Endure for Joy

Isn’t it interesting that people always use Jesus Christ as the example when they want to tell you to be joyful in all things? Someone may even say, “Jesus endured the cross with joy” ~ and I have to stop them short, because, I’m sorry but no, that’s not what Scripture says. It says that He endured it for the joy that was set before Him. That doesn’t mean He was currently enjoying the cross. It doesn’t mean that His endurance and joy overlapped, actually. Christ asked the Father three times to take the cup away from Him, because it was not easy, it was not fun, it was not happy (and if suffering isn’t easy for the Perfect Man, who could even begin to pretend to think that suffering could be even remotely so for any of us sinners?). It means that He endured because He knew that joy would be at the end of the tether. It wasn’t yet a reality, but it would be. After endurance, when His cross had been fully endured, there would be joy.

from Hebrews 2:2
“…who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross…”

What is endurance anyway?
What does it mean to endure?
–verb (used with object)
1. to hold out against; sustain without impairment or yielding; undergo.
2. to bear without resistance or with patience tolerate.
3. to admit of; allow; bear.

–verb (used without object)
4. to continue to exist; last.
5. to support adverse force or influence of any kind; suffer without yielding; suffer patiently.

That is what Christ did.
It’s what we are praying to do, too.
We pray that we will endure, and that God will bring joy after the enduring is complete. Once He has helped us to endure the cross that is set before us, we trust Him to bring joy.
We don’t know what the remainder of our earthly years will hold. How much joy, how much happiness, how much fulfillment. But we are confident of the joy set before us in Heaven, just like Christ was. We are confident in the Resurrection. We are confident that our covenant children will be reunited with us, even as we are united with Christ by death and resurrection.There will be joy!!!
I don’t know when.
I don’t know how.
It isn’t yet; I do know that.
But one way or another, eventually, once we have endured our crosses ordained by the Father… there will be great joy.

Go Forward

I wanted to share something from Streams In The Desert that really challenged & encouraged my heart yesterday. Especially on my particular journey, with particular struggles of walking by faith (which I know we each struggle with in our own ways on our own paths, ordained by God). When so many people try to give us advice on what to do or what not to do; where to walk, when to walk, how to walk… but it is only us that know what God is telling us to do as we seek His face and ask for His wisdom, surrounded by wise counselors of His who are faithful in Him.

It can be so scary to walk by faith ~ wanting to wait to move forward to see what the end result might be. But that isn’t always how He designed things to work. Most often, God asks us to do something when we simply can’t see ahead at all. Frequently, He asks us to do something when we don’t even know what will happen or how it will work out. It’s pretty scary, actually, this whole business of walking by faith and not by sight.

Well, anyway, I hope this encourages you all, as it did me.

Go Forward

“As soon as the soles of the feet of the priests…shall rest in the waters…the waters shall be cut off” (Joshua 3:13).

The people were not to wait in their camps until the way was opened, they were to walk by faith. They were to break camp, pack up their goods, form in line to march, and move down to the very banks before the river would be opened. If they had come down to the edge of the river and then had stopped for the stream to divide before they stepped into it, they would have waited in vain. They must take one step into the water before the river would be cut off. We must learn to take God at His Word, and go straight on in duty, although we see no way in which we can go forward. The reason we are so often balked by difficulties is that we expect to see them removed before we try to pass through them.

If we would move straight on in faith, the path would be opened for us. We stand still, waiting for the obstacle to be removed, when we ought to go forward as if there were no obstacles.
~Evening Thoughts~

Complaining

I’ve been thinking a lot about complaining this week. It was brought up from the pulpit, and then the subject has been thrown around a bit in various capacities throughout the week. I’ve searched Scripture for references of complaining, and searched blogs of pastors I respect for their thoughts on the subject. I haven’t come up with a really well thought out essay on complaining at all… but I do have some random thoughts about it.

