Thirsty for God

            On Sunday we sang an older chorus called “As the Deer”. It is based on Psalm 42, where a deer is depicted as panting for streams of water. The picture in my mind is of the animal – perhaps having been chased and having made a great effort to elude being captured and killed by a predatory animal – finding rest and peace and a place by a stream to drink deeply and have its deep thirst quenched.

            Yesterday I took some time for a ride in the park. On the road below Cadillac on the way to Bubble Pond there is a stream cascading down the hillside. I like to stop there for a few minutes if I ride that way. Usually I bypass it this time of year because it is typically dried out. But with the recent rains it was flowing fairly well. We live in a state – and a part of that state – that is incredibly blessed with water resources (spring-fed ponds, lakes, brooks and streams, etc.). It’s easy (for me, anyway) to take all that for granted. When I turn on any faucet, I expect clean, useful water to come out. If I were a city slicker I’d probably think that the water came from the faucet. With the faucet I’m used to my demands instantly being met every time. Reports of droughts and lands where water is scarce all the time often lead me to give thanks for where I live. Where water is abundant there is little fear of thirst: certainly not a prolonged thirst. But a prolonged thirst was probably the experience of the deer in Psalm 42. It certainly was the experience of the psalmist with regard to God.

            At our East Association Good Friday service this year Scott Conners painted a vivid picture of thirst by talking about the blueberry season in downeast Maine. That’s actually right now. The thirst developed over a full day working hard in the hot sun could almost be “tasted” as he explored Jesus’ words on the cross, “I thirst.” I wonder of how much of Jesus’ thirst was non-physical and just reflected a longing for the Father Himself. The psalmist writing Psalm 42 wasn’t primarily interested in painting a beautiful pastoral scene with words. He wanted to describe the human condition, and he goes on to speak of how thirsty the soul can be for God, especially in the valleys of human experience: sorrow, ridicule, discouragement, feeling forgotten by God, mourning, pain, depression, fear.

            The valleys of human experience are not fun. Personally, I much prefer the mountaintops – the places and times of victory and joy and closeness to God. But typically there’s no water on the mountaintops: one reason you can’t stay there. Water runs away from the mountaintops and eventually into valleys. It’s in the valleys where you really need it. Of course, these allegorical thoughts aren’t perfect in their application, but I believe when we are like the deer – all burned out, exhausted, drained, harassed, and pursued by life’s hardships – that we find refreshment for our souls in the valley, not after “getting out” of it. And when we are there we realize a deep thirst for God. We are tempted to quench the thirst with what the world offers, and sometimes that’s what we try to do. But it never works. It leaves us wanting. It leaves us unfilled. It leaves us still in our need… until we come to Jesus, the Good Shepherd. And, to mix metaphors and psalms, He leads us beside still waters and restores our soul. God sends the water – via gravity – to the valleys. And spiritually it’s there, where our thirst for Him grows in intensity, we find His provision. And what we’re looking for, and needing, and wanting more than anything else, is just Him. Our thirst is for Him. And any time you are thirsty for Him you can express that need and find Him. He will give you rest. He will meet the need. He will satisfy the soul.

Psalm 42:1-6 (NIV) - ¹ As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. ²  My soul thirsts for God, for the living God. When can I go and meet with God? ³  My tears have been my food day and night, while men say to me all day long, "Where is your God?" ⁴  These things I remember as I pour out my soul: how I used to go with the multitude, leading the procession to the house of God, with shouts of joy and thanksgiving among the festive throng. ⁵  Why are you downcast, O my soul? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and ⁶  my God. My soul is downcast within me; therefore I will remember you from the land of the Jordan, the heights of Hermon--from Mount Mizar.

Psalm 36:7-9 (NIV) ⁷  How priceless is your unfailing love! Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings. ⁸  They feast on the abundance of your house; you give them drink from your river of delights. ⁹  For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.

PRAYER:  “Satisfy my deepest longings, O Lord, and let me look to no one or nothing else to do so. Thank You for restoring my soul in the valleys of life. I wait on You. I hope in You. Deliver me from thinking that the world has my answers, or that it can meet my needs. I love You. In Christ’s name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!
Scott

Good News is for Sharing

            Joanne and I have the pleasure of announcing that our daughter, Brianne, became engaged to be married to Joshua Standridge last week. It was news that we were eager to share. Good news is like that. We are excited and enthused to get the word out… to let people know about our joy and Brianne’s, of course. When she told us earlier in the week we weren’t “able” to tell anyone, however. There were some people Brianne wanted to tell personally before they heard it from someone else, so we actually kept it “secret” for a little while. And actually, we knew before Brianne did that Josh was going to ask her to marry him. That was another secret to keep. Good news just doesn’t want to be kept secret, though. All in all it wasn’t a very long time, so we were able to do it. But when you’re full of joy, it has to “come out” sooner or later. It’s fun to share good news, too. People rarely, if ever, hesitate to share for fear of offending people or boring them.

