EVERYWHERE

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. Romans 8:27 NIV

What’s your favorite Scripture passage?  How often have I been asked that?  I really couldn’t tell you.  I’ve answered the question differently numerous times.  It mostly has to do with where I am in life.  I think for the part of life’s journey I’m on now I’d list Psalm 139.  I love what I believe I learn about God from this passage. 

As a man, I am often confronted with my limitations.  I find that I can only do so much in any given situation.  I can only jump so high, run so fast, hit so hard – I have limits.  If ever it was my goal to hide those limits from others, I gave up on it a long time ago.  Yet, I still find myself groaning over the admission.  I don’t like be limited.  I don’t like knowing that after I’ve given my all, the task requires another mile of journeying I am incapable of completing.  I like the idea that I am able to get the job done.  I know full well that that is unbiblical.  But I’m a man; and it isn’t simply about being stubbornly in control.  It’s also about the responsibilities I see placed before me.  I’ve been called to be provider, protector and teacher for three young souls.  I’m called to be the husband (with all that entails) to my wife.  I have responsibilities.  And I often feel far from “up to the task”. 

That brings me back to my current favorite passage of Scripture.  I believe that with the devotional value of reading through God’s word; and along with the beauty and peace found from reading the psalms as liturgy; God is also glimpsing deep theological truths in these passages as well.  That along with all the joy of unbridled worship found in the song aspect of the psalms there is weighty teaching coupled with it.  This is akin to the idea of worshiping in Spirit and Truth.  If you would, please take a moment and peruse this beautiful set of verses, particularly the first twelve:

¹ You have searched me, Lord,
    and you know me.
² You know when I sit and when I rise;
    you perceive my thoughts from afar.
³ You discern my going out and my lying down;
    you are familiar with all my ways.
⁴ Before a word is on my tongue
    you, Lord, know it completely.
⁵ You hem me in behind and before,
    and you lay your hand upon me.
⁶ Such knowledge is too wonderful for me,
    too lofty for me to attain.

⁷ Where can I go from your Spirit?
    Where can I flee from your presence?
⁸ If I go up to the heavens, you are there;
    if I make my bed in the depths, you are there.
⁹ If I rise on the wings of the dawn,
    if I settle on the far side of the sea,
¹⁰ even there your hand will guide me,
    your right hand will hold me fast.
¹¹ If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me
    and the light become night around me,”
¹² even the darkness will not be dark to you;
    the night will shine like the day,
    for darkness is as light to you.

I don’t know where to even begin.  The fact that I feel so finite and that my God ISN’T is one of the most comforting truths I know.  The concept of omnipresence is not lost on me.  Its benefits seem endless.  I believe the believer gets an intimate look into this aspect of our God in this passage.  Starting with the last verses first – verses seven through twelve, the reader sees that there is literally nowhere a person can go that God’s presence is excluded.  I can think of numerous times in my day that being able to be in more than one place at once would be beneficial.  But more importantly, I could list endlessly the ways it is crucial that my God be with ME throughout my entire day!  I know you need him too, so I’m glad that he is available for us all simultaneously.  I’m just going to be honest, if it came down to me and anyone else competing for God’s time, I’d choose me!  It’s a great joy to know that we don’t have to wonder if God has time for us individually since he has made himself available to all of us always. 

This is where we say Selah or something. 

The description of God’s presence doesn’t stop with where he is, but also what he is able to observe.  Even if I could be more than one place at once, I can’t see in the dark!  But God is described as one to whom the “darkness is as light”.  One of the reasons this is so important is because so much of the “bad” in this life happens, or is attempted, when people think no one can see them.  The cover of night is often used to perpetrate wrongdoing because of the conceived elusion the darkness provides.  I remember a terrible TV movie from the 80’s called I-man.  No, it had nothing to do with Steve Jobs.  It starred Scott Bakula; and it was about a guy who got exposed to some gas that made him invincible, hence the “I” of I-man.  He healed like Wolverine and had super strength like the Hulk.  But he had one flaw, he was allergic to the dark – the movie described it as the absence of light. He would die if he was in the dark for too long.  It is the most literal personification of our human instinct to fear dark that I can think of right now.  I can think of times I thought I might die if I had to stay in the dark for an extended period.  If you have a chance to look the film up sometime – DON’T!  But while I do have mine own healthy fear of the dark due to my inability to see or function in it, I don’t have to fear it irrationally.  There is no such thing as darkness to our God.  How awesome is that?!

And still God’s omnipresence has another layer.  He is not only present everywhere in our world, but in our hearts and souls as well.  One could describe omniscience as a sort of omnipresence.  He knows every thought in my head because he is ever present in my soul.  Such knowledge is truly too wonderful for me and too lofty for me to attain.  Every careless word that escapes my lips was said with his full awareness.  Even when I don’t voice that careless thought God knew it was in my heart.  Perhaps self-control and discretion would be better described as God’s gracious restraining of the thoughts that enter our heads that should never be given utterance. 

