A new point of view

"Now to Him who is able to do far more abundantly beyond all that we ask or imagine, according to the power that works within us, 21 to Him be the glory in the church and in Christ Jesus to all generations forever and ever. Amen." Ephesians 3.20,21

This is a capstone of worship and benediction to Paul's prayer for the Ephesian Church in his letter to the same. The prayer, and this benediction, are perhaps my favorite text in the Newer Testament.

I've come to another perspective over the last few months about this promise in vv.20,21.  The optimist in me always sees the glass half-full.  These words "...abundantly, beyond all that we ask or imagine..." always brought great joy to my heart as I contemplated--then experienced--God's blessing on His people,  His provision on a "just in time" basis--rarely early but never late.

But recently I've connected the dots in a different way; "...abundantly, beyond all that we ask or imagine..." can sometimes come to us through the portal of pain, suffering and loss.  It isn't that I don't understand that God uses suffering in our lives.  It isn't that I've never personally experienced that process.  I'm 62 years old--who hasn't suffered in 62 years? God has always been a ROCK and walked though all the squasma with me.  I simply have never connected THIS verse to THAT process.  

Reflect on this with me for a moment--applying the text, "...abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine," to the crucible called suffering.  This promise is a deep well of hope for those between a rock and a hard place.  God wastes nothing that comes into our lives.  I believe that most of what we suffer is simply the result of the ebb and flow of life impacted by a world wrecked by sin.  Imagine (though the text says it's beyond our ability to imagine) God meeting us "abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine" in those hardest of hard "life-loss" moments--NOT removing the suffering or restoring the loss, but using it to transform us.

This--the hardest of hard-- is where I've lived since February 19, 2015 when we learned our 13 year-old  grandson, Braden, had a very serious cancer.  God has met me in this barren place...abundantly, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.  

Braden is not cancer-free, and we have no guarantee, though his prognosis is good.  The way to his current status has been difficult, he has suffered and lost too much.  Yet, through it all, God has inhabited my fear, my anger and my tears.  He has changed me, made me more dependent, forged a more profound faith in me; He has changed Braden.  He has changed our family...abundantly, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

I have witnessed abundance through Braden's parents--their resolve and leadership; through Braden's transformed adolescent attitude;  through younger brother Kellen pitching in, doing all he can to bring comfort and ease the load.  I have witnessed abundance through answered prayer.  I have witnessed abundance through the hundreds of people who are investing there time, energy, love and faith in us--generously, constantly.  I have witnessed His abundance in my "dark night of the soul" moments...abundantly, beyond anything we could ask or imagine.

I know this: God is. God is acting. God is acting for us. God is acting for us abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine--in celebration and through suffering.

Loss isn't abandonment. It isn't the death of hope. It's an "intersection" where one can step back and see life not just for what it isn't, but for what it is; it's at that place, in that moment, we see the goodness of God...abundantly, beyond anything we can ask or imagine.

Sometimes, joy comes in the MOURNING.


bN tGit

The Hard truth, and hope.

Many people of faith (I've taken my shots) are piling on this Administration, decrying its polices, arrogance and penchant for demagoguery.

But, let's face the the hard truth: Government shares only part of the responsibilty for the troubled state of our Nation. The failure of the Church to be the Church has accelerated our decline. The light from "The City set on a hill" cannot penetrate the darkness because The City too often has become an anemic, self-indulgent, impotent place--flirting with priorities, forms and dogma that have no genesis in God's Word.

The Church has embraced popular culture and been absorbed by a pursuit of a reworked (secularized), dumbed-down (sequestered) version of the "abundant" life; by a quest for "relevance" in the name of Christ. She has a vital role in culture: to be the watcher on the wall, the harbinger of Good News, a conduit for God's love given without regard for conditions or behavioral change. Instead, she slumbers, points her finger at others and cries "foul." The Church need not quest for relevance; when she behaves as The Church, she is relevant. Instead...

Apathy, division and moral compromise have ravaged the fruit of the Spirit.
Reaching out with the Good News has become an unfunded mandate.
Codependence has swallowed up courageous leadership.
Sound teaching has been replaced by pop pyschology.
Relevance has pushed reality to the back of the bus.
Sacrifice is considered a synonym for weakness.
Integrity is open to interpretation.
Godliness just isn't hip. 

This isn't the first time the people of God have lost their moral and spiritual compass...
"If my people, who are called by my name, will humble themselves and pray and seek my face and turn from their wicked ways, I will hear from heaven and will forgive their sins and restore their land."  2 Chronicles 7.14

It ended badly for Israel. But, it need not end badly for this nation; there is hope.

