Notes of Faith March 9, 2023

Notes of Faith March 9, 2023

Forget Pursuing Revenge

In the classic Alexandre Dumas story The Count of Monte Cristo, Edmond Dantès lives a seemingly perfect life, which causes three of his so-called friends to become wildly jealous of him. Because of their jealousy, they hatch a plot to have Edmond unjustly accused of treason and imprisoned. Edmond spends the next two decades of his life plotting revenge against his enemies. When he is finally able to escape from prison, he sets out to carry through his plans for revenge, throwing in some kind deeds along the way.1

Can you imagine spending more than half your life focused on getting revenge on those who have wronged you? Maybe you can, because you know how it feels for that desire and drive to weigh you down until you don’t know how to get out from under it.

The desire to take revenge can be powerful, but it can also be so dangerous. It can cloud our judgment, penetrate our thoughts, and leave us bitter and miserable as we try to do something that God never intended for us to do.

Most often, revenge comes back to bite us, as psychotherapist Beverly Engel describes in an article from the Washington Post:

“When someone persists in revenge fantasies, over time they can develop anxiety and remorse, as well as feelings of shame,” says California-based psychotherapist Beverly Engel, who treats clients who have been abused and often struggle with vengeful thoughts. These feelings can also take up important cognitive resources, depleting you of time and energy that could be better spent on healthier, more constructive ways of dealing with anger, such as learning to accept the injustice, putting yourself in the other person’s shoes or acknowledging that you, too, may have hurt someone in similar ways.2

In Romans 12:17–21, the apostle Paul cautions,

Do not repay anyone evil for evil. Be careful to do what is right in the eyes of everyone. If it is possible, as far as it depends on you, live at peace with everyone. Do not take revenge, my dear friends, but leave room for God’s wrath, for it is written: “It is mine to avenge; I will repay,” says the Lord. On the contrary: “If your enemy is hungry, feed him; if he is thirsty, give him something to drink. In doing this, you will heap burning coals on his head.”

Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Heap burning coals on their head? That sounds like a form of revenge, doesn’t it? But that verse is from Proverbs 25:21–22. The entire proverb is a collection of sayings that deal with interactions between people. Don’t sing songs to a person in mourning (v. 20), hearing good news is like drinking cool water when you’re weary (v. 25), relying on someone who is unfaithful is like walking with a lame leg or eating with a broken tooth (v. 19). In a society that depended on fire for cooking and keeping warm, burning coals were a gift of sustenance if one’s fire had gone out. And God says to not just give them one to get it going again, but to heap burning coals on them. Go above and beyond in kindness.4

Our desire for vengeance comes from our desire to see justice done. We forget so easily that justice has already been done. The person who hurt us will pay for what he or she did, either by receiving forgiveness from God and allowing Christ to take the penalty for their sin, or by spending eternity separated from God because of their sin. Either way, justice will prevail. And when we think of justice this way, our hearts can soften toward the person who hurt us.

If you wrestle with wanting to have vengeance, remember that God has the situation under control. If you begin to feel destructive anger burning inside of you, allow Christ’s healing, life-giving water to quench those flames as you focus instead on His forgiveness, His grace, and His mercy. Remember, God loved you long before you saw your need for Him (Romans 5:8), and He loves the person who wronged you just as much.

Release Your Anger

Take a long, deep, slow breath. Hold it for a moment, and then release it very slowly. Do that again. Feel the release through the power of the Holy Spirit as you continue to breathe deeply and slowly. With each exhale, release your pain and anger to God. With each inhale, feel his healing love flow in.

How would your life change if the desire for revenge lost its grip on you?

Rather than pursuing vengeance, give that care to God and ask Him to soften and expand your heart with love for others. God’s love can bring healing and soften that grip.

Imagine a desert. For each painful feeling you carry inside of you because of others — mistrust, fear, anger, hate — picture a crack splitting the dry ground into deep, sharp crevices. Now, picture a gentle rain falling on the dry land, gradually softening the hard ground until the crevices fill and merge back into the earth. Feel a gentle breeze and warm sunlight as plants begin to emerge from the now-tender earth. As this image fades from your mind, pay attention to how your heart feels. How do you relate to the image of the barren desert? How do you relate to the field bursting with life?

Now picture your desire for revenge smoldering inside you. Feel the burning pain of it. And then picture your heart healing as Christ’s Spirit quenches those flames with life-giving, healing water. Then rest in the comfort of His arms. Breathe in deeply once more, reflecting on how the just God you serve knows your pain and wants to heal you and use you in the lives of those around you.

Lord, it’s hard sometimes not to let anger consume me, especially when people hurt others, including me. I know You’ve forgiven me, but sometimes I’m so angry at others I’d prefer revenge to seeing them come to know Your forgiving love. Forgive me for this. Heal and soften my heart. Thank You that new life is possible through You, that deserts can become pools of water. Thank You that no one can force fear, anger, or hate to live on in me. Each day, help me know more deeply that Your love is stronger than anything anyone can do to me. Show me what it means to walk in true love and freedom. I long for Your love, justice, and beauty to fill this earth. Until that day, help me find peace in your love. In Jesus’ name, amen.

JOURNAL PROMPT: How have you seen your desire for revenge affect your relationships? What effect has it had on your health? Journal about how your heart can find the healing it needs to be free from this desire for revenge.

1.“The Count of Monte Cristo Summary,” LitCharts, accessed August 10, 2021, https://www.litcharts.com/lit /the-count-of-monte-cristo/summary.

2.Jennifer Breheny Wallace, “Why Getting Even May Make You Feel Worse in the Long Run,” Washington Post, November 11, 2017, https://www.washingtonpost .com/national/health-science/why-getting-even-may -make-you-feel-worse-in-the-long-run/2017/11/10 /a314d54e-b440-11e7-9e58-e6288544af98_story .html?utm_term=.14a1bc29a25e.

