Brokenness

“But He was wounded for our transgressions,

He was bruised for our iniquities;

the chastisement for our peace was upon Him,

and by His stripes we are healed.”

     Isaiah 53:5 (NKJV)

I recently saw the movie “To Save a Life.” It's theme is brokenness--how the things of this world bring destruction instead of satisfaction, yet Christ can redeem and heal. To be honest, the movie was very hard for me to watch because I could relate to it in so many ways and it brought up so many difficult memories.  In my family, we experienced teen suicide, divorce, tragic fatal accidents, alcoholism, domestic abuse, abortion and estranged relationships over generations. Growing up, that was my normal.  The fact is, we live in a fallen world and families are often marked by trauma and dysfunction to some degree.

I knew personal brokenness as well before coming to a saving faith in Christ as an adult. I know that in Him, my sins are forgiven and by His stripes, I am healed.  Yet part of the brokenness is still there; the consequences of my poor choices remain, as do the hard memories and regrets. And my heart hurts because of it all. But I hold fast to the promise that one day, I will be fully healed in glory. I find strength and comfort in knowing that I am a new creation in Christ and that in Him old things are made new.

Our gracious God loves to restore, and I pray regularly for restoration for myself, my family and those relationships that need His healing touch.  A verse from a song says that we are broken to be made more beautiful, broken to be made whole; one day we will indeed be both. It's good to remember that God has a purpose in our brokenness, and if we keep trusting in Him, He will use it for our good and His glory.

Thursday Devotional - Tax Season!

It’s officially tax season!!! There are so many tax laws and many of them change over the years. It’s hard to keep up. However, just because we don’t know the law, doesn’t exempt us from it. There are some steep penalties for various omissions.

God’s Word isn’t as big as the tax code and His laws don’t change from year to year. However, so many people choose to ignore them. I think some think that if they ignore God and His instructions, then it won’t apply to them. It doesn’t work that way. They always apply and are the most beneficial. God will also hold all people accountable.

Hebrews 4:12-13 ¹² For the word of God is alive and active. Sharper than any double-edged sword, it penetrates even to dividing soul and spirit, joints and marrow; it judges the thoughts and attitudes of the heart. ¹³ Nothing in all creation is hidden from God’s sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account.

God’s Word is alive and active and helpful!

As much as I carefully study the tax law for implementation in our software, I need to accurately study and implement God’s laws into my life. As we’ve been talking the last few weeks, let’s all continue to carefully study and apply God’s Word and encourage others to do the same.  

Psalm 119:33-37   Teach me, Lord, the way of your decrees,
    that I may follow it to the end.
³⁴ Give me understanding, so that I may keep your law
    and obey it with all my heart.
³⁵ Direct me in the path of your commands,
    for there I find delight.
³⁶ Turn my heart toward your statutes
    and not toward selfish gain.
³⁷ Turn my eyes away from worthless things;
    preserve my life according to your word.

Alice

Make The Change

During the night Pharaoh summoned Moses and Aaron and said, “Up! Leave my people, you and the Israelites! Go, worship the Lord as you have requested. Take your flocks and herds, as you have said, and go. And also bless me.”  Exodus 12:31-32

At various points of my life, I have dealt with situations where I was certain of something only to change my mind.  It wasn’t that I really changed.  However, the circumstances had changed which forced me to adjust.  A few years ago, my daughter cheered for a certain team.  She got along with several of the teachers at the gym, and both my wife and me formed relationships with the parents along with our daughters.  I was certain we would be back the following year where I thought it would be her gym for the remainder of her cheer career.  However, she was kept with a lower skilled group even as her skills had advanced to another level.  I understood the reason behind the gym’s decision, and it put me in a place to make a tough choice.  Do I honor the relationships built and stay when I said we’d be back for sure, or focus on what would be best for my daughter’s career and change gyms?  We chose the latter, and that was the best decision we could have ever made.

When you are stuck with a certain decision, God will make provisions so that you can change for His will to be done.  In the story of Moses, I moved a few chapters ahead because it had become like a washer machine cycle; wash, rinse, and repeat.  In this case, the dialogue between God and Moses and Pharaoh had this cycle to it. One, God instructs Moses to tell Pharaoh to free God’s people or else.  Two, Pharaoh says, “No.”  Three, ‘or else’ comes to happen.  There are variations where Pharaoh will move a little on God’s demand (you can take the men, or take the people, but nothing else), but as God predicted, Pharaoh’s heart was always hardened to not give God what He wanted.  Note the conversation between Pharaoh and Moses after a bunch of plagues and miracles:

“Pharaoh said to Moses, “Get out of my sight! Make sure you do not appear before me again! The day you see my face you will die.”

“Just as you say,” Moses replied. “I will never appear before you again.”  Exodus 10:28-29

Yet after God killed the firstborn of every Egyptian during what would become the Passover, Pharaoh finally relented.  God continued to change the circumstances over and repeatedly until getting the desired result.  There was a play years ago that was simply titled, “Your Arms Too Short to Box With God.”  There are times we are just determined to either fight for our way or push to keep our own way of doing things.  We must realize that our God is relentless in His pursuit of our hearts, and if we commit to Him, this will at times be our battle.  Our goal is to be wise enough to know that is what is occurring and change accordingly.

God wants what is best for us.  This at times will cause Him to bend situations to ensure we understand this.  Sometimes it is a subtle hint.  Other times, He will break us causing us to fall on our knees.  But like the woman where no one cast the first stone, He will forgive and encourage us to live like Christ.  Let us be aware of God’s prompting when He wants us to move closer toward Him.  When has God moved you to change direction?  How can you be spiritually aware of the changes God wants from you?  My prayer is that we focus on the growth God is challenging us to make, and simply make the change.  Amen.

Serving others

1 Peter 4:10

Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God’s grace in its various forms.

How do you serve one another?  Yesterday, my Sunday School class learned about serving others, even in difficult relationships.  Being Jr. High kids, most of them thought of their own siblings when thinking about difficult relationships. 

John 13:3-10

Jesus knew that the Father had put all things under his power, and that he had come from God and was returning to God; so he got up from the meal, took off his outer clothing, and wrapped a towel around his waist. After that, he poured water into a basin and began to wash his disciples’ feet, drying them with the towel that was wrapped around him.

He came to Simon Peter, who said to him, “Lord, are you going to wash my feet?”

Jesus replied, “You do not realize now what I am doing, but later you will understand.”

“No,” said Peter, “you shall never wash my feet.”

Jesus answered, “Unless I wash you, you have no part with me.”

“Then, Lord,” Simon Peter replied, “not just my feet but my hands and my head as well!”

Jesus answered, “Those who have had a bath need only to wash their feet; their whole body is clean. 

Jesus had to deal with difficult relationships as well.  Simon Peter was no easy person to deal with, yet Jesus served him.  Simon Peter questioned why Jesus would wash his feet.  Jesus was not washing the disciples feet simply because he thought they were dirty.  He was trying to get them to see the bigger picture of how he was about to serve them through his death.  That his death would wash their sins away. 

Each of us have been given talents to serve.  It’s not simply to make someone feel good rather to share the love of Christ with them. 

As I had my kids wash each others feet yesterday, we then talked about how it wasn’t because they came to class with stinky feet, rather because we are all called to humble ourselves and do for others.  To be a reflection of Christ in all that we do.

What gifts do you have from God that you might be able to use to serve others?  Share those gifts today with those that you encounter.