As the rain and snow

“Come now, you rich, weep and howl for the miseries that are coming upon you. Your riches have rotted and your garments are moth-eaten. Your gold and silver have corroded, and their corrosion will be evidence against you and will eat your flesh like fire. You have laid up treasure in the last days. Behold, the wages of the laborers who mowed your fields, which you kept back by fraud, are crying out against you, and the cries of the harvesters have reached the ears of the Lord of hosts. You have lived on the earth in luxury and in self-indulgence. You have fattened your hearts in a day of slaughter. You have condemned and murdered the righteous person…

“Be patient, therefore, brothers, until the coming of the Lord. See how the farmer waits for the precious fruit of the earth, being patient about it, until it receives the early and the late rains. You also, be patient. Establish your hearts, for the coming of the Lord is at hand. Do not grumble against one another, brothers… We consider those blessed who remained steadfast.“ James 5:1-9,11

While the world presents and promotes riches as magnificent, beneficial, and pretty, in fact they become miserable, worthless, and rotten. The mind set on this day lusts after the temporal, but the mind set on that day values what lasts. One of Satan’s wiliest tricks is to obliterate any thought beyond today: no accountability, no consequences, only present pleasure. No then, only now. But the child of God who seeks the treasure of that day finds the riches of true satisfaction and security. (Matthew 6:19-21,33)

It’s important to recognize where we put down stakes of time, emotion, mental, and financial investment. Where heart and soul are tethered determines our treasures, and vice versa. We may say we value wisdom, but spend inordinate time reading garbage. We may pretend to care about relationships, but spend focus on ourselves and meaningless distractions. We may claim to care about our fitness for the Lord, but expend our limited energy and calories on activities and victuals that don’t strengthen or nourish. In what areas have we given in to the devil’s ruses?

If we set our hearts aright this day to esteem the Lord of that day, all perception and attending decisions and actions change. We can enjoy and share wealth entrusted to us, delighting to treat others generously and well. We spend time wisely, developing discernment, honing character, serving meaningfully. We invest in significant relationships that build up the church, enhance growth, and help people. We share the steadfast, living hope of Christ with joy and freedom, lift the downcast, and encourage the faint-hearted to persevere. We accept trials and challenges as preparation for our eternal future. (1 Peter 1:3-8)

Over what should we weep and howl in repentance? Where have we allowed priorities to skew off-kilter, disciplines or important relationships to go awry? What do our calendars, screen timers, and financial statements tell about where we invest the resources entrusted to us by God? What would hope in that day, when we see Jesus face to face, change about the way we live today? (1 John 3:2-3)

Father, pattern my moments and days here to align with the promise and glad communion of that glorious day when You return.

“There shall come forth a shoot from the stump of Jesse,
    and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit.
And the Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him,
    the Spirit of wisdom and understanding,
    the Spirit of counsel and might,
    the Spirit of knowledge and the fear of the Lord.
And his delight shall be in the fear of the Lord.
He shall not judge by what his eyes see,
    or decide disputes by what his ears hear,
but with righteousness he shall judge the poor,
    and decide with equity for the meek of the earth;
and he shall strike the earth with the rod of his mouth,
    and with the breath of his lips he shall kill the wicked.
Righteousness shall be the belt of his waist,
    and faithfulness the belt of his loins.

The wolf shall dwell with the lamb,
    and the leopard shall lie down with the young goat,
and the calf and the lion and the fattened calf together;
    and a little child shall lead them.
The cow and the bear shall graze;
    their young shall lie down together;
    and the lion shall eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child shall play over the hole of the cobra,
    and the weaned child shall put his hand on the adder’s den.
They shall not hurt or destroy
    in all my holy mountain;
for the earth shall be full of the knowledge of the Lord
    as the waters cover the sea.