Excerpted from Cast Your Cares copyright Carpenter’s Code, Inc.

Thoughts of revenge make me physically ill. My body seems to react in ways that I cannot control and I become weary, in pain, and very uncomfortable. Let us seek to leave these concerns with the Lord.

Heb 10:30-31

"VENGEANCE IS MINE, I WILL REPAY." And again, "THE LORD WILL JUDGE HIS PEOPLE." 31 It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 8, 2023

Notes of Faith March 8, 2023

Amazing Grace

Amazing grace!

How sweet the sound

That saved a wretch like me!

I once was lost,

But now am found

Was blind

But now I see.

What kind of music appeals to you?

My husband and I often say that we are drawn to music sung by people who lived the lyrics — for instance, Willie Nelson singing about being on the road again or Eric Clapton longing to see someone in Heaven. It’s moving and believable because they’re authentically singing about something they experienced.

John Newton knew what he was talking about when he wrote the words to “Amazing Grace.”

Amazing grace! How sweet the sound...

He knew where he had been and what he had done. Prior to becoming a Christian, Newton was the captain on a slave ship. It took a near-death experience, the faithful witness of his wife, and some literature on the life of Christ to result in his conversion. He then joined forces with William Wilberforce and became an abolitionist. His hymn shows that, like Paul before him (Romans 7:24), Newton was very much aware of his own wretchedness.

He lived his lyrics.

While Newton’s slave-trader-to-salvation story and Paul’s murderer-to-missionary testimony are exceptional, the grace given to you or me is no less amazing. It is an absolute miracle that anyone would be saved. We were all wretched, lost, and blind before Christ. There is no one worthy of salvation, and that is why “Amazing Grace” has resonated with believers for over two hundred years.

Your grace, Lord, never ceases to amaze me.

Excerpted from 100 Favorite Hymns, copyright Thomas Nelson.

If you are not amazed at the miracle working of God in your life, you do not yet understand His love for you. But if you daily are amazed at how God is working in your life, you have a special relationship that is continually growing stronger!

Aim your greatest love toward the heart of God!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 6, 2023

Notes of Faith March 6, 2023

God's Will 101

God is God. If He is God, He is worthy of my worship and my service. I will find rest nowhere but in His holy will, and that will is infinitely, immeasurably, unspeakably beyond my largest notions of what He is up to. ~ Elisabeth Elliot

One of the most difficult and frustrating realities of living with fibromyalgia is that you never know when a flare-up will rear its ugly head. On Monday I might be feeling like a million bucks with minimal pain and lots of energy to complete my to-do list for the day. But by the time the sun rises on Tuesday, a switch could flip. Unlike the day before, I might find myself in bed, unable to move for hours or even days. And when a flare-up hits, sleep, movies, heat packs for pain, and food are suddenly the only things on my to-do list — throwing my week off and resulting in a bunch of canceled plans.

Over the last eight years, this unpredictable illness has forced me to miss out on quality time with friends, numerous church services and events, dates with my boyfriend/husband, flights, work-related trips, and more. And full disclosure: as this uncertainty became more of a frequent reality in my life, I started to have some serious questions about “God’s will.” These questions weren’t exactly new, but my illness forced me to confront two things I believe everyone struggles with when it comes to God’s will: suffering and uncertainty. Suffering tempts us to question the goodness of God’s will. And uncertainty — whether about big life plans or the next step — forces us to choose between genuinely trusting God or continuing to pursue the myth of control.

Here’s how that played out in my own life.

In Suffering

The idea of God’s will was something “nice and churchy” that I heard about regularly when I was growing up. Those two words were casually mentioned in the lyrics of my favorite worship songs or during conversations with loved ones.

“Just follow God’s will for your life.”

“God’s will over mine.”

But at the peak of my illness, when it was the hardest and most painful, when all my body could do was lie at home and miss out on life, those kinds of phrases tormented me.

Why would God allow me to suffer? Why would God’s will include saddling me with a chronic illness? Why would God’s plan involve me missing out on the life a typical teenage girl should be living? Beyond those specific questions, I was really wrestling with a pretty fundamental question about God: If God loves His children, why doesn’t He make life easy and light for us?

Chances are, you have your own set of “Why would God” questions.

Why would God not fulfill my desire to have a boyfriend or be married?

Why would God let mental illness plague my life, day in and day out?

Why would God allow my parents to finalize their divorce? Why would God put me in such a hard job and work environment?

Why would God not grant my good desire to have children of my own?

Why would God let my loved one get sick or die?

Why would God allow a pandemic to shut down the world and affect millions?

Sweet friend, I wish I could spend this entire chapter answering every single one of your “Why would God” questions. But as much as I wish that for us, it’s not possible. Nor would it be good for us!

If our willingness to trust and follow God is based on demanding that He explain and justify all the parts of life that we don’t like, that wouldn’t be faith at all.

Before I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, it seemed easy to say I was trusting God and surrendered to His will. Life had been smooth sailing for as long as I could remember. Academics, athletics, friendships, and day-to-day life just came so effortlessly to me. It sure seemed like God had lined up all the cards in my favor. But when life began to do what it does best — throw us for a loop — the idea of “God’s will over my own will” suddenly wasn’t so easy to embrace.

If God loves His children, why doesn’t He make life easy and light for us?

In Uncertainty

If you were to do a quick Google search for “Bible verses about God’s will,” you might be surprised at the results. As you first type those words into the search bar, you may be hopeful — surely the Bible will have a lot of obvious things to say about God’s will. Well, after scanning through a few blog posts and articles, you may find yourself stumped, with a once-hopeful smile quickly turning into a furrowed brow and confused sigh.

