Notes of Faith October 24, 2022

Notes of Faith October 24, 2022

Good Boundaries

What if, when trying to apply your boundaries in an emotionally charged moment, you lose your resolve, because the other person makes statements that confuse you, make you question the validity of this boundary, or accuse you in ways that hurt? You need to be prepared to know what to do.

See if you’ve heard any of these types of statements from others. Assess whether these statements have contributed to you giving up on setting boundaries with certain people.

When they say:

“What I did isn’t that big of a deal. You’re being so dramatic.” “You are being overly sensitive.”

“And you call yourself a Christian?! Jesus wouldn’t treat people this way.”

“I thought Christians were supposed to be forgiving.” “You’ve got such a hard heart. Jesus would have never walked away.”

“This is just more evidence of you being controlling and unforgiving.”

“Jesus loved all people and gave grace no matter what. So, what’s your problem?”

“You don’t seem like yourself. You’ve changed.”

“I’m so disappointed in you.”

“You’re just crazy and this is irrational.”

“You’re so selfish. All you care about is yourself.” “Seriously?! How can you be so mean after all I’ve done for you?”

“You’re so off base. Drawing boundaries isn’t biblical.” “But you’re my (wife, daughter, best friend, mother, sister). Acting this way toward me is out of order and unacceptable.”

Here’s why these statements are so triggering:

They are offensive. They aren’t an accurate picture of what’s true about who we are. Being misunderstood is so brutal because someone else is taking liberties with our identity.

They are threatening. When someone makes hurtful accusations and pushes against our boundaries, it can feel as if whatever this relationship is providing for us will be taken away and some need in us will go unmet.

They are disillusioning. When someone else makes us question our need for the boundary, we can second-guess reality, our sanity, our rationality, and even the severity of what’s really going on. We can easily start to wonder if the real problem is us rather than considering the source and why we are in this hard dynamic in the first place.

It is so very important that we are aware of all three of these feelings that can make us vulnerable to not establishing wise boundaries. Here’s the first thing we need to notice about the effects of these triggering statements: they are each evidence that we need to establish a boundary with this person.

If we are living honest lives that honor God, we must not forget that people not liking our boundary does not mean we aren’t living right before God.

— Lysa TerKeurst

And here’s the second thing to notice: if we are afraid that this person will think poorly of us, potentially abandon us, or try to make us feel crazy for taking a step toward making the relationship healthy, chances are even higher that, without wise boundaries, they will eventually do all three of these things to us. (Dear me: read that last sentence one more time... maybe ten more times.)

Unhealthy people typically don’t manage their emotions and expectations (self-regulate) very well and can easily get offended when their lack of responsibility doesn’t become your emergency.

Their thought process is often that their need trumps your limitations. And the telltale sign of their unhealthiness is their unwillingness to accept no as an answer without trying to make you feel terrible, punished, or unsure about the necessity of the boundary.

If we want to stay healthy, we have to use our limited energy in the right way. We could waste years putting all our efforts into trying to change the other person’s mind or prove to them why we need the boundary, or worst of all, we could drop the boundary altogether and continue living in dysfunction.

Let me state something crucial. I don’t want us to suddenly start categorizing everyone around us as healthy or not healthy. But we must pay attention to those who accept our healthy boundaries and those who resist them.

The apostle Paul addresses some key components to love:

And this is my prayer: that your love may abound more and more in knowledge and depth of insight, so that you may be able to discern what is best and may be pure and blameless for the day of Christ.

What I like about Philippians 1:9–10 is that the love here is associated with knowledge and discernment. So, the inverse is also true. A lack of wisdom and discernment is actually unloving. Sometimes we only associate love as a feeling. But we have to remember that biblical love is an intentional action where we want what’s best for us and the other person. Keeping this in mind, when setting boundaries our heart posture should be one of wisdom and discernment for the sake of true and healthy love.

Healthy people who desire healthy relationships don’t have an issue with other people’s healthy boundaries.

Hebrews 5:14 reminds us that mature people “have trained themselves to distinguish good from evil.” That word distinguish means someone can discern more readily what is the right way to treat someone and what is not acceptable. What someone should say and what someone probably shouldn’t say. And just because a person can do something, doesn’t mean she should do that thing. Discerning and choosing one’s actions carefully leads to a wisdom that those around them can trust.

Healthy people are mature people.

They seek to understand your concerns,

discuss any issues that the need for the boundary reveals, and

respect your limits.

Remember, healthy people who desire healthy relationships know how to be responsible with the access you give them. For example, if they borrow your car, chances are they won’t return it on empty. But if they do, you can let them know that if they want to borrow it again, they just need to replace the gas they use. And they should see that as a reasonable request without making you feel anything less than generous.

Even if someone doesn’t like a boundary you have set, healthy people know the difference between hurt and harm. A friend who constantly runs late may feel hurt that you are no longer willing to ride with her to events but can recognize your boundary wasn’t put in place to cause her any harm. She won’t think that you’re selfish and rude. Nor will she blame her issues on you. And she certainly won’t diminish your identity, disrupt your safety, or disregard your assessment of reality. She’ll either adjust her untimeliness and ride with you or just meet you at the event. Either way, she will respect you enough to respect your boundaries.

Healthy people understand your limits because they are in touch with their own limitations. They communicate what they can and cannot do — what they are and are not willing to tolerate. And they expect you to do the same.

Understanding this can help us realize sometimes the problem isn’t that we aren’t good at setting healthy boundaries. Maybe we aren’t good at recognizing that we won’t get healthy results from unhealthy relationships.

Somewhere in all the looking around at others for validation, we’ve stopped looking up.

If we are living honest lives that honor God, we must not forget that people not liking our boundary does not mean we aren’t living right before God.

