A Life Promise Fulfilled To A Young Believer (and Slacker)

Psalm 128

128 How blessed is everyone who fears the Lord,
Who walks in His ways.
² When you shall eat of the fruit of your hands,
You will be happy and it will be well with you.
³ Your wife shall be like a fruitful vine

Within your house,
Your children like olive plants
Around your table.
⁴ Behold, for thus shall the man be blessed
Who fears the Lord.

⁵ The Lord bless you from Zion,
And may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem all the days of your life.
⁶ Indeed, may you see your children’s children.
Peace be upon Israel!

The above verse is a life verse for me - one that I was given in prayer and have clung to for around 12 years now.  As a relatively new, but very serious Christian those years ago,  I was a frustrated college grad who couldn't see any path forward in life.  I was single, but desperately wanted to be married.  I was working, but did not love my work or vocation.  In reality, it was my character that was very weak and immature.  However, I did love God with all my heart, soul, mind and strength.

In prayer, I was led to open the Bible to this Psalm and when I read it, I cried and cried.  I didn't know how a life like this would be obtained because it seemed so far away, yet it was exactly what I yearned for.  A wife, healthy children, a house, and a vocation that would provide and be fulfilling.  Nothing fancy, but seemingly impossible for that young man all those years ago.

The Potter only had a lump of clay to start out with -- but little did I suspect that He would do so much...

He started with my character -- as much as I have been able, I have tried to maintain my fear of the Lord over the years.  Over that time period, I remained very single for another 4 years, but learned to give and serve others in volunteering.  Via missions, I was led to live abroad and Japan and the Philippines, eventually meeting my future wife in my travels. 

I moved back into my old career that I thought I hated as a young man, but approached it with a renewed passion for excellence and as a consequence, I have reached new heights in both competence, compensation, as well as fulfillment.

I have gotten married to a woman beyond my wildest dreams, and now have two beautiful, miraculous children.

I have a house to raise a family in...one that we call our own.

This simple Psalm, whose promises are still yet to be fully realized, has been an amazing promise of blessing to my life. Yet, the reader will notice that it is addressed to anyone who fears the Lord.  It is a general promise from God that is available to all.  

I still consider myself far from fully shaped and I know that it is through the challenges of life, not the pleasures of life, that we are shaped and improved.  I have also discovered that my biggest blessings are also my biggest trials (work, marriage, kids).

As I marvel at the blessings of God...I am in awe and awash with gratitude.  And I look forward to each day that comes and try my best to obey Him in all I do.

Christ Redirects Us Through Life Changes

"Because he has set his love upon Me, therefore I will deliver him; I will set him on high, because he has known My name. He shall call upon Me, and I will answer him; I will be with him in trouble; I will deliver him and honor him. With long life I will satisfy him, And show him My salvation." (Psalm 91:14-16)

Things in my life had been proceeding smoothly - busy and hectic, but smoothly nonetheless. It is usually during these times, that 1 Cor 10:12 typically comes into my mind - "Be careful if you think you stand, lest you fall."

Recently, my boss let me know of a situation with the Company which may or may not necessitate cuts, transfers or large wholesale changes during the next two years. Unlike most people who are suffering from "job insecurity" or unemployment, this situation is more of a slow moving event than and a quick cut. That is a blessing in itself because I have time to prepare.

However, I was running a bit on cruise control in my life and I was enjoying my job, the company culture and everything that went along with it. My wife is 6 months pregnant and we had recently purchased a home. A common scenario here in the USA. So, the first few days or so were filled with many moments of thought about the future.

The overriding theme of my thoughts was just a sense and a coming back to the fact that our lives are really set up by the Lord in ways that we do not and cannot imagine. It is our unfortunate tendency to think that we have a lot of control to plan our lives and we make those plans and expectations in our mind. We think, "First I'm going to do this, then this and then finally this will happen and I'll be happy."

This is not to say that goal setting is unworthy - it is obviously proven to be a key in progressing in any endeavor we do. However, my point is simply that we are not the ultimate arbiters of what will transpire in our lives.

Job loss, Sickness, Accidents, Theft - are just some of the things that can pop up in our lives which will send us spiraling away from the path that we have carefully chosen for ourselves.

The saving grace for those of us who call on Jesus is what He has promised to His followers and believers. We are not bereft of protection in the most dire of circumstances. If a large change in our life occurs, He can not only help us to overcome, but He will help us to use it to help others to move us to a more beneficial place.