That’s how I felt a few years ago. When — thanks to my mentor confirming the Holy Spirit’s rumblings in my heart to pursue ministry — I decided to enroll online at a Bible college, and I felt like I finally had some semblance of direction. Heading back to college made me feel like I was finally getting my life back on track. I was finally doing something “serious” with my life.

But even with this newfound sense of direction, there were plenty of question marks. For example, I chose biblical counseling as my major — but truthfully, I wasn’t quite sure where a counseling degree would take me or even why I felt the tug to pursue counseling rather than one of the other options. In my younger years, there was this air of shame associated with counseling and therapy. It felt like a taboo topic because going to counseling made it seem like you were a messed-up person in need of help. And that was just not a good look to the world around you.

(News flash: We’re all messed up people in need of help. We’re all sinners in need of a Savior.)

But after I was diagnosed with fibromyalgia, my family and I couldn’t help but notice that the traumatic effects extended to every aspect of my life. That was when my parents and pastor recommended I meet with a counselor. At first I shut the idea down, insisting that I had it figured out. That I just needed time. But it wasn’t only my body that had been affected — I was feeling emotional, spiritual, and mental fatigue.

When I started my biblical counseling classes, I was reminded of all the beautiful fruit that God brought from my own personal time in biblical counseling, a type of counseling that emphasizes that genuine and lasting change, healing, and hope are found in God’s sufficient Word. Biblical counseling also prioritizes discipleship as an integral part of the Christian life. Because of what God had done in my life through counseling, I was excited to study it in school.

It sounds like the story could pretty much write itself from there — all wrapped up in a nice bow. And Tara went on to study biblical counseling without any further doubts or questions, and began a long, successful career in her new calling. The end.

But that’s not how it played out. It’s true — I did feel as if God had opened the door to online Bible school with a bright neon sign that said YES! However, I would be lying if I said I never questioned God or His will along the way.

You see, it doesn’t matter if life is going well or if life is going poorly. Every now and again, we all stop, pause, and wonder, “Am I really supposed to be here? Is this God’s will for my life? Am I making decisions that God would approve of?” That’s where that pesky Google search comes in. I can’t tell you how many times I paused during those first few semesters of biblical counseling school, combing through the internet and the Bible for any hints about God’s will.

Was I on the right track? Was I really doing what God wanted, or was I messing up my life by following my own will? The lines were beginning to blur. Uncertainty was everywhere. After each Google search and scavenger hunt through the Bible, hoping to discover specifics about God’s will for my life, I felt more defeated.

Why was God’s will so ridiculously hard to figure out? If it’s so important to our lives, then why didn’t He make it more obvious?

Just in case no one has told you before — it’s okay to admit that you’ve had those same thoughts. Whether suffering has made you question whether you really want to follow God’s will or uncertainty has you feeling as if there’s no hope of even knowing what God’s will is, much less following His will, this is for you. It’s time to grab our shovels and dig deep into what the Bible says about God’s will. It’s time to get our hopes up when it comes to God’s will. It’s not the time to shrink back in fear.

God wants to be known. He wants His will for us to be known. He’s given us His Word to give us insight into His will. And when we understand the beauty of God’s will, we’re able to take another step toward surrender — even in the face of suffering or uncertainty.

Excerpted from Surrender Your Story by Tara Sun, copyright Tara Sun Snyder.

Wouldn’t you love to hear a voice from heaven saying, “this is my will for you, take this path, this job, marry this person . . . God’s will is working in us through His Spirit and does speak but we must listen and respond to stay on the path He has laid out before us. Suffering, whether an illness, loss of relationship, loss of employment or promotion, make us feel that we are not in God’s will. But God uses all circumstances in our lives to glorify Himself and even suffering for our good. May we consider God’s use of our suffering to draw us closer to His heart and know His love for us and be blessed in and through our suffering.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 7, 2023

Notes of Faith March 7, 2023

Spoiler Alert… Heaven Can Be Yours

Our views of the afterlife often make God an afterthought. We imagine reunions with loved ones, no disease, no pain, no sin, no suffering, no tears — all gloriously true! But Heaven is Heaven because God is there. ~ Dr. Luke Stamps, Tweet, February 13, 2022

Even though the title of this book connotes a physical activity, a race with beginning and an end, you and I know that we’re a lot more tired at the end than we were at the start. Given the rigors of his work and the persecution he endured, the apostle Paul knew something about this. And so he wrote about a physical place that will house a resting place for those who know Christ as Savior. A forever dwelling.

“For we know,” wrote Paul, “that if the earthly tent we live in is destroyed, we have a building from God, an eternal house in Heaven, not built by human hands” (2 Corinthians 5:1).

Heaven is a place. A specific, someday visible reality. In the last chapter, I quoted Jesus’ promise to His disciples about the mansions He was preparing for them. In Heaven:

My Father’s house has many rooms; if that were not so, would I have told you that I am going there to prepare a place for you? — John 14:2

My favorite feature of Jesus’ statement is the double down of His message. First, Heaven is better than those mansions you and I see when our computers invite us to “visit” some famous person’s home.1 Or just like in those home makeover shows where we watch the faces of the unsuspecting recipients of the complete refurbishing of their ordinary places into spectacular ones, Heaven’s mansion is glorious. Amazing.

Second, Jesus sort of tweaks them with His follow-up. “If that were not so . . .” It was like He was saying, “Hey, guys. If this weren’t true, why would I have gone to the effort to tell you about it?”

Don’t you just love that?

Earthly death is real. From the experience of losing people we have loved, you and I know it. And so, according to the creation account and God’s only Son’s affirmation, is Heaven. Perhaps nothing alerts us to the reality of this more poignantly than an actual first-person account from a friend.

