Delightsome Land

Imagine living in the ancient Near East in 1500 BC. You’re a Hebrew, formerly a slave in Egypt, now traipsing through the desert around Mount Sinai. You inhabit a spiritually charged universe of “gods” and “goddesses.” And these divine beings are anything but nice. Read any ancient text. The gods were  mean — finicky and capricious and ready to fly off the handle at the slightest infraction. So, you made sacrifices. Naturally. To keep the gods off your back. Or maybe to get the gods on your side. At first it was a bird or a goat. Then you ratchet up to a bull. But eventually they might ask for your child. Maybe even your firstborn. Anybody remember History of World Civilization class from freshman year? Think of the story of Troy. It takes place around the same time as the story of Moses on Mount Sinai. 1  The Greek king Agamemnon is sailing across the Mediterranean to fight in the Trojan War, but his fleet is dead in the water, no wind. Because Artemis — the goddess of Gr...

We are a generation who have never worked harder to have it all, yet go to bed most nights worrying that we aren’t enough. We are constantly asking “Why?” We are constantly measuring. It doesn’t matter if you’re single, if you’re married, if you’re rich, poor, old, young, in college, or out of college. Every human heart struggles with this. We are always looking around to see how we measure up to everyone around us and usually focusing on all the ways we fall short. I believe our struggle with wondering if we are enough goes back primarily to how much we trust God. We aren’t struggling because of the specifics of our circumstances as much as we are struggling because we fail to trust God to give us what we need, to show us where we are supposed to go and what we are supposed to do. That’s why discontentment surfaces in our lives in all the ways it does. Deep down, we struggle to believe God is going to lead us to what is best for us. It’s our internal voice that whispers we will neve...

We are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. — Romans 8:37 Self-improvement is big business. Who doesn’t want to improve? We hope to become fitter, healthier, wiser, and more loving. We want to be more successful in business and more present in our daily lives. We try so hard to be good. The question is, how good is good enough? Most of us end up exhausting ourselves in the quest for ever-elusive “balance.” But many self-help gurus hide the hard truth that we will never attain it on our own. Today’s verse reveals the key: we are more than conquerors  through Him  who loved us. The victory over sin — and all our other weaknesses — is through Christ. The Christian life is not a self-improvement course, so you can stop trying to be good enough and rest. Jesus has done all the work for you. He offers to take every scrap of your sin, put it on Himself, take the penalty you deserve, and give you His righteousness in return. If you have received His gift of salvation, wh...

I am the bread of life; he who comes to Me will not hunger, and he who believes in Me will never thirst. —  John 6:35 I have an old beat-up and marked-up copy of Thomas Watson’s  All Things for Good , which I read often. Somehow I misplaced it weeks ago and had been hoping it would turn up. I finally came across it. Watson penned this book back in 1663. It is brief but weighty and never fails to yield manna. I just took a minute or two to flip carefully through the pages that could use some Scotch tape on the binding. As I did so, I saw a verse Watson referenced that immediately struck me. The verse is Job 22:21, and Watson rendered it, Acquaint now thyself with God, and be at peace, thereby good shall come unto thee. I want to give you four principles that will better acquaint you with God, the Father, and His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ. These four truths will keep you going in any wilderness. They will also enable you to be at peace and thereby good shall come unto you. ...

The Power of Desperate Prayer One Tuesday, while kneeling in my usual spot during our noon prayer meeting, I heard a woman’s voice to my left. Her head was in her hands, and she was praying softly. But something about the way she prayed caught my attention. She was talking to God as if He stood five feet away. “You know, Lord, I’m going to lose that boy to the world,” she prayed through tears. She started quietly at first, but as her pleading grew stronger, her voice became louder. “I’m going to lose him to the gangs unless You come and help me. I can’t do it by myself.” I could hear the desperation in her prayer. She cried out to God with all the urgency of a heartbroken mom. “You’ve got to do something, God! You’ve got to do something now!” I could hear everything she said. “You know his father is dead and gone,” she reasoned. There was a pause, and although I couldn’t see her face, I could hear her weeping. “I’m all alone trying to raise him. And You know all the voices out there c...