When someone says something that hurts or offends us when we draw a boundary, it can be good to check ourselves. Is any part of this an attempt on our part to do harm, control, retaliate, check out, or give ourselves permission to be irresponsible? While checking ourselves is healthy, questioning our identity is not.

Checking ourselves means looking at a current attitude or behavior to see if it is in line with God’s instructions and wisdom. Questioning our identity is doubting who we are because we have given too much power to other people by letting their opinions define us.

I don’t know any other way to say this except to be absolutely direct: If our identity, the foundational belief we hold of who we are, is tied to an opinion someone has of us, we need to reassess. We must be honest with how much access to our heart we’ve given to this person. It’s not bad to give someone access to our heart but when we give an unhealthy person too much access, it can shake us to our core. When their opinion of us starts to affect how we see ourselves, we can lose sight of the best parts of who we are because we get entangled in the exhausting pursuit of trying to keep that relationship intact no matter the cost. And when this is the cycle we are caught in, sometimes we would rather manage people’s perceptions of us than care for ourselves and the relationship by putting appropriate boundaries in place.

When we give people personal access to us, those people must be responsible with it. And emotional access to our hearts is especially important.

Excerpted from Good Boundaries and Goodbyes by Lysa TerKeurst, copyright Lysa TerKeurst.

We have relationships that are just acquaintances, others that we consider close, and others that are closer still. Jesus had a group of thousands that followed Him, but within that He had 12 close friends, and within that 3 that were closer still. There are boundaries that are good! Learn to use them for the glory of God.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 23, 2022

Notes of Faith October 23, 2022

When God Doesn't Do What You Want

James and John, the sons of Zebedee, came to Him. “Teacher,” they said, “we want You to do for us whatever we ask.” — Mark 10:35

The disciples were on their way to Jerusalem. Struggling to understand all Jesus was telling them about what awaited Him, James and John made one of the Bible’s boldest statements to Jesus. It is also one of the worst!

Jesus had just told them that He must go to Jerusalem to be handed over and condemned to death. This was not the first time they had heard Jesus talk like this. The good news, He told them, was that He would rise again. Like many of the Jews at the time, James and John thought they were coming into their glory. God was going to throw off their enemies. Restore Israel. Bring peace. And they were going to be, or at least wanted to be, right at the center of it all.

Barely missing a beat, James and John’s first response to what Jesus had just told them was, “We want you to do for us whatever we ask” (Mark 10:35). A pretty bold request!

Of course, they wanted Jesus to exalt them to a position of power or status. They wanted to rule with Jesus. And yet Jesus reminded them that they must first suffer for Him.

God was not going to do what they wanted.

"When God doesn’t do what we want, He is doing something better."

— Ruth Schwenk

It’s easy to poke holes in James and John’s request and miss the more discreet ways we try to sell our own agendas to God. We too come to Jesus with our big plans, expectations, and self-centered dreams. When God doesn’t do what we want, we are tempted to get angry, lose faith, or take matters into our own hands.

The Bible says,

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the lord’s purpose that prevails. — Proverbs 19:21

Today, posture your heart to do what God wants. Walk humbly. Remember that He is the One leading you.

When God doesn’t do what we want, He is doing something better.

Lord, You are the King of creation. Reign in my life. Humble me. Posture my heart to do what You want. Forgive me for the times I make conditions or demands. You are the center, and I am not. I want to follow You, knowing that where and how You lead me is better and wiser. In Jesus’ name, amen.

~ Ruth

Excerpted from Settle My Soul by Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk, copyright Karen Ehman and Ruth Schwenk

God speaks to lead us as He wants us to go . . . if we would only listen. He speaks through the truth and perfection of the Scriptures. He speaks through godly men and women in our lives. He speaks through prayer, a communication that for all too many is one way, just toward God, not from God. God blesses the heart and life that is willing to do His will. He gave you gifts and talents and certainly wants you to use them for His glory and your good. Love the Lord your God with all you heart, soul, mind, and strength and your neighbor as yourself and you will fulfill all the law of God!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 22, 2022

Notes of Faith October 22, 2022

Come to Me

Come to Me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take My yoke upon you and learn from Me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy and My burden is light.

— Matthew 11:28–30

Sometimes we need to set things down simply because they are heavy. But how often do we expect ourselves to keep holding on to heavy things out of guilt or spite or a need to prove ourselves? Maybe the heavy thing is a self-critical thought or a hurtful relationship or an insistence on doing something perfectly. These types of heavy things hurt us when we carry them for too long, and they are worth putting down. Just like setting down a really heavy box, there can be a lot of relief in letting go of something that is causing us harm because it is too heavy.

Jesus Himself encourages us to put down our heavy burdens, and promises to exchange them for something lighter.

When you feel the weight of the world on your shoulders, it could be helpful to pause and ask yourself — could I give up some of this heavy burden? Is it possible that Jesus has something lighter for me to carry, something easier? How could I rest in this moment?

Practice Following the breathing space guide. Pay particular attention to any parts of your body that are holding tension. Notice if that tension is useful. If not, consider letting it go. When you are finished, jot down some observations in your journal.

Breathing Space

This practice is similar to a regular sitting practice, but it is meant to be more portable — an opportunity to quickly “drop in” at any point during the day to check in with how you are doing. The practice is often divided into three one-minute sections that have an hourglass shape of awareness (see below). However, there is no need to time each minute separately; just set your timer for three minutes if you choose, and then estimate one minute for each of the three sections.

1. Pause wherever you are and become still. If you’re able, close your eyes if you choose, or close them halfway with a soft gaze. Take a couple deep breaths, then allow your breathing to return to its normal rate. Recognize that you are in God’s presence.

