Perfect

Any loss of ours never trumps the loss God experienced in Jesus.  Perfect life.  Perfect death.  Perfect price.  Perfect delight. Became what He was not, the perfect sinner, complete in all ugliness, and completely rejected.  This was God’s price for our redemption.

We Need a Savior

This is an election year and all is abuzz with talk of politics and who has the better plan for our country. While working to elect people who share our values is our duty as Christians and our privilege as Americans, we can never lose sight of the fact that our hope lies not with a Republican or a Democrat or even some Independent. Our hope rests in Jesus, the Righteous One!

So as you contemplate the upcoming elections, think about this:

“If God had perceived that our greatest need was economic, he would have sent an economist. If he had perceived that our greatest need was entertainment, he would have sent us a comedian or an artist. If God had perceived that our greatest need was political stability, he would have sent us a politician. If he had perceived that our greatest need was health, he would have sent us a doctor. But he perceived that our greatest need involved our sin, our alienation from him, our profound rebellion, our death; and he sent us a Savior. ”
― D.A. Carson, A Call to Spiritual Reformation: Priorities from Paul and His Prayers

This is the most important message our country needs to hear.

Rejoice, Endure, Pray

Rejoice in hope, be patient in tribulation, be constant in prayer. Romans 12:12 (ESV)

This verse falls in the middle of  Paul’s discourse on various characteristics of true Christians. It struck me as I read it that these 3 characteristics are all rooted in the sovereignty of God. In this list and especially with these three characteristics, Paul is not calling for the Christian to work harder or put more effort into it. Rather he is encouraging the Roman believers and us to trust the God of our salvation.

What hope should we rejoice in? The hope that God is making all things new. We really do have a bright future in Christ. God not only can, but will deliver on his promise of eternal life. Being patient or enduring testing means we “remain under” the testing. It’s not walking around with a pasted on grin but rather accepting that God is using every circumstance in life, both the good and the bad, for our ultimate good. Interestingly enough that ultimate good God is working through testing is rooted in the same hope we are to rejoice in…When we are like Christ because we see him face to face! He ends the verse with a call to prayer. Why pray if God can’t do what he says he can? The praying Christian is acknowledging that God is in control.

Paul’s list of Christian traits in Romans 12 is long, but these 3 are the bedrock of our Christian walk. We are to be rejoicing, enduring, and praying and we do this only with the help of God's Spirit living in us.

Unbroken

I wanted to recommend a book if you’re looking for something to read. It’s Unbroken: A World War II Story of Survival, Resilience, and Redemption by Laura Hillenbrand. Hillenbrand also wrote Seabiscuit, which many of you may be familiar with.

The book is a well written narrative of the life of Louis Zamperini. It traces his story from a troubled youth who discovers a love of running and becomes an Olympic athlete. He is drafted and ends up in the Pacific in the Army Air Corps. He is a hard living soldier whose plane crashes in the Pacific. He survives months of floating in a rubber raft across the ocean and is eventually captured by the Japanese. He spends years in Japanese prison camps. He survives the war and returns home. He is eventually saved at Billy Graham’s Los Angeles Crusade.

It was a very good read. The descriptions of life as a Japanese prisoner were horrifying. We often hear about German atrocities but little is mentioned about how cruel and inhumane the Japanese were. After the war Zamperini is battling demons from the war and turns to alcoholism. The story of his conversion is an incredible tale of God finding the sinner and saving him. I also enjoyed his experiences as a member of the US Olympic Team at the 1936 Berlin Olympics.

Here are some observations about the book. The main focus of the story is the triumph of a man by will power. No real mention of God’s preservation of this life through several life threatening situations. Also the story of his conversion is a small part of the book. This is the turning point of his life but it is related as just another event in an eventful life.  I will also warn you again that sometimes the descriptions of his life as a Japanese POW are sometimes graphic and horrific.

I recommend reading Unbroken, it is a story of a man who goes from the pinnacle of human achievement to the depths of human depravity who comes to the end of himself and meets Jesus!

Threat or Promise

The Most High is sovereign over the kingdoms of men

And gives them to whomever He wishes

And sets over them the lowliest of men.

I will bless the Most High

And praise and honor Him who lives forever.

His dominion is an eternal dominion,

And His kingdom endures from generation to generation.

He regards all the inhabitants of the earth as nothing,

And does as He pleases with the host of heaven

And the inhabitants of the earth.

No one can hold back His hand

Or say to Him: “What have you done?”

I praise, exalt, and honor the King of heaven,

For all His works are true, and all His ways are just,

And He is able to humble those who walk in pride.

Daniel 4:17, 34-35, 37

This passage has been a journey for me.   I struggle with self-righteousness, sometimes more than others.  When I would read these verses in Hanbook to Prayer, Praying Scripture Back to God, fear would clutch at my heart because, while I hated my pride, I was afraid of being humbled.  I was remorseful.  I hated myself. I did not deny my self-righteousness but I couldn’t do anything about it.  It hung like a death sentence around my neck. Some people struggle with lust but my constant companion was self-righteousness.  My scarlet letter was SR instead of A.  Then one day, the Holy Spirit helped me to see this passage as a promise and as a reason to hope.  The Holy Spirit showed me that this was not a threat but good news!!  God can make the proud humble and James says He draws near to the humble!  What hope in the middle of my worst nightmare.  He has the power to make me what He needs me to be so He can draw near to me.  Precious saving, sanctifying God.