In that day the root of Jesse, who shall stand as a signal for the peoples—of him shall the nations inquire, and his resting place shall be glorious.” Isaiah 11:1-10

The promise of God’s righteous branch brought consolation and comfort during national decline. One day in the future a fruitful wise branch would rise from their crushed people. Enemies would be defeated, new ways would opened. Impossible and wondrous redemption and unity would take glorious place. These truths for their future were a balm of hope to a calloused, crumbling Israel. (Isaiah 11:11-16)

In any cursed, seemingly doomed situation, we too have the promises of God for substance of hope. Distances that have widened He can span, prodigals He can return and redeem, relationships that are rabid and ruined can be repaired. Where good counsel is void and fear of the Lord is absent, the Lord Almighty arrives and settles with wisdom and honor and perfect equity. Do we trust this word?

What circumstances threaten to swallow us with despair? What enemies of fear, depression, or anxiety loom heavy and near? What relationships seem broken beyond repair? What hopelessness or deep hole feel inescapable? When will we turn from defeat at the immovable stumps in our lives and see in them solid promise of God’s possibility?

His glory is greatly magnified when He rises from ruin. Often He appoints weakness and bleakness as the setting for His strength and splendor. Would we ask for His help to reset expectation from what we can see now to Whom we know? Looking for a shoot from stumps awakens delight over destitution and energizes faith in the Promise Keeper. (Genesis 18:14; Matthew 19:26; 2 Corinthians 12:9)

Lord, keep me trusting You and Your promises and expressing sure hope in a needy world.

“Now the serpent was more crafty than any other beast… that the Lord God had made.

“He said to the woman, ‘Did God actually say..?’ So the woman… took of its fruit and ate, and she also gave some to her husband who was with her, and he ate…

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, ‘Where are you?’ And he said, ‘I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.’  He said, ‘Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?’ The man said, ‘The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.’ Then the Lord God said to the woman, ‘What is this that you have done?’ The woman said, ‘The serpent deceived me, and I ate.’” Genesis 3:1,2-5,6,8-13

Behind the good command to man, over the deceptive craft of the serpent, God was. And into the shame of the world’s first sinners, God walked. In the most pleasant part of the day He approached their most unpleasant situation, and called to them, eliciting responses that are key to knowing ourselves and prompting genuine repentance.

Our pursuing God confronts us with our transgressions, whether directly or indirectly, through confrontation or inner misery, in order to redeem our fallenness. Once we name the sin and acknowledge our culpability, He brings us to repentance and immediately applies His grace. Guilt is a kindness intended to drive us to restoration, from whence we have freedom. How will we answer His loving probe? (1 Samuel 15:13-14; 2 Samuel 12:1-9, 13; Psalm 32:1-5; Romans 2:4)

Where are you? God beckons us to see where our choices have taken us. Are we ashamed, guilt-riddled, hiding from being known and loved? He patiently draws us out into the light.

Who told you that you were naked? The Lord wants us to discern voices and embrace truth. Have we dismissed His word for more enticing messages from the prince of this world? How has that sin warped our mindset and distorted fellowship with Him?

Have you eaten of the forbidden tree? We must be honest about our sin. Have we or haven’t we transgressed God’s law and failed to honor Him? Fess up, it’s the only way to be free.

What is this that you have done? Do we realize the impact of sin going forward, how it affects every aspect of our work, passions, relationships, countenance, communication? Being fully aware of the gravity of our choices is the key to restoring them.

If all of life is repentance,* do we take it seriously? Failure to seek God’s search light keeps us skimming on life’s surface, spiritually superficial and likely arrogant. Thinking too highly of ourselves prevents us from recognizing our constant need for Jesus. (Revelation 3:15-19)

Worthy Lord, sharpen my conscience to every sinful choice that hides me from You. Expose motive and action to bring about purity and holiness, for the sake of Your honor.

*Martin Luther (1517)

“Transgression speaks to the wicked
    deep in his heart;
there is no fear of God
    before his eyes.
For he flatters himself in his own eyes
    that his iniquity cannot be found out and hated.
The words of his mouth are trouble and deceit;
    he has ceased to act wisely and do good.
He plots trouble while on his bed;
    he sets himself in a way that is not good;
    he does not reject evil.

