In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth.  Genesis 1:1                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                       In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God.  John 1:1

When I make something, I begin with pre-existing pieces.  Make a cake and I have a list of ingredients that already exist.  Fashion a piece of pottery and there is clay to mold.  I don’t make the clay.  While I am only an artisan, God is a Creator.  He made the earth out of nothing.  There was a void for Him to work with except omnipotent power.  If He wanted water, He made water where there had been nothingness.  Water had never been and didn’t even have a name!

This is what makes God ~ God.  This is where He excels.  He has not changed with time.  His power has not diminished.  This same creative God of Genesis spoke again through the prophet Isaiah and said, “Behold, I am doing a new thing; now it springs forth, do you not perceive it?  I will make a way in the wilderness and rivers in the desert.”  Isaiah 43:19  Once again, something out of nothing.

Throughout my life, I have stood (and am standing) on this powerful truth in prayer. My Father can bring something about when I see absolutely no evidence that such a thing will ever exist.  He can bring reconciliation when there is hatred.  He can bring repentance when there is stubborn rebellion.  He can bring opportunity when others haven’t yet thought of it.  He can bring provision when cupboards are empty.  He can bring hope to the hopeless and honor to the shamed.

What needs to be created that, as of now, doesn’t exist?  If we are God’s, His power and promises are at work over the expanse of our lives, over the deep and the unseen.

You love to create.  I just look at the world and see the glorious detail in all You have made.  Speak Your Word over my life and bring into existence what is not yet there yet.  When it appears, I will fall to my knees in worship.  Amen

…that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give to you a spirit of wisdom and of revelation in the knowledge of Him. Ephesians 1:17

Intimacy means that I will probably have an idea of how someone I’m close to will react to something ahead of time. “Oh, he will like this or hate that. Or, be angry over this; even moved by that.” There are no shortcuts to knowing a person that well, either. Time and investment are required.

Ron and I have been married for 44 years. Yesterday, I walked in the kitchen and said, “You know what?” He chuckled and gave me four possible subjects I might address. He then continued with a couple of points I’d make about each topic. I was laughing and undone. He could have easily been right on all counts but this time, he didn’t guess it. My point is, there is nothing like longevity in a loving relationship.

Do I know God that well? I should. If I’ve spent enough time hanging out with Him, getting to know what He loves and hates, becoming acquainted with what makes him angry or sad, familiarizing myself with what kind of person He blesses and whom He shuns, I should also be able to predict pretty accurately what He thinks about a certain situation. Not only do I have history to lean on, or the Word to refer to, but I have His Holy Spirit inside of me emitting His feelings. The latter is not talked about enough.

Have you ever felt God’s sadness over someone lost? Have you felt His disappointment at the news of a failed marriage? Have you felt His grief, even anger, when a church has grown cold? I believe that I should pray more, “Lord, let me feel what You feel about this.

After a long life with Jesus, there should be a certain amount of predictability. Time and investment affords that.

Re-write my mind with the washing of the water of the Word. The outcome ~ intimacy with You. Amen

“You nullify the word of God by your tradition.”  Mark 7:13 

What God leads my conscience to do, or not do, is entirely specific to me.  The problem comes when I feel that every other child of God should make the same choices.  My father in law, the evangelist Jack Wyrtzen, came to Christ out of a culture of dance bands and nightclubs.  He was a musician and played in a band.  Every time he heard jazz, the sound took him back to the clubs he had left behind for Jesus.  To him, jazz was a stumbling block.  Jazz however, in and of itself, is a neutral thing.  It is just music; an assembly of notes, rhythms, and instrumentation.  How many churches have split over the issue of music styles when the real emphasis should be on the Spirit behind the music and whether the people who lead it have been anointed to do it.  Talent and style of music are secondary issues.

