As the rain and snow

“And now, Israel, what does the Lord your God require of you, but to fear the Lord your God, to walk in all his ways, to love him, to serve the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul, and to keep the commandments and statutes of the Lord, which I am commanding you today for your good?  Behold, to the Lord your God belong heaven and the heaven of heavens, the earth with all that is in it. Yet the Lord set his heart in love on your fathers and chose their offspring after them, you above all peoples, as you are this day. Circumcise therefore the foreskin of your heart, and be no longer stubborn. For the Lord your God is God of gods and Lord of lords, the great, the mighty, and the awesome God, who is not partial and takes no bribe. He executes justice for the fatherless and the widow, and loves the sojourner, giving him food and clothing. Love the sojourner, therefore, for you were sojourners in the land of Egypt. You shall fear the Lord your God. You shall serve him and hold fast to him, and by his name you shall swear. He is your praise. He is your God, who has done for you these great and terrifying things that your eyes have seen. Your fathers went down to Egypt seventy persons, and now the Lord your God has made you as numerous as the stars of heaven.” Deuteronomy 10:12-22

The LORD and Moses had ongoing communion and conversation, and Moses relayed what God said to him in what seems fatherly story-telling and advice. When I listen in, I feel as though I am a child of the king, hearing great tales of excitement and valor and impossible deliverances, and cogent lessons for life. When Moses gives instruction, it is always with holy intention, and always magnifies the Law-Giver. A malevolent, capricious tyrant we would resist, but a benevolent, covenant-keeping, wonder-working Ruler? Any soft and open heart should delight to ingest every word, and trust, and obey.

The preface to Almighty God’s commands is that He is great, and we are small. He bids us remember He set His affection on us while we wandered, lost and helpless; He rescued us, showered us with mercy and compassion, provided everything in Jesus for our otherwise-impossible spiritual need, and secured us as His own. In fearing and holding fast to this amazing God, we learn to walk in Him, to serve and follow Him, to cut off all that offends, to see with kind eyes those who wander aimlessly as we did, sheep captive to foreign shepherds. When we contemplate this Most High God and His past and present deeds, He becomes our praise, and it shows in the way we live and love. Once alien, now belonging, we begin to reflect His character. (Ephesians 2:1-5)

Most gracious LORD of lords, in love You have delivered my life from the pit and called me Your own. May I never forget who I was, and who I now am. Embolden me willingly and gratefully to keep all You require, to promote Your divine good, to honor and praise Your great name. (Isaiah 38:17)

 

“Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight… Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. Restore to me the joy of your salvation. Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you… My tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. My mouth will declare your praise. For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.” Psalm 51:1-4,6-17

David’s relaxation led to lust led to adultery led to deceit led to murder led to grief led to more death, and he was miserable. God doesn’t let His chosen ones, those He is fashioning after His own heart, sit well with sin. Guilt is a kindness leading to repentance, and merciful God was kind to David. (1 Samuel 13:14; 2 Samuel 11:1-12:23; Psalm 32:3-4,10; Acts 13:22; Romans 2:4)

The sin he committed in “secret” was not hidden from all-seeing, omniscient God, and although it was immediately, upon confession, forgiven, it would identify King David all his days through the description in the genealogy of Jesus of the mother of his royal son Solomon. But the heart set free is free indeed, and the fear David felt in guilt, that God’s Spirit would be removed from him, is no longer ours in forgiveness this side of the cross. When once we are sealed in and by His Spirit, we are secure forever. (2 Samuel 12:13; Matthew 1:6; Ephesians 4:30)

I have found myself stuck in a sin quagmire of mind and tongue, and while I feel the Spirit’s conviction, have been weak as a noodle in self-control. What beauty, what washing, what refreshing there is, when we read accounts of fellow sojourners of faith who have similarly struggled, and allow His word to do its precise, penetrating work in our souls. Our Jesus sees, knows, understands– He suffered all the same temptations, yet was without sin on our behalf. He became our perfect sacrifice, He frees us from sin’s penalty, He pronounces us, as Nathan did David, “forgiven.” Hallelujah! (Hebrews 4:12-16)