Your steadfast love, O Lord, extends to the heavens,
    your faithfulness to the clouds.
Your righteousness is like the mountains of God;
    your judgments are like the great deep;
    man and beast you save, O Lord.

How precious is your steadfast love, O God!
    The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.
They feast on the abundance of your house,
    and you give them drink from the river of your delights.
For with you is the fountain of life;
    in your light do we see light.” Psalm 36:1-9

The will of man is captive to desire and decision. For the wicked, the absence of the fear of God makes welcome room for every sort of pride-driven behavior. Arrogance begets bombast of mouth and hand. The soul is deceived so all is trouble in private and public. He cannot not do evil.

Enter the love of God. Steadfast in pursuing, saving, and keeping, the one whose will takes refuge there feasts on righteous delights. Fountains and light are the atmosphere and flow of the upright who knows he is loved.

Where we settle our minds and affections will steer the will. Dragging feet in the world ensnares us there, while fixing mind and heart above elevates desire and living. Which will we determine? (2 Corinthians 10:5; Colossians 3:1-2)

To what and whom are we captive? How thoughtfully do we steer our will? Are we keen to its tendency to wander, and quick to take refuge in God’s mercy? Do we daily invite Him to take account and expose folly and any smack of pride, then redirect our drive and hold us steady? Would we boldly turn our attention and angst away from unhealthy interest in evildoers to commit ourselves to actively delighting in the Lord? (Psalm 36:11; 37:1-5,7,27a; 139:23-24)

“Take my life and let it be
consecrated, Lord, to thee.
Take my moments and my days;
let them flow in endless praise.

Take my hands and let them move
at the impulse of thy love.
Take my feet and let them be
swift and beautiful for thee.

Take my voice and let me sing
always, only, for my King.
Take my lips and let them be
filled with messages from thee.

Take my silver and my gold;
not a mite would I withhold.
Take my intellect and use
every power as thou shalt choose.

Take my will and make it thine;
it shall be no longer mine.
Take my heart it is thine own;
it shall be thy royal throne.

Take my love; my Lord, I pour
at thy feet its treasure store.
Take myself, and I will be
ever, only, all for thee.” ~France’s Ridley Havergal (1874)

Father, take my will wholly captive to know and love You and to do Your bidding unto Your honor and praise.

“Now faith is the assurance of things hoped for, the conviction of things not seen… 

“By faith Abel offered to God a more acceptable sacrifice than Cain, through which he was commended as righteous, God commending him by accepting his gifts. And through his faith, though he died, he still speaks.  By faith Enoch was taken up so that he should not see death, and he was not found, because God had taken him… He was commended as having pleased God… By faith Noah, being warned by God concerning events as yet unseen, in reverent fear constructed an ark for the saving of his household. By this he condemned the world and became an heir of the righteousness that comes by faith.

“By faith Abraham obeyed when he was called to go out to a place that he was to receive as an inheritance. And he went out, not knowing where he was going. By faith he went to live in the land of promise, as in a foreign land.” Hebrews 11:1,4-5,7-9a

The Bible’s commemorative Hall of Faith recounts individual after individual who believed God and walked by faith in such a way that the Lord saw fit to record. Ordinary men and women in rather ordinary circumstances decided to trust God over personal preference, to look to the unseen over the visible, and to act in willful obedience over natural impulse. Theirs was a rhythmic faith, their chosen way of life. It was a step by step trusting that pulsed with God-love, a means to an end not of notice but of obedience. Through their exemplary faith, they still speak and inspire and cheer on fellow sojourners today. (Hebrews 11:13,17)

Looking to these heroes of faith, including Jesus, how do they speak presently to my will, passion, and endurance? Do I struggle with flagging desire to keep on keeping on? They journeyed and worked not knowing destination or result. Have doubts about significance or success squelched the willingness to take risks for the Lord? When God issues the call and we obey, there is sure future reward. Is fear of retribution or criticism preventing us from taking a bold stand, or choosing righteousness over vapid temporal pleasure? Hoping in the future and unseen spurs us forward in practice and outworking of faith. (Hebrews 11:23,25-26,32-36; 12:1-3)

