis 2:7) and has been sustained by Him every moment since.

The Bible tells us that God’s light shines on everyone.

“The true light, which gives light to everyone, was coming into the world” (John 1:9).

God’s common grace gives us ALL light. He gives us life and health. He designed our bodies to heal from injury and illness. He reveals truth, shines into darkness, and limits the evil that is yet with us on earth. God’s light gives light to everyone.

And yet, also, the fullness of life, life eternal, comes by being re-born of God and following Jesus.

“He was in the world, and the world was made through him, yet the world did not know him. He came to his own, and his own people did not receive him. But to all who did receive him, who believed in his name, he gave the right to become children of God, who were born, not of blood nor of the will of the flesh nor of the will of man, but of God.” (John 1:10-13)

His way is the way of life, illuminated by His word. Not only was the first breath of human life an extension of God’s breath, but also Christians have been revived and brought to life again by His Spirit, first bestowed on the apostles in the breath of Christ (John 20:22).

The Lord is our life-giving light – our Creator, our Provider, and our Sustainer from whom all life flows. When our energy wanes, physically, emotionally, or spiritually, we can turn to God, our light source and life source, for healing and nourishment, for knowledge and wisdom.

Maybe take a prayer walk today in whatever sunlight makes it your way this February day. Soak in God’s goodness, surrender your way in exchange for his, and breathe in His life.

Series Intro: The Lord is My Light

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This month, the DoNotDepart blog will be exploring the Light of God in a series titled, “The Lord is My Light.” Join us as we reflect on light, from the beginning of both Genesis the Gospel of John through the last chapters of Revelation.

I know, I know.
This beautiful passage is so familiar that it’s easy to read through it quickly.
But humor me, slow down, and take it in for a minute, letting it sink in at the pace of poetry.

 “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him was not any thing made that was made. In him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.”
(John 1:1-4, emphasis mine)

With this passage, John introduces his Gospel in parallel to the creation narrative of Genesis, which also begins with light and its distinction from darkness:

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters. And God said, “Let there be light,” and there was light. And God saw that the light was good. And God separated the light from the darkness.”
(Genesis 1:1-4, emphasis mine)

With these two “beginnings” God reveals so much to us about Who He is and what our world is like. Just skimming the surface, I see that:

  • God the Father, the Son (the Word), and the Holy Spirit have been from the very beginning.
  •  Light entered the world through the spoken, creative word of God …
  • … and also through the life within Christ.
  • The presence of light in our world does not (yet) mean the absence of darkness.
  • The darkness has been separated from the light.
  • Light shines in the darkness, and light is victorious. “Darkness has not overcome it.”

That fourth statement sits particularly heavy with me today: The presence of light in our world does not (yet) mean the absence of darkness.

While the Bible beautifully depicts light and all the character of God and freedom for us that light embodies, the Bible also graphically depicts darkness. And you know what strikes me as weird? I somehow find that comforting. Because I see the darkness around me. We all see the darkness around us. That the Bible also depicts the darkness that remains all around us is somehow validating and grounding to me.

Horrors of war, like those depicted in the book of Habakkuk, rage on around the globe.
Just last week a dear friend shared with me some of her childhood experiences, and frankly, I had not truly understood that things that evil happen around here. It is too much for words. The darkness around us is far darker than I generally perceive. Sometimes, it threatens to overwhelm.

And yet that darkness is neither uncontested nor victorious. The light shines in the darkness, and darkness has not overcome it.

As we live in this “already” and also “not yet” age in which Christ has come incarnate, defeated death, and risen victorious, our world still spins in alternating darkness and light, day and night. We know that one day, the light will shine so brilliantly from the Son, the Lamb of God, that night will be no more (Revelation 21:23-25).  In the meanwhile, we enter places of darkness with the light of Christ, participating in the still-raging battle between the two with the hopeful assurance of victory.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?
(Psalm 27:1)

Join me in prayer and worship, declaring Christ’s victory over darkness:

 

Jesus, Lamb of God

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Today we continue our look at the names of Jesus with a title pronounced by John the Baptist at the very beginning of Jesus’s ministry: The Lamb of God.

Lamb of God

Today is the third day without running water at our house, thanks to a broken pipe. Without water for washing dishes and clothes, bathing, and flushing toilets, I’ve become increasingly aware of “clean” and “unclean.” It takes a lot of effort to keep things clean! It’s hard to keep a kitchen clean, floors clean, and bodies clean without running water. It seems we, and our things, require continual washing to stay even “clean enough,” which is as high as my standards get right now.

This is true of our spiritual lives as well as our physical lives!

In preparing people’s hearts for Jesus, John the Baptist called people to repent, to turn away from sin, pointing them instead toward Jesus Christ. John the Baptist, seeing Jesus, declared, “Behold, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world! (John 1:29)”

While the phrase “Lamb of God” may be familiar to us. It must have been striking to first century Jews to hear this description applied to a man. The Jews were accustomed to the sacrifice of animals to atone for sin, but the suggestion that a man would fill this role may have been shocking.

Why would this man from Galilee be called the Lamb of God? 

Entire books could be written exploring Jesus as the Lamb of God. The theology here begins with the rift between man and God created by sin. God established the blood of the lamb as the way of salvation when Moses led the enslaved Israelites out of Egypt.

And then in the laws recorded in the books of Leviticus and Numbers, God outlines the Day of Atonement rituals and the animal sacrifices as sin and guilt offerings, cleansing the Israelites of sin (Leviticus 16:30). To summarize very briefly, the blood of animal sacrifices provided temporary reconciliation between the Israelites and God, but atonement had to be sought again and again.

The Passover Lamb

The twelfth chapter of Exodus outlines the instructions God gave the Israelites for the first Passover, and it was celebrated similarly thereafter on the dates outlined in Scripture. In Jesus’s time, Passover was celebrated in Jerusalem.

On the 10th of Nisan each year, flawless, male, year-old lambs were brought from the surrounding areas, like Bethlehem, where they were carefully raised by area shepherds. They were brought into Jerusalem and held for four days. The lambs were inspected for blemish and, if found to be perfect, they were sacrificed just before evening on Nisan 14th. Each family then spread the blood of the lamb on their door posts and ate its meat, along with wine and unleavened bread, as they retold the story of the first Passover, recounting how God had redeemed Israel from slavery in Egypt and brought them to freedom.

Also the Passover Lamb

And then one year, in the days just before Passover, Jesus of Nazareth entered Jerusalem on a donkey on Nisan 10. The crowds waved palm branches and cried, “Hosanna!”

