glorify

Posted on January 26, 2017 by Dana

Two things bring great satisfaction to any parent: trust and gratitude. God feels the same and His children bring Him glory when they believe what He says and give thanks for every blessing.

Abraham glorified God by believing Him. “I know this is God’s promise and He will never lie to me. So if He says my wife and I will have a baby, I’ll believe Him… even if we are approaching our hundredth birthdays!”

“Against all hope, Abraham in hope believed and so became the father of many nations, just as it had been said to him, ‘So shall your offspring be.’ Without weakening in his faith, he faced the fact that his body was as good as dead – since he was about a hundred years old – and that Sarah’s womb was also dead. Yet he did not waiver in unbelief regarding the promise of God, but was strengthened in his faith and gave glory to God, being fully persuaded that God had power to do what He had promised.” (Romans 4:18-21)

If we smile when our children say ‘Thank you,’ what does God feel? David sang, “I will praise God’s name in song and glorify Him with thanksgiving. This will please Him more than an ox, more than a bull with its horns and hoofs.” (Psalm 69:30-31) The Father is glorified when we are thankful.

Thanksgiving should overflow from everything God has done, is doing, and will do through His Son. We believe God loved us enough to die for us. We believe Jesus carried our sins and our ‘old selves’ as He died on the cross. We believe He fulfilled the Law completely, knowing that we could never be saved through our own efforts. We believe He has declared us righteous and holy. We believe He was raised from the dead on the third day and that we need not fear death. We believe Jesus ascended back to heaven after forty days on earth as a resurrected Savior. We believe the Holy Spirit was poured out and is given as a gift to the saved. We believe Jesus and the Holy Spirit intercede for us today. And we believe our Lord is coming back again to take us to a place He has prepared.

“Impossible!” the world cries. “But this is what God says… and He cannot lie. I will trust Him completely… and give thanks.”

“It is written: ‘I believed, therefore I have spoken.’ With that same spirit of faith we also believe and therefore speak, because we know that the One who raised the Lord Jesus from the dead will also raise us with Jesus and present us with you in His presence. All this is for your benefit, so that the grace that is reaching more and more people may cause thanksgiving to overflow to the glory of God.” II Corinthians 4:13-15

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glory

Posted on January 19, 2017 by Dana

A fisherman named John (and many others) witnessed the glory of Jesus and received new life. “The Word became flesh and made His dwelling among us. We have seen His glory, the glory of the One and Only, who came from the Father, full of grace and truth.” (John 1:14)

But not everyone recognized the glory of the Father. “In Him was light, and that light was the life of men. The light shines in the darkness, but the darkness has not understood it.” (John 1:4-5)

Worse, John further explained that the light was rejected because of a love of the opposite. “This is the verdict: Light has come into the world, but men loved darkness instead of light because their deeds were evil.” (John 3:19)

Though God “wants all men to be saved and to come to a knowledge of the truth,” there is an ongoing battle. Paul shared that the light must penetrate the heart for a person to really encounter the glory of God. Satan wants darkness to rule.

“The god of this age has blinded the minds of unbelievers so that they cannot see the light of the gospel of the glory of Christ, who is the image of God… For God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ made His light shine in our hearts to give us the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Christ.” (II Corinthians 4:4,6)

Jesus is the Light and the Answer for spiritual darkness. He lives in those who put their faith in Him. Paul calls this God’s mystery: “Christ in you, the hope of glory.” (Colossians 1:27) We want to bring glory to our Savior and He wants us to witness His glory.

May we live for the glory that counts.

“Father, I want those You have given Me to be where I am, and to see My glory, the glory You have given Me because You loved Me before the creation of the world.” John 17:24

“But whenever anyone turns to the Lord, the veil is taken away. Now the Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom. And we, who with unveiled faces all reflect the Lord’s glory, are being transformed into His likeness with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.” II Corinthians 3:16-18

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communion

Posted on January 12, 2017 by Dana

The Father, Son, and Spirit invite us into holy communion. We celebrate this blessing as we gather around the Lord’s table and remember what Jesus did for us.

“The Lord Jesus, on the night He was betrayed, took bread, and when He had given thanks, He broke it and said, ‘This is My body, which is for you; do this in remembrance of Me.’ In the same way, after supper, He took the cup, saying, ‘This cup is the new covenant in My blood; do this, whenever you drink it in remembrance of Me. For whenever you eat this bread and drink this cup, you proclaim the Lord’s death until He comes.’” (I Corinthians 11:24-26)

But communion does not stop with the conclusion of the Lord’s Supper. Just as Jesus walked with His disciples through the towns of Israel, so we are to walk in fellowship with Him and with one another.

Some say such practice is impossible in our day and time with all the busyness of life, but God knows what is best and vital for our spiritual lives. We can’t do it alone. When we share communion we are willingly opening our lives to one another.