Do I accept that I’m a heaven-bound stranger here on earth and make decisions accordingly? When I am gone from this earth, what of my character, relationships, practices, investments of time and effort, and faith will still speak? What will they say? How will they encourage those behind me to follow God’s call, do the hard thing, choose peace in hard circumstances, persevere no matter earthly opposition, and look to Jesus as finisher of their faith? In what practical ways do I exemplify living faith before others?

What will I do to become better acquainted with God’s ways to deepen my confidence in His power and purposes? What can I apply from these speaking giants to present opportunities? Will I ask God to increase my faith, then act on it? (Mark 9:24)

Lord, so build my faith that in gratitude, joy, and hope for what is yet to come, I will live reverently, vibrantly, and in such a way that speaks vividly of Your grace and glory. (Hebrews 12:28)

“On the day that the tabernacle was set up, the cloud covered the tabernacle, the tent of the testimony. And at evening it was over the tabernacle like the appearance of fire until morning. So it was always: the cloud covered it by day and the appearance of fire by night. And whenever the cloud lifted from over the tent, after that the people of Israel set out, and in the place where the cloud settled down, there the people of Israel camped. At the command of the Lord the people of Israel set out, and at the command of the Lord they camped. As long as the cloud rested over the tabernacle, they remained in camp. Even when the cloud continued over the tabernacle many days, the people of Israel kept the charge of the Lord and did not set out. Sometimes the cloud was a few days over the tabernacle, and according to the command of the Lord they remained in camp; then according to the command of the Lord they set out. And sometimes the cloud remained from evening until morning. And when the cloud lifted in the morning, they set out, or if it continued for a day and a night, when the cloud lifted they set out. Whether it was two days, or a month, or a longer time, that the cloud continued over the tabernacle, abiding there, the people of Israel remained in camp and did not set out, but when it lifted they set out. At the command of the Lord they camped, and at the command of the Lord they set out. They kept the charge of the Lord, at the command of the Lord by Moses.” Numbers 9:15-23

Imagine the fastidious and tiresome work of setting up and taking down and transporting the tabernacle, all at the whim of Israel’s God. No schedule, no pattern, no notice of when they would next move. No accounting for the time and effort it took. The important thing was to watch the cloud, because God’s presence meant everything. When He moved, they moved; when He settled, they settled. There was no going or doing if He was not in it. They would keep His charge, and He would keep them. (Exodus 33:15-16)

And imagine if we, too, were committed to the same charge, if we dared not go out into the day and fray without the Lord’s lead, if we tended to our tasks with excellence and shifted only at His prompting. Imagine being so fully dependent on His presence we wouldn’t set forth without His light and would do so trusting His purpose, even if we knew not where we were going. This way. Wait. Now that way. Tend to every detail for My honor.

Are we so ready, or are we too entrenched in agendas and overcommitment? Have we made available our time and fitness for God’s flexibility? Do we brood over personal urgent concerns more than looking unto Jesus for His cloud to stay or move, and joyfully investing in each opportunity He brings?

“Where You go, I’ll go
Where You stay, I’ll stay
When You move, I’ll move
I will follow You
Who You love, I’ll love
How You serve I’ll serve
If this life I lose, I will follow You.” ~Chris Tomlin (2010)

Lord, may I conscientiously be about Your business, trust Your powerful presence, and magnify Your grace and glory.