Job, David, Jeremiah, and Habakkuk are complainers. But Job was the most righteous man who lived, and David was a man after God’s own heart, and Jeremiah & Habakkuk sought the Lord with much determination and were trumpets of His voice.
Here are some Scriptures and themes that reference complaining that I have been meditating on this week:

  • In Job 6, my Bible’s headline says “my complaint is just.”
  • Job 7:11, “Therefore I will not restrain my mouth; I will speak in the anguish of my spirit; I will complain in the bitterness of my soul.”
  • Job 10:1, “I loathe my life; I will give free utterance to my complaint; I will speak in the bitterness of my soul.”
  • Psalm 55:2, “Attend to me, and answer me; I am restless in my complaint and I moan…”
  • Psalm 55:17, “Evening and morning and at noon I utter my complaint and moan, and He hears my voice.”
  • Psalm 64:1, “Hear my voice, O God, in my complaint…”
  • Psalm 102:1 [A Prayer of one afflicted, when he is faint and pours out his complaint before the LORD.] “Hear my prayer, O LORD; let my cry come to You!”
  • Psalm 142:2, “I pour out my complaint before Him; I tell my trouble before Him.”
  • Jeremiah 12:1, “Righteous are you, O LORD, when I complain to You; yet I would plead my case before You…”
  • Habakkuk chapter 1 has two large complaints to the Lord.

What do these things show us? I think the greatest thing it is showing me is that complaining to the Lord is acceptable, and He hears our cries even when they contain complaints. Other verses in Scripture condemn complaining, when we are complaining to others, specifically about superficial things & circumstances.

Douglas Wilson says (in this wonderful sermon), There is a vast difference between complaining about God, which is terrible, and complaining to God, which He welcomes.

I think that is a truly excellent distinction!

Again, Mr. Wilson says (in this exhortation), You may bring your objective complaints with you; indeed He requires it. But you do so in order to cast all your anxieties on Him, the One who cares for you.

This shows the reason behind a just complaint: to cast it on the Lord.

So I am learning that the phrase “complaining is a sin” is not exactly Truth.
Grumbling, murmuring, whining ~ that type of complaining is sinful, because it does not embrace the sovereign goodness of God.

So what is a just complaint? What does it look like to complain to the Lord and complain righteously before Him? And what do we do with verses like Philippians 2:14, “Do all things without grumbling or complaining”? I am assuming that things can all go back to root words and definitions: the Hebrew and Greek words for complaining in various parts of Scripture may actually mean various things, that our modern translators have all lumped together as simply “complaining.” I’d love to research root variants in this subject. (In all my free time… hah!)

I’m [hopefully] learning, and am prayerfully seeking the Lord’s wisdom on this ~ because I think it’s something that is very elusive. Practical application in real life looks like not complaining about the weather, my reflection in the mirror, how tired I am, how sick I may feel, how difficult my job is… But bringing complaints to the Lord about frustrations with sin, death, and things He is doing in my life in order to cast my cares on Him and seek His comfort, beg for His deliverance, and ask for His mercy to be poured out is, as quite the contrast, beautiful.

As it so happens, I am currently bringing complaints to the Lord, seeking His comfort, begging for His deliverance, and asking for Him to pour out mercy ~ and casting my cares on Him is increasingly encouraging as I plod onward in life and in sanctification.

Blessed

Blessed is he whose faith is not offended,
When all around his way
The power of God is working out deliverance
For others day by day;

Though in some prison drear his own soul languish,
Till life itself be spent,
Yet still can trust his Father’s love and purpose,
And rest therein content.

Blessed is he, who through long years of suffering,
But off from active toil,
Still shares by prayer and praise the work of others,
And thus “divides the spoil.”

Blessed are thou, O child of God, who sufferest,
And canst not understand
The reason for thy pain, yet gladly leavest
Thy life in His blest hand.

Yea, blessed art thou whose faith is “not offended”
By trials unexplained,
By mysteries unsolved, past understanding,
Until the goal is gained.

~Freda Hanbury Allen~

Blessed is he, whosoever shall not be offended in Me.
~Luke 7:23~

Prayer Vigil

One of the great sacrifices of Christian love is prayer. Elisabeth Elliot said, “Prayer is irksome. We are reluctant to start and delighted to end.” This is true for so many Christians: what a tragedy. Martin Luther said, “The less I pray, the harder it gets. The more I pray, the better it goes.” Prayer is a sacrifice of great love and familial tenderness.