God of grace, You search me and Your word tries me, You convict of sin by misery in the inward parts. Thank You. Wash me, restore me. I will teach, I will praise. (Psalm 139:23-24; John 16:8)

“You shall remember the whole way that the Lord your God has led you these forty years in the wilderness, that he might humble you, testing you to know what was in your heart, whether you would keep his commandments or not. And he humbled you and let you hunger and fed you with manna, which you did not know, nor did your fathers know, that he might make you know that man does not live by bread alone, but man lives by every word that comes from the mouth of the Lord. Your clothing did not wear out on you and your foot did not swell these forty years. Know then in your heart that, as a man disciplines his son, the Lord your God disciplines you… For the Lord your God is bringing you into a good land… And you shall eat and be full, and you shall bless the Lord your God for the good land he has given you… [He] led you through the great and terrifying wilderness, with its fiery serpents and scorpions and thirsty ground where there was no water, [he] brought you water out of the flinty rock, [he] fed you in the wilderness with manna that your fathers did not know, that he might humble you and test you, to do you good in the end. Beware lest you say in your heart, ‘My power and the might of my hand have gotten me this wealth.’ You shall remember the Lord your God, for it is he who gives you power.” Deuteronomy 8:2-5,7,10,15-16

When we use GPS, we are directed in the most efficient way to our destination, ‘although you will experience some traffic you are still on the fastest route.’ When we ask God for direction, we want quick and clear answers, a smooth path to our desired goal. But this is not how God usually works. He promises to lead us, yet His ways are “whole ways” that are intended for far more than we can imagine. For Israel, their journey to the promised land was fraught with hunger, pests, wandering, formidable enemies, all designed by a benevolent, all-knowing God Whose interest was in their faith, their strength in identity as His, their whole and humble dependence on Him, their wonder at His gracious and marvelous works. He was developing a holy people for Himself, not delivering a destination. (Psalm 32:8; Isaiah 55:8)

When I encounter obstacles, fog, impasses, unexpected turns along my way, do I look for what my loving Father might be teaching? Our natural tendency can be to shrug off the nettles, forge our way through pain, demand needs be met, quickly settle for fast food over heavenly nourishment, push push without considering what patience and trust can be learned in delays, what compassion and sympathy in heartache and suffering, what muscles can be developed when we are required to work harder, carry heavier, or resist more. The LORD’s end is always to do us good, His discipline to sanctify us to bear the peaceful fruit of righteousness. (Hebrews 12:5-11)

Father, lead me in Your whole ways. May I seek You above any other goal, remember You in every turn. Accomplish all You intend though my life’s path, for the praise of Your name and exaltation of Your greatness.

“When the Lord your God brings you into the land that you are entering to take possession of it, and clears away many nations before you, you shall make no covenant with them. You shall not intermarry with them, giving your daughters to their sons or taking their daughters for your sons, for they would turn away your sons from following me, to serve other gods… You shall break down their altars and dash in pieces their pillars and chop down their Asherim and burn their carved images with fire. For you are a people holy to the Lord your God. The Lord your God has chosen you to be a people for his treasured possession, out of all the peoples who are on the face of the earth.  It was not because you were more in number than any other people that the Lord set his love on you and chose you, for you were the fewest of all peoples, but it is because the Lord loves you and is keeping the oath that he swore to your fathers, that the Lord has brought you out with a mighty hand and redeemed you. Your eye shall not pity them, neither shall you serve their gods, for that would be a snare to you… You shall not be afraid of them… You shall not covet the silver or the gold that is on them or take it for yourselves, lest you be ensnared by it.” Deuteronomy 7:1-8,16,18,25

Being a child of God the King brings many privileges, and a high call to be distinct, and ruthless. It should boggle our minds to realize how valuable we are to the Lord– chosen, beloved, owned, pronounced holy to Him, adorned by grace with His name. He set His affection on us simply because that is His nature; He promised to do so and He is always true to His word. He values us as his priceless treasure.