We can call on Him in trouble and He will answer. He answers because we know each other and we have a deep abiding relationship that comes many conversations, trials and prayers. Too easily I forget all that He has already done for me in my life and I am glad that He still remembers all those moments and helps me to recall that He has never failed me, and that He never will.

Lord Jesus, you are the ultimate planner and user of my life. Please use me as You will and not as I will. You have never failed me before and never will fail me as You have promised this to those who love You. So, use this event to move my life in the direction that it needs to go. When we called You "Lord", we also gave over control of where and how we are serving. In Your blessed name we pray. AMEN.

Laying My Life Down Daily

Reading the June 16 entry from Oswald Chambers "My Utmost For His Highest" was pretty thought provoking for me.

It is easy to be like Peter and in a moment or phase of being "on fire" for the Lord we sacrifice our life for His cause. Most, if not all religions have examples where they have called on followers to die in the name of their religion. In today's world, the suicide bombers of radical Islam are the strongest example of that kind of thinking. If that person has a moment of courage to kill themselves while killing other innocents, they believe they will go to paradise.

How much more difficult is it to instead live in this fallen world and daily live in the way that Jesus has called us to live? The "Yes" that we give to Jesus is a challenge for our sin wracked souls to do - to lay aside our pridefulness and acknowledge the wretchedness within us. I can only speak for myself, but I ran from God for a long time because I didn't want to give up my sins and change my life. It wasn't until I took stock of my life and realized that it was headed to meaninglessness that I finally gave my life over to God.

Yet, how much more difficult is it to live our lives as a follower of God day in and day out? Everything and I mean ever-y-thing around us, even in the United States, is drenched in sin and distraction. While we may not have the animism of tribal Philippines or advanced Japan, we certainly have a pervasive materialism that has invaded our daily lives. With that materialism comes all types of sins as men sacrifice their lives in pursuit of obtaining worldly wealth.

And that is my personal challenge. Lord Jesus, help me to lay aside myself on a daily basis. Am I serving You in the things that I pursue? Have I cleared off my personal schedule enough to see the little ways that I can serve the people around me? Although it scares my flesh in the ways that You might redirect my life with this prayer, I pray for Your strength to do whatever You would have me do. In Jesus' name, AMEN.

Submitting to His Lordship

³⁵ For whoever desires to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for My sake and the gospel’s will save it. (Mark 8:35 NKJV)

Within Christendom, there are two types of people who take on the name of Christian. Those who believe in God, and those who have made Jesus Lord of their life. The former tends to exhibit little fruit in their life and often are difficult to distinguish from non-believers. The latter are radically changed in their behavior, attitude, and life path. They are sometimes mocked and ridiculed for their radical faith because it seems unstable, but no one would ever doubt that they are Christians who love Jesus.

In this famous passage above, Jesus clearly commands that we must give up our lives for the sake of the gospel (good news of Christ), or else we will not gain salvation. There is no halfway faith for believers in Christ. If Jesus is Lord, our old lives are dead and lost and we must conform ourselves to His ways with everything that we have.

This is not to say that we don't have jobs, personal lives or possessions. We aren't automatons, but we will be asked to change our lives in ways that we aren't familiar or comfortable with in order to align with Him. Our souls, being "born again", will gladly embrace these changes because they are pushing us toward being authentic with who we are in Christ. There won't be a sense of being forced to conform to God's new shape.

On a personal level, this involves asking myself, "in what ways have I held back on Jesus? Is there anything that He cannot take from me, should He choose?"

I think there is little wonder that Christians who have made Jesus Lord will have phases in their lives where they are stripped bare of the reputation and identity they have with the world. It can come via layoffs, or through big relationship challenges, but in some way our previous reputations in the world that we've held so dear, will be blown up to the point where we are just left as ourselves... naked and bare before the Lord. It is then we will cling to Him and Him alone -- and finally at that point, He can build us up in His image of who we were meant to be. It is then that we will let go of our preconceived notions of who we are, and what we should be, and simply follow Him where He bid us go.

Lord Jesus, I'm not quite sure where You will have me, but I am so glad to have been stripped bare of my previous identity in the world. Frankly, it was wearing me down because it wasn't authentic. I know that You have a greater plan and a greater future than I could create on my own, and I welcome that. Praise Your name in every way. Amen.