2. First minute: Starting with a broad awareness, check in with what is going on for you in the moment. This “wide awareness” is the top part of the hourglass shape in this meditation. You might notice things in these different areas:

Physical sensations, including your breath moving in and out

Thoughts going through your mind

Emotions, either prominent or under the surface

Behaviors or urges you are having

3. Second minute: Narrowing your attention to breathing (as the middle part of the hourglass shape), notice where you feel your breath most vividly (ex. your upper lip, shoulders moving, chest expanding/contracting, belly moving up and down). Rest your attention there, paying close attention to the sensations of your breath coming in and out of your body, given by God. If focusing on breath is triggering for you, choose a different anchor for your attention that allows you to regulate your emotions more effectively.

4. Third minute: Broadening your attention once again (as the bottom “wide awareness” part of the hourglass shape), imagine that your whole body is breathing. Imagine the air moving all the way from your head down to your toes, and then back out through your body again. Allow your whole body to experience the breath of life, given by God, restoring your body and soul, one moment at a time.

5. When you are done, open up your attention to the space around you. Notice if there are any adjustments needed in your circumstances or self-care in response to what you noticed during the practice. Thank God for this moment of life and continue on to your next activity!

Jesus Himself encourages us to put down our heavy burdens, and promises to exchange them for something lighter.

Carry Each Other's Burdens

Carry each other’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ.

— Galatians 6:2

If someone has a heavy box, we might be able to literally carry that burden for a while until our arms get too tired. But what if their burden is depression, a terminal illness, or getting ghosted? There’s not much we can do to change the difficult circumstances of other people, and it can be hard to know how to help.

There are times when our burden-carrying can be practical, like writing a card or helping with a difficult task, but praying for one another is one of the most important ways we can help. This doesn’t have to be super formal. Whenever someone comes to mind in the midst of a day, you can imagine them in God’s presence and ask God to be with them. As the Quakers say, you can “hold them up in the light” of Christ and then trust that God will do the rest. God loves that person even more than you and is providing everything they need.

You never need to fix things for other people, nor can you. But you can always hold them up in God’s light as they are brought to your mind. God will do the rest.

Practice Following the lovingkindness/blessing guide, focus your attention on someone you know who is having a difficult time. As you extend compassionate blessing to them, recognize that your prayer is one way of carrying their burdens. God will do the rest.

Lovingkindness/Blessing Practice

Being kind toward ourselves and others can take some practice, and this meditation is a chance to practice that kind of compassion in our thoughts. It can be used as a prayer or blessing — lifting ourselves and others before God as we hope for good things.

1. Identify one or more people to whom you will practice extending lovingkindness, choosing from the following categories:

Yourself

Someone you love, care about, or admire, who brings you warm feelings when you think about them

Someone you do not know well, a stranger or distant acquaintance

Someone who is difficult for you, who you do not get along with well or who has caused you some pain

All people, animals, and plants in the world, all living beings everywhere

2. Sit at the edge of a chair with your feet on the floor (or cross-legged on a meditation cushion) with a straight spine and hands on your thighs or lap. Alternately, you may choose to lie on your back on a firm surface with feet apart, toes falling away from one another, and arms at your sides.

3. Get comfortable. Close your eyes if you choose, or close them halfway with a soft gaze.

4. Take a couple deep breaths, then allow your breathing to return to its normal rate. Notice the sensations of your breath coming in and out.

5. One at a time, bring to mind an image of yourself or the person(s) to whom you are extending compassion. If you would like, you can imagine them resting in God’s loving hands. Recognize that like everyone, you and/or the other person in your mind is in need of compassion.

6. With each image in mind, choose one of these two sets of phrases (or a different set of compassionate phrases that is more comfortable for you) and repeat them several times toward each of the people you have chosen to extend compassion to during your practice. As you repeat the phrases, recognize that all people desire these good things, and all people are loved by God.

7. When you are done, rest for a moment in the compassionate kindness you have practiced. Then take a deep breath and open up your attention to the space around you. Thank God for His lovingkindness toward us all and continue on to your next activity.

Excerpted from A Mindful Moment by Dr. Irene Kraegel, copyright Zondervan

Too many of us do not take time to rest, to recover, to be prepared and ready for the intense lives that we live. We need to live orderly and godly in order to do what we know to be true and live lives of obedience. Love God! Love others!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 21, 2022

Notes of Faith October 21, 2022

Grateful That God Makes a Way

Look, I am about to do something new; even now it is coming. Do you not see it? Indeed, I will make a way in the wilderness, rivers in the desert. — Isaiah 43:19

In the classic Broadway musical and film The Sound of Music, the Reverend Mother sends Maria away from the convent to work as a nanny for the Von Trapp family. Maria is unsettled at the idea of leaving the abbey and giving up on her dream of becoming a nun. The Reverend Mother reassures her with the now-famous cliché, “When the Lord closes a door, somewhere He opens a window.” In other words, whenever one opportunity ends, another opportunity will come along — and it will probably be a better one. Sure enough, the closing abbey door leads to the opening of the window that ushers Fräulein Maria into the arms of the dashing Captain Von Trapp.

Though the cliché is meant to help people stay positive in the face of disappointment, it isn’t exactly true. God doesn’t promise that when something doesn’t work out, something better is waiting for us just around the corner. His pledge is far more substantive than that. He promises to sustain us amid life’s disappointments. When all the doors and windows remain shut, He helps us make our way through the dark room, and He sustains us. Our circumstances do not always change for the better. But we can be confident that He will use them to change us for the better.

‘I know the plans I have for you’ — this is the Lord’s declaration — ‘plans for your welfare, not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope’. — Jeremiah 29:11

When was the last time you faced a closed door? During this time, how did God make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert? Why can you trust Him with closed doors, even when there are no windows in sight?

GROW GRATEFUL

Thank God that He makes a way through the wilderness.