The woman who wrote the following is a close friend of my wife, Nancy. The account is about this friend’s dad, Del Fehsenfeld, Jr.:

January 7 at 11:55 p.m. my father was escorted to Heaven. What a beautiful illustration God gave us of how exciting it is to be there. Dad’s eyes got so big all of a sudden. He had tears in his eyes that trickled down his face; he began to show excitement. His mouth moved, and then there was a smile. He was trying to talk and say something. That was the most movement we had seen in days. Within the last thirty minutes, he had numerous times showed excitement and peace. The last time, though, was the most dramatic. It was so obvious he was being escorted to Heaven.

Mary, my sister, and I were able to sing songs and talk to him during this time. What a peace was on his face as God took him to Heaven. We are so grateful that God allowed us to see his entrance to Heaven. I told a nurse standing nearby, “This is the day he has lived for all his life.”

You have read — maybe have seen or experienced — accounts like this. People who knew the wonder of God’s grace in their own lives, standing on the threshold of eternity, seeing Heaven for themselves. It’s quite amazing, isn’t it?

Crossing the finish line is going to be a celebration like you cannot imagine. Even better. It’s Christmas morning when you were a kid. It’s your honeymoon. It’s the birth of your first child. Or grandchild. Or great-grandchild. It’s your favorite team winning the championship. The word is way overused, but this time it fits: one day your finish line is going to be awesome.

Perhaps no Christian writer and thinker has done more to help us grasp something of the wonder of Heaven than Randy Alcorn. First published in 2004, Alcorn’s book titled Heaven has sold way more than a million copies.2 He writes, “If you’re a child of God, you do not just ‘go around once’ on Earth. You don’t get just one earthly life. You get another — one far better and without end. You’ll inhabit the New Earth! You’ll live with the God you cherish and the people you love as an undying person on an undying Earth.”3

Another Christian “expert” on longing for Heaven is our precious friend Joni Eareckson Tada. In her own book, Heaven: Your Real Home, she writes, “Every Christian who keeps looking up stretches his or her heart’s capacity for Heaven.”4

And with the sound of wonder in her voice and twinkle in her eye, we can hear and see her say this:

If God brings our pets back to life, it wouldn’t surprise me. It would be just like Him. It would be totally in keeping with His generous character... Exorbitant. Excessive. Extravagant in grace after grace. Of all the dazzling discoveries and ecstatic pleasures heaven will hold for us, the potential of seeing Scrappy would be pure whimsy — utterly joyfully, surprisingly superfluous... Heaven is going to be a place that would refract and reflect in as many ways as possible the goodness and joy of our great God, who delights in lavishing love on His children.5

When people like Randy Alcorn and Joni Eareckson Tada, contemporary writers and wise thinkers, go on and on about the wonder and reality of Heaven, it should convince us, then make us like ebullient kids on their birthdays.

Centuries ago, the apostle Paul also weighed in on this issue about death and Heaven. First, the promise of glory gave him perspective on life when he wrote at the beginning of his letter to the folks living in Philippi:

For to me, to live is Christ and to die is gain. — Philippians 1:21

Later in the same letter, Paul penned,

Brothers and sisters, I do not consider myself yet to have taken hold of it. But one thing I do: Forgetting what is behind and straining toward what is ahead, I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus... Our citizenship is in Heaven. — Philippians 3:13–14, 20

The night before Bobbie died, our daughters, Missy and Julie, were with her as she rested on the rented hospital bed in the living room. After several weeks of caring for my wife, I had slipped off to bed. As her primary caregiver for months, I was more exhausted than I ever remembered being. I wasn’t there when she repeated over and over again,

Be still, and know that I am God. — Psalm 46:10,

each time emphasizing a different word. She also reported to our daughters that she “saw children playing and white twinkle lights.”

It must have really been something special for her. Like it will be for you and me. So wonderful.

1. I have been tempted to check these out. Along with their private jets and amazing cars. I’ve even succumbed to this nudge.

2. Randy C. Alcorn, Heaven (Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale, 2004). You see this once in a while. “Sold a million copies.” If the claims are true, this is a big deal. Thin air for a book. The average book sells around five thousand copies.

3. Alcorn, Heaven, 415.

4. Joni Eareckson Tada, Heaven: Your Real Home (1995; repr., Grand Rapids, Zondervan, 2018), 280.

5. Joni Eareckson Tada, Holiness in Hidden Places (Nashville: Countryman, 1999), 133

Excerpted from Finish Line by Robert Wolgemuth, copyright Robert Wolgemuth.

Heaven . . . a place some think about, dream about, are sure they are going there … I have been with people as they have breathed their last on this walk of faith and it proved to be a glorious experience. A body, that should not have been able to, sat up and looked toward the ceiling intently focused on something. Eyes that had been cloudy were clear, more beautiful than they had ever been. Then seemingly prepared for this journey, they laid back down in be and stopped breathing. They journey did not end, it was just transported to an eternal home. We cannot praise God enough for the love he showers on us and provides His glory to those that believe in and follow Jesus! Are you homeward bound?

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 5, 2023

Notes of Faith March 5, 2023

A Prayer for When You Need Encouragement

This I recall to my mind,

Therefore I have hope.

The Lord’s lovingkindnesses indeed never cease, For His compassions never fail.

They are new every morning;

Great is Your faithfulness.

— Lamenations 3:21-23

Father, I feel discouraged. Sorrow wells up in me because of disappointments, losses, deep needs, and unmet expectations. Of course, You understand my sadness even more than I do. You see what is truly causing this deep hurt and making me feel hopeless. But, Lord, I realize that when I focus on what I don’t have, my problems, or my regrets, they will always overwhelm me. They will always be bigger than they really are. So, Jesus, I will set my focus on You. Encourage and comfort me, my Lord and Savior.

I call Your faithfulness to mind, and therefore have hope. Thank You, Father, that You will always fulfill what You’ve promised. You have vowed to give me hope and a future. You have guaranteed that You will never leave or forsake me. You have assured me that You will walk with me on the mountains and in the valleys of life. I praise You because You are reliable, steadfast, unfailing, unwavering, constant, and trustworthy. You never forget, never falter, and You never fail.