            I think of the people Jesus healed or cast demons from. He sometimes would direct them not to tell anyone how it happened or who was responsible. It’s like He was keeping a secret. With Jesus it was all a matter of timing. If the information about Him spread in the wrong way, people would follow Him for the wrong reasons. They would not seek Him: they would seek the “goodies” He could provide. It would always be a matter of… “What have you done for me lately, Jesus?” Of course, Jesus has done overwhelmingly awesome things for us. We rejoice in them. We benefit from them. We celebrate them. But the “secret” we’re keeping – the good news we’re holding onto – is not about us. It’s all about Jesus.

            And it is worth sharing. Why? Because it’s the kind of news that changes lives. It’s the kind of news that brings hope for both now and eternity. And it’s the kind of news we want to get out: God has displayed His love for us through His Son – through His sinless life, substitutionary death, bodily resurrection, ascension to intercessory ministry, and giving of the Holy Spirit. There’s so much to tell. May it be a source of joy to us and not a feared “duty”! May it be our pleasure and not a “pain”! And may it always be to His glory!

Matthew 8:3-4 (NIV) ³  Jesus reached out his hand and touched the man. "I am willing," he said. "Be clean!" Immediately he was cured of his leprosy. ⁴  Then Jesus said to him, "See that you don't tell anyone. But go, show yourself to the priest and offer the gift Moses commanded, as a testimony to them."

Matthew 9:35-38 (NIV) ³⁵  Jesus went through all the towns and villages, teaching in their synagogues, preaching the good news of the kingdom and healing every disease and sickness. ³⁶  When he saw the crowds, he had compassion on them, because they were harassed and helpless, like sheep without a shepherd. ³⁷  Then he said to his disciples, "The harvest is plentiful but the workers are few. ³⁸  Ask the Lord of the harvest, therefore, to send out workers into his harvest field."

Acts 1:8 (NIV) ⁸  But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth."

PRAYER: “Open my lips, Lord, to speak forth the love of Christ and the everlasting joys of knowing Him. May Christ’s salvation and my faith in Him not be a secret from those in my life! When they think of me, may they think well of Jesus. In His holy name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

Satisfying the Soul

            We’ve had some hot days this summer, and it’s sometimes hard to find a place to get relief from the sun’s heat or the accompanying humidity. I am writing this week at Baptist Youth Camp, where the heat has been wilting kids and counselors during the day and the cool-off at night hasn’t been all that cool. I commend the staff here for their resilience and endurance in this hardship. Keeping 3^rd-5^th graders going and happy and involved isn’t always easy, especially while you yourself are “feeling it”. My “residence” at camp this year is a room on the second floor of the staff house. During the day the sun “bakes” the staff house. I have a small fan in my window which, until late in the evening blows only hot air. By morning it feels pretty good.

            I tell myself every January that I will not complain about heat in the summer. It’s so easy to do. I think about how spoiled I am and how prone I am to focus on the weather and be distracted from the Lord. I remind myself that it hasn’t been all that long since human beings have lived with electricity and the tools of refrigeration. How easy it is for me to take those things for granted.

            In Bible times… in Bible lands… it must have been brutal, especially during certain seasons of the year. Jesus would have experienced the heat and the cold, the rain, and all the conditions of weather just as we do. Somehow I can’t picture Him complaining about it. It was just part of life. But, also like us, Jesus got thirsty. In preparing for this Sunday’s service I read part of John 4. There we see Jesus traveling through Samaria. He stops at a well and encounters a woman, whom He asks for a drink. He was looking for refreshment of His body, and He took the opportunity to help her and teach her spiritually about Himself. He speaks to her about living water. She is intrigued, and asks for it, thinking she will never have to come to the well again. Water is life. Throughout the day here at camp kids are being reminded to drink lots of water. We’re blessed with water that is easily available. It would have been much harder on this woman. I’m sure she would have loved to not have to return again and again to that well.

            But Jesus had something else in mind: living water. There is only one source of this “water” – Jesus Himself. He Himself is the water and only He can make it available. But when we come to Him to “drink” we are refreshed and rejuvenated. In fact, we have eternal life. There is a spiritual thirst in this “desert” of a world that only Jesus can quench. All else leads to death. Only Jesus gives life. May our souls “drink deeply” of Him and find eternal life. He graciously “poured Himself out” in death on the cross for us. Since He has found me, He satisfies my soul.