Jesus taught, and he cleansed the Temple. He ate in the upper room with his disciples, prayed in the garden, was betrayed, and sat trial.

Just the Passover lambs were brought into the city on Nisan 10th and examined before the sacrifice, so was Christ. As the lambs were confirmed to be faultless, so did Pilate declare of Jesus: “I find no guilt in him,” (John 18:38). He had entered Jerusalem as He had lived His life, without sin, though on the cross He bore all our sin.

Jesus was crucified, giving up His spirit about 3pm on Nisan 14, as the Passover lambs were sacrificed.

Washed in the Blood of the Lamb

With this final sacrifice, Jesus Christ covered our sin completely, ending forever the need for blood sacrifices in the Temple. As Jesus spoke to his disciples the night that he was betrayed, “this is my blood of the covenant, which is poured out for many for the forgiveness of sins” (Matthew 26:28).

It’s hard to keep things clean. As I’ve been reminded this week, keeping people and homes even just “clean enough” requires a lot of water – washing and re-washing — not so different from the system of repeated animal sacrifices for the forgiveness of sins. But Christ… well, nothing else in life that makes us completely, faultlessly clean. His sacrifice and forgiveness are all-encompassing and completely sufficient. There is, as they say power in the blood of the Lamb.

 

 

A Timeline of Holy Week

 

 

The Gift of Peace

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In this month’s series “Unwrapping Christmas: Gifts from Jesus” we are looking at spiritual blessings that are ours through Jesus. Ephesians 1:3 says, “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places.” Today, we’ll look at the gift of peace that surpasses understanding.

Gift of peace

My Bible, crayons, markers, and construction paper were spread out in front of me. It was quickly approaching midnight on a Saturday night when I took a deep breath, sighed, stretched, and then chuckled out loud at the sudden recognition of how very tense I had become. Oh, the irony!

I’d reached a moment of “why do I feel too tense to breathe?” anxiety while preparing the children’s Sunday School lesson on the topic of peace. Surely God laughed with me.

After eighteen years at our home church, God has gently led our family to join a local church right in our neighborhood. It has been beautiful getting to know our neighbors more deeply as we walk in faith and fellowship together, but the decision to make that transition was far from easy.

Peace Like a River

That particular Saturday night in May, still in the unsettled thick of the church decision, I was preparing to teach my first Sunday School lesson at our neighborhood church. While I wrote, colored, and cut my presentation materials, my heart was racing with the anxiety of uncertainty.

And then I looked down at the poster I’d prepared for that week’s Fruit of the Spirit lesson. In front of me was a blue river labeled PEACE, bordered by flourishing trees and flowers. “Upstream,” on the left, the river was fed by large drops of water on which was written:

God is good.
God is faithful.
and
God loves me.

Here I was, preparing to tell children about how God’s peace flows into us and through us, and how that river of peace begins with knowing God. And my eyes were so fixed on the unknown future before me, rather than the character of God, that my own river was running pretty dry.

God is Good

“Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; for his steadfast love extends forever.” (1 Chronicles 16:34)

“Let them thank the Lord for his steadfast love,
for his wondrous works to the children of man!
For he satisfies the longing soul,
and the hungry soul he fills with good things” (Psalm 107:8-9)

The Bible tells us again and again that God is good!

God is Faithful

“But the Lord is faithful. He will establish you and guard you against the evil one.” (2 Thessalonians 3:3)

“The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases;
his mercies never come to an end;
they are new every morning;
great is your faithfulness.” (Lamentations 3:22-23)

Taken together, the knowledge that God is entirely, through-and-through good and that He is faithful, steadfast, and sovereign means that there is nowhere safer than by His side. We can rest in the knowledge that He is bringing about His good will.

God Loves Me

“But God, being rich in mercy, because of the great love with which he loved us, even when we were dead in our trespasses, made us alive together with Christ—by grace you have been saved— and raised us up with him and seated us with him in the heavenly places in Christ Jesus” (Ephesians 2:4-6)

I, as God’s beloved, am a recipient of His forever lovingkindness.

My peace is not dependent upon favorable circumstances around me. Nor does peace require that I understand how it is all going to be okay. Instead, the gift of peace is a deeply abiding peace – peace with God, peace within myself, and peace with others – that can be experienced even in the context of external turmoil.

That Saturday night, I stopped my busy hands and quieted my worried heart. I sat on the living room floor in the stillness of the night  and let my heart soak in these reassuring truths, one at a time:

God is good.
God is faithful.
God loves me, and He loves my children.

And then, the threat of making the wrong decisions for our family began to melt away. In its place grew a more confident assurance that God could be trusted to actively guide my husband and I as we prayed and listened.

Depths of Peace

There are far more truths about the character of God that feed our river of peace than the three I highlighted for my Sunday School lesson.  I could have similarly written on the water droplets flowing into the river of peace “Jesus is victorious” (John 16:33) and “I am forgiven” (1 John 1:9) among others.

As we unwrap these Christmas gifts, freely given to us through Jesus, let your heart eagerly receive the peace He offers.

God is good.
God is faithful.
And He loves you.

The Worship Workshop

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This evening didn’t go particularly well.

My husband is out of town, last week was hard, and the house was a mess after a particularly busy weekend. Honestly, all I wanted out of Sunday afternoon was to pull this house together and feel prepared for Monday. But by 6pm every counter was still piled high. And my attempts to involve the kids in attending to the mess were met with whining that pushed my every button.

As I asked the kids, again, to clear the dinner table, I began mentally rehearsing how I was going to tell them that no way was I serving dessert and doing Sunday night family devotions tonight. This is usually my husband’s routine, and they could wait for their Daddy to get home for “Devos and Dessert with Daddy” tomorrow evening. Frankly, by this point I was just as whiny as any one else.

But as I stood at the kitchen sink, facing all the dishes with my back to the kids, the words “just worship” came to mind.

Worship Workshop

One Monday morning last year, Peggy Gerst visited the Bible study I was attending and spoke on the topic of praise. Our handouts were titled “Worship Workshop.”

I scrambled to keep up as she read through Psalms and other Old Testament Scriptures, expounding on the meaning of the vast number of Hebrew words used to describe the ways God’s people worship.

The Act of Worship

Listening to the Scriptures, I was struck by what a physical act worship is. The Hebrew words convey posture and movement, voice and music, all extolling God with “extravagant love and extreme submission,” as Peggy put it.

