Delightsome Land

Nick Vujicic stood atop a table and faced a room full of mesmerized high school students. Some of them wept silently as they listened to this man who was born with no arms or legs proclaim joyfully, “I love life.” 1 If there is anyone who would seem to have a good reason to be joyless, it would be Nick. And yet he has chosen to embrace his life and the possibilities it offers as well as the gifts hidden in his suffering. I think people like Nick are so compelling to us because we all want to know the secret of joy like his — joy that doesn’t depend on physical perfection or life following some specific formula for success. We long for this because deep down we know that our journey throughout this life is fragile... inherently without guarantee. People like Nick show us that joy doesn’t need to be tied to circumstances. They hold out the possibility of unshakeable joy that transcends suffering. For many of us, joy is at a very low simmer. Even small disappointments — a cancel...

The world has changed a lot since I was a kid. My teenage years were either spent with my head buried in a book, stretching the phone cord to my room to have a private conversation, or riding bikes through my local hometown. Being “connected” wasn’t even a concept I knew about or was aware of in the least. I didn’t even get my first cell phone until I was married. Technology has advanced leaps in the last 25 years, keeping us more connected than ever to friends across the world. It’s a blessing, but as parents, it’s also something that we need to keep a pulse on, especially when it comes to teens and social media. Some kids are getting smartphones as early as ten and eleven years old! I recently read an article about a study about what happens in a teenager’s brain when their social media posts get likes or retweets. As they see increased activity, it shows significantly greater activation in parts of the brain’s reward circuitry, the same region that responds when we see some...

O give thanks unto the Lord ; for he is good: for his mercy endureth for ever. — Psalm 136:1 KJV Rather than expressing gratitude for the good gifts we have received from God, we often act as if we have a right to far more. We complain about the privileges God gives others and covet what belongs to them (compare James 4:1-3 ). The Psalms combat our bent toward selfishness by calling us to thank the Lord by… Rehearsing what God has mercifully done for us (Ps. 107 , 136 ). Challenging us to express gratitude for what we have ( Ps. 92:1 ) Reminding us of the source of the source of our possessions ( Ps. 104 ). By illustrating the dangers of ingratitude, Psalm 106 urges us not to minimize the importance of offering God our heartfelt thanks. It reviews Israel’s history of faithlessness, from unbelief in Egypt to idolatry in the Promised Land. The psalm ends with a plea for God to save His people so that they will give him thanks. We can avoid great pain and loss in this life by...

Early in our marriage, Amy and I stumbled across a simple truth that’s made all the difference. In fact, because it’s so simple, it would be easy to underestimate just how powerful it can be in your life. Are you ready to hear our secret? Here it is: we decided that our marriage will be as good as we decide it will be. The same is true for you: your marriage is as good as you’ve decided it will be. We’re not any better than anybody else. Don’t think for a minute that just because we’re in ministry we don’t have problems. We have problems just like everybody else. We live in the same sin-filled world that you do. (Do you have any idea what six kids can do to a bathroom?) But we decided we would seek God together, praying together and striving to put God first. We decided we’d fight fair, always fighting toward resolution instead of toward winning, which leaves plenty of space for forgiveness and love. We decided we’d make time regularly to have fun, enjoying the gifts of marriage an...

The Accuser Is At Large The enemy of our souls who bombards our minds with negative thoughts and lies, and sometimes the people around us who operate under his influence. The enemy often attacks us with false accusations about who we are. He knows that if he can only get us to question or doubt our identity in Christ — such as making us believe we are defeated and hopeless instead of victorious and filled with faith — the chances are high that he will eventually be able to ruin us. He uses this tactic against believers in all kinds of ways today, and He tried to use it against Jesus centuries ago. When John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River, God the Father spoke a powerful declaration of Jesus’ identity: This is my Son, whom I love; with Him I am well pleased. — Matthew 3:17 Another translation renders the verse this way: This is my dearly loved Son, who brings Me great joy . — NLT The Message renders the sentence, This is my Son, chosen and marked by My love,...

You can opt for God. Pitching every other plan, you can opt for God. Thanks-but-no-thanks to every other deliverer, you can opt for God. Without having a clue how it works, you can opt for God. Without knowing the Old Testament from the New, you can opt for God. Not just for His help, but for His entire Person! The whole of God. Oh, the wonder of the One who comes as Three! You can opt for the Father who reigns as King over every intricate detail in the universe and can micromanage a complicated life like yours and mine. He who could halt the sun in the noon sky if that’s what your victory would take. He who could hurl a star like a stone at your enemy should he get in His way. You can opt for the Son who paid your debt in full, not just to deliver you from earth to heaven when you die, but also from pit to pavement while you live. In Him, you have the full rights of sonship or daughtership, including the right to live wildly in victory. Do you hear what I’m saying to you? I don’t c...

Only God can hang with us through the length and depth of our need. And the length and depth of our baloney. Maybe I’m just talking about myself, but whether or not I realized it, I usually found a way to frame my pit to make me look like a victim. Not only is God omniscient, His Word is “sharper than any double-edged sword” cutting our baloney so thin He can see straight through it. He knows when we’re kidding others. He knows when we’re kidding ourselves. Knowing all we are, all we feel, and all we hide, God overflows with love and willingness to deliver us. Even after Israel sought the help of the Egyptians, inviting the chastisement of God, Isaiah 30 testified, Yet the Lord longs to be gracious to you; He rises to show you compassion.  - Isaiah 30:18 Longs to be gracious.  I like the ring of that. We’re also repeatedly told that “His love endures forever” which means the Lord is gracious for long....