John 4:14 (NIV) ¹⁴  but whoever drinks the water I give him will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give him will become in him a spring of water welling up to eternal life."

John 7:37-39 (NIV) ³⁷  On the last and greatest day of the Feast, Jesus stood and said in a loud voice, "If anyone is thirsty, let him come to me and drink. ³⁸  Whoever believes in me, as the Scripture has said, streams of living water will flow from within him." ³⁹  By this he meant the Spirit, whom those who believed in him were later to receive. Up to that time the Spirit had not been given, since Jesus had not yet been glorified.

Isaiah 44:3-4 (NIV) ³  For I will pour water on the thirsty land, and streams on the dry ground; I will pour out my Spirit on your offspring, and my blessing on your descendants. ⁴  They will spring up like grass in a meadow, like poplar trees by flowing streams.

Isaiah 55:1-3 (NIV) ¹  "Come, all you who are thirsty, come to the waters; and you who have no money, come, buy and eat! Come, buy wine and milk without money and without cost. ²  Why spend money on what is not bread, and your labor on what does not satisfy? Listen, listen to me, and eat what is good, and your soul will delight in the richest of fare. ³  Give ear and come to me; hear me, that your soul may live. I will make an everlasting covenant with you, my faithful love promised to David.

PRAYER: “Thank You, Lord, for Jesus, in whom my soul delights, and in whom all my needs are met. He is the source of my life and the giver of hope. Thank you for quenching my souls deepest longings and for satisfying all my desires in the person of Christ. May I not look elsewhere, but find in Him alone all that my heart craves.  In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

All the Way

           During our vacation we spent a day in Boston and took in half a Red Sox game. We intended to see the whole game, but it began to rain so hard that the game had to be delayed. We later learned that it turned into a three hour delay. We left after waiting about an hour. We enjoyed what we saw, but would much rather have seen a whole game – especially since that was what we paid for.

            A little boy had been playing outside on a hot day. When he came inside he asked his mother for a drink of water saying, “I’m really thirsty, Mom!” When she brought him a half a glass of water, the look of disappointment was obvious on his face. “Mom, I’m big enough now. You can trust me with a full glass. I want a whole glass.”

            About 60 minutes into the movie the screen went black and the sound died – “just” when it was getting interesting. The moviegoers had been drawn in… the story was engrossing… the questions in their minds about how it would end were flashing through their minds.

            There are times when half way just doesn’t do it in our lives. When you plan a trip you want to reach your destination. A breakdown, or any other cause that keeps you from getting all the way you want to be, is just not acceptable. I don’t want to be stranded in some out of the way airport. I want to be where I planned. I don’t want to finish the hike halfway up the mountain. I don’t want to hear just half a song. I’d like to finish the pregnancy and deliver my child (or see my wife do so).

            So many times in life… halfway just doesn’t “cut it”. On June 30, those of us who are reading through the Bible in a year made it to the halfway point. Just think of what we’ll miss if we end there. No, we want more than just the first half. We want the whole thing. We want to stay on track and finish the course. So we keep going… onward day by day through the whole text of Scripture.

            God doesn’t do things “halfway”. He always finishes His plans. He brings His works to completion, and that includes those of us in Christ. It includes His purposes for His Church. And it includes His intentions toward us. He never loves us halfway. He doesn’t give us “half” gifts. He doesn’t give us half the peace He could, half the joy He could. He gives in full measure and He knows (and only He knows) when the job is done. God will never shortchange you and me of anything. He is always fully sufficient in every need.

Philippians 1:3-6 (NIV) - ³  I thank my God every time I remember you. ⁴  In all my prayers for all of you, I always pray with joy ⁵  because of your partnership in the gospel from the first day until now, ⁶  being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.

Ephesians 3:16-19 (NIV) ¹⁶  I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, ¹⁷  so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, ¹⁸  may have power, together with all the saints, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, ¹⁹  and to know this love that surpasses knowledge--that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God.

Ephesians 4:12-15 (NIV) ¹²  to prepare God's people for works of service, so that the body of Christ may be built up ¹³  until we all reach unity in the faith and in the knowledge of the Son of God and become mature, attaining to the whole measure of the fullness of Christ. ¹⁴  Then we will no longer be infants, tossed back and forth by the waves, and blown here and there by every wind of teaching and by the cunning and craftiness of men in their deceitful scheming. ¹⁵  Instead, speaking the truth in love, we will in all things grow up into him who is the Head, that is, Christ.

