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Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us.  Hebrews 12:1

Before you read the scripture, I bet you saw the title and thought of computers, data, and what it means for us to store digital information in the cloud.  But there is another cloud mentioned in Hebrews 11.  A cloud of witnesses.  Who is it that makes up this company?  Abel, Enoch, Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Sarah, Rahab, Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jepthah, David, Samuel, and the prophets. What a group it would be if we could gather them together today, in the flesh, and host them all in one setting.  What would fellowship look like?  How long would it take for us to ask all the questions on our mind, to hear all their stories, and to glean their advice and encouragement?

But we can imagine it, right?  One of the themes of Michael Card’s writing is ‘reading the Bible with your imagination.’  He encourages us to enter into the stories we read and imagine what the people were thinking, why they did what they did, and what they would want us to know from their mistakes and their acts of faith.  (And, God’s reactions.)  As I go back and review chapter 11 and the many devotionals written on each character, I can ‘imagine’ some of their encouragements.

Abel ~ “Carve out your own faith apart from your parents and follow God to the letter.”

Enoch ~ “As the world caves into lawlessness, prepare to keep yourself pure even if hated and made the brunt of mockery.”

Noah ~ “Don’t get tired of obeying God – even when He’s quiet. Stay faithful.”

Abraham ~ “Climb Mt. Moriah and believe in God’s goodness no matter what.”

Sarah ~ “If you’ve hurt your testimony, stop hiding. Get up and take a second run.”

Yochoved ~ “If you hold your child of promise, God’s plan will prevail.”

Six out of 15 voices.  They blend together.  Each is passionate and insistent on being heard.  Not one is distinguishable above another.  Each cheer is lifesaving.  We must take time to review each of their stories to internalize their encouragement on a bigger scale.  We have not begun to mine their stories for gold.

Don’t let me be afraid to tell my own stories of fear and faith and victory.  In them are sermons for the next generation.  Amen

The children struggled together within her, and she said, “If it is thus, why is this happening to me?” So she went to inquire of the Lord. And the Lord said to her, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you shall be divided; the one shall be stronger than the other, the older shall serve the younger.”   Genesis 25:22-23

Rebekah is pregnant with twins.  She wouldn’t be the first to feel the angst of a child in her womb.  Much transpires there that shapes the future, both for the good and the bad.  I am naïve to think that I was not affected somehow by what happened around me while being carried to term in my own mother’s womb.  An unborn baby assimilates environments outside of its mother.  Kindness, violence, acceptance, and rejection ~ are all keenly felt.  They shape a child’s view of himself, and the world, before he takes his first breath.   

When Rebekah felt the striving between her twins, she was wise when she asked the Lord about it.  God prophesied that this spiritual rub between the twins would be historical.  The small amount of wrestling in the womb would escalate to involve nations at war in the future.  One child would prevail over the other because only one was destined by God to rule.

How did things turn out for the twins?  God’s prophecy prevailed.  One nation was born ~ from the child God blessed, and it ruled over the other nation for years to come.  In 2 Samuel, King David (the blessed twin’s line) conquered the Edomites (the 2^nd twin’s line) and they remained under his control for 130 years.  Nothing could transpire, whether in the womb, as toddlers, as adolescents, or as grown men, that could change what God decreed to Rebekah on that day.

God’s Word always prevails.

I learned the hard way that I am not exempt from what You have blessed and cursed.  Your Words rule over my life, but rule with power and love.  I’m so glad I stopped fighting.  Amen

When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; And through the rivers, they will not overflow you.  Isaiah 43:2

The power of this promise makes little sense if I fail to understand the sinister nature of water in scripture.  It’s hard to see the sea as something negative if I love the beach and the sound of waves lapping up on shore.  But to the ancient Jew, the sea meant something else entirely.  It was a symbol of something ominous and life-threatening. In Semitic mythology, a sea monster was synonymous with chaos and evil.  These verses provide a more complete picture.

• Isaiah said that the wicked were like a tossing sea. Isaiah 57:20
• A psalmist said that God divided the sea by His might and broke the heads of the sea monsters on the waters. Psalm 74:13-14
• David said that God’s vicious waves had swept over him like an angry ocean. Psalm 42:7
• And in John’s revelation, it’s most interesting that the Beast rises from the sea. (Revelation 13)

When God promises to accompany me through the waters, it is clear that He goes with me into the deepest chaos, evil, turbulence, and even death.  God doesn’t promise to take me around the sea, to keep me on dry land.  Just like the days we are living now; we find ourselves in deep waters.  The darkness is thick, life-threatening, and it’s comforting to be assured that we’re not alone.

Think about it.  How very fitting that Jesus walked on water!  The symbol of that is not lost on me.  He was not overcome by evil, not knocked around by the chaos of the waves, not swallowed up by the deep.  In the worst of storms, he walked on the waves.  Calmly, with no need to yell, He spoke to His disciples.  His voice penetrated the roar of the storm.