Grateful That God Is for Me

The Lord is for me; I will not be afraid. What can man do to me? — Psalm 118:6

When our family plays board games, everyone is out to win. It’s a no-holds-barred, every-man-for-himself, dog-eat-dog rivalry. Through our sons’ teen years, we often played Settlers of Catan. The battles were epic. Still, they were all in good fun. Mostly. But things took a turn for the worse when we expanded the game with cards that could be used as a method of attacking other players. This (and the ambiguous rules) started to create problems. Competitions turned into arguments and hard feelings. Some players felt that others really were “against them.” Things got so bad that we had to call it quits and find some board games that were less combative.

It’s one thing to have an opponent in a game — but having a real- life opponent is an entirely different matter. Especially when that opponent is out to do you harm. Some people think God is out to do them harm. Perhaps they’ve lost a job or encountered a series of unfortunate events. They look at the hand they’ve been dealt and conclude that God is not on their side. But according to the Bible, this is not true. The Lord is for you and not against you. He may not always answer your prayers in the way you expect. Nevertheless, He delights in your well-being (Psalm 35:27) and rejoices in doing you good (Jeremiah 32:41). Whenever life gets rough or people try to do you harm, don’t despair or be afraid. Remember that God is always on your side.

How do you feel knowing that God is for you and not against you? Why do people sometimes struggle to believe that God is for them? What difference does it make to have God on your side when people come against you?

GROW GRATEFUL

Thank God that He is for you.

Excerpted from Growing Grateful by Mary A. Kassian, copyright Mary A. Kassian.

Around Thanksgiving should not be the only time that we stop to give thanks to God. Every day, several times a day, we should stop to give thanks for what God has done, is doing, and promises to do in our life. Indeed we should be grateful for every breath and heartbeat! Love God! Love others!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 20, 2022

Notes of Faith October 20, 2022

Light Up the Day

You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden.

— Matthew 5:14

Have you ever noticed how artwork on display in a museum or gallery seems to sparkle with life in a way that reproduced images of those same pieces never could? Almost as if the colors dance on the canvas in a choreography of vibrancy and vitality. While great works of art are preserved through careful maintenance, the lighting is what allows our eyes to appreciate the fullness of their beauty. Gallerists consult with lighting experts and pay for special bulbs, lenses, and filters, which are placed strategically throughout their spaces, so the pieces can be seen in the best light, literally.

The lighting helps you distinguish nuances of color you can’t see as easily, or at all. It controls glare and brings out the subtleties of the stroke work; according to the experts, the lighting is what brings the work to life. It’s what allows us to see the true and total beauty of the artist’s creation.

Jesus called His people “the light of the world” (Matthew 5:14). In a way, it’s like we’re those special bulbs, and God has strategically placed us in a position of prominence “on a hill.”

You were designed to draw out the best in others, to highlight their beauty, to show off their full potential.

Today, think of yourself as that light (because you are!). You were designed to draw out the best in others, to highlight their beauty, to show off their full potential.

Living this out is simple: notice the best in others and call attention to it.

“You have the kindest personality. Did you know that?”

“You work so hard every day, and we appreciate you.”

“I just love your smile.”

The little things you notice might just make for the brightest moments of someone else’s day.

You were designed to draw out the best in others, to highlight their beauty, to show off their full potential in Christ.

Excerpted from The Creative Soul Within, copyright Zondervan.

Love God, love others . . . sounds easy . . . keep trying!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 19, 2022

Notes of Faith October 19, 2022

God Brings Purpose to Your Pain and Suffering

Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds, because you know that the testing of your faith produces perseverance.

— James 1:2–3

“‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

— Revelation 21:4

Suffering in every Christian’s life is certain. The apostle Peter wrote,

Do not be surprised at the fiery trial when it comes upon you to test you, as though something strange were happening to you. But rejoice insofar as you share Christ’s sufferings, that you may also rejoice and be glad when his glory is revealed.

— 1 Peter 4:12–13

We don’t like to talk about it because it’s hard and painful, but suffering is inevitable. In a fallen world, things happen that we don’t enjoy because we are living under the curse of sin. That means there will be death, sickness, disease, natural disaster, all the brokenness of the world, and the brokenness of our lives, but pain reminds us that we are not meant to live here forever. Every heartache and every suffering reminds us that we are not to our eternal home yet...

John 11:35 is the shortest verse in the Bible:

Jesus wept.

Have you stopped and thought about why He wept? He was about to do this incredible miracle, to raise Lazarus from the dead, yet He wept alongside the mourners grieving Lazarus.

Why would Jesus weep when He was about to do something so awesome? Why didn’t He look at all these people and say, “What’s wrong with you? I’m about to raise Lazarus from the dead. Stop your crying!”

Instead of doing that, He wept with them. Why? Because this action gives us a glimpse into the heart of God. God takes no pleasure in our pain, nor is He separate from our pain. God is not the cosmic killjoy. God is not up in Heaven trying to ruin things or force us to live miserable lives. No. He weeps with us. He feels pain with us. He is with us.

You might say,

“Well, if God is so good and God is so loving, why doesn’t He stop weeping with us and do something about our pain?”

Here is what I say to people who think this way: God did do something about our pain. He came to earth, lived in the flesh, died on the cross, and rose again so our pain doesn’t have the final say. God has the final say. That is what #butGod is all about. Yes, we live with pain. That’s a natural part of this life, but God comforts us, strengthens us, and one day in eternity will completely free us of all pain. That’s the beautiful hope of the gospel.

When I hear anyone questioning God’s actions (or perhaps what they qualify as inactions), what I hear is them suggesting God doesn’t really care about us. Why would a loving God allow pain into our lives? Here is my perspective on that. Let’s say you don’t believe in God. Does cancer still happen? Yep. Does death still happen? Yeah. Even if you don’t believe in God, all those things still happen. The question is: Do you want to handle all of that on your own, or do you want to go through that awful experience with Someone by your side, holding you up, giving your suffering even greater purpose?