Hope springs from humility.
Humility leads to repentance.
Repentance produces healing.  Humility, repentance, healing. It all begins IN the Church.

This...is change we can believe in.


bN tGit

Run hard, Finish well.

Several years ago I decided it was time to fix my shoulder--torn rotator cuff, labrum and a large calcium deposit on my bursa.  I'd postponed the inevitable surgery for 42 years. Two months after the repair I began my rehab process.  I am intrigued by how fast our joints "freeze up" and muscles atrophe when we don't use them. As I strained to lift my arm above my shoulder, I could only move it half that distance; no matter how hard I tried--I could not "will" it up. Getting my "shoulder back" took discipline and hard work.

Life is like that too. When we live careless, reckless, aimless lives, we miss the best life has to offer. People are filled with potential; we are "wired" for growth, relationships, productivity and yes, achievement. Realizing these possibilities brings shape to life, purpose for living; talent and apptitude must be transformed into ability by disciplined effort. "Willing" it won't make it happen. Success and failure are two sides of the same coin and people tend to get what they expect. Our expectations tend to dictate our effort; dicipline tends to dictate our success. Successful people do the things unsuccessful people aren't willing to do; the door to success isn't hard to see, but it demands much of those who choose to pass through it.
But, what about "life" after death?  People of faith believe that we've been created with eternity in our hearts. The Scriptures tell us that...

"When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners...God showed His great love for us by sending Christ to die for us."  Rom 5.6,8 NLT

We embrace this gracious provision by trusting Christ as our Lord and Savior. But this kind of effective faith doesn't just kick back and "let it happen." Saving faith points us to "a long obedience in the same direction." Life becomes the canvas where we see worked out, what God has worked in.  Embracing Christ opens a door to a whole new perception of who and Whose we are.

Spiritual strength and godly character are the by-products of disciplined effort and purposeful living. The apostle Paul understood this...

"Don’t you realize that in a race everyone runs, but only one person gets the prize? So run to win! All athletes are disciplined in their training. They do it to win a prize that will fade away, but we do it for an eternal prize. So I run with purpose in every step. I am not just shadowboxing. I discipline my body like an athlete, training it to do what it should. Otherwise, I fear that after preaching to others I myself might be disqualified." 1 Cor 9.24-27 NLT

Good outcomes don't just happen.  Life and eternity demand our very best and our very best, once we have embraced Christ and His work through effective faith, is always more than enough.


bN tGit

Life, is hard.

Life is hard.  Age diminishes us.  Disease ravages us.  Then, we die.
       Or...
Life is hard and softens our hearts.  Age diminishes us and equips us with wisdom. Disease ravages us and empowers us to embrace hope.  Then we die and pass into eternity.

What happens to us, all of us, in the course of a lifetime is simply a variation on the same theme.  What sets apart those not beaten from those that are?  It is what that "lifetime process" produces in us. 

I've been reminded recently, we are fragile and our bodies will eventually fail--some sooner than others, but for all of us life ends in one final breath.  The ability to see our sojourn as a prelude to "something more" is the key to empowering us to embrace all we experience in "time" with wonder; while anticipating what we glimpse of eternity with hope.  

Yes, I'm talking about faith.  A specific "effective-faith" we are given instruction about in the Scriptures; the Second letter to the church in Corinth, written by the Apostle Paul (5.1-5):

"For we know that when this earthly tent we live in is taken down (that is, when we die and leave this earthly body), we will have a house in heaven, an eternal body made for us by God himself and not by human hands.  2 We grow weary in our present bodies, and we long to put on our heavenly bodies like new clothing. 3 For we will put on heavenly bodies; we will not be spirits without bodies.  4 While we live in these earthly bodies, we groan and sigh, but it’s not that we want to die and get rid of these bodies that clothe us. Rather, we want to put on our new bodies so that these dying bodies will be swallowed up by life.  5 God himself has prepared us for this, and as a guarantee he has given us his Holy Spirit."

Over the past year I've invested time in some weary people...all filled with hope.  They are fragile over-comers.  Their lives are a tapestry illustrating God's grace, love, presence and power.  Paul acknowleges this too (5.17-19, 21)...

"17 Therefore if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creature; the old things passed away; behold, new things have come. 18  And all of this is a gift from God, who brought us back to himself through Christ. And God has given us this task of reconciling people to him. 19 For God was in Christ, reconciling the world to himself, no longer counting people’s sins against them...21 For God made Christ, who never sinned, to be the offering for our sin, so that we could be made right with God through Christ."

I'm ready.  Are you?  

Maranatha.



bN tGit