It makes me think of Ephesians 1 and I Corinthians 15.  “And He put all things under His feet.”   There is no evil He has not conquered.  There is no virus He cannot heal.  There is no chaos He can not order.  There is no life, for a saint, that will not triumph in life – and in death.  Everything, no matter how ominous, is subject to His authority.

You are Lord over all the elements, and I am never out of Your care.  Amen

Every day he (Mordecai) walked back and forth near the courtyard of the harem to find out how Esther was and what was happening to her. Esther 2:11

Esther had gone to the palace along with many other young virgins. She had been uprooted from the safety of her home and separated from the faces she knew. Can you imagine Mordecai’s anxiety? How was she being treated? Was the king an honorable man with women? Were the people who worked for him trustworthy with impressionable young girls? Such were the fears of an adoptive father who paced back and forth near the courtyard of the palace, hoping to hear any word at all on the girl he raised and loved like his own.

This picture gives us a snapshot of an invisible God. Mordecai was consumed with the welfare of the child he had raised. So is God. Mordecai gave up his life to adopt an orphan. So did God. Mordecai invested himself fully to teach Esther that which would allow her soul to prosper. So does God. Mordecai positioned himself in her vicinity, just in case she might need anything of him. So does God. He knocks at the door of my heart. The sound is soft, but discernible if I’m listening for it.

“How are you?” he asks. “I never stop thinking about you. Do you need anything?”

Often, His arrival can seem more like a disruption. “I don’t have time to talk”, I’ve been guilty of answering. But still He lingers, waits a while, and then knocks again.

By the time I hear his voice the second time, life has begun to unravel. “Things aren’t going as I’d hoped. I’m getting tired.”

He’s not surprised. How could he be! ”I’m here. I am rest for your soul and wisdom for your decisions.” Now, I’m aware of my need and stop to include Him in my day.

If only I’d stopped the first time I sensed Him knocking to spend time with Him. I’d have been prepared for my day ahead, before the circumstances unfolded. Now, I’m in crisis mode. Undone. Disquieted. Dull of hearing. However, despite my earlier disinterest, He didn’t leave me. He didn’t even scold me for waiting so long. He knows I’ll put those thoughts together. When I do, I’m humbled. Mordecai is a picture of God’s steadfastness and enduring patience.

I simply cannot say today that nobody in the world cares about me. Your care has no limits. What a Father You are! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

These all died in faith without having received the promises, but they saw them from a distance, greeted them, and confessed that they were foreigners and temporary residents on the earth.  Hebrews 11:13

Have you noticed that things here become less appealing as you’ve aged?  Have you gotten to the place where you feel like a misfit, a stranger, and an alien?  If your answer is yes, you’re in the company of those in the family of God who have refused to dig their foundation into shifting sand.

The steep walk of faith is a lonely journey.  There are fewer and fewer, even among God’s children, who stay on the narrow path. The numbers who hunger and thirst after righteousness diminish as faith walks get steeper.  Jesus loses appeal when held up against the opiates of our age.

Ah, but for everyone who perseveres, our eyes search for other pilgrims who also talk longingly of home. Everything we’re praying for hasn’t happened yet.  Everything we’re hoping for is deferred.  That’s okay.   Like Abraham, we can see it from a distance.

Ron’s father, a well-known evangelist, would say to a crowd of people before giving an invitation, “I’m as sure of heaven as though I’d already been there for 1,000 years.”  Who talks like that?  Only one who has made his home in Christ.  The Psalmist said, Hear my prayer, O LORD, and give ear unto my cry; hold not thy peace at my tears: for I am a stranger, and a sojourner, as all my fathers were. Psalm 39:12  A longing can be heard as he perpetually scans the horizon for the lights of Jerusalem.  As for Jack Wyrtzen, he saw it in 1996 as Jesus welcomed him home.

My cure for worry, Lord?  Being consumed with what awaits me. Amen

He [Jesus] said to them, “Therefore every scribe who has been trained for the kingdom of heaven is like a master of a house, who brings out of his treasure what is new and what is old.” Matthew 13:52

Every child of God is compelled to share their faith.  Some have come to Jesus with no history of Christianity whatsoever.  They have had no teaching and must get to know their new Father without the benefit of previous foundational teaching. This has its benefits.  Their heart is a clean slate upon which God can write.  

Others have come to Jesus with years of Christian history under their belt.  They have been saturated in church culture.  They know a lot of scripture and can espouse many of the doctrines.  If all of this was learned, however, under the heavy hand of legalism, it is tempting to start fresh with Jesus.  But should we?

In this short parable, Jesus made it clear that the most effective teacher uses the new and the old.  He reaches into the archives of the teaching he was given and realizes that even though the teachers were flawed, the doctrines just might have been sound.  And if sound, they are treasures.  Part of maturity is to be able to value the Truth apart from the messengers who delivered it.  God will help us discard what has been unprofitable.  