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)

“Praise” here is the Hebrew word yadah (Strong’s #3034), meaning to revere or worship with extended hands. Read through the verse again, this time holding in mind the image of the Psalmist’s posture in the second portion of the verse, with outstretched arms:

“Why are you cast down, O my soul,
    and why are you in turmoil within me?
Hope in God; for I shall again praise him,
    my salvation and my God.” (Psalm 42:11)

The English translation of Psalm 34:1 uses the same word “praise,” but the original Hebrew word is barak (Strong’s #1288). Barak describes kneeling in blessing or adoration. It’s a very different posture from yadah but it similarly magnifies the Lord in a posture of worship.

“I will bless the Lord at all times;
his praise shall continually be in my mouth.” (Psalm 34:1)

Tehillah (Strong’s #8416), on the other hand, is not a posture of the body, but rather the use of the voice that flows from a posture of spirit. It means to sing a song of praise or to laud, as in to publicly extol glory. Such worship from the godly is described as fitting and beautiful in Psalm 33:1:

“Rejoice in the Lord, you righteous ones;
praise from the upright is beautiful.” (Psalm 33:1, CSB)

As she read Scripture after Scripture, Peggy painted a picture before us of the active praise of God’s people: kneeling, singing, dancing, waving banners and shaking tambourines,  proceeding in song before armies, shouting in triumph, and bowing in submission.

Praise is our response to victory (Exodus 15), our plan in despair (Psalm 42:11), and appropriate at all times (Psalm 34:1).

“Your Turn”

After I’d lost myself trying to keep up with Peggy’s notes on the expansive Hebrew vocabulary of praise, Peggy came the end of five pages of Scripture references and brought out the tambourines. We chuckled uncomfortably. She invited us to fix our hearts on the character of God and give Him our praise, maybe quietly bowed, maybe from a kneel, maybe in dance or with hands extended. It was a beautiful morning of professing the goodness, faithfulness, and holiness of God.

In the months since Peggy’s Monday morning “Worship Workshop,” I kept turning over in my mind what a prominent role praise plays in the Bible. I noticed that my family reads Scripture together and prays together, but we less frequently worship together aside from Sunday mornings. I began adding occasional songs to our evening family prayers (easily done with zero preparation thanks to YouTube videos with lyrics). I’ve made it a point to make praise a more consistent part of my day and of our family life.

And so tonight, when my nerves were fried and frankly a bit bitter, and I had no desire to feed these kids Sunday evening ice cream or lead them in family devotions, I took a deep breath and set aside the evening chores for a bit longer. I dropped my original plan to read aloud a Bible passage and discuss a Bible Project video. I didn’t have the bandwidth, anyways, for negotiations over whose turn it would be to read or to answer a question first. I simply chose a song we’d sung in Church this morning and invited the kids to have a bowl of mint chocolate chip and then join me in the living room for worship.

And, no surprise, turning our attention away from ourselves, from one another, and from the house worked out much better. With our hearts instead focused together on the goodness of God, declaring God’s faithfulness, something changed in our hearts and in our home. My children got a softer Mommy, and I got the refreshing big-picture reminder of what this life, and every moment within it, is all about.

Take a moment for worship to the King of your heart.
Maybe even grab a shaker or a tambourine ;)

180 Degree Repentance: Bartolomé de las Casas

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Bartolomé de las Casas.

I had never heard of this man when I signed up for a one hour Spanish course by the same name my first semester of college. It was just one hour. A light addition to my pre-med course load, just to keep me using Spanish regularly. It seemed nonthreatening enough. I was so wrong.

On the first day of class, I and three upperclassmen learned that Bartolome de las Casas was a Spanish priest who lived 1485-1566 and that we would be studying his original writings on the topic of slavery in the New World. If I thought reading Shakespeare’s English was complicated, well, 16th century Spanish was something else. It’s just as well that Dr. Garcia refused to sign my drop slip the second week of school. (Two of the upperclassmen had beat me to it, leaving me as one of two remaining students.) The reading for this one hour course was brutal, but the introduction to Bartolomé de las Casas was unforgettable.

180 Degree Repentance: Bartolome de las Casas

No Small Change: Slave Owner to Protector of the Indians

Bartolomé de las Casas was among the earliest European immigrants to the New World, settling in Hispaniola with his father in 1502 and becoming a land owner and slave owner in the Spanish encomienda system. He differs markedly from other missionaries we have looked at this month in that his relationship to the people group he served was initially exploitative rather than bearing the Gospel.

Las Casas participated in slave raids and the active enslavement of Indigenous peoples during his early years on Hispanola, including the conquest of Cuba in the years following his ordination as one of the first priests in the Americas.  Years later he wrote, “What we committed in the Indies stands out among the most unpardonable offenses ever committed against God and mankind and this trade [in Indian slaves] as one of the most unjust, evil, and cruel among them.”

The words of visiting Dominican friars and Scripture began to affect his perspective. As he prepared for a Pentacost sermon, Las Casas was convicted of the injustices committed against the Indigenous people through the encomienda system and of his own participation in such atrocities. He responded by releasing ownership of his hacienda land and slaves and then traveling to Spain to advocate before King Charles V against the encomienda system of Indigenous enslavement.

Despite his clarity on the injustice of Indigenous enslavement, it was much later before he repented of initially advocating for the enslavement of Africans in place of Indigenous Americans. With time, he came to recognize that the enslavement of any people was wrong. In 1548 Las Casas wrote in Defense of the Indians, “Christ wanted love to be called his single commandment. This we owe to all men. Nobody is excepted.” 

Las Casas also argued against forced conversions, which were common in the Spanish colonial Americas. After writing a treatise on the subject, Bartolomé de las Casas led a group of Dominican friars into Guatemala in 1537 to bring the Gospel to native peoples peacefully, employing the use of Christian songs to introduce and teach the faith. In this way, a number of local chiefs came to Christian faith, and several churches began in the area.

180° Repentance

As a young college student wrestling with the Spanish of the 1500’s and some very sobering Church history, I discovered that the arguments between Las Casas and his opponents centered on the question of whether the Indigenous were “barbarians” and thereby “natural slaves,” or fully human. It was with grief and horror that I saw how such terms have been applied to people made in the image of God to justify exploitation.

Today, as I look more closely at Bartolomé de las Casas’s personal history and early years, I am struck by his life trajectory, from fully entrenched in the enslavement of Indigenous people to the first appointed “Protector of the Indians” under King Charles V. I marvel at the way God revealed truth to Bartolomé and walked him through a full (though not instantaneous) 180° repentance, personally rejecting his former ways, and then fervently advocating for the protection of the people he’d harmed. Over time, God further developed Bartolomé’s understanding of the value of every human life.

I wonder if you noticed the similarities between the life of Las Casas and that of English slave ship captain turned abolitionist John Newton. The Apostle Paul also comes to mind, as God carried him from violent persecution of early Christians to missionary to the Gentiles. Our God is all about redemption. What hope it is to see how fully his grace turns our lives around.

