Blessed by Love

It's funny how God uses multiple messengers to say the same thing in different ways. This morning I read:

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/what-does-it-really-mean-to-be-blessed in which Vaneetha Rendall Risner reminds us that God's blessings aren't just the good things we enjoy in life, but we are blessed in and through suffering, mourning, and persecution among other difficulties. (See Matthew 5.)

I then returned to reading Prone to Love, by Jason Clark. He states:

"I am growing in my revelation regarding my Father’s heart toward me. 'Only goodness and love all the days of my life,' that’s what I say. I say it when life is a mountaintop and I am learning to say it when life is a valley. Notice the word learning. I am learning my Father doesn’t oscillate. I am learning He will not turn His back on me. He is never my torture; He is only my delight! His love is steadfast and relentless" (117).

God's love is the same whether life is good or life is hard, whether we're in pain or ecstasy, whether we live in wealth or poverty, whether we have freedom of religion or persecution, whether we're surrounded by friends and family or living in isolation. His love never changes, and that is the reason why we can say that we are blessed each and every day. His love is the true blessing. 

"Surely goodness and mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I shall dwell in the house of the Lord forever" (Psalm 23:6 ESV). This isn't just some future promise. It is true today. Goodness and mercy are with us daily, and we do dwell in His presence today. How easy that is to forget!

Going back to Risner's article, it is interesting how the prosperity gospel has subtly invaded our thinking. We look at good things as evidence of God's blessing and favor, and bad things as reflecting God's judgment or a "wake-up call." (Clark has a chapter on that too.) But God is always good, always loving, always present. We're the ones who miss seeing what He's doing, because we are looking for the wrong kinds of blessings. 

What would happen if we started changing the way we talk about what God is doing in our lives? It would certainly change the kinds of posts we see on social media. I can only speak for myself, but right now I am blessed that God is:

-walking with me through a time of physical suffering, 

-giving me new experiences of His love in the midst of pain, 

-providing time to reflect on who He is, 

-reminding me of the love of my brothers and sisters in Christ, 

-realigning my priorities away from tasks and toward people,

-forcing me to rest and wait...

"The steadfast love of the LORD never ceases; His mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is Your faithfulness" (Lamentations 3:22-23).

© Dawn Rutan 2016. Photo by Dawn Rutan.

Do You Know I Love You?

I just started reading Prone to Love, by Jason Clark. He presents a very simple message, but one that I think many of us struggle to hear and believe: "Remember: God is always saying, 'I love you.' And He’s always asking, 'Do you believe Me?'" (52). Even if we've grown up hearing the message of God's love and we believe it intellectually, it doesn't always become heart knowledge. Once in a while I realize I've become calloused to the message. "Yeah, I know, God loves me, so what?" (That probably happens more than I even notice.) 

I'm not a big fan of the mushy "God loves me" Christian songs that seem to focus on self rather than God, but sometimes we do need to be struck again by the reminder, "Oh, how He loves me!" As Brennan Manning often quoted, "The Father is so very fond of me!"

So what? What difference does it make? I can think of several implications:

-It changes how I see God. He is not the harsh taskmaster waiting to catch me in sin or deducting points for the ministry I fail to pursue. Instead, He is a proud Father delighting in His child. 

-It changes how I see myself. I can learn to love this one for whom Christ died, extending grace instead of condemnation, finding security instead of insecurity, confidence instead of fear, contentment instead of neediness. Although I'm far from perfect, God isn't shaking His head in disappointment and frustration. 

-It changes how I see others. They are not interruptions, annoyances, victims, or enemies, but they are brothers and sisters in Christ, co-heirs of eternity, people whom I can love and invest my life in. 

Jon Bloom wrote in Don't Follow Your Heart, "Nothing exposes the depth of our sin like really seeking to love God with our entire being and loving our neighbors as ourselves (Luke 10:27)." We can't even begin to love God and others well if we don't know that He first loved us. Love is a supernatural overflow from the God who is love. It isn't an emotion, or even a choice, but the outpouring of Christ's life in us. Emotions are fleeting, and choices can be coerced, but true love has only one Source. 

I often think about the image of Jesus holding a little child. “Let the little children come to me and do not hinder them, for to such belongs the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 19:14 ESV). Evidently children and parents were drawn to Jesus because of His love. I imagine He was kind of like the favorite camp counselor that the kids cling to. It makes me wonder what heaven will be like. Will we all be vying to get close to Jesus to hold His hand? Will there be a line of kids waiting to sit on His lap? Somehow I don't think there will be any competition or disappointment, but I can't imagine what it will be like to have free access to the One who loves us beyond measure. 

I pray that you "may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God" (Ephesians 3:18-19).

© Dawn Rutan 2016.

Non-Independence Day

I was just thinking about this verse from John 21:18 (ESV) "Truly, truly, I say to you, when you were young, you used to dress yourself and walk wherever you wanted, but when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and another will dress you and carry you where you do not want to go.” 

My first thought was that when we're really young, we are dressed and carried by others. As we get a little older we get more freedom and control to a certain degree before the process reverses itself. But in reality, there is very little of life that is truly autonomous. Even the supposedly independent years are controlled by schedules, employers, finances, family needs, health, etc. We're constantly being carried where we do not want to go. 

Ironically, trust seems to be inversely correlated to independence. A small child trusts her parents to do all the things that she cannot do for herself. An aging adult learns to trust those who are his caregivers. In between, ideas of independence lead us to rely on ourselves for everything. We tend not to trust others and we feel ashamed if we do need help. (Just try exercising your independence when you're laying in a hospital bed hooked up to IVs!) