Lent Day 22: Everlasting and unchanging

Today everyone we met was smiling. The sun's out in Seattle and temperatures reached a high of 55oF. In March, that's considered a gift from heaven.

It's easy to believe in a good God when the sunshine is warming your shoulders. It may be more difficult to sense His love when circumstances feel out of control:

• When the baby's sick and you don't know what's wrong.
• When your teenager is out late without letting you know where s/he's gone.
• When those newlyweds seem to be clawing more than cooing and their marriage looks shaky. 
• When the bills pile up and there seem to be too few resources.
• When the boss hands you a pink slip.
• When you (or your parents) feel the effects of age and infirmity.
• When all your plans fall apart and there's no Plan B for the future.

The lovely reassurance of scripture is that God never changes. Since the beginning of time, He has overseen the universe and its motion, the peoples He made and their relationships.

He knows it all. Controls it all. Is able to direct everything - beauty and chaos - without planets colliding or whirling off course into black holes of nothingness.

We are securely guided and guarded as long as we do His will. When we get off track, we may feel the consequences. Yet, returning to God with our whole hearts, we're promised His resources to direct our paths and give us wisdom.

• Do you need the unfailing love and everlasting arms of God, your heavenly Father? He is strong enough to hold you. Kind enough to comfort you.
• Do you desperately need clarity for a murky situation? God sees a way through the darkness. Nothing is hidden from him.

• Do you need salvation from your brokenness? God provided One who became the sacrifice for our sins, the One who walked steadily toward the cross we will celebrate at Easter.
• Do you need power beyond your wildest imagination to solve a crisis? God created the world from nothing. He parted the Red Sea to provide escape for an entire nation. He broke a few loaves and divided a few fish to feed 5000 people. He promised us the resurrection power that brought Christ back to life.

With joy we celebrate the Lenten season and remember that God-Who-is-with-us is almightly.

Read more:
*The Lord is righteous, He loves righteousness. Psalm 11:7 (NASB)

*I will walk in freedom, for I have devoted myself to your commandments. Psalm 119:45 NLT

*God himself is righteous and he justifies the one who has faith in Jesus. Romans 3:26 NLT

*And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus. Philippians 4:19 NKJV

Moravian Prayer: Help us to be so infused with your spirit, living Christ, that we will not just proclaim empty words but live as your followers. Challenge us by your example to act in ways that are kind, holy, loving, and just. Amen.

Where love looks

It's becoming pretty clear from my Monvee evaluations that ideas, creativity, and life-in-motion are some of my core values. So how does an "idea-person, activator, or strategic thinker" (Strengthfinder 2.0) show love for others? My focus naturally falls to tasks and speech, to helping people move from where they are into exploration of their potential and use of their gifts. I'm thinking about where my love looks, where it rests its gaze, and what it envisions for the ones I love.

I love this from Real Simple's Daily Thought:

Certainly there are times and places for "gazing at each other" or taking a second and third look.

• When being introduced, we may look closely several times, evaluating if this person is someone who will become a friend or coworker.
• At the beginning of a romance, you want to see the other person and have them look back at you. 
• At special occasions, we may focus on the memories etched in a loved one's face.

The true love that God goes further. It examines the trajectory of a life, falls alongside to boost and support, and walks at the beloved's side. Through thick and thin. Through joys and sorrows. Through failure and success.

Guests swimming at a luxury hotel in Jakarta while
the rest of the city endures flooding (BBC)

Love doesn't isolate itself from reality. It doesn't ignore the needs around us (see photo right).

Let's find the direction of God's love and people's needs. I can probably come up with some ideas to make that kind of true love come alive today. How about you?

Read more:

*May he give us the desire to do his will in everything and to obey all the commands, decrees, and regulations that he gave our ancestors. 1 Kings 8:58 NLT

*Your way, O God, is holy. Psalm 77:13

*O the depth of the riches and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how inscrutable his ways! Romans 11:33

Moravian Prayer: Holy Lord and God, you are the way the truth and the life. Fill us with your Holy Spirit; teach us your wisdom, knowledge, and understanding. Move self out of the way and direct our paths. In Jesus’ name. Amen.

Recognizing undeserved gifts

Sometimes we act as though all the good gifts of God were earned. Deserved. Coming our way because we did something to achieve them.

I read about a pastor on a mission trip. He saw a starving Indian man pushing a wheelbarrow. As the wheelbarrow passed him, he saw inside it another man, almost dead, pleading with his eyes for food and care. The pastor almost fainted from "transferred hunger" but did not help. He wrote that the gift of compassion he felt was his greatest gift from his India trip.

I've been thinking about that story for a few days. My first question, because the pastor had food, was, "Why didn't the pastor help? Why not share, giving the little he had to those who had none?" Was he overwhelmed by needs everywhere so he did not see the point? Is learning compassion enough? Was sharing his resources thwarted by caste (could the men accept his food)? Did religion prevent the sharing of one person's bounty with another's dearth?

I began considering were the underserved favors that come our way by God's hand. Why was the pastor (and I) well-fed, while the two men lived at death's door? Why was one educated and working in a rich land while the others subsisted in poverty? I have no answers.

My list of undeserved benefits is long. For example:

• We attend a church where freedom of worship is encouraged and the pastor examines scripture with us
• We recently spent a relaxing weekend with friends, boating the islands, talking about God and his ways
• Our children serve the Lord
• I find ministry in unexpected places, that fits the gifts God's given
• Networking is a joy and God often surprises me with connections that I or others need
• We have so much food that we could throw out some if we wanted
• Our house is warm, my office nice, and we have useful work
• We enjoy "bonuses" like finding the exact futon model for our guest room - free on www.FreeCycle.org

There are too many other abundances to count.

So, how do we gratefully accept the undeserved gifts?

1. Recognize that life itself is a gift. Not a day can be added or taken away by sickness, health, or other circumstances. God knows how long we'll live.
2. God has put us where we are. If we live in the West, we live among abundance, regardless of our bank balance. Wherever we reside, we may be surrounded by a big family or a loving community. We may have work that uses our gifts and talents. None of these can be taken for granted.
3. God has given us everything we have, whether or not we've "worked for it." The psalmist says the cattle on 1000 hills are his. Many others work harder, longer, and have crushing stressors beyond what I could bear ... yet I may have more than they do.
4. God alone protects us, the ones we love, and our stuff. When God removes his covering shelter, lives and wealth are swept away in an instant. All the burglar alarms and police in the world cannot protect us if God does not.
5. God gives abundance that may not be obvious at first glance. We may not have a lot of money, but do we have friends? I may have lost your job, but do I still eat? I have wish for things you can't afford, but do are my true needs met? 

Let's be grateful. On this weekend when we've celebrated the freedoms won and preserved by our countries' soldiers, we acknowledge that the world is both dangerous AND wonderful. Freedom of spirit and body cannot be taken for granted. It is hard-won, whether by spiritual giants or military engagement.

And no good thing in life is deserved or can be taken for granted. It is the gift of God, whose everything is and to whom everything belongs.

Read more:
*Your laws are perfect and completely trustworthy. … Your promises have been thoroughly tested; that is why I love them so much. … As pressure and stress bear down on me, I find joy in your commands." Psalm 119:138, 140, 143 NLT

*Mortals look on the outward appearance, but the Lord looks on the heart. 1 Samuel 16:7

*As he who called you is holy, be holy yourselves in all your conduct. 1 Peter 1:15
*Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in everything, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your
requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable—if anything is excellent or praiseworthy—think about such things. Whatever you have learned or received or heard from me, or seen in me—put it into practice. And the God of peace will be with you. Philippians 4:4-9 NIV

Moravian Prayer: Lord, you find that little spark inside of us that grows into a burning flame for you. We want to work for you, the one who knows us inside and out. We know you have given us everything we need to complete the tasks you call us to. Amen.

Lent Day 38: Thankful for love

Love is a driver. The old song says we do things like "walking in the rain and the snow when there's nowhere to go..."

When young men court women, they charm their girlfriends with homemade baking or meals, go shopping, sit for long hours chatting, and restrict their time for online games. I warned my prospective daughters-in-law that such attention would change after marriage. (I like them too much to want them to be surprised by the cycle of courtship.) Love continues to grow but the undivided male focus surely swerves back to a new normal.

Jesus' love got stronger and more demonstrative as he approached the end of his life and the redemption of his Bride. He sat down with friends to talk (Bethany), took time to explain miracles (the fig tree), and finally––in his most awful and wonderful expression of love––he died for us.

Please listen to my favorite song about the amazing scandal of God's mysterious Love. Love, all loves excelling, remains a model for us in marriage, family, and other relationships. (Click here.)