Being so treasured, our living response, He commands, is to be equally as committed to Him, and ruthless with the world and all its enticements. Once His bride, we cannot belong to another lover. Once redeemed from slavery, we are never to return to its shackles, its cruel possession or sway. We are to face the enemy boldly, and cut off anything that would lure our affections from our Divine Groom. We are to chop down gods in which we are prone to place our security or identity– things and experiences and degrees and acquaintances that we wave as important. We are to give no pity to the ones who would steal our rightful loyalties and displace our focus. We are not to fear the consequences of putting off the charms and approval of the world, because belonging to almighty God is more than enough and far superior.

Do I rest in God’s favor and unbreakable love for me? What magnets from the world, unbiblical beliefs, shiny temptations, pull at my affections and weaken my resolve to live as the royal that I am?

King of kings, Who has favored me beyond my imagining, grant me strength to be ruthless with the enemy so that I believe and behave as Yours, to Your glory.

 

“Incline your ear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy. Preserve my life, for I am godly; save your servant, who trusts in you—you are my God. Be gracious to me, O Lord, for to you do I cry all the day. Gladden the soul of your servant, for to you, O Lord, do I lift up my soul. For you, O Lord, are good and forgiving, abounding in steadfast love to all who call upon you. Give ear, O Lord, to my prayer; listen to my plea for grace. In the day of my trouble I call upon you, for you answer me.” Psalm 86:1-7

I recently had a disturbing conversation that left me tight inside with consternation, sadness, a touch of fear. I knew the only One to Whom I should go, and bent my knee to cry out to Him, my Master. I was poor in understanding, needy for sense, right thinking, and appropriate words. While a storm brewed in my soul, I called out to the LORD of all weather. (John 6:68)

Lifting my soul to Jesus presents me at His throne, a place of trust in His might, gladness at His rule, instruction from His wisdom, rest in His royal domain. At His feet I find grace to help in time of need, cleansing from corrupt motives and emotions, hope in desperation. He hears my cry and listens to my heart. He discerns all that is between the lines and that I cannot articulate. He translates my confusion into clarity, and brings light to clouded darkness, and He always, always answers. (Psalm 26:2; Hebrews 4:16)

“What a Friend we have in Jesus, all our sins and griefs to bear!
What a privilege to carry everything to God in prayer!
O what peace we often forfeit, O what needless pain we bear,
All because we do not carry everything to God in prayer!                                                      Have we trials and temptations? Is there trouble anywhere?
We should never be discouraged, take it to the Lord in prayer.
Can we find a friend so faithful Who will all our sorrows share?
Jesus knows our every weakness take it to the Lord in prayer.                                                 Are we weak and heavy-laden, cumbered with a load of care?
Precious Savior, still our refuge— Take it to the Lord in prayer;
Do thy friends despise, forsake thee? Take it to the Lord in prayer;
In His arms He’ll take and shield thee, thou wilt find a solace there.”                             ~Charles Crozat Converse (1834-1918)

What griefs, fears, confusion weigh heavy today? Where am I lacking, poor, bereft? What stomach knots need calming, fiery emotions need cooling, resistances need softening? What hinders my moving forward, responding with confidence, progressing in growth? Would I name them all, seek first almighty God, and trust Him to incline His ear to me and provide for all my needs? (Matthew 6:33-34; Philippians 4:6-7,19,23)

Great and wondrous God, I spread out my hands to You. Omniscient, You know each of my needs, and omnipotent, You hear and answer and supply. All glory to You, Caretaker of my soul and every cry. (Psalm 86:10; 88:9; Matthew 6:8; 11:28)