Our church is focusing love on us during this time of indescribable grief. One of the ways they are showing love to us is by having a prayer vigil in our yard tonight.

Psalm 141:2
Let my prayer be counted as incense before You,
and the lifting up of my hands as the evening sacrifice!

From 7-8:30pm pacific standard time, our front yard will be specifically designated as a place for prayer. People will bring blankets and candles, and will pray silently with us & for us. They will pray for our grief; they will pray for my physical healing; they will pray that we will have victory over our medical problems; they will pray that we will be given children. Our hearts are warmed at the knowledge that our brothers and sisters in Christ want to uphold us before the Throne of Grace, want to designate a time & place to be with us in our mourning, and that they are even willing to do this in the rain/snow that chills to the bone. We are loved. We are upheld. We are mourned with. Hallelujah, what a blessing.

If you would like to pray with us tonight, please join our vigil beseeching the Lord’s mercy and grace upon our family. We humbly invite you to participate with us as the body of Christ, as we come to the Lord asking for bread.

Psalm 88:2
Let my prayer come before You;
incline Your ear to my cry!

We belong to God. We call upon Him to save us.
Even as Martin Luther repeatedly quoted Psalm 119:94, likewise we call out: “I am Yours! Save me!

Elisabeth Elliot shares some thoughts on prayer:

Prayer is the opposite of leisure. It’s something to be engaged in, not indulged in. It’s a job you give first priority to, performing not when you have energy left for nothing else.
How can we change things by prayer? How “move” a sovereign and omnipotent God? We do not understand. We simply obey because it is a law of the universe, as we obey other laws of the universe, knowing only that this is how things have been arranged: the book falls to the floor in obedience to the law of gravity if I let go of it. Spiritual power is released through prayer.
One way of laying down our lives is by praying for somebody. In prayer I am saying, in effect, “my life for yours.” My time, my energy, my thought, my concern, my concentration, my faith–here they are, for you. So it is that I participate in the work of Christ. So it is that no work of faith, no labour of love, no smallest prayer is ever lost, but, like the smoke of the incense on the golden altar, rises from the hand of the angel before God.

As children of God, we must continually grow in our knowledge of & love for communion with Him through prayer. There are different types of prayer for different occasions. Public prayer. Private prayer. Long prayers. Short prayers. Prayers of blessing. Prayers of praise. Prayers of intercession. Prayers of desperation. Prayers for deliverance. Prayers of thankfulness. Prepared prayers. Prayers off-the-cuff. All kinds of prayer, but offered through faith and with a sincere heart, are necessary and even beautiful for the Christian life.

I love this article, highlighting John Calvin’s thoughts/beliefs on prayer.

Words fail to explain how necessary prayer is, and in how may ways the exercise of prayer is profitable. Surely with good reason the Heavenly Father affirms that the only stronghold of safety is calling upon His name. By so doing we invoke the presence both of His providence, through which He watches over and guards our affairs, and of His power, through which He sustains us, weak as we are and well-nigh overcome, and of His goodness, through which He receives us, miserably burdened with sins, unto grace: and, in short, it is by prayer that we call Him to reveal Himself as wholly present to us. Hence comes an extraordinary peace and repose to our consciences. For having disclosed to the Lord the necessity that was pressing upon us, we even rest fully in the thought that none of our ills is hid from Him who, we are convinced, has both the will and the power to take the best care of us.
~John Calvin, The institutes of the Christian Religion, Book III, Chapter 20, Part 2.

One thing that I think is perfectly simple yet incredibly profound, is the idea that we don’t pray because we are needy. We pray because we are commanded to do so. It is a grace to us that we are commanded to ask for provision when we are in need. How beautiful! Calvin, as is his custom, reads Scripture so very closely as to note that while prayer is God’s appointed means of meeting our needs, our needs are never the ground of prayer. Prayer is grounded in the command of God. Ultimately we are to pray not because we are ceaselessly needy, but rather because God’s command and claim are ceaselessly operative.