See, I am doing a new thing! Now it springs up; do you not perceive it? I am making a way in the wilderness and streams in the wasteland.  — Isaiah 43:19 You need to persevere so that when you have done the will of God, you will receive what he has promised.  — Hebrews 10:36 For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.  — Jeremiah 29:11 Before anything worthwhile can be built, it needs a strong foundation. I believe each life lesson and every opportunity is a building block on which future experiences are built. And that’s definitely true of my life in baseball. I’m confident that I wouldn’t have been a successful entrepreneur if it weren’t for the things I learned in baseball. It was under those bright lights that grit and scrappy became part of my nature, and fortitude became part of the fiber of my being. I believed the baseball field was the perfect place to train me as a b...

Here is a question whose answer I know lots of people are interested in knowing. The answer is addressed explicitly in 1 Corinthians 15:35-55. Paul began this section of his writings with the $64,000 question: But someone will ask, ‘How are the dead raised? With what kind of body will they come?’”  — 1 Corinthians 15:35 Paul immediately answered: What you sow does not come to life unless it dies. When you sow, you do not plant the body that will be, but just a seed, perhaps of wheat or of something else. But God gives it a body as He has determined, and to each kind of seed he gives its own body.  — 1 Corinthians 15:36-38 Paul compared the resurrection to planting. Our current bodies are the seeds for our new bodies. This seed determines the kind of body the sprouting plant will grow into, yet it won’t be the same as the seed planted. I think this means we each will have a body that looks like the one we have now, but it won’t be exactly the same. It will be better. That is ...

I am the Potter; you are My clay.  I designed you before the foundation of the world. I arrange the events of each day to form you into this preconceived pattern. My everlasting Love is at work in every event of your life. On some days your will and Mine flow smoothly together. You tend to feel in control of your life when our wills are in harmony. On other days you feel as if you are swimming upstream, against the current of My purposes. When that happens, stop and seek My Face. The opposition you feel may be from Me, or it may be from the evil one. Talk with Me about what you are experiencing. Let My Spirit guide you through treacherous waters. As you move through the turbulent stream with Me, let circumstances mold you into the one I desire you to be. Say yes to your Potter as you go through this day. Yet, O Lord, You are our Father. We are the clay, You are the potter; we are all the work of Your hand.  — Isaiah 64:8 My heart says of you, “Seek His face!” Your face,...

I draw near you in the present moment. Seek to enjoy My Presence in the present; trust and thankfulness are your best allies in this quest. When you wallow in the past or worry about the future, your awareness of Me grows dim. But the more you trust Me, the more fully you can live in the present, where My Presence awaits you always. Speak to Me frequently: “I trust You, Jesus.” “I love You, O Lord, my strength.” These short prayers keep you close to Me — confident that I’m lovingly watching over you. It’s important for you to grow not only more trusting but more thankful. A grateful attitude is essential for living near Me. Ingratitude is offensive to Me, and it drags you down both spiritually and emotionally. Remember that you are receiving a kingdom that cannot be shaken — no matter what is happening in your life or in the world. This means that you have a constant, unshakable reason to be thankful. Stay anchored to Me and enjoy My Presence by giving thanks in all circumstances. Ps...

Grab Hold with Both Hands   That’s why I don’t think there’s any comparison between the present hard times and the coming good times. The created world itself can hardly wait for what’s coming next. Everything in creation is being more or less held back. God reins it in until both creation and all the creatures are ready and can be released at the same moment into the glorious times ahead. Meanwhile, the joyful anticipation deepens.  — Paul of Tarsus in Romans 8:18-21 (The Message) There was an old wooden bridge on my grandfather’s ranch; it crossed a large irrigation canal the size of a good stream, which flowed constantly with milky water the color of well-creamed coffee. Cottonwoods grew in the rich loamy soil along the canal, and their huge boughs covered it in shade all summer long. Even in the dog days of August it was always cool there, and the waters made the quietest lovely sounds as they passed under the bridge. It was a magical place for a boy. Coming in from...