I think you would much rather say, “Man, I actually believe there is a God who created a perfect world. Sin wrecked it, and because of sin, brokenness abounds. But because God is so good, He has not left us on our own. He remains with us at all times, and not just when things are good. He comes to us in our own brokenness. He sometimes heals our pain temporarily on this earth, but even when He doesn’t, He gives us what we need to endure. One day though, He will heal us completely forever in Heaven.”

Without a belief in God, there is no beauty in the story of life, nor is there a point to suffering.

Without God, you believe your pain is all there is and healing is only possible through beating the odds on your own. Instead of dreaming of redemption, you picture dying and going into the ground. That’s it. There’s nothing more to it. If you ask me, that’s a horrible way to live. And I find most people don’t necessarily live like this when things are good. Yet, we can’t blame God when things go badly and take the credit when things go well.

Ask yourself the bigger questions in life and be honest about the answers. God brings purpose to your pain and suffering. Caleb’s life is a perfect example of pain redeemed. Remember the words of the apostle Paul as he shared the secret of contentment:

For I have learned in whatever situation I am to be content. I know how to be brought low, and I know how to abound. In any and every circumstance, I have learned the secret of facing plenty and hunger, abundance and need. I can do all things through Him who strengthens me. — Philippians 4:11–13

Believe me, Christ strengthens you — but not through experiences you will necessarily welcome or love. Sometimes He wrecks you to remind you of His infinite love, and that only in and through Him will you be completely satisfied.

Written for Devotionals Daily by Jeremy Freeman, author of #butGod.

Rom 8:28

28 And we know that God causes all things to work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose

NASU

Be blessed through (not in) all things, because God is using them to lead you to glory . . . being made like Jesus, holy and blameless and perfect!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 18, 2022

Notes of Faith October 18, 2022

Article by Marshall Segal

Staff writer, desiringGod.org

You Will Be Breathtaking!

Why God Clothes Us In Glory

It might be hard to imagine that a phrase like soli Deo gloria could be misunderstood or misapplied. To God alone be the glory. What could be unclear or mistaken in those six simple words?

Fortunately, the main burden of the phrase is wonderfully and profoundly clear. Our generation (and, to be fair, every generation before us and after us) desperately needs to be confronted with such God-centered, God-entranced clarity. The clarion anthem of the Reformation has been the antidote to what ails sinners from every tribe, tongue, people, and nation. We fall short of the glory of God by preferring anything besides the glory of God above the glory of God. That’s what sin is.

We want the credit, the appreciation, the praise for any good we’ve done (and pity and understanding for whatever we’ve done wrong). We were made to make much of him, but we demand instead that he make much of us. That is, if we think much of God at all. John Piper has been waving the red flag for decades.

It is a cosmic outrage billions of times over that God is ignored, treated as negligible, questioned, criticized, treated as virtually nothing, and given less thought than the carpet in people’s houses. (“I Am Who I Am”)

God’s glory gets less attention than the fibers under our feet — and we wonder why life feels so confusing and hard. Five hundred years ago, Luther, Calvin, Zwingli, and other reformers recovered the priceless medicine: soli Deo gloria. “Not to us, O Lord, not to us, but to your name give glory” (Psalm 115:1).

To Us Be the Glory

The Reformers were living in a spiritual pandemic of compromise and confusion. As they walked through the darkness and corruption, they stumbled into the holy pharmacies of Scripture. And what did they find in those vials? They found, above all else, the glory of God. And that startling light became the North Star of all their resistance. They would not settle for any religion that robbed God of what was his and his alone.

Justification — what makes us right before God — had been distorted and vandalized in ways that uplifted our work, our self-determination, our glory. God’s justifying act was no longer found by grace alone, through faith alone, in Christ alone, but in significant measure, muddied by our efforts. And that emphasis on what we do in salvation siphoned off glory from the gospel. To us, O Lord, and to our name, be some of the glory.

The stubborn word of God would not surrender glory so easily, though. “I am the Lord,” the Reformers read; “that is my name; my glory I give to no other, nor my praise to carved idols” (Isaiah 42:8). “I, I am he who blots out your transgressions for my own sake, and I will not remember your sins” (Isaiah 43:25). Then four more times in just three short verses:

For my name’s sake I defer my anger;

for the sake of my praise I restrain it for you,

that I may not cut you off. . . .

For my own sake, for my own sake, I do it,

for how should my name be profaned?

My glory I will not give to another. (Isaiah 48:9–11)

The only God who saves is a God rightly, beautifully jealous for glory. He plans and works all things, especially salvation, “to the praise of his glory” (Ephesians 1:6, 12, 14). Our only hope in life and death is that God will do whatever most reveals the worth and character and beauty of God. All our efforts to find glory beside him or apart from him only lead us further away from him and into sin. Any news that says otherwise, whether from a pope in Rome or an angel from heaven, is a curse, not a gospel.

Does God Get All Glory?

How, then, might soli Deo gloria possibly go awry? If we wrongly assume that God’s ultimately receiving all the glory means his people receive none. No, if God alone is glorified in our salvation, Scripture promises, then we too are and will be glorified. “Those whom he predestined he also called, and those whom he called he also justified, and those whom he justified he also glorified” (Romans 8:30). God himself glorifies someone other than God — to the glory of God.

“God himself glorifies someone other than God — to the glory of God.”

