Delightsome Land

Greater love has no one than this: to lay down one’s life for one’s friends . — John 15:13–14 Looking out across the rolling wooded acres of Arlington National Cemetery, with its hundreds of thousands of white stones in perfectly ordered rows, brings an assortment of emotions that are impossible to escape. Sadness. Desolation. Pride of country. Anger over so many lost young lives. The stones represent tremendous loss as well as the gift of freedom we are able to enjoy. Arlington National Cemetery is a United States military cemetery located across the Potomac River from Washington, D.C., in Arlington County, Virginia. Within its 624 acres, over four hundred thousand active-duty service members, veterans, and their families have been buried. In addition to the military heroes, Arlington is also the final resting place for a select number of presidents, astronauts, senators, and Supreme Court justices. Founded during the dark days of the Civil War, the cemetery now contain

Worry Is Worthless My soul takes refuge in You; and in the shadow of Your wings I will take refuge until destruction passes by. — Psalm 57:1 Worry is a complete waste of energy. It solves nothing. That’s why Jesus said, Which of you by being anxious can add a single cubit to his life’s span? — Matthew 6:27 In essence He was saying, “You go to bed tonight and fret and fuss because you’re not five feet, eleven inches; you’re only five feet, nine inches. But when you wake up in the morning, you’re still going to be five feet, nine inches.” Worry will never make you stretch! And it won’t solve that anxiety on your mind either. Let me be completely candid here. Do you know why we worry? We have a quiet, hidden, love for worry. We enjoy it! When one worry is gone, we replace it with another. There’s always a line of worries waiting to get in the door. So as one goes out the back door, we usher in the next one through the front door. We enjoy entertaining the

It almost sounds like some kind of advertising slogan, but this little play on words really says it: “God will make a way” begins with God. It’s not your belief that makes a way; it’s God who makes a way. Your faith is the vital step you take to connect with God, the way-maker. But without God, all the faith you can possibly muster won’t get you anywhere. So our first principle for finding God’s way is to begin your journey with God. The story of Abraham in the Bible is a good example. When God called him to leave his homeland, Abraham had no idea where he was headed. But he believed God knew where he was headed, so he packed up and left. He did not believe in belief; he believed in a God who knew exactly where Abraham was going and who was able to lead him there. So when we talk about faith, trust, and belief to carry you through your trials and troubles, we mean it in a very specific way. We’re not talking about warm religious feelings or an exercise in positive th

The Son of Man came to find lost people and save them . - Luke 19:10 Our God is the God who follows. Have you sensed Him following you? He is the one who came to seek and save the lost. Have you sensed Him seeking you? Have you felt His presence through the kindness of a stranger? Through the majesty of a sunset or the mystery of romance? Through the question of a child or the commitment of a spouse? Through a word well spoken or a touch well timed, have you sensed Him?... God gives us Himself. Even when we choose our hovel over His house and our trash over His grace, still He follows. Never forcing us. Never leaving us. Patiently persistent. Faithfully present. He uses all His power to convince us that He is who He is and He can be trusted to lead us home. Excerpted from  Grace for the Moment     by Max Lucado.

Sometimes My Sovereign hand — My control over your life — places you in humbling circumstances. You feel held down, held back, and powerless to change things. You long to break free and feel in control of your life once again. Although this is an uncomfortable position, it is actually a good place to be. Your discomfort awakens you from the slumber of routine and reminds you that I am in charge of your life. It also presents you with an important choice: You can lash out at your circumstances — resenting My ways with you — or you can draw closer to Me. When you are suffering, your need for Me is greater than ever. The more you choose to come near Me, affirming your trust in Me, the more you can find hope in My unfailing Love. You can even learn to be joyful in hope while waiting in My Presence — where Joy abounds. Persevere in trusting Me, and I will eventually lift you up. Meanwhile, cast all your anxiety on Me, knowing that I care for you affectionately and am watc

You shall not make for yourself an [idol] in the form of anything... You shall not bow down to them or worship them; for I, the LORD your God, am a jealous God. — Exodus 20:4-5 Wouldn't it be interesting if people were not only called by their given names but also by their most dominant personality traits? Wives, what would your husband’s name be? Maybe something complimentary like sweet-talker or strong protector. Or maybe it would be something a little less complimentary. In Scripture, the Lord God is often named by His character qualities. He is the “King of Kings,” “Deliverer,” “Provider,” “Healer,” and “Redeemer”; the list goes on and on. Yet of all the names of God, there is one that seems out of place. Exodus 34:14 reads, Do not worship any other god, for the Lord, whose name is Jealous, is a jealous God. Jealous? That word doesn’t seem very... well, positive. It feels petty to me — like a couple of junior high girls who are both interested in the same boy