In a time where I’m constantly reminded that what is needed of me is well beyond what I’m able to provide, this passage is sometimes the only way I don’t despair.  God is constantly reminding me that it isn’t for me to be enough for the people and situations I’m called into.  It’s for me to see that really the only provision for these scenarios is God himself.  I’m just the hardware he chooses to use in accomplishing a part of the tasks.  It’s for me to glorify him before those I serve.  To praise him for his blessings in the midst of my inadequacies is my highest calling, to always be “at the ready”.

Father, I praise you for being everywhere!  You are fullness and I am empty without you.  Teach me to depend on your presence to provide for the responsibilities and callings in my life.  Nurture me as I strain to fulfill my role – often to my own detriment due to my lack of understanding – so that I will trust you to provide.  Comfort me in the darkness of this life, both the places I am led against my will and the places I willingly go when I know I shouldn’t.  I accept your correction and rebuke.  Thank you for being available to me at all times while being just as present for the world I’m called to witness your glory to.  It’s in your son’s holy and precious name I pray, Amen.

by stacy hildebrand

author's edit: Turns out Scott Bakula's character didn't have super strength, just the healing power.  Want to be accurate.  :)

Ultimate Stain Remover

Author: Vince Gilbert

 

The other day, I was ironing one of my favorite shirts when I found a stain just below the pocket.  It was more of a faint circle similar to a water-mark, hardly noticeable – maybe not even noticeable to others at all.  Still, it bothered me.  I couldn’t figure out what the stain was or how it got there.  I pondered the situation.  Since it was cool, I would be wearing a jacket, but I just couldn’t bring myself to wear it.  It was stained, and I knew it was stained, even if it was not noticeable to others.

I would not feel good until the stain was gone!  I immediately went into the laundry room to see what type of stain removers we had.  I found one bottle, sprayed it on the stain, started the washing machine, tossed the shirt in, and closed the lid.  When I returned home from work, I checked the shirt, and sadly discovered the stain was still there.  What to do?  It was my favorite shirt after all.  I went into town and spent a fair amount of money on stain removers – probably enough to buy a new shirt – and none of them worked.  The shirt was getting worn out just washing it so much, and I was disappointed!

As a last resort, I went to the Internet and found a possible solution.  I sprayed the stain with WD40 and poured laundry detergent directly onto the stain, rubbed it in a little, and threw it into the washer.  When the washer was finished, I pulled the shirt out, and THE STAIN WAS GONE!  I couldn’t believe it!  To get a stain out of a shirt, spray it with oil?  That was ridiculous!  However, it did work, so the stain must have been of an oily nature.  I wore that shirt the very next day!  It would have been nice to know how to get the stain out before trying so many things.  Just goes to prove that we can’t always do things on our own.

That shirt is similar to our souls.  We get stained with sin, often not even remembering what made that particular stain.  Others may not know the stain is there, but we know, and it bothers us.  We may invest years trying to remove the stain from ourselves on our own to no avail.  We may try to cover the stains up, so no one knows they are there.  We may rely on our friends without accomplishing anything.

Then, one day, after we have suffered too long and tried everything we can think of without removing the stain or feeling better, we go to the ONE, sure-fire stain remover – Jesus Christ.  He, alone, can remove our stains when we repent and ask for forgiveness.  There is no need to try any other method to remove our stains from within, because they will not work!  Going to Jesus Christ FIRST will save a lot of frustration, pain, and suffering.  For Jesus Christ is the Ultimate Stain Remover.  He died for our sins, so that we may be free of stains.

The Ultimate Stain Remover is there for the taking – all we have to do is ask.

I John 1:9 If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and cleanse us from all unrighteousness.

What a 14th Century Hun Can Teach Us About God

By Keith Haynes

 

I usually don't watch foreign films. It's not that I have anything against them, but typically I find that reading every word in a two hour film a bit distracting. It's a little too much for my borderline ADD tendencies, but last week (over the course of three nights) I watched a Russian film called The Horde. I had no idea what it was about. It was really one of those throw-a-dart-and-see-where-it-lands Netflix moments. Turns out I really enjoyed the film and gained a few insights along the way.

The Horde is a historical fiction set in the middle 1300's along the Russian/Mongolian border. The Mongolian khan, Janibeg, summons the Russian Saint Alexius to come to his mother's aide to cure her blindness. As Saint Alexius is known to perform miracles, he is the khan's last resort after his numerous shamans and their magical spells do not work.