Christ is the Center and we are His disciples who give thanks for what He has done and what He is doing. And what is He doing? Jesus is building His Church, a holy Temple, a Body, a Community that will reflect the love and truth of God. As believers live honest lives with one another, the world sees a difference.

Power plays, manipulation, competition, and strife have no place in God’s family… instead, love covers all. As we live the way Jesus teaches — treating others the way we want to be treated, considering others better than ourselves, laying down our lives for one another — the world will know that He is real.

“Get rid of all bitterness, rage and anger, brawling and slander, along with every form of malice. Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.” Ephesians 4:31-32

“Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and aliens, but fellow citizens with God’s people and members of God’s household, built on the foundation of the apostles and prophets, with Christ Jesus Himself as the chief cornerstone. In Him the whole building is joined together and rises to become a holy temple in the Lord. And in Him you too are being built together to become a dwelling in which God lives by His Spirit.” Ephesians 2:19-22

“We will in all things grow up into Him who is the Head, that is, Christ. From Him the whole body, joined and held together by every supporting ligament, grows and builds itself up in love, as each part does its work.” Ephesians 4:15-16

“By this all men will know you are My disciples, if you love one another.” John 13:35

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applause

Posted on January 5, 2017 by Dana

Ten days before Christmas, on a chilly day, Wilkes and I bundled up and went for a walk in the neighborhood. Three months shy of turning two, Wilkes loves to be outside. Sometimes we’ll walk nearly a mile enjoying leaves, trees, rocks, squirrels, airplanes in the sky, and many other things we grown-ups take for granted.

For some reason on this particular day, I started singing a Christmas carol I really didn’t know that well… “God Rest Ye Merry Gentleman.” Wilkes stopped walking, turned around and listened to my rendition, smiling the entire time. I’m sure I had the tune, but I confess I was making up many of the words. Wilkes did not seem to mind. When I finished, the little boy’s grin grew and he clapped his hands with enthusiasm.

img_0827Almost a week later, on a much warmer day, Wilkes and I went for another walk. This time he wanted to take a baby stroller he loves to push. When he gets a little tired, he’ll hop in, but usually he just enjoys pushing the stroller as we hike. I remembered my song from the previous week, and since we had sung it in church Sunday, I knew the words a little better. This time Wilkes never broke stride; he just kept pushing the stroller. But when I finished, he stopped, turned around with a big smile on his face, and gave me another standing ovation.

These 2016 Christmas memories bring a couple of thoughts to mind. First, I can’t help wonder if Joseph ever went on walks with a two-year-old Jesus. I’ll bet he did. And if Joseph ever burst into song on one of those strolls, I wonder if Jesus looked up, smiled, and clapped as the song concluded. Could the Child who had heard angels singing in heaven applaud an old carpenter on a Nazareth road?

I also think of Jesus’ words declaring that we must become like children: “I tell you the truth, unless you change and become as little children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.” How often do I stop, look up, listen and observe, then applaud our Father in Heaven? He made the leaves and the trees and rocks and squirrels and people who make the airplanes. All the blessings I have been given deserve gratitude.

The most genuine worship may take place as we stop and let the Holy Spirit remind us of the truth of God’s love. When such revelation sinks to the proper deep place in our hearts, we can’t help but smile and applaud.

“Yet a time is coming and has now come when the true worshipers will worship the Father in spirit and truth, for they are the kind of worshipers the Father seeks. God is Spirit, and His worshipers must worship in spirit and truth.” John 4:23-24

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bless

Posted on December 15, 2016 by Dana

santa3This will be the last writing for a couple of weeks as we are completing our fall semester and entering Christmas break. Kinsey and Jordan are hoping Mr. Claus did not take it personally when little Owen stuck out his tongue on his very first visit to Santa.

I was at Emory the other day and overheard a patient with a big white beard say, “I was at a restaurant and a little girl came running across the room, jumped up in my lap, and started telling me what she wanted for Christmas.” I’m not sure what every Santa Claus feels about children, but it looks like the one holding Owen really enjoys his work.

The ultimate Friend of children once overruled His disciples’ objections and said, “Let the little children come to Me!” He wanted to bless the little ones.

“Here is a beautiful creation of My Heavenly Father… one who will live forever! I want the blessings of God to cover this child. I want this little boy (or this little girl) to know the One who formed him in his mother’s womb. I will ask My Father to protect this child from the plans of the evil one. He wants the worst for children… My Father wants the best. Children are always welcome in My Father’s house!”

May God bless you all during this wonderful season!

“Then little children were brought to Jesus for Him to place His hands on them and pray for them. But the disciples rebuked those who brought them. Jesus said, ‘Let the little children come to Me and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.’ When He had placed His hands on them, He went on from there.” Matthew 19:13-15

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