You are always unswervingly faithful in all things.

This is because You, Lord God, are omniscient — You know everything and, therefore, understand how to prepare, mature, and lead me in every changing season of life. You are omnipotent — You have the power to do anything and aren’t hindered by any force on earth or in Heaven. You are omnipresent — I am always within the reach of Your strong and loving hand. And You are unchanging — Your faithfulness endures forever. You can be trusted to keep Your promises in all things and at all times.

Surely, knowing You are with me encourages my heart and helps me to continue forward. You work all things together for my edification, and even the trials I experience are for my good and Your glory. Your precious Word gives me assurance, directs me through the changing seasons of life, and reminds me that no matter what I face, I can do so with absolute confidence. You have delivered me through many trials and will continue to do so. You have set me free from bondage and persistently work in me so I can walk in Your liberty. Your loving, faithful presence will be with me today and will accompany me in all my tomorrows.

There is no reason for my soul to be downcast, because I can put my hope in You — the King of Kings, Lord of Lords, my Great High Priest, Redeemer, Defender, and Provider. I praise You for how awesome, loving, and encouraging You are.

Thank You for encouraging me and comforting me, Father. Thank You for forgiving my sins and teaching me to walk in Your truth. Thank You that nothing is impossible for You. Thank You for the precious promises You bring to mind and Your presence, Your power, Your compassion, and Your loving-kindness toward me. I will put all my hope in You.

In Jesus’s name I pray. Amen.

Excerpted from When You Don’t Know What to Pray by Charles F. Stanley, copyright Charles F. Stanley.

Read God’s Word and His Spirit within you will bring to mind Scriptures that you need to recall at specific moments. His desire and will is for us to be like Jesus and He will make it happen. We must strive to trust and obey to live a life pleasing to God, as Jesus did. May we, in our struggle with sin, strive toward the holiness of God, and be encouraged because He is doing a great work within us!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 3, 2023

Notes of Faith March 3, 2023

The Passion Code: Up

During His intense struggle on the Cross, our Lord spoke seven times as He hung suspended between heaven and earth. The strangest of these cries was,

My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me? — Matthew 27:46

He knew well what it was to be forsaken. In Galilee, He was forsaken by His family. They distanced themselves from Him, and we read that He had no honor “in His own house” (Matthew 13:57). In Gethsemane, He was forsaken by His friends when they ran away after He was taken by the mob (Mark 14:50). And at the end of the journey, at Golgotha, while bearing our sins, He was forsaken for a time by His Father so that we might never be forsaken.

Perhaps there is no more haunting word in our entire English language than the word forsaken. Many today know this reality. There are those who one day stood at a wedding altar, hearing the love of their life promise to “never leave or forsake” them. But they lied and left the gnawing pain of being forsaken. Countless children, abandoned by their fathers and/or mothers, also know the meaning of this cruel word.

Don’t give up. Reach up.

Jesus truly knew its meaning. But He didn’t give up. He reached up! This is a help and a hope for any of us who have been forsaken. He understands.

So many times, when difficulties or heartbreak come knocking on our doors, we look at the swirling circumstances around us, or worse, focus all our attention on them. But look up. Be reminded that Jesus sees even the smallest sparrow that falls to the ground — and He cares so much more for you.

PASSION PROCLAMATION

When my father and my mother forsake me, then the Lord will take care of me. — Psalm 27:10

Lord, I am so grateful that there is no fear of You ever forsaking me. I stand on Your promise that You will never leave or forsake me… never. In Jesus’ name, amen.

Excerpted from The Passion Code by O. S. Hawkins, copyright Dr. O. S. Hawkins.

If we look back on our lives I presume that most if not all can think of a time when they felt forsaken. It brings peace and comfort to know and trust in the words of our Lord and Savior that He will never leave or forsake us. There is a lifetime of learning to be gleaned from the perfect life of Jesus. Let us seek to intimately know Him and pursue being like Him until the day we see Him face to face!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 2, 2023

Notes of Faith March 2, 2023

Can I Judge Without Being Judgmental?

There’s a scripture that kind of trips us up. Whether you’re a Bible reader or not, you’re probably familiar with it.

Do not judge, or you too will be judged. — Matthew 7:1

Jesus said this toward the end of one of his most famous sermons. He was calling out the hypocrisy of pointing out the faults in others when we have our own faults we should be working on.

But is it realistic to never judge anyone? There are times when judging is necessary. When applying for a job, it’s natural to think, Do I want to work for this person? When meeting someone you’re attracted to, Should I ask them out on a date? When you need to confide in someone, Who do I trust as a friend? Just spending a couple of minutes online, we realize our entire world is now based on reviews. From doctors to hotels, restaurants to dog walkers, many businesses live or die by the number of stars by their names. Honest evaluation of others is necessary for a safe and functioning society.

Honest evaluation, however, is not the judgment Jesus meant.

The judging Jesus referred to comes from a different place. It comes from our egos, from seeking to elevate ourselves by belittling someone else. Or trying to justify our own bad behaviors by labeling somebody else’s behavior as worse. Sometimes, biases and grudges affect how we view and treat others.

With that in mind, Jesus asked us to stop pinpointing the shortcomings of others and to look inwardly and deeply examine our own hearts and motives. It’s not comfortable. But here’s why it’s so important: Jesus knew that if we focused on our own faults and weaknesses, we would become more empathetic toward others. We’d recognize that, like us, every person has challenges and struggles that we can relate to. And that’s how Jesus’ radical love is demonstrated today. By recognizing our own flaws, we can all become a little more merciful, a little more patient, and a little more loving toward one another.

Judgmental people would ask, “Why deal with my mistakes when I can focus on the mistakes of others?”