Saint Alexius is reluctant to go, but the threat of a Mongolian raid on Moscow influences his decision to make the journey. 

After his arrival, Saint Alexius begins his task of trying to restore the sight of Taidula. He does everything he can think of, prayer, burning incense, rubbing mud on her eyes, etc., but to no avail. Taidula's sight is not restored.

This is bad.

Literally, Saint Alexius' life is in the hands of the khan now. The saint is not killed, but stripped of all his clothes and sent away. The khan wanted him to suffer greatly before he died for his inability to convince his god to cure Taidula.

Saint Alexius leaves the city, but decides to go back where he is sent to be a slave in the manure pits of the bath house. A literal hell on earth. Deep down, the saint felt obliged to endure the suffering as he believes he is a failure. 

At this point in the movie the khan and the khan's right hand man, Timehr, have a profound conversation:

khan: Is the old Alexei suffering badly enough?

Timehr: I think so.

khan: Why didn't he leave for Moscow then? He hasn't suffered enough. Or else he would have left.

Timehr: Maybe he returned here...to suffer the way his God suffered?

kahn: What sense does that make?

Timehr: I don't talk about sense - I talk about God.

khan: It's all the same.

Timehr: No, sense and God are different things.

khan: So, if I burn down Moscow, I'll be helping him? Does that make sense?

Timehr: I don't think so.

khan: Then what is it?

Timehr: I don't know. Maybe he doesn't know either, but he's trying to find out.

Wow. Sense and God are different things. You know, in a lot of ways, I think he is right. Of course, in the way that we as human beings see our circumstances.

God is beyond our understanding.

        How great is God - beyond our understanding! - Job 36:26

We cannot know the beginning from the end, as God does. 
We do not live out of the constraints of time, as God does. 

        ...I am God, and there is no other; I am God, and there is none like me. I make known the end           from the beginning, from ancient times, what is still to come... - Isaiah 46: 9-10

Our ways are not his ways.

        For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways, declares the Lord. As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts. - Isaiah 55:8-9

But all this doesn't mean that we cannot know God. 

That is why we have the Bible. 

That is why Jesus came. 

To teach us about God, how he loves us, and how we can have a relationship, through Jesus, with the One, the Creator, the Alpha and Omega.

Even if we don't understand all there is to know. Even if it doesn't make a lot of sense. 

That is what faith is. 

Believing what God says to be true without understanding or proof. That is what a Christian is called to do. 

Believe first. Then comes understanding.

Make sense?

Back to the story...

Well, to wrap this up, Saint Alexius ends up catching on fire and taken outside and left to die. Here he pours out his heart to God:

Saint Alexuis: O, Lord, where are You? I can't see you. Can't see anything. Fish are in the grass...The grass is moving...it's hot...The city is on fire...No one will be saved. It's all my fault, Lord! 

You don't hear me. Fish...Fish are singing...I'm afraid!

Where are you? Heed me...Have mercy and lay his sins on me, the sins of Fyodor, the apostate. Take my life, but spare his. You are the only one without sin! Take mercy on him and on all of us.

God Almighty! Take my life, but spare his! Do not abandon your servants, Father...

At this point he collapses. 

Not to spoil the ending, but Taidula is healed by the next morning, and Alexius is sent back to Moscow. 

On his way out of town, one of the Hun escorts says,

...Everything worked out just like I thought...

Alexuis: I didn't do anything.

Escort: You worked a miracle and deny it?

Alexius: I did nothing. Nothing.

The saint got it. He knew that he did nothing in his own power. All miracles and power come from God. 

But why all the pain, suffering, and fear of failure? Maybe it was to bring his witness of enduring faith to the Huns. Who knows?

God knows.

One thing we can know is that God has a plan for us. 

        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. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. - Jeremiah 29: 11-13

But along the way, there will most certainly be periods in our life where we will endure suffering and persecution:

        If the world hates you, keep in mind that it hated me first. - John 15:18

Not exactly a soothing remark by Jesus, but we must remember that we are conquerors, and in the end, as long as we love God, all things work together for good. 

        And we know that is all things God works for the good of those who love Him, who have been called according to His purpose. - Romans 8:28

        ...in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. For I am convinced that  neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither present nor the future, nor any powers, neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord. - Romans 8:37-39

It won't always be easy to live your life as a follower of Jesus. A lot of times the circumstances we are in may not make much sense to us, but in those times I rely on this magnificent promise from Deuteronomy 31:6,

        Be strong and courageous. Do not be afraid or terrified because of them, for the Lord your God goes with you; he will never leave you or forsake you.

Life Unlimited

By Craig Vire

 

Suppose you find a magic lamp. You rub its side and a genie pops out. In gratitude for being set free, he gives you three wishes.

