Month: March 2024

Closeness to God

Scripture

I recently reconnected with my best friend from high school years. We met to attend a funeral together on a rainy day in Virginia Beach. Over the last 43 years of my married life, I have only seen my friend maybe 5 times – one or two times when she came to visit me, one time at her dad’s memorial service, one time when I stopped by her workplace, and then this recent funeral.

What struck me about our catching up was that it seemed that no time had passed. We tried to fill in the high school and college memory blanks for each other, but the substance of “real knowing” was still there after all these cumulative years (50 years since high school days). The humor, the lack of pretense, the ease of conversation, and the familiarity were still intact.

God creates intimacy with us by the way He treats us. We may move into or out of fellowship with Him, but when we return to Him, we find that “real knowing” is still there. Isaiah 42:3 (ESV) says, “A bruised reed He will not break, and a faintly burning wick He will not quench; He will faithfully bring forth justice.” In Matthew 11:28-30 Jesus tells us, “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from Me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For My yoke is easy, and my burden is light.”

Intimacy with God is a completed circle when we move into fellowship, just like reconnecting with an old and true friend. When we know Him and experience the way He treats us in reality and according to His Word, we find real mercy, grace, slowness to anger, steadfast love and faithfulness. There will be smiles of the heart. There won’t be any pretending. There will be non-obstructed communication. There will be intimacy. There will be rest.

God’s Spirit works to bring us into His precious fellowship. The Gospel lets us know that He will treat us better than we deserve, more lovingly that do our earthly friends, more patiently than our repeated failures should allow, and more gently than are our inept attempts at friendship.

Thank you KP for the reminder of what closeness looks like! Smiles of the heart and no pretense.

Photo Credit: Kim Clayton Lance

Never Out of Sight or Mind

Scripture

Do you ever feel invisible? Do you ever wonder why no one is asking you how you are or what you’ve been doing? Do you ever wonder why no one seeks you out to be curious about you and your life?

Psalm 139:7-10 (ESV) says, “Where shall I go from Your Spirit? Or where shall I flee from Your presence? If I ascend to heaven, You are there! If I make my bed in Sheol, You are there! If I take the wings of the morning and dwell in the uttermost parts of the sea, even there Your hand shall lead me, and Your right hand shall hold me.”

Loneliness is epidemic in our world full of people. And, social media turns out not to be really social at all. The world works overtime to dehumanize us. Go figure.

Yet, God is there when our self-placed parameters stretch as far as opposites can be, like heaven and Sheol. There is no depth too extensive to be devoid of God’s grip or His power to guide us and hold us securely. The “wings of the morning” hints at the farthest point east where the sun rises. The “uttermost parts of the sea” hints at the Mediterranean Sea far to the west of Israel. As far as east is from west, there is still no hiding from God’s gaze or interest. No hiding from His Sovereign control or love. No hiding from His loving care for His Creation or for His desire to re-humanize us when we are at our loneliest and most invisible points.

We like to think we can escape God’s bubble, but we can’t. We think we are alone and autonomous, but in reality we are still operational in God’s world. Our operations might be rebellious and unbelieving, but we are still hemmed in by God’s permissions and boundary lines. He sees us and He thinks about us. We are never “out of sight, out of mind.”

God sees us, knows our every intention and action, and is so near to us that the minute we call upon Him, there is no lag between our cry and His response. Although He doesn’t respond in sky-writing, He instantly dissolves the spiritual barriers between the east and west of our wandering hearts, as the heaven and Sheol contrast indicates. Even when we hesitate to call upon Him, He stands at the door ready to enter and has been there all along, seeing us and thinking about us.

Job 42:1-5 says, “Then Job replied to the Lord: I know that You can do all things; no plan of Yours can be thwarted. You asked, ‘Who is this that obscures my counsel without knowledge?’ Surely I spoke of things I did not understand, things too wonderful for me to know. You said, ‘Listen now, and I will speak; I will question you, and you shall answer me.’ My ears had heard of You but now my eyes have seen You.”

As we are never out of God’s sight or out of God’s mind, He is faithful to answer when we call to Him. And then we can honestly say in return that God is never out of our sight. God is never out of our minds. Then, we can be truly human again.

Photo Credit: Ro Seaman

Mathematical Musings: Ups and Downs

Scripture

The mathematician in me has always appreciated the concept of inverse variation: if the value of one quantity increases, the value of the other quantity decreases in the same proportion. For example, at constant temperature, as pressure increases, volume decreases. You might remember this from physics or chemistry class.

2 Corinthians 4:16-17 (ESV) says, “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison…” The inverse variation analogy might be a stretch. But, in the life of a believer, we don’t fret about the inverse relationship between the outer and inner selves. We take heart. While the outer physical self decreases in stamina and vigor, by God’s grace our inner self is increasingly renewed and invigorated for glory. We are embodied souls living with a “both” existence of life and death. As we lament the curse of bodily decrease, we also take joy in the grace given in our hearts being enlarged by a beautiful Savior, Jesus Christ.

Another look at mathematical principles includes the concept of direct variation (the opposite of inverse variation) which happens when both values increase at the same time and in relationship to one another. 2 Corinthians 5:11-15 says, “Therefore, knowing the fear of the Lord, we persuade others. But what we are is known to God, and I hope it is known also to your conscience. We are not commending ourselves to you again but giving you cause to boast about us, so that you may be able to answer those who boast about outward appearance and not about what is in the heart. For if we are beside ourselves (crazy), it is for God; if we are in our right mind, it is for you. For the love of Christ controls us, because we have concluded this: that One has died for all, therefore all have died; and He died for all, that those who live might no longer live for themselves but for Him Who for their sake died and was raised.”

As the Corinthians increasingly mocked Paul as being crazy, the unbelieving Corinthian culture increased in darkness and hard-heartedness. Yet, there was a simultaneous increase in right-mindedness – knowing the fear of the Lord and sharing the Gospel with others. Being sober and crazy at the same time, increasingly. Have you ever experienced that dual reality? Paul exemplified sobriety in his passion for ministry, motivation to please Christ, and priority to persuade others of Gospel truth even while accusations of his craziness increased.

Being in your “right mind” is observed when a believer grows in relationship with the Lord to reveal outward evidence of wisdom, fruitfulness and passion. The world may question the faith upon which these evidences are based as insanity. But taking a page from Paul’s playbook, nothing else matters except that the love of Christ controls us increasingly and that we live for Him. What may seem ludicrous to one group will be eternally life-giving to others.

Here are other valuations that increase in concert by God’s perfect design. Philippians 4:8 says, “Finally, brothers (and sisters), whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” Let these increase directly in relationship to one another.

For the believer, direct variation should be a “both” existence of faith and love. Watch love increase when faith increases. It is direct!