PRAYER: “Thank You, Father, that You supply to me all I need out of Your riches in glory. Whether it be material, spiritual, physical, or emotional, You are generous and full in Your blessing. Help me to see that what You supply will always be enough, and that I never need to feel like You’ve “let me down”. Teach me contentment and show me how to live by faith, truly trusting You moment by moment. Thank You for giving me the full measure of Your love.  In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott

O Be Careful Little Tongue What You Say

           One of the big news stories while I was away in the last two weeks is what we might call the “fall” of Paula Deen. Ms. Deen is a cook, an entertainer, a restaurateur, an author, and a popular television personality. She’s from Savannah, Georgia, and has become a very wealthy and successful businesswoman and celebrity. I do not watch her programs or own any of her cookbooks and I don’t know all that much about her personally. Probably the closest I’ve come to her is that I once ate at “Bubba’s” in Savannah, which I think is her brother’s restaurant.

            Anyway, you are probably well aware that virtually all of her corporate sponsors, the Food Network, her publisher, and others have virtually disowned her because of her admission to the use of the racial epithet “nigger” earlier in her life. My purpose in writing about her today is not to support her or to condemn her. My thoughts are not so much about her as the response to her. I believe the use of this term is wrong and that its use can be a sign of racially motivated hate. I do not use the term and would discourage everyone I know from using it, whether in some self-styled “humorous” fashion or in a serious way. I don’t mean to excuse her for using it and I don’t believe its use should be condoned. It’s a very hurtful word.

            From my perspective, however, what she has experienced in the last two weeks seems to be a case of the punishment not fitting the crime. I believe our culture is extremely hypocritical when it responds so violently and harshly to her while condoning and even applauding many things which I believe to be equally wrong or even so much worse. Our culture regularly and unashamedly, for example, misuses the name of the Lord Jesus and the name of God the Father. I heard one critic carelessly and harshly swear using the Lord’s name while he was actually condemning Paula Deen for what she said. And I thought, “He doesn’t even realize it, but what he just did is far worse… it’s far more serious than what she did.” What she did is serious, but to use the Lord’s name in vain is to sin grievously against the creating, all-powerful, holy and righteous God. Yet people trample His name constantly in conversation. They use His name to curse and they blaspheme it as a profanity. They use His name frivolously, as if it didn’t matter… and nobody responds with shock. Nobody gets upset. Nobody applies social and economic consequences. Nobody judges. Nobody really cares. Yet the spiritual consequences (especially the eternal ones) are so grave. We know from the Scriptures that Jesus said that every human being will be called to account for every careless word (Matthew 12:36). I believe this ought to have an impact on our speech. We are called to love God, not to treat His name like trash. When you love someone you speak well of them. You use their name with care. So love should guide our speech “vertically” (with regard to God) and “horizontally” (with regard to our fellow man). Certainly we need Christ to be Lord of our lips and to help us speak wisely and helpfully and in ways that honor God.

            One of the joys of being His follower is receiving His forgiveness for my failings of my tongue. Though her fans may support her, it seems like no one else will forgive Paula Deen for her verbal sins. No matter how loud and long she proclaims her regret, remorse, and sorrow, she’s been “thrown under the bus” by many. Of course, only God can see her heart and know if her sorrow is godly and genuine. I’m glad our God is forgiving and will show us mercy when we are sincere in our repentance. (Psalm 86:5 (NASB) - “For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in lovingkindness to all who call upon You.” Thank You, Lord!

Exodus 20:7 (NIV) ⁷  "You shall not misuse the name of the LORD your God, for the LORD will not hold anyone guiltless who misuses his name.

Exodus 20:7 (NASB) ⁷  "You shall not take the name of the LORD your God in vain, for the LORD will not leave him unpunished who takes His name in vain.

Matthew 6:9 (NASB) ⁹  "Pray, then, in this way: 'Our Father who is in heaven, Hallowed be Your name.

Matthew 12:35-37 (NASB) ³⁵  "The good man brings out of his good treasure what is good; and the evil man brings out of his evil treasure what is evil. ³⁶  "But I tell you that every careless word that people speak, they shall give an accounting for it in the day of judgment. ³⁷  "For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned."  

PRAYER: “Father, let Your Spirit convict me when I use Your name without thinking, or even in a harsh, improper way. Help me to comprehend the danger of such speech. Lead me to know the fear of the Lord, which is where wisdom begins, and by which I may understand my offense and know to come to You to seek Your mercy, forgiveness, and grace. Thank You that Jesus shed His very lifeblood for the careless speech of people and for the ill-treatment of Your name. Please cleanse me and help me to submit my tongue and my heart to You  In Jesus’ name I pray, AMEN.”

Jesus Christ is Lord!

Scott