What would you ask of him?

Some might wish for money and wealth. But then, many peoplehave more than they need and still aren’t happy.

Some might wish for three more wishes. That’s an attempt to ask for everything you desire. But what we desire is not necessarily good for us.

I suspect many would ask for extended life. The moments we spend here seem all too brief. We long for more time to sharewith people we love.

Time is a problem for humans.

That’s mostly because there never seems to be enough of it. Ourlives are bounded by a point of beginning and a point of ending.We live at a hectic pace, cramming as much living as possible into the limited number of days between.

Our temporary lifespan is one of humanity’s greater tragedies.The writer of Ecclesiastes says God “…has set eternity in the hearts of men.” Something within us longs for life to continue indefinitely. When it ends, we feel cheated.

Time is an elusive thing.

With the passing of a moment, the present slips into the past. Welook back, longing for what has been but can never be again. In the process, we forfeit present joys.

The tide of time rushes forward, sweeping all of us towards anappointment with an unpredictable future. Fear of the unknowntoo often taints our present reality.

Our Creator is not bound by time.

He is without beginning or ending. God’s fullness is present in all the past and future so that he identifies himself as, “I Am.”He has no need to speak of “I Was,” or “I Will Be.”

That’s why God can take past difficulties that we are helpless to change and create something unexpectedly new and wonderfulin the present. God also speaks of the future as though it has already taken place. All time is present for him because he, as the Eternal One, is present in every moment.

Here’s the wonder of all of this.

God longs to share his eternity with us. John 3:16 says, “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.

Through Jesus Christ, God entered our time-bound world. The Son came to give his life for the wrongs we committed against the Father. He endured the punishment of our sin, so we could know his pardon. God invites us to trust his Son’s work on our behalf, so that we can share his everlasting life.

What will believers do throughout eternity?

We ask this question because we are bound by time. We can’tfathom how to spend forever because we’ve never known life in that quantity. God longs for us to join him in an eternal relationship where the past and future are no longer concerns.

Imagine you are out to dinner with friends. The food istantalizing. Your beverage is refreshing. Conversation sharedaround the table leaves you wishing the night would never end.You’re immersed in fellowship and oblivious to the passage of time. Hours later you glance at your watch and ask, “Where did the time go?”

And that’s a good thing.

In his book, A Million Miles in a Thousand Years, Donald Miller writes, “I wonder if that’s what we will do with God when we are through with all this, if he’ll show us around heaven, all the light coming in through windows a thousand miles away, all the fields sweeping down to a couple of chairs under a tree, in a field outside the city. And we’ll sit down and tell him our stories and he’ll smile and tell us what they mean (page 8).”

The wonder of time is that God wants us to share his eternity. Being with him will be all we could ask or desire. We’ll be captivated by his presence in a place where fellowship never ends. Time will cease to be. We’ll be liberated from its tyranny at last. In its absence, only unlimited life will remain.

I’m longing for that day.

 

Jesus is a Better Fisherman than Me (and You)

By Jordan Sauceda

"Jesus then took the loaves, gave thanks, and distributed to those who were seated as much as they wanted. He did the same with the fish." - John 6:11

When Jesus started to multiply the fish for the crowd to eat, I imagine the disciples were truly stunned, but soon after the shock wore off they probably thought of their LIVES as DIMINISHED. 

Most of the disciples were fishermen. 

Trained to catch fish. 

Dedicated to catch fish. 

Lived to catch fish. 

Without fish, and their current fishing industry, they would have to learn a new trade and begin a new life and essentially start over.

They sought after fish.

They fought day after day for fish.

They knew the difficult realities of being in the fishing industry, and would laugh at ignorant, unknowing peoples who would hint that their job was easy.

It was their livelihood.

They did it in order to survive.

It was their LIVES.

…then Jesus started pulling them out of a basket. 

Like a lot.

Like enough to feed 1000s.

It was seemingly effortless.

All of our greatest accomplishments are simply rubbish compared to the unlimited power and potent move of God. In the shadows of the crowd dining on fish, the disciples probably couldn't help but think about their decision of leaving their old lives of fishing nets. Following Jesus began to be bigger than they could have imagined. They were blessed by leaving their old dreams and goals of fish in the past. They were encouraged to know that by trusting Jesus and making Jesus greater in their lives that they were about to experience an abundant life.

I suppose if any Barley Loaf bakers were in the crowd that day their LIVES would have felt DIMINISHED as well. And thats ok. Jesus being better (slight understatement) at things was good for the disciples to realize. The disciples learned that they needed less of themselves and more of Jesus in their lives.

Jesus is Lord.

He is above all things.

I must become lesser, He must become greater.

I must decrease, He must increase.

I need more of Jesus.