It’s quiet. It’s early. My coffee is hot. The sky is still black. The world is still asleep. The day is coming. In a few moments the day will arrive. It will roar down the track with the rising of the sun. The stillness of the dawn will be exchanged for the noise of the day. The calm of solitude will be replaced by the pounding pace of the human race. The refuge of the early morning will be invaded by decisions to be made and deadlines to be met. For the next twelve hours I will be exposed to the day’s demands. It is now that I must make a choice. Because of Calvary, I’m free to choose. And so I choose. I choose love. No occasion justifies hatred; no injustice warrants bitterness. I choose love. Today I will love God and what God loves. I choose joy. I will invite my God to be the God of circumstance. I will refuse the temptation to be cynical... the tool of the lazy thinker. I will refuse to see people as anything less than human beings, created by God. I wil

One of the most important things we can do as parents is to give our children a strong spiritual foundation to stand upon. From the moment our children are conceived to the moment they make their miraculous entry into this world, we can begin praying for and speaking words of life over them. And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. – Deuteronomy 6:6-7 As they grow from infants and toddlers and develop into school-aged children, tweens and teens, we can let them know just how precious they are, just as they are. Even as they mature into young adults and beyond, we can continuously affirm who they are in Christ. We parents have the privilege of letting our children know that they have intrinsic value and immeasurable worth simply because they are created in the image of God! So God cre

There are times when the Bible is sublimely practical. In his first letter to the church at Corinth, Paul offers this instruction: Only let each person lead the life that the Lord has assigned to him, and to which God has called him. — 1 Corinthians 7:17 This instruction implies that God has made each of us uniquely and assigned to us unique lives with unique roles. Our responsibility before God is to understand the gifts, the skills, and the passions He has given us and to use those in fitting ways — in ways that do good to others and, in turn, bring glory to God. This is exactly why God has put us into this world: to bring glory to Him by doing good to others. He says as much in Matthew 5:16: Let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in Heaven. Jesus’ good friend Peter wrote, Keep your conduct among the Gentiles honorable, so that when they speak against you as evildoers, they may see your good dee

When God Seems Silent You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what He has promised. — Hebrews 10:36 Have you ever known a time when you thought you would die if the Lord did not give you His touch? A time when no friend could comfort you? When you could see no way out? When your circumstances gave new meaning to the word bleak? Bart decided to ask God to shape his character. He surrendered his own will to the will of God. At the time, Bart’s business floundered on the verge of failure. “Should I throw in the towel, or keep trying to hang on?” Bart wondered. God replies, “You need to persevere.” After we have done the will of God, then we will receive our reward. God’s will is for us to demonstrate to a hurting world how wonderfully His power can work within the person who perseveres. Certainly, there are days when we feel like we will die, or maybe even wished we could, but we keep going. Why? Why do we keep going?

Is anyone among you suffering? Let him pray. Is anyone cheerful? Let him sing psalms. Is anyone among you sick? Let him call for the elders of the church, and let them pray over him, anointing him with oil in the name of the Lord. And the prayer of faith will save the sick, and the Lord will raise him up. And if he has committed sins, he will be forgiven. Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much. Elijah was a man with a nature like ours, and he prayed earnestly that it would not rain; and it did not rain on the land for three years and six months. And he prayed again, and the heaven gave rain, and the earth produced its fruit . — James 5:13-18 Written twenty centuries ago, James’s letter is as relevant to us in the twenty-first century as it was to those who were scattered around the Mediterranean world in the first century. We, like they, live in a world of hurt. Heart

They saw what seemed to be tongues of fire… All of them were filled with the Holy Spirit. — Acts 2:3-4 Within fifty days of Jesus’ death and the apparent collapse of His cause, the city of Jerusalem rang with the cries of those who boldly declared that God had raised Jesus from the dead, and that they were eyewitnesses to that truth. Hundreds had seen the resurrected Jesus! As the Holy Spirit descended on the day of Pentecost, craven cowards were changed into courageous confessors. Humble fishermen became heralds of the King. All who saw and heard them were compelled to acknowledge that something had utterly transformed their lives. When questioned by their critics, the apostles did not hesitate to reply: they accounted for their boldness by pointing to the risen Christ. On that day of Pentecost, the Resurrection was the keynote of Peter’s sermon, causing three thousand people to confess Jesus as Lord (Acts 2:14-41). The Resurrection was the dominant theme in Paul’s