Psalm 130

Out of the depths I cry to you, O Lord!
O Lord, hear my voice!
Let your ears be attentive
to the voice of my pleas for mercy!
If you, O Lord, should mark iniquities,
O Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
that you may be feared.
I wait for the Lord, my soul waits,
and in his word I hope;
my soul waits for the Lord
more than watchmen for the morning,
more than watchmen for the morning.
O Israel, hope in the Lord!
For with the Lord there is steadfast love,
and with him is plentiful redemption.
And he will redeem Israel
from all his iniquities.

Lord, expose and uproot sin in my life.
May I be grieved by what grieves your heart.
May I see injustice for what it is.
May my heart be supple and responsive to your conviction, obedient to your leading.
Soften my heart in repentance and fill my life with redemption as you did the life of Bartolomé.
May my life be marked by a love for the people whom you made and love.
Amen.

Hearts Toward Heaven: Series Wrap-Up

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As we wrap up the month of August, we come to the end of our series #HeartsTowardHeaven, a look at what Scripture tells us about eternity with God. Let’s look back on how Scriptures have informed our understanding of Heaven before spending a few moments on one of the last passages of the Bible.

A Place Prepared

Ali began our series with “A Place Prepared: for the Not Yet and for the Now.” With a look at John 14:1-3, she told us how her perspective on heaven was changed by the stillbirth of her daughter, awakening a longing for heaven in a brand new way.  Ali shared about how the words of King David, who also lost a baby, showed her that “Jesus’ promise of eternity is for those who believe in Him (me), yet also for my baby daughter who never had the opportunity to believe.”

Let not your hearts be troubled. Believe in God; believe also in me. In my Father’s house are many rooms. If it were not so, would I have told you that I go to prepare a place for you? And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and will take you to myself, that where I am you may be also.”  (John 14:1-3)

Far From Home

Jaime reminded us that, like Abraham, we Christians are also exiles far from home. We live in a land that is not home, awaiting the fulfillment of a promised forever home. “Our time on this earth is a prelude to the reality of heaven, short, in view of eternity, but not insignificant. ”

These all died in faith, not having received the things promised, but having seen them and greeted them from afar, and having acknowledged that they were strangers and exiles on the earth. For people who speak thus make it clear that they are seeking a homeland. If they had been thinking of that land from which they had gone out, they would have had opportunity to return. But as it is, they desire a better country, that is, a heavenly one. Therefore God is not ashamed to be called their God, for he has prepared for them a city.
(Hebrews 11:13-16)

Heaven Is Home

Cheli shared the story of her friend Kim, whose life and death were guided by faith. In a time when our society holds illness, aging, and death at arms-length, we have fewer opportunities to watch our brothers and sisters in Christ who precede us in death and learn from their steadfastness, making stories like Kim’s even more of a treasure. Kim experienced the intimacy with Christ that came with suffering and came to deeply understand the longing for heaven that Paul expresses in 2 Corinthians:

For we know that if the tent that is our earthly home is destroyed, we have a building from God, a house not made with hands, eternal in the heavens. For in this tent we groan, longing to put on our heavenly dwelling, if indeed by putting it on we may not be found naked. For while we are still in this tent, we groan, being burdened—not that we would be unclothed, but that we would be further clothed, so that what is mortal may be swallowed up by life. He who has prepared us for this very thing is God, who has given us the Spirit as a guarantee.
(2 Corinthians 5:1-5)

Hope of Heaven

I wonder how many of you related as I did to Sabrina’s reflections: “All along, I had been trying so, so hard to walk by sight. I prayed harder and tried to squeeze more sincerity into everything I did. Little did I know, I was carrying a burden Jesus had already willingly accepted on my behalf (Matthew 11:29-30).”

What a beautiful reminder of His faithfulness. “Be of good courage,” Sabrina wrote, “Trust in the Good Shepherd. He has led us to the cross, and He will surely lead us home.”

From Every Nation

We then took a look at how heaven is filled with Believers from every nation. As the Revelation of John tells us, our brothers and sisters who have suffered and died, including those martyred for their faith, populate heaven with worship, where we will join them before the white-robed Lamb.

“ After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
(Revelation 7:9-10)

Ready to Depart

“We are earth-bound, somewhat selfish creatures who are focused on our own survival. Death is portrayed as the worst outcome, the final end, the last resort,” Kristee wrote.  And yet Paul was eager for death, as it provides the transition to heaven.

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better.
(Philipians 1:21-23)

“Paul could be in this place of peace about his death because he knew God would triumph. Accomplishing God’s purposes on earth didn’t depend on Paul–they have always and will only depend on God. Paul knew that he was–and that we are–just part of the story God is writing. Regardless of what happens to us, God will be victorious.”

The Dwelling Place of God

As we come to the end of our series, I’d like to conclude with my favorite verse about Heaven.

“And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them as their God.”
Revelation 21:3

I recently heard a preacher say that “the birth, death, and resurrection of Jesus is the whole story of the Bible.” And while I wholeheartedly agree that the Bible from beginning to end tells the story of our Salvation through Christ, I personally see this verse from Revelation as a more comprehensive summary of the Bible.

“Behold, the dwelling place of God is with man. He will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and god himself will be with them as their God.” That was the story in Eden. That was the story of the Temple. That was the story of the Incarnation — Emanuel, God with us. That is the story of the indwelling Holy Spirit. And, finally, we know that fully living in the presence of God — His dwelling with us; our abiding in Him — is ultimately, perfectly, forever fulfilled in Heaven.

Heaven is the fullness of how we were created to be with God. And for that reason, Heaven is Home.

 

 

From Every Nation

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As we focus our #HeartsTowardsHeaven this month, we pause this week to reflect on the people of heaven — Believers from every nation.

from every nation

My heart has been heavy this week. Yours may be, too. From the Taliban in Afghanistan to the earthquake in Haiti that has taken nearly 2,000 lives, the suffering of which we have caught glimpses in recent days is immense. You may have seen a particularly moving phrase that has been circulating this week, attributed to an email sent by a Christian in Afghanistan. He wrote, “most of us expect to meet Jesus face to face in the next two weeks.”

When I came across those words this week, I saw in a new light the vision of heaven that John describes in the seventh chapter of Revelation.

