Something to Believe

August 31, 2009 · Posted in Devotional, Faith, Jesus Christ · Comment

The faces all around me they don’t smile they just crack
Waiting for our ship to come but our ship’s not coming back
We do have time like pennies in a jar
What are we saving for

So give me something to believe
Cause I am living just to breathe
And I need something more
To keep on breathing for
So give me something to believe

My personal journey into the dark regions of doubt revealed to me how utterly hopeless and void a faithless existence can be.

I learned that even the doubters have to believe in something…even if it is just believing in their doubt. We call people agnostics who find solace in uncertainty.

The word agnostic, while it is often professed by well educated people, is not a flattering term at all. It literally means, “Know nothing.” The consolation the agnostic finds is in his belief that if he doesn’t know, neither do you…no one knows. He is just intelligent or educated or brave enough to admit it.

Still, agnosticism is itself a belief system.

So is Atheism.

An Atheist has a belief system. He believes in chance and circumstance. He believes in the absence of deity and essentially asserts himself as his own “god.” He may not believe in God…but he believes in something.

I first came across the lyrics of the song with which I opened this entry while playing Madden on XBox. I don’t recall if it was ’08 or ’09 or…

I was struck by the gripping earnestness of the band (a group called Bravery, about which I know nothing) as they sang the song. There was such an urgency, such a need in the lyrics. How hopeless it all sounded. How maddeningly frustrating the songwriter’s and the singers’ pursuit of “truth” or meaning…

I am hiding from some beast
But the beast was always here
Watching without eyes
Because the beast is just my fear
That I am just nothing
Now its just what I’ve become
What am I waiting for
Its already done

I am so glad that the God I love and serve, even when I was trying every way in the world to distance myself from Him, gave me something to believe. He gave me something real, something tangible, something supported by too much evidence to dismiss.

He gave me Himself. Through all the deep valleys and dark twists and turns of my journey, He was there.

And He will be. I believe that…with all my heart.

You looking for something to believe? Looking for something real to sink your teeth into? Looking for terra firma upon which to plant your feet of faith?

I give you Jesus!

Look into Him. He is more than willing to be scrutinized, analyzed, examined, investigated. He can stand it. Look into the Scriptures. Consider the weight and the worth of the beautiful words of the Bible.

How sweet it is to say with the great Apostle Paul…

“I know whom I have believed, and am persuaded that He is able to keep that which I have committed unto Him against that day.” ~2 Timothy 1:12

And what exactly have I committed to him?

Everything!

He is my “something to believe.”

Tags: agnosticism, Atheism, Devotional, doubt, Faith, Jesus Christ

Outside the Camp with Christ

August 30, 2009 · Posted in Devotional, Jesus Christ · Comment

For the bodies of those animals, whose blood is brought into the sanctuary by the high priest for sin, are burned outside the camp. Therefore Jesus also, that He might sanctify the people with His own blood, suffered outside the gate. Therefore let us go forth to Him, outside the camp, bearing His reproach.
Hebrews 13:11-13

Jesus suffered “outside the camp.” What a stark picture of loneliness and solitude. He suffered while hundreds, perhaps thousands, passed by. Yet, He suffered alone.

He was not in the camp. He was not in the mainstream. He was not among those who followed the popular school of thought in His day. He offered a radically different message: one of righteousness and mercy, judgment and forgiveness.

He loved the unlovely. He exposed hypocrisy. He told the truth.

Now, the writer of Hebrews stirs us to action. He rallies the Christian troops with the words, “Let US go to him, OUTSIDE the camp, BEARING his reproach.” Let us be less concerned about how we “look” to others, or that we might “appear” fanatical, or that we might not find ourselves in the “mainstream,” and more concerned with having a real, life-changing relationship with Jesus Christ.

No one can have both.

You cannot walk with the “world” and Christ. He is always going to be outside the camp.

So, choose, my friend. Will it be Christ or the crowd? Are you willing to bear the abuse that accompanies surrender to His will and Word? Which do you desire more – a place in the camp today, or that city to come?

A Prayer For Today: Lord Jesus, I choose You. I will come to You and follow You regardless of the cost. No earthly acclaim or acknowledgement can take Your place in my life. And no human reproach can compare to the joy You give to me. Give me strength and grace, Lord. Amen.”

Tags: Christ follower, Christian, Christian Living, Christianity, Devotional, Jesus Christ

Business in Great Waters

August 23, 2009 · Posted in Devotional, Faith, Life Experience · Comment

They that go down to the sea in ships, that do business in great waters; These see the works of the LORD, and his wonders in the deep. For he commandeth, and raiseth the stormy wind, which lifteth up the waves thereof. They mount up to the heaven, they go down again to the depths: their soul is melted because of trouble. They reel to and fro, and stagger like a drunken man, and are at their wit’s end. Then they cry unto the LORD in their trouble, and he bringeth them out of their distresses. He maketh the storm a calm, so that the waves thereof are still. Then are they glad because they be quiet; so he bringeth them unto their desired haven. [Psalm 107:23-30]

I have always found this passage to be one of such haunting, poetic beauty. I imagine the Psalmist on a little hillside overlooking a busy port. On the docks he can see and hear the hustle and bustle of the workers, unloading precious cargo from faraway lands and loading their own goods to send across the vast waters. Out in the harbor is a ship, sails unfurling, bough pointed towards the distant horizon, venturesome men resting themselves in the mighty hand of providence, praying for favorable winds and weather.

But they who live by the sea may die by the sea.

Storms arise unexpectedly. Gale winds may surge unpredictably, rocking their boat, threatening their very existence. That’s when even the most hardened sailor feels the urge to pray…for mercy, for grace, for safe passage.

And here we have come, you and I, whether by land or sea, to do business in the great waters of uncertainty. Sometimes our little vessels are all but capsized. We, too, “reel to and fro” and find ourselves at “wit’s end.” Is it then, is it only “then” that we cry unto the Lord? Only in our trouble?

We cry to Him then like a thousand times before and he “maketh the storm a calm.” For awhile we are glad because we are quiet. But how soon will we forget? How long will it be until we call His name again? Another storm? Another near miss?

We often remind people that the God of the good times is the God of the bad times too, the God of the mountain is also God in the valley. I come to remind you, Christian sailor, that the God of the storm is also God of the calm. He doesn’t abandon you in either case.

Don’t forget Him.

A Prayer for Today: “Father, I thank You that You have never minded my crying to You for help. You have always patiently listened and provided the help and comfort and hope I needed. Forgive me the times I take You for granted. The sunny, peaceful days I will remember You too…and pause to give You praise. Amen.”

Tags: Devotional, diifculty, prayer, storms, trials