Read more:

*In your great mercies you did not make an end of your people or forsake them. Nehemiah 9:31

*As the Father has loved me, so have I loved you. Now remain in my love. If you obey my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have obeyed my Father’s commands and remain in his love. I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete.My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. Greater love has no one than this, that he lay down his life for his friends. You are my friends if you do what I command." John 15:9-14 NIV

*The Lord Jesus on the night when he was betrayed took a loaf of bread, and when he had given thanks, he broke it and said, "This is my body that is for you. Do this in remembrance of me." In the same way he took the cup also, after supper, saying, "This cup is the new covenant in my blood. Do this, as often as you drink it, in remembrance of me." 1 Corinthians 11:23-25

*When Jesus saw his mother standing there beside the disciple he loved, he said to her, "Dear woman, here is your son." And he said to this disciple, "Here is your mother." And from then on this disciple took her into his home. Jesus knew that his mission was now finished. John 19:26–28

Moravian Prayer: Father, forgive us for our sins of ignorance and restore our hope as we remember the suffering, death and resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ. In his name we pray. Amen.

Luv, luv, luv. Luv is all you need

The Beatles expressed the core need of humans for love. They defined a very different and unsatisfying kind of love than what the Bible says we long for. Imagine...

• being loved by someone who knows you, inside and out. And still loves you completely.
• sharing a deep faith that lets you pray and trust together.
• being able to rely on someone in every circumstance and during any temptation.
• knowing your lover consistently loves you, whether you are together or apart.
• loving someone enough to commit to them in sickness or health, in wealth or poverty, from youth to old age, without reservation.
• being able to express love without ever hurting the other person.
• showing love in the way the person needs to experience love, and having them perfectly demonstrate their love the way you prefer.
• showing love by being a good person, moral in values and high standards beyond sexual purity.
• trying to make each other proud by doing your best, no matter how hard the effort.

God's love is just like that. However, the pop band wasn't talking about that kind of commitment. They promoted the "free love" of the 60s and 70s. You could drift from affair to affair without hurting anyone, including yourself, they said.

Once in a while, I read "The Vibrant Woman," a secular blog for women 50 and older. Women write about planning their divorces, secreting away funds, and preparing to leave their partner while keeping the good life. They crow about clandestine trysts with high-school or college sweethearts––how to have "fun" while keeping the truth from their spouses or partners. Women also talk about fading looks, fears of being abandoned as they age, and having dozens of partners without every finding their "Prince Charming." They've lived in commitment-free "love" and tout it as their right.

Their words croak of unhappiness, rather than sing of fulfillment. Many speak of how they've been bruised, beaten by life. Most no longer recognize or admit the satisfaction of being true to one person for a lifetime.

I've certainly not been an ideal wife. Newly married, both of us demonstrated a lack of maturity and care for each other. But it got better as the years went by. We learned a lot.

After I'd had our fourth and last baby, I went for a physical. The doc asked if I was monogamous. I was very surprised by the question.

"Yes, but why do you ask?" I countered.

"I can tell in your body. Good for you. Many partners affect the physical body. I don't see any of the disease and sickness that women pick up, sleeping around. You wouldn't believe how obvious that is, when we do physical exams. And women who have been molested and mistreated flinch and exhibit fear when we have to touch them."

Hmmm. You learn something every visit, I guess. I'd never thought of monogamy as a protection for me physically. Yes, my husband and I committed to be faithful to each other during a time when surrounding culture said that was uncool, that it was silly to save yourself for marriage. (Mind you, our church culture forbade sex before exchanging wedding rings. And our parents would have killed us, figuratively speaking.)

Over 34 years ago, we agreed that trust and love should be ongoing actions, not just feelings. It's been hard slogging at times, but the pay-off is worth it. Prince Charming lives at our house, and he's taking good care of our daughter as she recovers from surgery and I write school papers. Lucky me. (Oh wait, doesn't luck mean no work?)

Who shows you this kind of love, and whom do you love with all your heart?

Read more:

*Psalm 11; Genesis 19:1-29; Matthew 7:1-12

*Yours is the kingdom, O Lord, and you are exalted as head above all. 1 Chronicles 29:11

*Dear friends, let us love one another, for love comes from God. Everyone who loves has been born of God and knows God. Whoever does not love does not know God, because God is love.

This is how God showed his love among us: He sent his one and only Son into the world that we might live through him.This is love: not that we loved God, but that he loved us and sent his Son as an atoning sacrifice for our sins. Dear friends, since God so loved us, we also ought to love one another. 1 John 4:7-11 

*Speaking the truth in love, we must grow up in every way into him who is the head, into Christ. Ephesians 4:15

Moravian Prayer: Lord, you are high and lifted up. Your glory fills our lives. We pray the experiences of this day will deepen our faith in you. Help us to keep our lives centered on you. Amen.