After this I looked, and behold, a great multitude that no one could number, from every nation, from all tribes and peoples and languages, standing before the throne and before the Lamb, clothed in white robes, with palm branches in their hands, and crying out with a loud voice, “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”
(Revelation 7:9-10)

It struck me afresh that heaven is populated with martyrs of the faith, including those of our present day. I imagine the courage with which the persecuted church is walking out their faith, and how that must ring out as resounding worship in heaven. “Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

One ministry leader shared this week that 22 of their 20 underground church leaders remain trapped in Afghanistan. Our Christian brothers and sisters passing from this present life into eternity, be it from age or illness, natural disaster or violence, join together in worship in a new and profound freedom and peace in the presence of the risen Christ.

John’s vision of Heaven continues:

Then one of the elders addressed me, saying, “Who are these, clothed in white robes, and from where have they come?” I said to him, “Sir, you know.” And he said to me, “These are the ones coming out of the great tribulation. They have washed their robes and made them white in the blood of the Lamb.

“Therefore they are before the throne of God,
    and serve him day and night in his temple;
    and he who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.
They shall hunger no more, neither thirst anymore;
    the sun shall not strike them,
    nor any scorching heat.
For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd,
    and he will guide them to springs of living water,
and God will wipe away every tear from their eyes.”
(Revelation 7:13-17)

He who sits on the throne will shelter them with his presence.

Amen.

For the Lamb in the midst of the throne will be their shepherd, and he will guide them to springs of living water, and God will wipe every tear away from their eyes.

Amen.

Lord, shepherd your people.

Shepherd those who are facing terror. Shepherd those who are grieving. Shepherd those facing the unknown. Shepherd those battling illness, hunger, or shame.

Wipe the tears from their eyes.

Comfort those who are alone.

Comfort those who are the comforters.

Give them courage, and give them your profound peace.

May we look forward with hope and anticipation to the glory of joining your saints from every nation in worship:

“Salvation belongs to our God who sits on the throne, and to the Lamb!”

Amen

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

These voices from 50 nations were joined one year ago. Though the first images here recall the isolation of initial pandemic “lockdown,” the musical collage of voices and faces across the globe well portray our unity and hope as Christians, an apt foretaste of heaven.

Series Intro: Hearts Toward Heaven

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This month, we’ll delve into what the Bible tells us about eternity with God as we set our Hearts Toward Heaven.

Hearts Toward Heaven

“Will we see Pepper in heaven?” my kids asked after our family dog passed away. It is one of so many questions they have about heaven.

“How old will I be in heaven?”
“Are there rabbits in heaven?”
“Who will we see there?”
“Can I go fishing in heaven?”
“If nothing dies, what will we eat? Can I still have steak?”
And, my 8-year-old’s genuine concern: “I’m so afraid that I’m going to be bored in heaven if it just goes on, and on, and on.”

There is a lot that I don’t know about what eternity with God is like, but I am confident that it isn’t boring. When my first child’s questions about heaven began, I felt like I didn’t have a lot I could tell him, or, at least, I didn’t have many answers to his specific questions. I also realized that my ideas about heaven were a mixture of images drawn from culture, arts, literature, hymns, and the Bible, and it took some thought to begin to tease them apart.

For the Bible Tells Me So…

This month, Scripture will be our guide as we set our hearts towards heaven.

Unfortunately, it is usually seasons of grief or pain that draw my heart’s attention toward longing for heaven. When all seems well here, my heart is content to attend to the daily life of my family, friends, and community. But in seasons when the very real heartache of sin, sickness, or suffering become the primary substance of my days, I become particularly grateful for the fact that the Bible tells us this earth is not our eternal home.

Rather, we were made for unending worship,
gathered as one body of people from every nation, tribe, and tongue.
Our eternal home is the place of everlasting peace,
without tears or sickness,
where death has been defeated
and we sing “Salvation belongs to our God.”
It is a resurrected life, a victorious life,
in which the dwelling place of God is with man, forever.

Join us this month in setting the eyes of our hearts toward heaven, starting with this beautiful Hymn of Heaven by Phil Wickham, which draws heavily on Biblical images of heaven.

Through Jesus Christ and God the Father

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This month, we focus in on the greetings with which Paul begins his letters. As he identifies himself in relation to God, we see how Paul understands God. We continue asking, “Who are you, Lord?” today as we look at Paul’s greeting in his letter to the Galatians.

through Jesus Christ

“Mommy said so,” is a phrase that immediately takes me back to my childhood home, where my siblings and I frequently argued our cases by invoking parental authority. When my mother began taking graduate classes one afternoon a week, I was left in charge. I loved being in charge. I came up with new games, made the best fried hot dogs, and tried to ensure my siblings would consider me “the fun one.” But when tensions rose between us, I was quick to assert the authority bestowed on me by our mother.

Paul, an apostle called by God

Just as my feeble authority in my home originated outside of myself, Paul begins his letter to the Galatians by identifying the Source of his authority:

“Paul, an apostle—not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” (Galatians 1:1)

After this brief introduction, Paul jumps right into criticism of the Galatian church with no mincing of words:

“I am astonished that you are so quickly deserting him who called you in the grace of Christ and are turning to a different gospel” (Galatians 1:6).

Galatians, deserting the faith

Paul fervently calls the Galatians to return to the Gospel as they had heard and received it from him. The Galatians’ faith had been weakened by Judaizers who asserted that Christian Believers should be following mosaic law. Under the influence of false prophets, the Galatians’ confidence in Paul had also suffered. Thus, his opening words attest to his God-given authority, and the first two chapters describe the early years of Paul’s conversion and ministry, preaching the Gospel as revealed to him directly through a revelation of Jesus Christ.

The Epistle to the Galatians

When we read the letter to the Galatians as a whole, we see that Paul shows the Galatians that the entirety of our spiritual life, just like his calling as an apostle, is “not from men nor through man, but through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.”  

“yet we know that a person is not justified by works of the law but through faith in Jesus Christ, so we also have believed in Christ Jesus, in order to be justified by faith in Christ and not by works of the law, because by works of the law no one will be justified.” (Galatians 2:15-16)

Our justification is not from men nor through man, but through the resurrection of Christ. Neither the Galatians’ attempts to keep the mosaic law nor our own grasping at righteousness in legalism are the source of our righteousness or the means by which we are saved.

I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.  (Galatians 2:20)

God The Father, Who raised Christ from the dead

Let’s return again to verse one. The last words of Paul’s short introductory verse include this description of God the Father: “… who raised him from the dead.”

I think of all the ways Paul could have described the Father:  Creator, Redeemer, Most Holy God, King of Kings…   I won’t postulate why Paul chooses this specific descriptive phrase for God the Father in his introduction, but I do notice the effect the words have on my understanding of God as we ask, “Who are you, Lord?”