They might follow up with internal struggles like I may be bad, but as long as I can find someone worse, I am safe. They fuel their goodness with the failures of others. They are the self-appointed teacher’s pets in elementary school. They tattle on the sloppy work of others, oblivious to the F on their own papers. They are the neighborhood watchdogs, passing out citations for people to clean up their acts, never noticing the garbage on their own front lawns.

“Come on, God, let me show You the evil deeds of my neighbor,” the moralists invite. But God won’t follow them into the valley.

If you think you can judge others, you are wrong. When you judge them, you are really judging yourself guilty, because you do the same things they do.

— Romans 2:1 NCV

It’s a shallow ploy, and God won’t fall for it.

It is one thing to have a conviction; it’s another to convict the person. Paul said in Romans 2:2:

God judges those who do wrong things, and we know that His judging is right. — NCV

It’s important to recognize the difference between honest evaluations and judgment — that is where the majority of misconceptions arise. You must know that you’re not a sinner because you judged someone. Let’s face it, we all do it more than we’d like to admit, but it’s part of our makeup.

The Bible speaks about sin, how we miss the mark of God and His holy nature. We see the devastating effects of sin all around us every day. It is our job to hate the sin. But it is God’s job to deal with the sinner.

God has called us to despise evil, but He has never called us to despise the evildoer.

But, oh, how we would like to! Is there any act more delightful than judging others? There’s something smug and self-satisfying about slamming down the gavel... “Guilty!” Judging others is a quick and easy way to feel good about ourselves. But that’s the problem. God doesn’t compare us to them. They are not the standard. God is. And compared to Him, Paul argued in Romans 3:12,

There is no one who does anything good. — NCV

Scripture references: Matthew 7:1; Luke 6:37; John 7:24

Excerpted from He Gets Us, copyright He Gets Us.

Mark 10:18

No one is good except God alone.

1 Thess 5:21

21 But examine everything carefully; hold fast to that which is good; 22 abstain from every form of evil.

Examining everything, testing it against the Word of God, is righteous judgment. We are called to test everything in order to choose what is righteous and true, in order to behave in a righteous manner, pleasing to God. Judgment that is comparing yourself to another is not righteous nor helpful for yourself or the other person(s). Let us seek the heart of God as we “examine” and “test” everything to discern truth and express the love of God in every circumstance.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith March 1, 2023

Notes of Faith March 1, 2023

I Am with You Always

I broaden the path beneath you so that your ankles do not turn. This shows how intricately I am involved in your life-journey. I know exactly what is before you, and I can alter the path ahead of you to make your way easier. Sometimes I enable you to see what I have done on your behalf. At other times you are blissfully unaware of the hardship I have spared you. Either way, My work to widen the way before you demonstrates how lovingly I am involved in your life.

From your perspective, My workings are often mysterious. I do not protect you — or anyone — from all adversity. Neither was I shielded from hardship during my thirty-three years of living in your world. On the contrary, I willingly suffered unimaginable pain, humiliation, and agony on the cross — for your sake! When My Father turned away from Me, I experienced unspeakable suffering. But because I was willing to endure that excruciating isolation from Him, you will never have to suffer alone. I have promised: I am with you always!

And about the ninth hour Jesus cried out with a loud voice, saying, “Eli, Eli, lama sabachthani?” that is, “My God, My God, why have You forsaken Me?” — Matthew 27:46 NKJV

... And teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age. — Matthew 28:20

You broaden the path beneath me, so that my ankles do not turn. — Psalm 18:36

*

You will never have to suffer alone.

I am the resurrection and the life; all lasting Life emanates from Me. People search for life in many wrong ways: chasing after fleeting pleasures, accumulating pos- sessions and wealth, trying to deny the inevitable effects of aging. Meanwhile, I freely offer abundant Life to everyone who turns toward Me. As you come to Me and take My yoke upon you, I fill you with My very Life. This is how I choose to live in the world and accomplish My purposes. This is also how I bless you with Joy unspeakable and full of Glory. The Joy is Mine, and the Glory is Mine; but I bestow them on you as you live in My Presence — inviting Me to live fully in you.

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. — Matthew 11:28-29

Whom having not seen, ye love; in whom, though now ye see Him not, yet believing, ye rejoice with joy unspeakable and full of glory: Receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls. — 1 Peter 1:8-9 KJV

Jesus said to her, “I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in Me will live, even though he dies.” — John 11:25

Excerpted from Jesus Calling for Easter by Sarah Young, copyright Sarah Young.

Never alone! Amen!

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 28, 2023

Notes of Faith February 28, 2023

I Miss My Son Today

That goes without saying, I suppose, since I miss him every day. But on this day, the pain is particularly sharp, the ache especially deep. I miss my friend and brother; I miss my protégé́. I miss the son of my youth, the delight of my heart. I miss seeing him and hugging him. I miss teaching him and learning from him. I miss the sound of his voice and the cackle of his laugh. I miss having a son at all. I just plain miss my Nick.

The time between now and when he went to Heaven has passed so quickly, yet so slowly. It often feels like it was just yesterday that we received the phone call, just yesterday that we endured the funeral, just yesterday that we watched the casket being lowered into the cold, dark ground. But at the same time, it feels like it was a lifetime ago. We were different people back then, a different family with different desires, different assumptions, a different understanding of life and death and the God who is sovereign over it all.

And just as the time between now and when Nick went to Heaven has passed both quickly and slowly, I expect that the time between now and when I go to Heaven will pass both quickly and slowly. This life is a dash, a blip, a vapor, yet just as truly a slog, a marathon, a long and wearying pilgrimage. I have begun to notice that while the brevity of life is best seen in retrospect, it’s the slowness of life that tends to be felt in the moment. It may be brief as we look back on it, but it’s long as we live it.

And it feels long today.

It looks long today.