Today I pray one of Calvin’s own prayers, and seek to pray with sincerity and steadfastness:

Grant, Almighty God, that as Thou not only invitest us continually by the voice of Thy gospel to seek Thee, but also offerest to us Thy Son as our mediator, through whom an access to Thee is open, that we may find Thee a propitious Father; O grant, that relying on Thy kind invitation, we may through life exercise ourselves in prayer, and as so many evils disturb us on all sides and so many wants distress and oppress us, may we be led more earnestly to call on Thee, and in the meanwhile be never wearied in this exercise of prayer; until having been heard by Thee throughout life, we may at length be gathered to Thine eternal kingdom where we shall enjoy that salvation which Thou hast promised to us, and of which also Thou daily testifiest to us by Thy gospel, and be forever united to Thine only-begotten Son of whom we are now members, that we may be partakers of all the blessings which He has obtained for us by His death. Amen.

Scripture is such a gift to us for so many reasons, one of which is because it gives us countless prayers to offer back to our God, even (or especially) when we don’t know what to offer from our own lips. The book of psalms is the first place I go when I have no words of my own to pray. We must learn to pray back God’s Word to Him again. Martin Luther recommended Psalms 25, 67, 20, & 103 as well as the book of Titus as great springboards for praying Scripture to God.

And lastly, this is my favorite hymn on prayer, which I use today without melody simply as a spoken prayer:

Lord, teach us how to pray aright,
With reverence and with fear;
Though dust and ashes in Thy sight,
We may, we must draw near.

We perish if we cease from prayer;
O grant us power to pray;
And when to meet Thee we prepare,
Lord, meet us by the way.

God of all grace, we come to Thee
With broken, contrite hearts;
Give what Thine eye delights to see,
Truth in the inward parts.

Faith in the only sacrifice
That can for sin atone;
To cast our hopes, to fix our eyes,
On Christ, on Christ alone.

Patience to watch, and wait, and weep,
Though mercy long delay;
Courage our fainting souls to keep,
And trust Thee though Thou slay.

Give these, and then Thy will be done,
Thus, strengthened with all might,
We, through Thy Spirit and Thy Son,
Shall pray, and pray aright.

~James Montgomery, 1818~

Psalm 86:6
Give ear, O LORD, to my prayer;
listen to my plea for grace.

So with these thoughts and exhortations on prayer as a background, please join us tonight in our vigil, beseeching our Father’s grace.

Pray for us to pray rightly.
Pray for us to be humble.
Pray for us (including our extended family) to grieve in a way that befits sons of God.
Pray for Gabriel as he asks questions, sees tears, and deals with grief in his own little ways.
Pray for my body to heal.
Pray for our miscarriages to cease.
Pray for us to have wisdom with upcoming medical decisions.
Pray for God to fill our home with children.
Pray for the Lord not to tarry in pouring blessings upon our heads.
Pray for us to patiently wait for Him and upon Him.
Pray for the body of Christ to be blessed even as they seek to bless us.
Pray for us to be gracious recipients of these blessings & graces.
Pray for our neighbors to see the prayer vigil tonight & have their hearts softened by God Almighty.

May the Lord bless you and keep you. The Lord make His face shine upon you and be gracious unto you. The Lord lift up His countenance upon you and give you peace. Amen. (Numbers 6:24-25)

Praying, IV

Beware in your prayer, above everything, of limiting God, not only by unbelief, but by fancying that you know what He can do. Expect unexpected things, above all that we ask or think. Each time you intercede, be quiet first and worship God in His glory. Think of what He can do, of how He delights to hear Christ, of your place in Christ; and expect great things. –Andrew Murray

Oh Lord, my great Shepherd and the Shepherd of my children, cause me to believe with power, to not limit You in my prayers, to not presume to know Your greatness, and give me the courage this morning to expect the unexpected.

Do we know the power of our supernatural weapon? Do we dare to use it with the authority of a faith that commands as well as asks? God baptize us with holy audacity and Divine confidence! He is not wanting great men, but He is wanting men who will dare to prove the greatness of their God. But God! But prayer! –A. B. Simpson

Give me the faith to command with my prayers. Give me audacity and confidence through the righteousness of Christ with which I am clothed! Cause me to dare to prove how majestic and miraculous You are. Put words in my mouth this morning that will accomplish this.