“Miriam and Aaron spoke against Moses.., for he had married a Cushite woman. And they said, ‘Has the Lord indeed spoken only through Moses? Has he not spoken through us also?’ And the Lord heard it. Now the man Moses was very meek, more than all people who were on the face of the earth. And suddenly the Lord said to Moses and to Aaron and Miriam, ‘Come out, you three, to the tent of meeting.’ And the three of them came out.  And the Lord came down in a pillar of cloud and stood at the entrance of the tent and called Aaron and Miriam, and they both came forward. And he said, ‘Hear my words: If there is a prophet among you, I the Lord make myself known to him in a vision; I speak with him in a dream. Not so with my servant Moses. He is faithful in all my house. With him I speak mouth to mouth, clearly, and not in riddles, and he beholds the form of the Lord. Why then were you not afraid to speak against my servant Moses?’  And the anger of the Lord was kindled against them, and he departed.” Numbers 12:1-9

His siblings had endured enough of shadowing his limelight. Why was their younger brother so special? After all, he’d wed someone without their approval. And they were just as capable of speaking for God. Moses, while likely stung by their resentful criticism, needed not defend himself. His Lord was jealous for His chosen leader and put the jealous brother and sister in their place.

As with many character qualities, what sinful man taints with smack and pride, God abides and expresses with perfection. We think we do loyalty and industry and love and service well, yet can’t help but muddying them with persnickety conditions, selfish motives, and unjust preferences. So much ego gets in the way of purity! Only God does all from a pristine heart with righteous intent and purpose.

To undo our folly of jealousy, at first inkling of coveting, anger, or criticism, we must check from where it stems. Am I acting from insecurity, or malice, or ingratitude? The Lord would develop His Spirit’s fruit to transpose these spiritual nuisances. Do I esteem another’s acumen or talents over my own? God has graced each of His children uniquely with gifts to be received and utilized for His glory. Do I care more about personal popularity and credit, or God’s glory? He is lovingly jealous for those who care about His reputation and renown. (Exodus 32:11-14; Numbers 14:11-20; Romans 12:3-8; Galatians 5:22-23; Colossians 3:5-8; 12-15)

It’s important to accept and rejoice in the place and position God’s planted us. He guards and keeps us there. No talent or service is insignificant when offered to Him. Trouble foments when we compare with others and grumble instead of accounting to God with gratitude. Where is God exposing jealousy or discontentment, and what will I do about it? (Numbers 16:1-3,8-11; John 21:22)

“Since my eyes were fixed on Jesus,
I’ve lost sight of all beside;
so enchained my spirit’s vision,
looking at the Crucified.

O what wonder! How amazing!
Jesus, glorious King of kings,
deigns to call me his beloved,
lets me rest beneath his wings.” ~Mary James (1810-1883)

Lord, may I gaze on You daily and be jealous only for Your name and glory.

“Thus says the Lord: Take care for the sake of your lives, and do not bear a burden on the Sabbath day or bring it in by the gates of Jerusalem. And do not carry a burden out of your houses on the Sabbath or do any work, but keep the Sabbath day holy, as I commanded your fathers. Yet they did not listen or incline their ear, but stiffened their neck, that they might not hear and receive instruction.

“But if you listen to me, declares the Lord, and bring in no burden by the gates of this city on the Sabbath day, but keep the Sabbath day holy and do no work on it, then there shall enter by the gates of this city kings and princes who sit on the throne of David, riding in chariots and on horses,.. and this city shall be inhabited forever. And people shall come from the cities of Judah and the places around Jerusalem,.. bringing burnt offerings and sacrifices, grain offerings and frankincense, and bringing thank offerings to the house of the Lord. But if you do not listen to me, to keep the Sabbath day holy, and not to bear a burden and enter by the gates of Jerusalem on the Sabbath day, then I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the palaces of Jerusalem and shall not be quenched.” Jeremiah 17:21-27

“If you turn back your foot from the Sabbath,
    from doing your pleasure on my holy day,
and call the Sabbath a delight
    and the holy day of the Lord honorable;
if you honor it, not going your own ways,
    or seeking your own pleasure, or talking idly;
then you shall take delight in the Lord,
    and I will make you ride on the heights of the earth;
I will feed you with the heritage of Jacob your father,
    for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.” Isaiah 58:13-14