“This people draw near with their mouth and honor me with their lips, while their hearts are far from me, and their fear of me is a commandment taught by men. Ah, you who hide deep from the Lord your counsel, whose deeds are in the dark, and who say, ‘Who sees us? Who knows us?’ You turn things upside down! Shall the potter be regarded as the clay, that the thing made should say of its maker, ‘He did not make me’; or the thing formed say of him who formed it, ‘He has no understanding’?'” “But my people did not listen to my voice; Israel would not submit to me. So I gave them over to their stubborn hearts, to follow their own counsels. Oh, that my people would listen to me, that Israel would walk in my ways!” Isaiah 29:13,15-16; Psalm 81:11-13

Isaiah captures well the convoluted thinking of rebels who live apart from God. Their tendency is to give lip-service to a higher Being but disregard accountability to Him. They clutch their life-reins, justify self-determination and perverted choices, and believe they can hide their actions and motives from the all-knowing Maker. In seeing themselves as a god, they mock the true God. They listen and submit only to self, and bear the consequence. The psalmist describes God’s heart for His people, along with the freedom He gives by releasing them to their own devices.

While I may not consider myself a spiritual anarchist, where has a hint of rebel seeped into my thinking? Do I act as though He is available, but keep Him on the periphery as I make plans and go about my days, fine to forge ahead on my own? I may never consciously pretend to be God, but how have I distorted His character by subconsciously fashioning Him into my (desired) image, expecting Him to act as I want, dispense what I want, when I want? Is there an area I am hiding from His light because I think if I keep in the dark He will not see? Where have I allowed my reasoning to turn upside down because I have exposed myself to folly and refused the conviction of the Holy Spirit?

Many rebels are blinded to the gospel by the god of this world, unable not to be convoluted in their thinking, but believers grow subversive when we shun truth and make up our own. Is there a growing impatience, irritation, stubbornness, bitterness, covetousness, that are evidences of rebellion? When God Almighty, in mercy and lovingkindness, exposes any calcifying of our heart, He beckons us to call out to Him, repent, put away our strange gods, and open wide our mouths to be filled with His finest satisfaction. He delights to soften the rebel heart and make it new, and reconcile us back to intimate communion. (Psalm 81:7-10,16; Ezekiel 36:26; Romans 2:4; 2 Corinthians 4:4)

Mighty Lord, penetrate my thinking with Your truth. Expose rebellion in my flesh and my mind, that I might, enabled by Your grace, put it away. Grant me discernment and wisdom, the mind of Christ, so my living is consistent with Your ways. (Isaiah 29:14; 1 Corinthians 2:16)

“And now, O Israel, listen to the statutes that I am teaching you, and do them, that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land that the Lord is giving you. You shall not add to the word, nor take from it, that you may keep the commandments of the Lord your God that I command you. Keep them and do them, for that will be your wisdom and your understanding in the sight of the peoples, who, when they hear all these statutes, will say, ‘Surely this great nation is a wise and understanding people.’ For what great nation is there that has a god so near to it as the Lord our God is to us, whenever we call upon him? And what great nation is there, that has statutes and rules so righteous as all this law that I set before you today? Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children… Watch yourselves very carefully… Beware lest you act corruptly by making a carved image for yourselves… The Lord has taken you and brought you out of the iron furnace, out of Egypt, to be a people of his own inheritance, as you are this day… Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God… Know that the Lord is God; there is no other besides him. Know today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.  Therefore you shall keep his statutes and his commandments, which I command you today, that it may go well with you and with your children after you.” Deuteronomy 4:1-2,6-9,15,16,20,23,35,39-40

In this season of graduation speeches, I have heard many snippets of “Follow your dreams,” “You can do anything,” “Challenge the establishment, keep pushing, be true to yourself, command your destiny.” What strikes me in the soundbites is the assumption of independence, shrugging off authority to assume personal control, setting a self-driven course fueled by personal desire with personal standards. The messages have little regard for universal truth, and mention of helping others is defined with temporal, self-serving vocabulary.