1 Peter 5:6-11

Humble yourselves, therefore, under the mighty hand of God so that at the proper time He may exalt you, casting all your anxieties on Him, because He cares for you. Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour. Resist him, firm in your faith, knowing that the same kinds of suffering are being experienced by your brotherhood throughout the world. And after you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you. To Him be the dominion forever and ever. Amen.

Oh Lord, You humble us; please take away our anxieties this morning. The devil seeks to devour my soul, give me the strength to resist him now! Remind me, O Father, that regardless of today’s outcome, that we have a glorious hope for the future: including eternal glory, restoration, confirmation, strength, and establishment. Hallelujah!

Proverbs 3:1-2

My son, do not forget my teaching,
but let your heart keep my commandments,
for length of days and years of life
and peace they will add to you.

Heavenly King, I pray this for my Hosanna-Baby. Teach this little covenant child, even in its teeny-tiny state. Faith is a gift from You; teach this child in my womb, cause his or her heart to keep Your commandments. Add length of days and years of life to this child. Bring abundant peace to Hosanna.

Romans 8:6, 11

For to set the mind on the flesh is death, but to set the mind on the Spirit is life and peace.
If the Spirit of Him who raised Jesus from the dead dwells in you, He who raised Christ Jesus from the dead will also give life to your mortal bodies through His Spirit who dwells in you.

Above all, my God, set my mind today on the Spirit. Give life through Your Spirit!! Give LIFE, O God!! Save, Lord!!

AMEN!!!

Praying, III

2 Timothy 1:7

God gave us a spirit not of fear but of power and love and self-control.

Oh God, allow us not to give in to a spirit of fear, but give us power by Your Spirit, love beyond measure, and self-control that we can not explain. Please fill us with Yourself and take away the dross that we feel threatening to choke us today.

Psalm 29:11

May the LORD give strength to His people!
May the LORD bless His people with peace!

Strengthen us today, Lord, in body and in faith. Build our spiritual & physical muscles. Bless us with peace that passes our understanding and that overflows from our hearts out our fingertips.

Isaiah 26:12

O LORD, You will ordain peace for us,
for You have indeed done for us all our works.

Among the nations, and in the sight of the Church as well as the heathen, O Lord, bring us peace. We do nothing without You. We have done nothing apart from Your ordained will. We continue to seek Your wisdom and ask for Your guidance. Prepare our footsteps and set our hands to the works You have ready for us. Give us peace as we move forward in whatever direction You are about to lead.

1 Kings 8:57

The LORD our God be with us, as He was with our fathers. May He not leave us or forsake us…

Be with us, God, today as we wait. Be with us, Lord, tonight as we try to sleep. Be with us, Father, tomorrow as we walk the hard steps into the doctor’s building and as I lie down upon the ultrasound table. Be with us, King of the universe, as our ears and eyes prepare to hear and see what news You will deliver us then.

Praying, II

Psalm 115:3

Our God is in the heavens; He does all that He pleases.

Oh God who lives and reigns in heaven — be pleased to shower Your mercy and covenantal love upon us. Be pleased to grant life to our tiny child, and be pleased to show your miraculous works to the nations!

Isaiah 45:7

I form light and create darkness,
I make well-being and create calamity,
I am the LORD, who does all these things.

We know, Lord, that You are in control of all things. No matter what is contained in Your perfect will, it is Yours and it is perfect. Even when we can not see the breadth and depth and width of it as You can.

James 1:12

Blessed is the man who remains steadfast under trial, for when he has stood the test he will receive the crown of life, which God has promised to those who love Him.

As I struggle with the “blessed is the man who…” concepts in Psalms 127 & 128, I am encouraged by this “blessed is the man” concept. We are not exempt from Your blessings, Lord, simply because we have a very limited number of arrows in our quiver & olive shoots around our table. We praise You, O God! Cause us to remain steadfast, and cause our eyes to be upon the crown of life!