It may be hard in our cluttered worlds to make sense of not bearing burdens on the Sabbath, but what rang clear repeatedly in God’s instructions for Israel was to keep Him preeminent. Take care for the sake of your lives. Keep the Sabbath day holy. Listen, incline the ear and receive instruction. Call the holy day of the Lord honorable. Just as He’d created the world in six days, then rested, He instituted a set apart time to remember and be renewed. Keeping the days helped to keep the priority. (Genesis 2:1-3; Exodus 20:8-11)

Industry and fruitfulness are good and worthy of our investment, but the Lord must come first. Long work days that lead to time-for-me weekends that blend into sleepy Mondays leave no time for pause or praise. The Sabbath was established by God as a priority for His children, so we must make arrangements to keep it as He intends.

What supremacy does the living God exhibit in our lives? Do we limit our care to physical and emotional desires, and neglect the inner soul? When do we listen to and take delight in the Lord? Have we established personal routines apart from God’s plan? How have Sabbath practices enriched spiritual pleasure and aided our knowing Him and living out His design? (Ephesians 2:10)

Lord, may I keep Your Sabbath honorable and delight in You always, so Your glory is exalted in my life.

“Ah, sinful nation,
    a people laden with iniquity,
offspring of evildoers,
    children who deal corruptly!
They have forsaken the Lord,
    they have despised the Holy One of Israel,
    they are utterly estranged.

“Why will you still be struck down?
    Why will you continue to rebel?
The whole head is sick,
    and the whole heart faint.
From the sole of the foot even to the head,
    there is no soundness in it…
What to me is the multitude of your sacrifices?
    says the Lord;
I have had enough of burnt offerings of rams
    and the fat of well-fed beasts;
I do not delight in the blood of bulls,
    or of lambs, or of goats.

“When you come to appear before me,
    who has required of you
    this trampling of my courts?
Bring no more vain offerings;
    incense is an abomination to me.
New moon and Sabbath and the calling of convocations—
    I cannot endure iniquity and solemn assembly.
Your new moons and your appointed feasts
    my soul hates;
they have become a burden to me;
    I am weary of bearing them.
When you spread out your hands,
    I will hide my eyes from you;
even though you make many prayers,
    I will not listen;
    your hands are full of blood.
Wash yourselves; make yourselves clean;
    remove the evil of your deeds from before my eyes;
cease to do evil,
   learn to do good;
seek justice,
    correct oppression;
bring justice to the fatherless,
    plead the widow’s cause.

“Come now, let us reason together, says the Lord:
though your sins are like scarlet,
    they shall be as white as snow;
though they are red like crimson,
    they shall become like wool.
If you are willing and obedient,
    you shall eat the good of the land.” Isaiah 1:4-6a,11-19a

The hands between sick head, unsound heart, and misled feet were despicable to the Lord. He rejected the vain offerings of rebel devotees. The blood on their hands from insincere ritual sacrifice needed cleansing only He could give.

The beautiful truth about bad blood is that the Christ blood was borne for washing. The perfect Savior’s hands shed blood to offer the richest and truest blessing that no man-brought sacrifice could, the knowledge and eternal favor of the God of the universe. Offering our very hands to His to be cleansed and put to noble use changes the nature of offering. What once brought forth goods to be noted or earn reward is now open to receive all He freely gives. Corrected thinking results in meaningful living that pulses with Jesus instead of ego and self-importance. (Hebrews 9:11-14; 1 Peter 1:18-19)

Has our mind turned sick, no longer finding health in regular worship, reading and meditating on the Word, fellowship with the saints? Has our heart grown faint from fervor, or wicked through repeated exposure to godless streaming? Have our feet strayed from purposeful industry, attendance in sincere worship, or serving the needy? If so for these, the hands have lost their connection to the nail-scarred hands of Jesus, and thus their way in right sacrifice.

If we willingly reasoned with Jesus and invited His cleansing, what new attitudes and actions might we employ? What will we offer others of good, love, and justice that pleases God?

Lord who freely gave Yourself for me, may I with clean hands bless others for Your sake and glory.