If there is more of the old I need to embrace, reveal it.  If there is more I am to discard, I am willing.  Be the sifter, Lord Jesus. Amen

‘Oh, that you would rend the heavens and come down, that the mountains might quake at your presence ‘“ As fire kindles the brushwood, as fire causes water to boil ‘“ To make your name known to your adversaries, that the nations may tremble at your presence!’  Isaiah 64:1-2 

Everything has been on the line for us. The time God’s people need to take critical action is now. If He intends to deliver us, the plan will be accomplished through prayer and fasting. However, we must also be realistic about it.  Prayer is not a magical act to deliver us from trouble. Even with prayer, we may get sick, we may lose our life and the life of a loved one.  Our death, however, does not negate the power of prayer. Prayer equips us to rest in the sovereign will of God.

It is easy to use prayer as a means of expressing our wish list for personal comfort and safety. Whenever stresses press in upon me and those I love, I go to prayer and beg for deliverance. If a trial continues, I shouldn’t erroneously conclude that prayer doesn’t work. I might be tempted to think that that God doesn’t care and this so-called perfect Father fails His children in critical times. Not true.

Prayer mobilizes God to act according to His sovereign plan for my life. Satan is always on the loose, driven to inflict death and destruction. If his war against us is ill-timed, prayer cripples the best of his strategies and renders him impotent, just as it did when the death sentence of the Jews in Susa was lifted. However, I must not be childish in my expectations. I am told that I will also share in the sufferings of Jesus. Most of the prophets and Jesus’ disciples were murdered and I need only read the first chapter of the Fox’s Book of Martyrs to clear up unrealistic expectations. If you and I perish, as Esther believed she might, and as Peter knew he would because of Jesus’ prophetic words over him, we need prayer to give us grace and peace.  But if you and I are to be delivered, we need prayer to bring about the miracle.

My prayer life is characterized by two requests. “Deliver me if that is in your plan, Lord. Or, give me grace in the fire.” 

You are not my fairy god-father. No matter what I experience at Your hand, Your plan for me and for Your people, at this time in history, was conceived in love and wisdom. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

But I will establish my covenant with you, and you shall come into the ark, you, your sons, your wife, and your sons’ wives with you.  Genesis 6:18  ESV

God is not only interested in blessing the entire family, He’s passionate about it.  His heart is engaged with the ones you love.

In our discouragement over marriages and the spiritual wellbeing of our children, we can wonder if God cares as much as we do.  The good news is, He does!  His very first covenant is with Noah and it includes his entire family.  Most every covenant God made with people involves saving someone ‘and their household.’  While that doesn’t mean that every family member will definitely choose God, you can know that God’s heart is invested.  He is wooing them even as I write this.  Our part is to speak wisely and with holy restraint, live our faith with humility, use our authority against the forces of darkness who are obscuring the beauty of Jesus, and ask the Spirit of God to open the eyes of their heart.  While God is not going to strong-arm anyone into loving Him, He cares enough to keep wooing them. 

Many people have shared with me in passing, “Pray for my dad, he’s not a believer.”  I hear their story, feel something, but several days later the conversation can be fuzzy.  Not so with God.  When someone I love is constantly on my mind, causing my heart to ache, I can know that God hurts, too.  My ache and desire are a fraction of what He feels.  He is emotionally invested in a way that surpasses humanity.

My tears are safe with You because I know Your heart aches like mine.  In Jesus’ name, Amen

We are his workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared beforehand, and we should walk in them. Ephesians 2:10

The last time I visited my childhood home was two months ago. I had the rare privilege of going home, sleeping in my childhood bedroom, and opening a cupboard to find plates, glasses, and silverware in the same places my mother kept them. That’s because my sister still lives there. 

3 Hill Hollow Road sits atop a hill and overlooks the Hoosick River and the village of Petersburgh, NY.  If you cross the one-lane dirt road in front of our house, you stand at a fence that looks down on the house below.  That’s where my best friend, Julie, lived.  You might assume that we saw each other whenever we wanted, going back and forth to visit.  That didn’t happen!  Her father was of another faith and strict about protecting his children from ‘the world.’  Our family was ‘the world.’  She was not allowed to visit me except once a year on my birthday.  

We did find a way to be together, however.  Children are creative and here’s how it went down.  Every day after school, I would go to the fence and look down to find her.  She’d be in her yard waiting for me.  I’d yell, “Get a snack, and I’ll meet you by the tree!”  Halfway down the bank to her house was the massive stump of an old tree, just big enough for two young girls to sit on.  We’d meet there every single day and chatter for an hour before dinner.  

Ah, but then came my birthday.  On that day, her father allowed her to visit.  I can still see her at the kitchen door.  She’d come in, and we’d play my 45rpm vinyl records, sing at the top of our lungs, talk, and then eat a lot of cake. It’s nearly 60 years later, but my heart feels such joy, like it was yesterday.  

Julie and I will have uninterrupted time in the kingdom.  Perhaps God will even re-create the setting for us.  I’ll go down a well-worn path, avoiding tree roots on the way.  I’ll know it by heart, from memory.  Then, our best child’s play will be re-lived. That’s because ~ in the kingdom, children of all races and colors will live without any shadows of bias.  Each life created by God will be celebrated. 

With You one day, memories will be made perfect.  Thank you.  Amen