When I read of Paul’s apostleship  “through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead” my mind is drawn to the God or miracles, Who resurrects, Who breathes life into what was dead. He is the Father who raised Christ, attesting to His sonship. He is the God who took a Jewish pharisee who was spiritually dead in enslavement to the law and brought about his rebirth on the road to Damascus.

Paul knows our Father as the God of resurrection.  In the sacrament of baptism, we are buried  with Christ and then rise with new life (Romans 6:3-5). And this new life is entirely of God.

Neither Paul’s apostleship, nor our salvation, nor the spiritual life of our rebirth are “from men [or] through man,” the result of our own works or resulting from the efforts of others. Rather, we live entirely “through Jesus Christ and God the Father, who raised him from the dead.” Let us not follow the Galatians into legalism, nor fall into the trap at the tower of Babel, chasing the glory of our own efforts, but may we instead yield to the life born in us through Christ.

 

The Jordan River

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This month, we tour the Holy Land where Jesus walked. Today, we’ll look at the Jordan River, both in Jesus’s day and in the Old Testament.

 

In the New Testament, our introduction to the Jordan River comes by way of John the Baptist. As Jesus’s three years of ministry were just about to commence, John had been preaching and baptizing in the wilderness of Judea, clothed in camels’ hair and sustained by locusts and honey. His message was,  “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand” (John 3:2).

“I baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire” (John 3:11).

Jesus traveled down from Galilee down to Judea, where he was baptized by John in the Jordan River.

 “And when Jesus was baptized, immediately he went up from the water, and behold, the heavens were opened to him, and he saw the Spirit of God descending like a dove and coming to rest on him; and behold, a voice from heaven said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased’” (John 3:16-17).

What might you have seen, smelled, felt, or heard, if you were there in the crowd witnessing Christ’s baptism?

The Lumo Project. John the Baptist in the wilderness and the baptism of Jesus.
https://www.freebibleimages.org/photos/john-baptist/

The Jordan River

I haven’t seen the Jordan River myself. But my husband has.

He tells me that there is little rainfall in the arid area around Jerusalem, but the Jordan River carries water from the higher elevations down into the valley. Vegetation lines the banks of the river, murky with the silt carried from upstream. From Scripture and early Church tradition, we understand that Jesus was baptized at Bethany Beyond the Jordan, north of the Dead Sea and east of the city of Jericho.

Lying on the Eastern border of Israel and the Western border of Jordan and Syria, the Jordan flows south from its sources in the Hula Valley into the Sea of Galilee. From the Sea of Galilee, it continues south into lower elevations, carrying silt into the Dead Sea.

 

The Jordan River in Jewish History: Entering the Promised Land

While my first introduction to the Jordan River as a young Christian was the story of Christ’s Baptism, and my limited understanding of the river comes from research and second-hand descriptions, the Jews with Jesus and John knew this river well and recognized it as a long-established setting of new beginnings in their history with God.

Before John stood on the river banks, declaring the coming Kingdom of God and calling for repentance….
Before Jesus was submerged in the murky waters….
Before the Spirit of God descending upon Christ as a dove….
Before God proclaimed of Jesus, “This is my Son, with whom I am well pleased….”

Long before any of the Jews present on that miraculous day had begun their own trek into the wilderness, God had demonstrated His faithfulness to the Jews at this very site, establishing the Jordan River as a boundary and a transition into new life. 

Joshua chapter 3 tells of the Israelites, led by Joshua, entering the Promised Land by crossing the Jordan before continuing West to Jericho. In a miraculous event reminiscent of the crossing of the Red Sea a generation before, the Lord held back the waters of the Jordan as His people passed on dry ground:

“Behold, the ark of the covenant of the Lord of all the earth is passing over before you into the Jordan….  And when the soles of the feet of the priests bearing the ark of the Lord, the Lord of all the earth, shall rest in the waters of the Jordan, the waters of the Jordan shall be cut off from flowing, and the waters coming down from above shall stand in one heap. …Now the priests bearing the ark of the covenant of the Lord stood firmly on dry ground in the midst of the Jordan, and all Israel was passing over on dry ground until all the nation finished passing over the Jordan.” (Joshua 3:11,13,17)

In this way, the Israelites entered the Promised Land and began the conquest of the land the Lord was giving over to them. Six hundred years later, the Jordan River was also the setting at which Elijah was taken up to heaven (2 Kings 2:8-11), and it was the Jordan River where God cleansed and healed the Syrian commander Naaman of leprosy.

The Jordan River, Christ’s Baptism, and Our Baptism

The Jordan River is the setting of John’s call to repentance and the declaration of the Kingdom of Heaven. The Jordan River is the boundary into the Promised Land, entered by Israel in God’s timing and by His provision, conquered in obedience and by His hand.

And the Jordan River is the water in which our Savior was immersed, where the Father, Son, and Spirit were manifest together (Matthew 3:16-17).

In our baptism, we are called to repentance as the Jews were on the banks of the Jordan. In baptism, we become citizens of the Kingdom of Heaven. We begin to live within God’s timing, by His provision, victorious only through obedience and by His hand.

“We were buried therefore with him by baptism into death, in order that, just as Christ was raised from the dead by the glory of the Father, we too might walk in newness of life.” (Romans 6:4)

Where were you baptized? Has your understanding of baptism changed or grown since that time? Share with us in the comments. I’ll add my story, too.

Psalm 27: Your face, Lord, I will seek

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Psalm 27
During a recent season of anxiety and uncertainty, my family began reading a Psalm aloud together each evening. For about six weeks, we read Psalm 27 together every day.

Psalm 27:1-3

I found in Psalm 27 a guide of words that acknowledge the presence of a threat but also declare truth and assert faith and hope. Verses 1-3 give us this truth: Any powers coming against the Lord’s children are ultimately powerless. We are safe, in the deepest sense of the word.

The Lord is my light and my salvation;
    whom shall I fear?
The Lord is the stronghold of my life;
    of whom shall I be afraid?
When evildoers assail me
    to eat up my flesh,
my adversaries and foes,
    it is they who stumble and fall.
Though an army encamp against me,
    my heart shall not fear;
though war arise against me,
    Yet I will be confident. (Psalm 27:1-3)

The Psalmist David knew this truth not simply by conviction, but also by repeated physical experience experience as far back as his youth. Goliath had threatened his flesh. “ The Philistine said to David, “Come to me, and I will give your flesh to the birds of the air and to the beasts of the field” (1 Samuel 17:44). But David fought Goliath in the name of the Lord — and prevailed. (1 Samuel 17). Romans 8:28 and Genesis 50:20 tell us that God’s sovereignty prevails regardless of the threats against us.