As the apostle Paul unfolds God’s plan in that greatest of all chapters, he says more: “I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us. For the creation waits with eager longing for . . .” For what? For the appearing of Christ? For the renewed creation? No (not here anyway). “The creation waits with eager longing for the revealing of the sons of God” (Romans 8:18–19). The creation pants to see us — what we will be. Why? Paul goes on, “The creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Romans 8:21). When the creation sees us as we will be, it too will be set free.

For us to live in a paradise where fullness of joy lives — where God himself lives — we have to be something more than we are. Piper writes, “You can’t put the jet engine of a 747 in a tiny Smart Car. You can’t fit the volcano of God’s joy in the teacup of my unglorified soul. You can’t put all-glorious joy in inglorious people” (“Soli Deo Gloria”). We will be made glorious enough to swim in the wells of the greatest happiness ever conceived. The oceans, mountains, and stars are lined up outside to get a glimpse of that transformation — of our glory.

God Will Make You Like God

This thread in Scripture is as stubborn and stunning as the one beneath soli Deo gloria. “We all, with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord, are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another” (2 Corinthians 3:18). Even now, here on earth, we’re growing in degrees of glory. And then one day we’ll close our eyes for the last time on earth, and the next time we open them, we’ll barely recognize ourselves: “Beloved, we are God’s children now, and what we will be has not yet appeared; but we know that when he appears we shall be like him, because we shall see him as he is” (1 John 3:2). When glory finally comes, it will not merely be a wonder to see, but a wonder to be.

“When glory finally comes, it will not merely be a wonder to see, but a wonder to be.”

What will happen when Christ returns? “The dead will be raised imperishable, and we shall be changed. For this perishable body must put on the imperishable, and this mortal body must put on immortality” (1 Corinthians 15:52–53). Or as he says a few verses earlier: “What is sown is perishable; what is raised is imperishable. It is sown in dishonor; it is raised in glory. It is sown in weakness; it is raised in power” (1 Corinthians 15:42–43). We’re destined to live on a real earth like ours, with real bodies like ours, surrounded by blessings and experiences like ours, but without the weakness, mortality, and sin that plague all we know and enjoy now. That world will be like ours, but glorious. We will be ourselves, but glorious.

One of the most staggering and scandalous claims of Christianity is that God not only loves shameful, undeserving sinners, but shares his glory with them. He not only allows them to live in his presence, but he makes them like his Son.

To God Alone Be Glory

In a man-centered age like ours, it seems right that the overwhelming focus of our theology be away from self and on God. Thirty years ago, John Piper lamented, “I find the atmosphere of my own century far too dense with man and distant from the sovereignty of God” (The Pleasures of God, 2). I assume the pounds per square inch are even higher today (and many more miles farther from heaven). Soli Deo gloria is a precious, God-breathed chorus for our self-sick generation. We’re not in need of many articles exalting our glory.

We might need more than we have, though. Ironically, discovering all that we are and will be in Christ may be one key to escaping the cold cells of man-centeredness. Because anything glorious we discover about ourselves — and we will be glorious — is a mere reflection of him. We don’t receive any glory that does not whisper his glory and therefore glorify him all the more. We are “filled with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ, to the glory and praise of God” (Philippians 1:9–11). If he makes us wise, he is always wiser. If he makes us strong, he is always stronger. If he makes us happy, he is always happier. As brilliant as the stars are — each of them blazing fires so bright they’re seen across galaxies — their Maker eclipses them all.

At our very, most glorious, nearly unimaginable best — sinless, painless, fearless — we’ll always still be candles lit by a far greater light, the Glory of glories, God himself.

Peter, James and John saw the glory of God at the transfiguration of Jesus. They saw His resurrected and glorified body. They will see, as will the rest of those who believe, His eternal glory, and we will be made like Him. No, we do not become gods, but we do receive eternal life, a sinless life, an incredible body and spirit that is difficult to understand until we are given it and yet something we should all be praising God for and waiting patiently and expectantly for this glorious blessing. Some day soon, according to Jesus, He will return and bless those who believe in Him with glory!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 17, 2022

Notes of Faith October 17, 2022

They Walked with God: Jairus

Read Mark 5:21–24, 35–43 NIV

When Jesus had again crossed over by boat to the other side of the lake, a large crowd gathered around Him while He was by the lake. Then one of the synagogue leaders, named Jairus, came, and when He saw Jesus, He fell at His feet. He pleaded earnestly with Him, “My little daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so that she will be healed and live.” So Jesus went with him.

A large crowd followed and pressed around Him.

While Jesus was still speaking, some people came from the house of Jairus, the synagogue leader. “Your daughter is dead,” they said. “Why bother the teacher anymore?”

Overhearing what they said, Jesus told him, “Don’t be afraid; just believe.”

He did not let anyone follow him except Peter, James and John the brother of James. When they came to the home of the synagogue leader, Jesus saw a commotion, with people crying and wailing loudly. He went in and said to them, “Why all this commotion and wailing? The child is not dead but asleep.” But they laughed at Him.

After He put them all out, he took the child’s father and mother and the disciples who were with Him, and went in where the child was. He took her by the hand and said to her, “Talitha koum!” (which means “Little girl, I say to you, get up!”). Immediately the girl stood up and began to walk around (she was twelve years old). At this they were completely astonished. He gave strict orders not to let anyone know about this, and told them to give her something to eat.

When my daughters were young, we tried an experiment.

I asked Jenna, then eight years old, to go to one side of the den. I had Andrea, six, stand on the other. Three-year-old Sara and I sat on the couch in the middle and watched. Jenna’s job was to close her eyes and walk. Andrea’s job was to be Jenna’s eyes and talk her safely across the room.

With phrases like, “Take two baby steps to the left” and, “Take four giant steps straight ahead,” Andrea successfully navigated her sister through a treacherous maze of chairs, a vacuum cleaner, and a laundry basket.