The Falling of a Wall Then Philip went down to the city of Samaria and preached Christ to them. — Acts 8:5 Do any walls bisect your world? There you stand on one side. And on the other? The teen with the tats. The boss with the bucks. The immigrant with the hard-to-understand accent. Or the Samaritans outside Jerusalem. Talk about a wall, ancient and tall. “Jews,” as John wrote in his gospel, “refuse to have anything to do with Samaritans” (John 4:9 NLT). Jesus, however, played by a different set of rules. He spent the better part of a day on the turf of a Samaritan woman (John 4:1-26). He stepped across the cultural taboo as if it were a sleeping dog in the doorway. Jesus loves to break down walls. That’s why he sent Philip to Samaria (Acts 8:5-7, Acts 8:12). And when the city broke out into a revival, both men and women were baptized. Peter and John heard about the response and traveled to Samaria to confirm it. Then they laid hands on them, and they r

Our lives have gotten so cluttered up with things we think we “should” do, we can’t figure out what we were meant to do. Setting boundaries in our lives is the only way to ensure we stay healthy physically, mentally, and spiritually. Jesus Himself set boundaries around His time. One of my favorite stories is in Mark 4:35-40. That day when evening came, He said to His disciples, “Let us go over to the other side.” Leaving the crowd behind, they took Him along, just as He was, in the boat. There were also other boats with Him. A furious squall came up, and the waves broke over the boat, so that it was nearly swamped. Jesus was in the stern, sleeping on a cushion. The disciples woke Him and said to Him, “Teacher, don’t you care if we drown?” He got up, rebuked the wind and said to the waves, “Quiet! Be still!” Then the wind died down and it was completely calm. He said to His disciples, “Why are you so afraid? Do you still have no faith?” [And for some reaso

Lord, I’m so glad that You are with me always! Of all the ways to get into a pit, getting thrown in — by something but especially by someone — can be the most complicated to deal with emotionally and spiritually. For starters, when someone throws us in, we’ve obviously got someone to blame: It’s all that person’s fault. Talk about a scenario with the capacity to eat us alive! You want to talk complications? Okay, how about times when you’ve been thrown into the pit by someone else’s sin — and that someone happens to be a family member? Or a loved one who was supposed to love you back? Getting over the trauma would have been hard enough had Joseph been thrown into the pit by strangers who picked him randomly. Instead, his own flesh and blood did it — and they did it intentionally. Been there? Me too. And what about the times when a person has been used by the enemy to throw us into a pit, and he or she remains close by, lives on as if nothing has happened, sees

As a bridegroom rejoices over his bride, so will your God rejoice over you. — Isaiah 62:5 I have a sketch of Jesus laughing. It hangs on the wall right across from my desk. It’s quite a drawing. His head is back. His mouth is open. His eyes are sparkling. He isn’t just grinning. He isn’t just chuckling. He’s roaring. He hasn’t heard or seen one like that in quite a while. He’s having trouble catching His breath. It was given to me by an Episcopal priest who carries cigars in his pocket and collects portraits of Jesus smiling. “I give them to anyone who might be inclined to take God too seriously,” he explained as he handed me the gift. He pegged me well. I’m not one who easily envisions a smiling God. A weeping God, yes. An angry God, okay. A mighty God, you bet. But a chuckling God? It seems too... too... too unlike what God should do — and be. Which just shows how much I know — or don’t know — about God. What do I think He was doing when He stretched t

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God; believe also in Me. 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 14:1-2 In light of Christ’s forgiveness of us and His provision of all His resources and qualities to us in the present, what should we then believe about the days to come? Key Questions: What is going to happen in the future? Blaise Pascal was an inventor, mathematician, physicist, and theological writer in the 1600s. In the mid-1650s, he wrote the Pénsees. Contained in this writing, which ironically wasn’t formally published until after his death, was an apologetic argument that became known as “Pascal’s Wager.” The basis of this thought had to do with a human gamble regarding eternity. “God is, or He is not.” But to which side shall we incline? Reason can decide nothing here. There is an infinite chaos, which separated us. A game is being played at the extremity

God is unreasonably patient and merciful. He’s there for every urgent need and any sudden spell, but an emergency room relationship with God is not the psalmist’s idea of a firm place to stand. He’s not a drive-thru drugstore. He is not just a temporary fix in an urgent situation, a fast way to get everyone to forgive us, or a good side to get on when we need Him to save our scrawny necks. God can hold your weight — the full emotional, spiritual, mental, and physical poundage of you — sixty seconds a minute, sixty minutes an hour, twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, 365 days a year for the rest of your life. I want to emphasize that phrase, the rest of your life . God is not just a firm place to stand. He’s a firm place to stay. The book, Get Out of That Pit , is not about getting out of the pit for a while. It’s about getting out of the pit for good. And if that’s what we want, we’ve got to do something absolutely crucial. We’ve got to make up our minds. The groun