MOVING BEYOND THE ENTRANCE

“[Christ’s] divine power has granted to us all things that pertain to life and godliness, through the knowledge of Him who called us to His own glory and excellence, by which He has granted to us His precious and very great promises, so that through them you may become partakers of the divine nature, having escaped from the corruption that is in the world because of sinful desire… For in this way there will be richly provided for you an entrance into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.”  (2 Peter 1:3,4,11 ESV)

We come to Jesus Christ and He does for us what He promised; and the thing works out. To our amazement, it works out. And then we settle down. We have had our own first-hand and irrefutable experience. But, instead of opening the windows to the glory of the sunshine so evidently there, instead of being incited to a hugeness of faith by what Christ has already done for us, we can't believe that there can be anything more, or that even He can work, for us, anything better. That first foretaste satisfies us. And so we camp for life out on the confines of the Kingdom, and never press on to inherit what is there and meant for us. 

-- A. J. Gossip (1873-1954) in “Experience Worketh Hope” [1944] 

#6208

FACING LIFE’S STORMS

"We do not live to ourselves, and we do not die to ourselves. If we live, we live to the Lord, and if we die, we die to the Lord; so then, whether we live or whether we die, we are the Lord's. For to this end Christ died and lived again, so that he might be Lord of both the dead and the living." (Romans 14:7-9 NRSV)

The question came from a fellow soldier after our combat unit had moved into a field in the hedgerow section of Normandy, France, during World War II. "How come you are a Christian?" he asked me.  I answered him the best way I knew at the time.  I said, "A person would have to be really dumb not to be a Christian, for you live better and you die better."

I don't remember if my answer satisfied him or not.  But now, after having lived about 85 years, I can reaffirm that same simple answer.  I am convinced that people of faith do live and die better, for they are able to face life's storms with greater peace than those who walk without faith that God is walking beside them.  As we live and as we die, people of faith have assurance of God's presence with them.

-- Jack G. Ammon in the “The Upper Room Daily Devotional” -- E-mail Edition, April 25, 2007, (c) 2007 by The Upper Room.

#6177

TALK IS CHEAP

“Now someone may argue, ‘Some people have faith; others have good deeds.’ But I say, ‘How can you show me your faith if you don’t have good deeds? I will show you my faith by my good deeds.’” (James 2:18 NLT)

“Miraculous!”… “Revolutionary!”… “Greatest ever!” We are inundated by a flood of extravagant claims as we channel surf the television, [browse social media,] or flip through magazine pages. The messages leap out at us. The products assure that they are new, improved, fantastic, and capable of changing our life. For only a few dollars, we can have “cleaner clothes,” “whiter teeth,” “glamourous hair,” and “tastier food.” Automobiles, perfume, diet drinks, and mouthwash are guaranteed to bring happiness, friends, and the good life. And just before an election, no one can match the politician’s promises. But talk is cheap, and too often we soon realize that the boasts are hollow, quite far from the truth.

“Jesus is the answer!”… “Believe in God!”… “Follow me to church!” Christians make great claims but are often guilty of belying them with their actions. Professing to trust God and to be His people, they cling tightly to the world and its values. Possessing all the right answers, they contradict the gospel with their lives.

With energetic style and crisp, well-chosen words, James confronts this conflict head-on. It is not enough to talk the Christian faith, he says: we must live it. “Dear brothers and sister, what’s the use of saying you have faith if you don’t prove it by your actions? That kind of faith can’t save anyone.” (James 2:14) The proof of the reality of our faith is a changed life. 

-- From the “Life Application Study Bible” 

#5948

GOOD SABBATHS MAKE GOOD CHRISTIANS

“Then Jesus said to them, ‘The Sabbath was made for humankind, and not humankind for the Sabbath; so the Son of Man is Lord even of the Sabbath.’”  (Mark 2:27-28 NRSV)

How often people today cry out in exasperation or despair, “I just don’t have enough time!” There is so much to do: earn a living, fulfill a vocation, nurture relationships, care for dependents, exercise, clean the house. Moreover, we hope to maintain sanity while doing all this, and keep growing as faithful and loving people at the same time. We are finite, and the demands too great, the time too short….

Puritan Sabbath keepers agreed that “good Sabbaths make good Christians.” They meant that regular, disciplined attention to the spiritual life was the foundation of faithfulness. Another dimension of the saying opens up if we imagine a worshipping community helping one another step off the treadmill of work-and-spend and into the circle of glad gratitude for the gifts of God. Taken this way, good Sabbaths make good Christians by regularly reminding us of God’s creative, liberating, and redeeming presence, not only in words but also through a practice we do together in response to that presence. 

– From “Keeping Sabbath” by Dorothy C. Bass in “Practicing Our Faith”

#5523

A WAKEFUL FAITH

If wakeful Christians harbor a wish for heaven to fulfill, they wish not for an escape from reality, but for a deeper acquaintance with reality. When wakeful Christians lament this life, they grieve this world’s trivialization of itself that obscures the more profound reality of the Kingdom of God in our midst. Yet, more often wakeful Christians celebrate life, finding the mark of God’s hand in this world and beginning their praise with the discovery of the holy here. “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory,” the seraphim sang. (Isaiah 6:3) Wakeful visions of other worldly praise reveal angels singing of God’s reign on earth as it is in heaven. 

-- J. Marshall Jenkins in “A Wakeful Faith”

#5519

FAITH INFORMING LIFE

There is no need to multiply examples of what is so patently an essential condition of the Christian walk. We are saved through faith – an unflagging, unwavering attachment to the person of Jesus Christ.

What is the depth and quality of your faith commitment? In the last analysis, faith is not a way of speaking or even thinking; it is a way of living. Maurice Blondel said, “If you want to know what a person really believes, don’t listen to what he says but watch what he does.” Only the practice of faith can verify what we believe. Does faith permeate the whole of your life? Does it form your judgments about success, about death? Does it influence the way you read the newspaper? Do you have a divine sense of humor that see through people and events into the unfolding plan of God? When things are turbulent on the surface of your life, do you retain a quiet calm, firmly fixed in ultimate reality? As Therese of Lisieux said, “Let nothing disturb you, let nothing frighten you. All things are passing.”

How has your faith shaped this past year? How will it shape the year ahead? 

-- Adapted from “Reflections for Ragamuffins” by Brennan Manning

#5506

RACING AGAINST THE DARKNESS

[Former NFL great] Deion Sanders grew up across the street from a huge cemetery. He often played at the school or a park until dark, and then had the unfortunate need to walk home past the graveyard in the dark. He had a plan. He would stand at the edge of the graveyard and wait until a car approached heading toward his house. He would run as fast as he could alongside the car, trying to keep up with the lights until he got to his front porch. Deion says, "That's how I got my speed. Racing against the darkness." That's a good image for Christian living: racing against the darkness. The Scriptures tell us that's our main competition. We contend not against flesh and blood, but against the principalities and powers of darkness. We race against the darkness of poverty when we feed the hungry and shelter the homeless. We race against the darkness of spiritual death when we witness [to the light of Jesus Christ].

-- Rev. Clark Williams in “Challenge to Evangelism Today” Newsletter

#5444