It looks long as I gaze into the future and see a road laid out before me that may well lead through months, years, and decades. It looks longer still as I consider the heavy burden of grief God has called me to carry. I am confident I can carry a great weight for a short distance but far less confident that I can carry it for many miles or many years. I just don’t know how I will bear up under this sorrow if I have to carry it all the way to the end.

He has not called me to bear the entire weight of it all at once.

My father was a landscaper, and he used to take me to work with him from time to time. I remember one day when he brought me with him to be an unskilled but low-cost source of manual labor. He showed me a skid of bricks that had been delivered to the end of a client’s driveway and then a walkway he was building to the front door. My job was to get the bricks from the first spot to the second. I remember gazing at that giant pile with despair. How could I, at twelve or thirteen years of age, possibly move what looked like a literal ton of bricks? I realized I would have to do it in the only way I could. Piece by piece, brick by brick, step by step, I carried each one to my father. He laid them as quickly as I could bring them to him until a perfect path led to the entrance of that beautiful home.

And just so, while God has called me to bear my grief for a lifetime, and to do so faithfully, He has not called me to bear the entire weight of it all at once. As the pile is made up of many bricks, a lifetime is made up of many days. The burden of a whole lifetime’s grief would be far too heavy to bear, and the challenge of a whole lifetime’s faithfulness far too daunting to consider. But the God who knows my frailty has broken down that assignment into little parts, little days, and has promised a grace that is sufficient for each one of them.

My challenge for today is not to bear the grief of a lifetime or to be faithful to the end, but only to carry today’s grief and only to be faithful on this one little day that He has spread out before me.

And I am confident that by His grace I can carry out today’s assignment. I am confident that I can bear the burden of this day’s sorrow until night falls and my eyes close in rest. I am confident that I can be faithful in today’s calling for as long as the day lasts. I don’t need to think about tomorrow or next week or next year. I don’t need the strength to carry the burdens of any other day or the resolve to remain faithful through any other circumstance. My God-given task began this morning and extends only until tonight. Then, when I awake again tomorrow with the dawning of a new day, I will awaken to new blessings, new strength, and new grace that will allow me to be strong and faithful through that day as well.

And in just that way — brick by brick, step by step, day by day — He will lead me, He will keep me, He will enable me to be strong and faithful in all that He calls me to. And as I serve my Father in the assignment He has given me, I know that each brick, each step, each day, is bringing me a little bit closer to the entrance of that great home He is preparing for me.

Excerpted from Seasons of Sorrow by by Tim Challies, copyright Tim Challies.

We all have burdens that we bear, “Seasons of Sorrow.” A lifetime of sorrow cannot be carried in a moment or even a day. But it can be carried by God’s grace throughout a lifetime and lessened by God carrying it with you. Give all of your pain and suffering to God and His grace will carry you through to the end.

Pastor Dale

Notes of Faith February 27, 2023

Notes of Faith February 27, 2023

Simon Peter

The Lord will perfect that which concerns me. — Psalm 138:8 NKJV

You will easily recognize Peter when you get to Heaven,” the speaker said with a smile. “He’s the man with the foot-shaped mouth.” As the audience laughed, I groaned within. I didn’t think the speaker was worthy to carry Simon Peter’s sandals let alone joke about his sins. A foot-shaped mouth indeed!

Jesus commanded us to forgive our brothers and sisters even if they sinned against us seven times a day, but let a great Bible personality commit the same sin twice (like Abraham), or three times (like Peter), and we can’t forgive them. Instead, we make that sin the key to their character, and this blinds us to the real person. To joke about sin is to minimize it, and sin is not a laughing matter. Sin put Jesus on the cross. Peter wept over his sins, but we who are more mature joke about them. As for our own sins, well, that’s another matter.

The speaker had fallen into the same trap that has snared far too many Christians: they don’t know the true Bible personality, so they accept a cheap caricature instead. They enjoy emphasizing the occasional bad things. Peter had a big mouth and often put his foot into it. Noah got drunk, and Abraham told the same lie twice. David was a voyeur, Thomas was a doubter, and John Mark was a quitter. Forget all the good things these people did and ignore what the Lord said about them. No matter what the truth is, keep the congregations laughing. Stick to the caricature.

The fact that Simon Peter had two names helps us get a better perspective on his character as well as our own. Simon was his given name — “the hearer”; Peter was his nickname — “a rock.” Jesus had less than three years to transform this lump of clay into a rock — and He did it! All believers have two names: the old name, “child of Adam,” and the new name, “child of God.” Years ago, many Christians wore colorful pins with PBP/GINFWMY printed on them. If anybody asked what those letters stood for, the explanation was given: “Please be patient, God is not finished with me yet.”

Peter could have worn one of those pins without embarrassment. That’s why I selected Psalm 138:8 for Peter’s defining verse: “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me” (NKJV). It’s the Old Testament equivalent of Philippians 1:6:

Being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Both verses have encouraged me when I have messed up my assignment and disappointed my Lord. The victorious Christian life is a series of new beginnings. Each time Peter stumbled, Jesus forgave him and Peter got up and made a new beginning.

It isn’t enough for us to grow in the knowledge of Christ; we must also grow in grace.

Loving Jesus

We usually associate love with the quiet and poetic apostle John and not with impetuous and manly Peter, “the big fisherman,” but Peter needed to grow in love as well as in knowledge and faith. In fact, Peter’s love for Jesus was the theme of our Lord’s breakfast meeting with seven of His disciples after the resurrection (John 21) .

In the upper room, Peter had boasted of his love for Jesus.