Then Jenna took her turn. She guided Andrea past her mom’s favorite lamp and shouted just in time to keep her from colliding into the wall when she thought her right foot was her left foot.

After several treks through the darkness, they stopped and we processed.

“I didn’t like it,” Jenna complained. “It’s scary going where you can’t see.”

“I was afraid I was going to fall,” Andrea agreed. “I kept taking little steps to be safe.” I can relate, can’t you? We grown-ups don’t like the dark either. But we walk in it.

We, like Jenna, often complain about how scary it is to walk where we can’t see. And we, like Andrea, often take timid steps so we won’t fall.

We’ve reason to be cautious: We are blind. Blind to the future.

It’s one limitation we all share. The wealthy are just as blind as the poor. The educated are just as sightless as the unschooled. And the famous know as little about the future as the unknown.

Don’t be afraid; just believe.

— Mark 5:36 NIV

None of us knows how our children will turn out. None of us knows the day we will die. No one knows whom he or she will marry or even if marriage lies before him or her. We are universally, absolutely, unalterably blind.

We are all Jenna with her eyes shut, groping through a dark room, listening for a familiar voice — but with one difference. Her surroundings are familiar and friendly. Ours can be hostile and fatal. Her worst fear is a stubbed toe. Our worst fear is more threatening: cancer, divorce, loneliness, death.

And try as we might to walk as straight as we can, chances are a toe is going to get stubbed and we are going to get hurt.

Just ask Jairus. He is a man who has tried to walk as straight as he can. But Jairus is a man whose path has taken a sudden turn into a cave — a dark cave. And he doesn’t want to enter it alone.

Jairus is the leader of the synagogue. That may not mean much to you and me, but in the days of Christ the leader of the synagogue was the most important man in the community. The synagogue was the center of religion, education, leadership, and social activity. The leader of the synagogue was the senior religious leader, the highest-ranking professor, the mayor, and the best-known citizen all in one.

Jairus has it all. Job security. A guaranteed welcome at the coffee shop. A pension plan. Golf every Thursday and an annual all-expenses-paid trip to the national convention.

Who could ask for more? Yet Jairus does. In fact, he would trade the whole package of perks and privileges for just one assurance — that his daughter will live.

The Jairus we see in this story is not the clear-sighted, black-frocked, nicely groomed civic leader. He is instead a blind man begging for a gift. He fell at Jesus’ feet, “saying again and again, ‘My daughter is dying. Please come and put your hands on her so she will be healed and will live’” (Mark 5:23 NIV).

He doesn’t barter with Jesus. He just pleads.

There are times in life when everything you have to offer is nothing compared to what you are asking to receive. Jairus is at such a point. What could a man offer in exchange for his child’s life? So, there are no games. No haggling. No masquerades. The situation is starkly simple: Jairus is blind to the future and Jesus knows the future. So Jairus asks for His help.

And Jesus, who loves the honest heart, goes to give it.

And God, who knows what it is like to lose a child, empowers His Son.

But before Jesus and Jairus get very far, they are interrupted by emissaries from Jairus’s house.

“Your daughter is dead. There is no need to bother the teacher anymore” (v. 35 NIV).

Get ready. Hang on to your hat. Here’s where the story gets moving. Jesus goes from being led to leading, from being convinced by Jairus to convincing Jairus. From being admired to being laughed at, from helping out the people to casting out the people.

Here is where Jesus takes control.

But Jesus paid no attention to what they said… — v. 36 NRSV

I love that line! It describes the critical principle for seeing the unseen: Ignore what people say. Block them out. Turn them off. Close your ears. And, if you must, walk away. Ignore the ones who say it’s too late to start over.

Disregard those who say you’ll never amount to anything.

Turn a deaf ear toward those who say that you aren’t smart enough, fast enough, tall enough, or big enough — ignore them.

Faith sometimes begins by stuffing your ears with cotton.

Jesus turns immediately to Jairus and pleads:

Don’t be afraid; just believe. — Mark 5:36 NIV

Jesus compels Jairus to see the unseen. When Jesus says, “Just believe,” He is imploring, “Don’t limit your possibilities to the visible. Don’t listen only for the audible. Don’t be controlled by the logical. Believe there is more to life than meets the eye!”

“Trust me,” Jesus is pleading. “Don’t be afraid; just trust.”

Excerpted from They Walked with God by Max Lucado, copyright Max Lucado.

Interesting to find this after preaching about sleep (death) and the power of God over death and Jesus calling it sleep (resting). Exciting to see, watch the power of God speak life into that which is dead. He has done that to every believer in Jesus! That which was spiritually dead has been made alive by the power of God! Don’t be afraid, just believe.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 16, 2022

Notes of Faith October 16, 2022

Let's Get Naked

Then the eyes of both were opened, and they knew that they were naked. And they sewed fig leaves together and made themselves loincloths. — Genesis 3:7

I often hear preachers and evangelists talk about how the goal of our Christian life should be to get back to the way things were in the Garden of Eden — back when God walked and talked openly with Adam and Eve in the cool of the day and when things on earth were exactly as they were in heaven. But of course, those two numbskulls went and screwed it all up for the rest of us and here we are, stuck in the middle of a cosmic war with no end in sight.

But that doesn’t mean we aren’t going to fight. Of course, with God’s Kingdom everything is a little topsy turvy, and our weapons of warfare aren’t exactly normal. We’re not welding swords or catapults, and the only super soldier serum we’ve got is the Holy Spirit (which is actually way better than anything Captain America might have had).

One of our greatest weapons rests on a choice we have to make every time we approach the throne of God.

How broken are you willing to admit you are? How naked are you willing to get with Him? As much as we say we want things to be like they were before sin entered the picture, don’t forget that Eden was a nudist colony. There was no sin, therefore there was no shame, and their diet was about as healthy as you can get. I’m assuming Adam and Eve both had rock hard abs as well. I guess it’s no wonder they didn’t mind walking around butt naked.