In Paul’s day, there were similar hot topics.  Jesus’ ministry was conducted almost exclusively within the Jewish community.  Keeping kosher was an important part of Judaism.  But Jesus stretched his fellow Jews out of their comfort zone when he and His disciples ate without washing their hands ceremonially.  Jesus even sent His disciples into the town of Sychar (in Samaria) to buy food for lunch.  A Jew would never touch food that a Samaritan had prepared.  When the Pharisees erupted over Jesus and His group breaking the law, He answered them by attacking their legalism.  “You nullify the word of God by your tradition.”  Mark 7:13  Then He talked to them about their hearts, that it’s what in the heart that makes a man clean or unclean.  But we’ve always tried to make our Christianity about external things; what we do and don’t do.

Having grown up in legalistic circles, there were many rules. Don’t go to the theater because someone seeing you exit won’t know if you saw a PG or an R movie.  Don’t order a glass of wine at dinner because someone watching won’t know if you drink excessively in the privacy of your own home.  Don’t even play the game of Rook in your own home because someone driving by might see you playing cards and assume they’re real playing cards.  Of course, as a teenager and young adult, the only things I wanted to do were the things that were denied.  Human nature.

Am I over legalism?  Nope.  I still fight it.  The rules have just changed.  I can avoid those circles who are legalistic and want little to do with them.  My bias can easily do a 180 degree turn and that’s just as sinful.  God is constantly dealing with me about this.  He often sends me to legalistic churches to bring the healing message of grace to them.  To teach them, I must forgive them.  To teach them, I must ask for forgiveness.  To be effective, I must love them.  And to be effective, I must let God love the sinful Christine.  Oh, I’m a work in progress and it’s humbling how far I have to go sometimes.  You can pray for me.

Legalism kills.  Others killed my faith but I often still do it to others in new and creative ways.  Show me.  Forgive me.  Change me.  Amen

In His days the righteous will flourish; prosperity will abound till the moon is no more. He will rule from sea to sea and from the River to the ends of the earth. Psalm 72:7

What drives man’s propensity to sin? Is it the effects of the fall on this world? I can think so. I believe that when I’m not loved well, I must rise up to take care of myself and do whatever I need to do to be loved. When life is not fair, I must rise up to seek and enforce justice. My sin erupts from a personal need to fix a broken world, right?

If that were all correct, the converse would be true. A perfect world, one where God is King, would be so wonderful that no one would need to sin. Perfect love would exist. Perfect justice would rule society. Sin would be unnecessary and the compulsion to sin would disappear.

Let’s fast forward to the millennial reign of Christ. Satan will be bound. (Revelation 20) Jesus will be King. The rulers under Him will be the appointed saints who have already died in Christ and been glorified. (Rev.20:4-6) Perfect love. Perfect justice. Perfect authority figures. But in this thousand year span, humans will still live on the earth. They will procreate and have children who will grow up to father new generations. These people will still be under the effects of the fall while living under an umbrella of perfection. So what will they do? Will they sin?

Can you see the deja-vu here? Adam and Eve were created and lived in the perfect environment. God walked with them in their world. They didn’t experience lovelessness, loneliness, unfairness, cruelty or danger. Yet, in spite of this perfect existence, they still sinned. And in the millennium, under the next umbrella of perfection, man will sin again. The presence of Holiness won’t ensure righteous responses. Adam and Eve wanted autonomy and so will many of the children of men under Jesus’ reign. When it comes right down to it, what we seek is not a perfect world. What we demand is the right to decide who rules us. We are repelled by the idea that we must bow the knee to Jesus. Even in the presence of Perfection, our need to be our own god rises up to tempt us.

Today, we hear all kinds of excuses when people sin. “I just needed to be loved.” “I needed to make things fair.” May we not be fooled! These rationales were not the driving force. It was the failure to surrender to a holy God who rules all things well. It was the failure to trust Hope deferred.

Today, this will also characterize my battle with my own flesh. I cut to the chase and I ask God for the grace to surrender to His Will above my own.