(And let me just add to that thought: earth is not the point. If earth were the point, I would be in total 100% despair. But earth is not the point. Life on earth is but a passing breath. In the eternal ranks of heaven, my olive shoots are many and my arrows are many! Thanks be to God!)

Praying

As we go to war as the body of Christ, praying for the life of the baby in my womb — and as we anticipate the news on Thursday of whether the doctors are right or whether God is going to prove them majestically wrong — I want to share verses with you that are on this mommy’s heart as I pray for this child.

John 1:1-5

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. He was in the beginning with God. All things were made through Him, and without Him was not any thing made that was made. In Him was life, and the life was the light of men. The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.

Hebrews 11:3

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.

With His words, with the Word, our God can sustain this baby’s life. With just a simple word. With a breath. With a vowel. It is not too hard for God.

Jeremiah 32:27

Behold, I am the LORD, the God of all flesh. Is anything too hard for me?

Praying Colossians 3

Sometimes when I am particularly weary and worn, I feel like I don’t even know how to pray anymore. So I am reminded to turn to Scripture and pray back these words to our Father. Like today, turning Colossians 3 into a personal prayer:

My Father in Heaven, cause me to hallow Your name. Bend low to your maidservant and fill me with Your Spirit.

I have been raised with Christ Your Son: cause me to seek the things that are above, where Christ is seated at Your right hand. Cause my mind to focus on things that are above, and not on things that are here on earth. I have died to myself and my fleshly lusts, and my life is hidden with Christ in You. Christ is my life—make Him more and more my all—and when He appears, then I also will appear with Him in glory.

Therefore, enable me to put to death what is earthly in me: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and the idolatry of covetousness. Convict me and purge me of these things, for because of these, Your wrath is coming. I was a child raised in the covenant, so I did not walk and live in these things, but they are part of my sin nature, and I must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk. Control my tongue so that I do not lie, since I have put off my sinful self and practices, being clothed in Christ, and being renewed in knowledge after the image of You, the Creator. I know that there are no differences in Your people, but Your Son Christ is all, and in all. Your Son is in me.

I am Your chosen one, I am holy and beloved in Your sight! Give me strength and solidarity of heart to put on a compassionate heart, kindness, humility, meekness, and patience. Enable me to bear with others You have placed around me. Give me forgiveness, for You have forgiven me and I must forgive as You have.

Above all, clothe me with love, and use that love to bind everything else together in perfect harmony. Let Christ’s indescribable peace rule in my heart, for I have been called to it. Make me thankful.

Let the words of Christ dwell richly in me, and give me words to teach and admonish others in Your wisdom, while giving me grace to be taught and admonished in Your wisdom as well. Give me the beauty of music, and fill me with psalms and hymns and spiritual songs, so that I will overflow with thankfulness in my heart to You.

Whatever You call me to do, in words and deeds, cause me to do it all in the name of my Lord Jesus, and make me give thanks to You for all things through Him.

As a Christian wife, give me joyful submission to my husband. Make me thankful for my loving husband who is not harsh with me, and give him the grace to continue bearing with me in love and gentleness. Grow my honor towards my parents so that I may please the Lord, and be a good witness to my son. Give my son an obedient heart in everything so that he may be a pleasing covenant son to You. Restrain my husband and me from provoking our son, so that we do not discourage him; but train us to encourage, nurture, disciple, and discipline him according to Your tender mercies. Give us obedience and dedication to those who are over us, in jobs and church and government. Do not allow us to give way to eye-service as people-pleasers, but give us sincerity towards our overseers, because we fear You.

Give us joy and strength to work heartily, and renew our passion in our tasks so that we will give You our best work. Keep Yourself in the forefront of our minds, as we work for You and not for men, for we know that You will leave us a beautiful inheritance and reward. We serve Christ! There is no partiality with You, our God, and Your justice will rain down on the wrongdoer for wrongs we have done.

Be gracious and merciful, my Father in heaven. Hear my prayer and attend to my cries.
In the name of Your Son Jesus Christ, through the power of Your Holy Spirit, Amen.