But for Israel, their commencement into a new land would carry a wholly different perspective. Their mission was holy and eternal, set by a loving Sovereign, their ever-present Power. His was their wisdom and understanding, His word their standard. Their identity as His was the greatest of privileges, a bestowment of grace, not an entitlement. Their God-given end was to know Him and live out His life here on earth. “To go well” requires the upward and outward posture, a humble acknowledgment that we are not our own but have been bought with a price, and carry a holy name and purpose. (John 20:31; 1 Corinthians 6:19-20; Ephesians 2:10)

Father, may I graduate from low thinking and selfish living to flourish as Your beloved in the land You appoint. Thank You for the honor of bearing Your name and banner.

“Give ear, and hear my voice; give attention, and hear my speech. Does he who plows for sowing plow continually? Does he continually open and harrow his ground? When he has leveled its surface, does he not scatter dill, sow cumin, and put in wheat in rows and barley in its proper place, and emmer as the border? For he is rightly instructed; his God teaches him. Dill is not threshed with a threshing sledge, nor is a cart wheel rolled over cumin, but dill is beaten out with a stick, and cumin with a rod. Does one crush grain for bread? No, he does not thresh it forever; when he drives his cart wheel over it with his horses, he does not crush it. This also comes from the Lord of hosts; he is wonderful in counsel and excellent in wisdom.” Isaiah 28:23-29

With divine imagination, God created the world and planted a variety of vegetation for the culinary and visual delight of His crowning glory, man. But there is more to this passage than lessons on planting and harvesting herbs and grains. Isaiah uses familiar concepts to teach that God has never intended for us to live in a rut, become too comfortable in one place, doing one thing. While we may be creatures of habit, we were also made to grow, to learn continually, to use the gifts He has bestowed but might be lying dormant, to be flexible as we seek Him to be about His plans, not ours.

The Lord made us to be an integral part of His kingdom, and we each offer our distinct flavor as we exercise the talents and senses and minds He has uniquely fashioned for us, for our setting, within our communities. But we are never to become stubborn and too set in our ways. A certain crop may flourish in one season, and He calls upon another to peak at the next. What I do this year may bear fruit consistently through the years, but I must never say He cannot open new fields for sowing seed and personal growth. We can be certain He will always grant specific wisdom and understanding and the will to exercise our purpose in His might and skill. (Genesis 1:11-13; Ephesians 2:10)

Am I dedicated to my work? Am I patient when growth and readiness are slow? How willing am I to be crushed, threshed, stretched in new areas of knowledge or experience, to be sown in fresh fields and relationships? Do I decline invitations to explore new avenues of work, learn new skills, try activities that require courage in order not to rock my life boat? Do I choose lethargy on my comfort couch, or schedule only from my easy chair, over making myself available for new or different service to others, saying yes to present opportunities?

Lord on high, may I give ready attention to Your wonderful counsel in my work. Keep me adaptable and willing. Develop in me Your gifts, and produce the desire and boldness to do all You designed me to do, according to Your good pleasure.

“This is the day that the Lord has made; let us rejoice and be glad in it.” “Rejoice in the Lord always; again I will say, rejoice.” “Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.” Psalm 118:24; Philippians 4:4; 1 Thessalonians 5:16-18

There are days when I can rejoice in my Lord and in my grace-bought heart, but feel I’m stuck in a dark pall with my mind. The nagging of besetting sins clouds my outlook and dampens my cheerfulness, and their weight drains energy even as it whispers tsk tsk you can never rise above this. In the struggle, my heavy soul cries, “Wretched man! How long, o Lord? Who will deliver me from this body of death?” But then I remember, rejoice always! Thanks be to God through Jesus Christ my Lord! (Psalm 6:3; Romans 7:15,18-25)

Think of Paul, who wrote these letters from prison, having learned contentment in all circumstances. He sang, he encouraged, he looked for opportunities to share good news even in the worst of times. It is our heavenly calling to shrug off the clothes of complaint and depression and don the garments of praise! Wherever I go, whatever I am doing, life is full of the presence and beauty of God in which to rejoice. (Isaiah 61:3; Acts 16:22-34; Philippians 4:11)