We have a curious habit of wanting to cover ourselves up when approaching God. Maybe it’s because we’ve been trained by church to make sure we always look our best when it’s time to get religious, but while this habit may make us feel some semblance of security, hiding our nakedness to God only creates a wall that keeps us from true transformation. I have spent much of my life in utter denial of my own depravity and sin because something inside of me needed to feel that I wasn’t a complete failure at this whole spiritual thing. I believed all the right things, but my behavior was selfish, lazy, and sinful.

What’s so crazy about all this is that God sees everything, nothing is hidden from Him. So we’re trying to hide our true selves from Him even though He knows us better than we do! I think it’s time to call a spade a spade.

When we dress ourselves up, or avoid bringing our authentic, broken selves to God everyday, we are not trying to hide from God, but rather ourselves.

He is your Father. He comes to take away your shame. So go ahead and give it to Him.

Think about your own sin, your own brokenness, your own bad habits and thoughts and general unholy behavior. It’s not a fun experience, admitting to the cesspool of your heart, because we all want to be better than that. But if you want to have a relationship with God, you’re going to have to get naked. He’s the only one who can lift you out of your depths, but He doesn’t deal with hidden things. He only deals with exposed ones.

So what does it look like to get naked with God? There are many things in our lives that we don’t mind bringing to the Lord — things we know are wrong or areas we know we need to improve on — that aren’t particularly difficult to do. Those are like wearing a bathing suit at the pool; you may not be super happy about it, but there are worse things in life.

But then there are the things in our life that we don’t want anyone to know about, things that feel shameful, dirty, or painful. It could be things you’re dealing with now, or it could be things from your past that you’ve stuffed down, but you know that by not dealing with them they still affect you today in negative ways. We’re talking about the equivalent of being at the pool and having to take off your bathing suit.

Yet God is in your garden, calling out to you. “Where are you? I want to see you, spend time with you, help you.” And you have a choice to make. Either stay hidden behind the trees, or step out in your nakedness, in who you really are and what you’ve really done, and stand before your maker.

It may be terrifying, yes, but don’t forget. He already knows it all anyway. So you might as well present it to Him and let Him clean you up. When faced with Adam and Eve’s sin and shame, God did something extraordinary.

He clothed them.

He is your Father. He comes to take away your shame. So go ahead and give it to Him.

Written for Devotional Daily by Darren Wilson, author of Chasing a God You Don’t Want to Catch.

Our God lives outside of time. He sees and knows everything before we experience it. Our sin is laid bare before Him and He wants us to acknowledge and confess it to Him. Speaking the truth of our sin to God is the only way to be forgiven and receive His peace. Let the past be gone in Christ and move forward in faith, love and the power of the Holy Spirit within to be holy and pure, pursuing the call of God and the reward that is waiting in heaven for obedience to Him!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith October 15, 2022

Notes of Faith October 15, 2022

Hold My Hand

I am the Lord your God, who holds your right hand, and I tell you. “Don’t be afraid. I will help you.” — Isaiah 41:13 NCV

Remember when you were little and an adult would hold your hand when crossing the street? They would look down at you and say, “What do we do when crossing the street or walking in a parking lot?” You’d parrot what they had told you over and over in your little kid voice: “We grab an adult’s hand and look both ways.” I think that universal advice is the world’s version of Isaiah 41:13.

In everything you experience, work through, and survive, God wants you to remember to take His hand.

In fact, when you forget to take His hand, He will still hold yours and lead the way forward. Then He leans down, takes your face in His hands, looks you in the eyes, and tells you, “Don’t be afraid. I will help you. I will guide you. I will show you the way. I will never leave you. I won’t forsake you either. I am here. It is good and if it isn’t good right now, it will be. I won’t let go of your hand. I promise it will get better. Do not be afraid, I’m here.”

Is there something you are going through right now that you haven’t grabbed God’s hand through? What’s it like to know He has your hand right now and that He is helping you?

He gives you peace because He is peace.

The Lord make His face shine on you and be gracious to you; the Lord turn His face toward you and give you peace. — Numbers 6:25–26

Sometimes God can be intimidating. Sometimes we may even feel a little scared of Him. He is the Creator of all things. There are some of those tougher stories we read, especially in the Old Testament, where His wrath is kind of frightening. Don’t be fooled — even in those tougher stories, God’s love, faithfulness, and grace are present.

Some of the greatest lies that anxiety tells us are that we aren’t enough, that no one cares, that no one can help us, and that we are alone. None of this is true. You have a God who loves you. You have people who love you, who can and will help you. God’s face shines on you with a grace that meets you where you are and lets you know that He is with you. Even on those tough days when you aren’t turning toward Him, He will turn toward you. And not only will He turn toward you, meet you, and sit beside you with so much love, He will also give you peace.

He gives you peace because He is peace.

Even when you don’t have peace because anxiety feels like it has stolen it, Jesus can and will be that peace.

If it is a sunny day and you can go outside, go ahead and do this exercise there. Allow your face to feel the warmth of the sun and take a deep breath. Otherwise, imagine that it is a beautiful, sunny day and you are sitting in its warmth.

Write down something you’re struggling to find peace with. How will peace ease your anxiety? Now close your eyes and take a deep breath. Ask Jesus if today, even if only for this moment, He will be your peace and help you feel peace.

Excerpted from 100 Devotions for Kids Dealing with Anxiety by Justine Froelker, copyright Zondervan.

The more time I spend with people the more I am blessed. We need to love and help others in every way God has blessed us to meet their needs. God’s blessing and reward flow through your efforts done in His name. May we serve both God and those He puts around us!

Pastor Dale