Even if all fall away on account of You, I never will,” he said, and, “Even if I have to die with You, I will never disown You.” — Matthew 26:33, Matthew 26:35

In all fairness, we should note that the other men echoed Peter’s words, but it seems that Peter was the most outspoken. So, after breakfast, Jesus asked Peter the most penetrating question He had ever asked him:

Simon son of John, do you truly love Me more than these? — John 21:151

Peter told the truth: he did love Jesus, and he wasn’t going to deny it. Yes, he had failed, but Jesus had forgiven him and was now about to restore him to his ministry. Peter was learning the lesson John wrote about years later:

Dear children, let us not love with words or tongue but with actions and in truth. — 1 John 3:18

Making a passionate speech and wielding a sword were not valid evidences of his love, but staying awake and praying with and for Jesus would have qualified.

The better we know Jesus, the more we trust Him, and the more we trust Him, the more we learn to love Him. Peter wrote,

Though you have not seen Him, you love Him. — 1 Peter 1:8

We don’t need pictures or statues of Jesus in order to love Him, because we have the inspired portrait we need already written in Scripture. The old hymn expresses it perfectly:

Break Thou the bread of life, Dear Lord, to me,

As Thou didst break the loaves beside the sea;

Beyond the sacred page I seek Thee, Lord;

My spirit pants for Thee, O living Word.

~Mary A. Lathbury

Those who spend time daily in the Word, meditating on what it says about Jesus Christ, will grow in their love for Him and prove it by the way they live and serve.

Becoming Like Jesus

Becoming like Jesus, after all, is the goal of the Christian life and the purpose behind God’s great plan of salvation, for we have been “predestined to be conformed to the likeness of his Son” (Romans 8:29). It isn’t enough for us to grow in the knowledge of Christ; we must also “grow in grace” (2 Peter 3:18) and become more like Christ. It is very easy to grow in “Bible knowledge” and yet never manifest the grace of Jesus Christ in our lives. It is easier to preach about humility than to practice it, or to study the Greek words for love than to love one another.

If you want to see Simon, the clay, living like Peter, the rock, follow Peter’s ministry in the book of Acts. You will meet a man of prayer, a man obedient to the Word, a man who magnifies Christ in his preaching, and a man of compassion who cares for saints and lost sinners. He rejoices at the privilege of suffering for Jesus. He steps aside and allows James to lead the Jerusalem church. He makes sure the widows are cared for, and he opens doors of service for qualified believers in the church. He abandons his Jewish practices, goes to the home of Cornelius, and preaches the gospel to the Gentiles. He is called on the carpet by the legalists, but he doesn’t retreat. When the church leaders meet in Jerusalem to discuss the place of the Gentiles in the plan of God, Peter stands with Paul and Barnabas defending the freedom of the gospel (Acts 15:1-11). Praise God! A Gentile doesn’t have to become a Jew in order to become a Christian!

The better we know Jesus, the more we trust and love Him. This combination of spiritual knowledge, faith, and love, combined with God’s grace, enables us to become more and more like Jesus! Peter called it growing in the grace and knowledge of Jesus (2 Peter 3:18), and Paul called it “perfecting holiness out of reverence for God” (2 Corinthians 7:1) .

How did the Simon of the Gospels become the “rock” of the book of Acts? Of course, the Lord had prayed for Peter, taught him, and given him many opportunities to learn and grow, but there were three events in Jerusalem that opened the door to Peter’s life of fullness and fruitfulness.

Let’s begin with the crowing of the cock and remember that when it happened, Jesus “turned and looked straight at Peter” (Luke 22:61). It wasn’t the angry scowl of a judge but the pained look of a friend whose heart had been broken. At that moment, Peter saw himself and realized what he had done to Jesus, and then he went out and wept bitterly. For each of us, there must come an hour of honest confrontation with our true self and humble confession of our sins to the Lord.

The second event was the crucifixion of the Savior. Peter saw a part of the official trial of Jesus, but he didn’t see it all, nor did he go to the cross as John and the women did. However, Peter knew what crucifixion was and the shame and suffering his Master would endure. Peter’s words must have seared his heart:

I am ready to go with You to prison and to death. — Luke 22:33

But it was Simon of Cyrene who carried the cross for Jesus, not Simon Peter. Christ died our death for us that we might live His life for Him.

And He died for all, that those who live should no longer live for themselves but for Him who died for them and was raised again. — 2 Corinthians 5:15

Event number three was the coming of the Holy Spirit. Jesus told the apostles to stay in Jerusalem until they had been “clothed with power from on high” (Luke 24:49), and on the day of Pentecost, that promise was fulfilled. In the power of the Spirit, Peter boldly preached the gospel and 3,000 people were saved. He performed miracles of healing, he exposed the works of the Devil, he confronted his opponents and shut their mouths, and he brought great glory to the name of Jesus. He gave direction to the church and strengthened the saints when persecution began. He was a different man.

We, too, can become different people. God never gives up on us even though we may decide to give up on ourselves. The moment you were born again, Jesus said, “You are — you shall be!”

We are nothing but lumps of clay, but Jesus can turn us into rocks.

The eminent Greek scholar A. T. Robertson wrote about Peter: “It was slow in coming, but when the fruit was ripe, it was rich and gracious. He was a man worth the making and Jesus knew it. He loved Peter from the start, and to the end.”2

Don’t wait for the crowing of the cock, but start right now to claim Peter’s defining verse: “The Lord will perfect that which concerns me.”

The two Greek words for love — agape, God’s sacrificial love, and phileo, friendship love — are used interchangeably in the Gospels, and it is difficult to build a case for making a distinction in this passage.

A. T. Robertson, Epochs in the Life of Peter (Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker, 1974), 3.

Excerpted from The Defining Verse by Warren W. Wiersbe, copyright Warren W. Wiersbe.

God has promised and will perfect that which belongs to Him. You may stumble and fall at times during your faith walk, but God will not let you out of His hand. He will lift you up, sustain and perfect you and bring you to completion, holy and blameless before Him. May we continue to run the race of life in pursuit of Jesus, the author and perfector of our faith!

Pastor Dale