Psalm 27:4-6

From warfare, the Psalm moves on to devotion. Personally, these words were an important transition, moving my focus away from my fears to re-focus my heart on my Lord.

One thing have I asked of the Lord,
    that will I seek after:
that I may dwell in the house of the Lord
    all the days of my life,
to gaze upon the beauty of the Lord
    and to inquire in his temple. (Psalm 27:4) 

And in this place of devotion and intimacy, there is both safety and glory:

For he will hide me in his shelter
   in the day of trouble;
he will conceal me under the cover of his tent;
    he will lift me high upon a rock.
And now my head shall be lifted up
    above my enemies all around me, (Psalm 27:5-6a)

From safe shelter, our hearts respond in worship:

and I will offer in his tent
    sacrifices with shouts of joy;
I will sing and make melody to the Lord. (Psalm 27:6b)

Psalm 27:7-12

As I read through this Psalm, I notice the back-and-forth between the Lord’s actions and the Psalmist’s responses. (As someone who loves language, I like to go through the Psalm and circle the subject of each phrase and underline the verbs. Try it!).

Throughout this Psalm we have descriptions of God’s identity and His actions. He is light, salvation, a stronghold, and beautiful. He hides, conceals, and lifts up the Psalmist. Then, there are David’s responses: He does not fear; he will be confident. He asks and seeks, gazes and inquires, shouts and sings. The exchange comes to a pinnacle in this next section:

Hear, O Lord, when I cry aloud;
   be gracious to me and answer me!

You have said, “Seek my face.”
My heart says to you,
    “Your face, Lord, do I seek.”

    Hide not your face from me.
Turn not your servant away in anger,
    O you who have been my help.
Cast me not off; forsake me not,
    O God of my salvation!
For my father and my mother have forsaken me,
    but the Lord will take me in.

Teach me your way, O Lord,
    and lead me on a level path
    because of my enemies.
Give me not up to the will of my adversaries;
    for false witnesses have risen against me,
    and they breathe out violence. (Psalm 27:7-12)

Psalm 27:13-14

And in conclusion, David focuses his heart on hope, with confident expectation of God’s goodness. In light of God’s power, sovereignty, and protection, courage is well founded.

I believe that I shall look upon the goodness of the Lord
    in the land of the living!
Wait for the Lord;
    be strong, and let your heart take courage;
    wait for the Lord! (Psalm 27:13-14)

And there, at “Wait for the Lord,” is where I would rest each night after our evening reading. With those words, I left the day behind and stepped with a little more courage towards the next, in the assurance that the Lord remains my light and salvation.

Dear friends, as we move into whatever is ahead of us, be strong, and let your heart take courage; wait for the Lord, our light and salvation.

Living Water: A Metaphor for God’s Spirit

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Living Water

Thirst. 

It’s funny how I don’t even realize I’m thirsty until I stop for a moment. I try to drink water throughout the day. But somehow, by the time dinner is ready, the table is set, and the last child has been seated, I sink into my chair exhausted and suddenly realize I’m parched. The moment we say “Amen,” I drain my glass of ice water and let out a sigh.

Few sensations are more universally familiar than thirst. When God colored Scripture with metaphor, he brought the spiritual into focus, showing us how spiritual things are like the most familiar things of our physical world. What could be more familiar than water?

Water is literally life-sustaining. Without a consistent supply of water, our bodies fail to function well. We are only about 3 days from death if we are cut off from water. We simply cannot live without it.

Do you remember the Samaritan woman at the well? 

“A woman from Samaria came to draw water. Jesus said to her, “Give me a drink.” (For his disciples had gone away into the city to buy food.) The Samaritan woman said to him, “How is it that you, a Jew, ask for a drink from me, a woman of Samaria?” (For Jews have no dealings with Samaritans.) Jesus answered her, “If you knew the gift of God, and who it is that is saying to you, ‘Give me a drink,’ you would have asked him, and he would have given you living water.” ….Jesus said to her, “Everyone who drinks of this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again. The water that I will give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” (John 4:7-10, 13-14)

Jesus was offering more than just abundant water. He offered living water.  Living water, mayim chaim (MY-eem KHY-eem) in Hebrew, is water from a natural and moving or flowing source. It is not stagnant, not carried by man, not held in cisterns or a pond.

Mayim chaim is water bubbling from a spring, flowing in a river, and falling rain. It is life-giving, clean water. It is water that washes.

In Jesus’s day, the water in the mikvah baths used for ritual cleansing before entering the temple was living water. In fact, mikvah’s used for ritual cleansing by Orthodox Jews today are still required to be sourced in part by living water. Living water is the flowing natural-sourced water that cleanses, and in the Hebrew Scriptures of the Old Testament, living water depicts the presence of God.

God’s Life-Giving Presence

Living water flowed from Eden, where the presence of God dwelt with man. “A river flowed out of Eden to water the garden, and there it divided and became four rivers.” (Genesis 2:10).

The prophet Jeremiah describes the presence of God as living water,

“O Lord, the hope of Israel,
all who forsake you shall be put to shame;
those who turn away from you shall be written in the earth,
for they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living water.” (Jeremiah 17:13)

The prophets Ezekiel and Zechariah also describe the flowing waters of the presence of God. flowing from the Temple and Jerusalem, respectively. In the 47th chapter, Ezekiel describes a vision in which water flows out of the temple, growing deeper and deeper as it reaches farther out, forming a flowing river. On the banks of the river grow trees for food and leaves for healing. Zechariah equates the waters flowing from Jerusalem out to the seas with the rule of the Lord over all the earth:

“On that day living waters shall flow out from Jerusalem, half of them to the eastern sea and half of them to the western sea.[e] It shall continue in summer as in winter. And the Lord will be king over all the earth. On that day the Lord will be one and his name one. (Zechariah 14:8-9)

And so it was specifically living water, indicative of the presence of God, used by the Jews for ritual cleaning. On the last day of the feast in John 7, the crowds would have been immersing themselves in living water in preparation to enter the temple.

“On the last day of the feast, the great day, Jesus stood up and cried out, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, ‘Out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.’” Now this he said about the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were to receive, for as yet the Spirit had not been given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.” (John 7:37-39).

Living water is the Spirit of God! 

The living water is the Spirit of God, and, as Jesus described both to the Samaritan woman and in his declaration at the feast, the living water He gives flows from within the heart of a Believer. In the Old Testament, the Spirit of God came and went, rested upon some, but was also withdrawn (King Saul’s life is a clear depiction of this). But now, with Christ’s glorification, Jesus Christ has given the Holy Spirit to dwell within Believers.