Lord Jesus Christ, I ask you for Your grace today so that I am able to surrender in all the places I have set myself in charge. I lay down my pride and forfeit all rights to challenge Your Kingly rule over my life. Amen

One day the angels came to present themselves before the LORD, and Satan also came with them. The LORD said to Satan, “Where have you come from?” Satan answered the LORD, “From roaming throughout the earth, going back and forth upon it.”   Job 1:6-7

 There’s a reason Jesus prayed without ceasing. And there’s a reason I am told to do the same. While I have a God who is always aware, active, and faithful, I have an enemy who is roaming back and forth, aware, active but destructive. I cannot take a vacation from spiritual alertness and unceasing prayer.

For every action, there is a reaction in human relationships,. When I do something, then someone responds. If I am kind, they make a move. If I’m hostile, they bristle. If I move close, they might express mutual desire.

As is true in the physical, so it is in the spiritual world. When I sow something spiritual, I reap something spiritual. When I draw close to God, His heart responds and draws near to me. If I sin and push Him away, He doesn’t barge His way into my heart again. He responds by waiting at a respectful distance.

My enemy also has quick reflexes to the activity of a child of God. Every time I act, he reacts. If I advance the Kingdom through Spirit-filled labor, he will retaliate. If I sin, he preys to tempt me again. That’s why prayer must keep up its momentum because everything is constantly in motion.

Sometimes after a spiritual mountaintop, I believe that I can rest and let down my guard. I believe there is a lull. Not true! There is never a lull. Though things appear quiet, there is scheming at the gates of hell. The church is promised victory if the prayers of the saints prevail against it.

Resting in You is not taking a break from prayer. You provide a refuge after the battle is waged on my knees. Give me grace to endure as a soldier. Amen

The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, the son of David, the son of Abraham. Matthew 1:1

While I might think that the genealogy of Jesus in the first chapter of Matthew is boring, it was anything but that to the Jewish people. They saw Matthew’s opening as a legal and biological proof of Jesus’ authenticity.

Not every genealogy of Jesus is presented the same way. Luke’s version and Matthew’s version only share a few of the same names. They each highlight different parts of Jesus’ lineage. Luke, in his condensed list, provides the legal proof as he traces back to Joseph and the paternal fathers. Matthew, though, includes women in his listing. And, not women of respect like Rachel and Sarah but those whom society would call black sheep.

• Tamar, who had twins by her father-in-law.
• Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho who helped the Israelite spies.
• Ruth, an Arab who moved to Jewish land and became King David’s great grandmother.
• Bathsheba, the one who had the affair with King David.

Matthew hopes we’ll read between the lines to understand that God uses the most unlikely of people for kingdom endeavors. Matthew, himself, was a black sheep. A tax collector was known for being corrupt. They were not admired nor were they trusted. Throughout his ministry as Jesus’ disciple and apostle, he must have thanked Jesus over and over for mercy and a fresh start.

I can often believe that good people find Jesus more appealing while black sheep find Him repelling. That’s not always true on either account. Good people are often offended by the suggestion that they are sinners and need a Savior. Black sheep see their sinfulness but must surmount the challenge of trusting a love as pure as Jesus’ love. God is no respecter of persons. He does not bestow blessing because someone has a good pedigree, has lived a good life, and has a track record for making wise choices. Nor does he shun a black sheep because of his sinfulness. He goes where a man or woman admits they need Him. He is a Physician to the sick.

Perhaps you have lived a lifetime hiding from God’s face. You can’t dare trust His exclamations of love. Decades of discrimination, even in the church, have made you skittish. But Jesus is like no other man, no other priest, and no other king. The more broken your past, the more glorious your salvation. The darker your history, the brighter your future. If people have referred to you as someone ‘too needy’, consider this the best news as it just might qualify you to move to the front of the line where Jesus waits. The more any of us need Him, the more He likes it. Our future is ahead of us and in the annals of kingdom history, redeemed black sheep will hear, “Well done, good and faithful servant.”

I’m thinking of those who shield their face from the Light today. Go looking for them, Jesus. You will find just the right words to heal their shame. Amen