Do we delight when we awaken each new day that the sun has risen again, that air fills our lungs? Do we take time to enjoy the colors and sounds of creation, savor every bite in our meals, the nuances of love and expression in conversations, the working and meandering of the human mind, the quickening of the heart upon seeing a loved one after a long absence, or hearing one smile over the phone? Are we rejoicing that we have water to drink and let run through our fingers, that laughter is the sweetest of shared music? Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights. (James 1:17)

Where am I stuck in a rut, going through the motions of work and duties and even relationships with no thought for the joy they afford, no contribution of joy to situations and individuals? What is my countenance displaying? How am I bringing joy to others by word and deed or through prayer? Do I address others in psalms, hymns, spiritual songs, singing and making melody to the Lord with my heart? Even if I do not actually sing in conversation, is the music of praise a theme in my speech? When alone, am I deliberately rejoicing in God, and again, rejoicing more?  Practice will become habit, and habit a way of life. In Him we can daily rejoice for giving meaning to our hours, we can moment by moment give praise for His bountiful kindness, mercies, victories. (Ephesians 5:19; Colossians 3:16)

Father of lights and delights, You are worthy of my rejoicing. May your joy, the fruit of your spirit, be contagious through me and always point to you, the source. (Galatians 5:22)

“Jude, a servant of Jesus Christ and brother of James, To those who are called, beloved in God the Father and kept for Jesus Christ: May mercy, peace, and love be multiplied to you.” Jude 1-2

The wind was diagonal this morning, making herringbone the surface of the pale blue-green water. A pair of dolphins swam directly toward and then beneath me, perfectly side by side, parallel to the beach, oblivious to the angle of the current above. Digging hard, I pushed against the air to the rhythm of its lapping the liquid through which I moved, acutely aware of the natural forces around me. Deep underneath, it is calm, the place to go for refuge, the place for exploring at leisure, the place to be held.

The vastness of the ocean, with the wideness of its limits, the power of its currents, and the calm in its depths, illustrates, in some measure, the love of God. Wondrous in its weight to uphold me through every storm, wild at times and difficult to understand, its surging is always toward the shore, its fullness always offers calm in the hidden space. Though gales of doubt and self-consciousness blow, and tempests of emotion or irritation buffet, and tides of grief, responsibility, inadequacy, weakness may crash and overwhelm, deep in the water there is a refuge of peace, and God always leads toward His good. Jesus bids me deep with Him, to rest, to swim in freedom from fear, to know Him in ways I cannot while choking in the froth of worldly din.

Where am I wont to feel inundated, overpowered, overcome? Am I bobbing distressed in rough waves, trying to keep my head above water but gulping incessant input, noise, demands, too much busy busy? When will I face and recognize the coming fierce tide of earthly stress and dive down deep before it hits, finding calm in the certainty of God’s love and Jesus’s keeping? Poet Priscilla Leonard once wrote, “On the far reef the breakers recoil in shattered foam, while still the sea behind them urges its forces home. Its song of triumph surges o’er all the thunderous din; the wave may break in failure, but the tide is sure to win.” (John 16:33)

“O the deep, deep love of Jesus, vast, unmeasured, boundless, free!
Rolling as a mighty ocean in its fullness over me!
Underneath me, all around me, is the current of Thy love
Leading onward, leading homeward to Thy glorious rest above!                                                                                                                 O the deep, deep love of Jesus, love of every love the best!
’Tis an ocean vast of blessing, tis a haven sweet of rest!
O the deep, deep love of Jesus, ’tis a heaven of heavens to me;
And it lifts me up to glory, for it lifts me up to Thee!” ~Samuel Trevor Francis (1834-1925)

My Lord, to be beloved by You and kept for You leaves me lost in wonder, love, and praise. You have multiplied mercy, peace, and love to me; may I so multiply these to others that they, too, might know Your calling, and love, and keeping.