Oh, what a gift. The life-sustaining, thirst-quenching, ever-cleansing, fully-healing, Holy Spirit dwells and bubbles up within us and flows out from us. THIS is the living water He offers.

I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me,
Makes the lame to walk and the blind to see
Opens prisons doors, sets the captives free
I’ve got a river of life flowing out of me.

Pray for Nigeria

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We are praying for nations during our Do Not Depart missions month “So That the World May Know,” and today we pray for Nigeria. To gain some perspective on how to pray, I interviewed a good friend who serves as a long-term missionary teaching health care providers in Nigeria while her husband teaches at a local seminary.

Pray for Nigeria

Nigeria, the most populous country in Africa, is also one of the most linguistically diverse countries in the world. Nigeria is home to more than 250 ethnic groups speaking more than 500 different native languages. Both Christianity and Islam have growth substantially in recent decades, with Nigeria generally divided into the predominantly Muslim North and the predominantly Christian South.

Praise God for the Church in Nigeria

As we pray for Nigeria this week, we begin by rejoicing in the Nigerian Church. My friend tells me that she sees in her Nigerian brothers and sisters in Christ a unique perseverance and strength. She sees that their faith is not easily shaken by the difficulties and heartache of life.

Nigerian Christians are undertaking a massive translation effort. Through the National Bible Translation Trust, Nigerians are currently working towards the translation of the Bible into 250 additional languages. However, many of these projects have encountered roadblocks during the pandemic. Pray for the furtherance of Bible translation in Nigeria and for safe ways for translators to gather and collaborate. Pray also for the safety and protection of pastors and other Believers supporting Nigerian Christians from Muslim people groups, particularly in Northern Nigeria.

Pray for the Safety of Nigerians

According to BBC reporting this month, more than 800 children have been taken in four mass school kidnappings in the past 3 months. Pray for their protection — physical, spiritual, and emotional, and for their safe return to their families. My friend tells me small-scale, roadside kidnappings are also so common that “fear of kidnapping” is a common every-day worry of her husband’s seminary students.

Pray for Nigeria’s Girls and Women

The rates of teenage marriage are particularly high in Northern Nigeria and in more rural areas; the median age of marriage in some regions is 15 years of age according to a 2018 Demographic and Health Survey, with more than 40% of Nigerian women marrying before age 18. Among married women, 80% have risk factors for high-risk births. The report also reflects normalization of “wife beating,” with 20-30% of women reporting belief that it is okay for a husband to beat his wife in circumstances such a burned dinner, a disagreement, or turning down sex. Pray for God’s hand of mercy in protecting women in Nigeria and worldwide and for healing of the factors underlying violence.

Join Me in Prayer

Lord, may Your name be glorified in Nigeria among every people group and in every language.

Strengthen and encourage your Church there. May they treasure Your Word and increasingly have the Bible translated into every language. May truth, love, and grace spread across the land, igniting hearts for You.

“…So that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith—that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.” (Ephesians 3:17-19)

Free the children and adults held captive in Nigeria today, releasing them to their families and healing their wounds. Protect the vulnerable, and bring justice. May each man, woman, and child come to see him or herself and those around them as Your image bearers.

“But let justice roll down like waters, and righteousness like an ever-flowing stream.” (Amos 5:24)

“Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.” (Ephesians 3:20-21)

 

As you pray for Nigeria, check out this beautiful recording of Mai Taimako Na (My Helper) by Nigerian worship musician Solomon Lange, who sings in Hausa, a language of Northern Nigeria, with English subtitles.

Words of Life and Light: Series Wrap-Up

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This month we have looked at our words and how, as Believers with the indwelling Spirit of God, our words carry life and light.

light and life

We began by considering the power of God’s own words, first in the act of creation, and then through Christ, the Word of God made flesh.

Then, Ali brought us a close-up look at kind words in our homes. I was particularly convicted as she shared this verse with respect to the way our words build-up, or tear down, people within our homes: “A wise woman builds her home, but a foolish woman tears it down with her own hands.” (Proverbs 14:1, NLT)

Just as our words may build-up others, our words “spoken” to ourselves hold power, too. In her post on the power of our thoughts, Jaime asked, “Are my thoughts reflecting truth? Encouraging endurance? Leading me to Jesus? Or are they distracting, tearing me down by reinforcing lies?”

As Lisa shared, we have heavily leaned on written words for communication during this time of limited in-person gatherings. “Give them the time, thoughtfulness, and personality they deserve.”

Cheli hit the heart of the Gospel, and its transformative power in our relationships, addressing expressions of apology and forgiveness.  “I want to be always ready to offer and receive forgiveness readily and freely,” she wrote.  “I want to bear witness to the amazing love of Christ that forgives all my sin, so others may experience the light and life of God’s forgiveness as well.”

Our words are also used to give thanks to the Lord, for He is good! We give thanks to God because of Who He is, because of what He has done, because of what He has given us, and because the Bible instructs us to. “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you”  1 Thessalonians 5:16-18.

On Tuesday, guest author Bethany Williams reminded us to pause before speaking, taking time to listen for our part. “Even Jesus did not answer every question He was asked,” she pointed out. “If we listen in prayer and study, we can each discern which conversations God is calling us to engage in.”

Words of Worship

Finally, our words are one part of the act of worship. May our words bring Him glory. David wrote,

 “My mouth is filled with your praise, and with your glory all the day” (Psalm 71:8).

The Tamed Tongue

I would be remiss to wrap up this month without the acknowledgement that the tongue is admittedly hard to tame. In fact, James doesn’t mince words when he says we simply cannot tame it.

“For every kind of beast and bird, of reptile and sea creature, can be tamed and has been tamed by mankind,  but no human being can tame the tongue. It is a restless evil, full of deadly poison.” James 3:7-8

As a parent, I desire to encourage, but frustration may spill out instead. As a neighbor, my words sometimes come out snarky rather than honoring those made in His image. As a wife I want to build up my husband, but sometimes my words don’t.

But, bought with the blood of Christ, buried with Him, and resurrected with Him, we are a new creation! (Galatians 2:20, 2 Corinthians 5:17)

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.” Galatians 2:20

When our hearts are submitted to God, obedient to Christ, our tongues pour forth the fruit that comes from abiding in Him. Just as they asked Jesus who could be saved, we could ask Him, “who then, can speak words of life and light?”

But Jesus looked at them and said, “With man this is impossible, but with God all things are possible.”  (Matthew 19:26).

Abiding in Christ, obedient to the Holy Spirit, our tongues spill forth life and light, speaking truth in love.

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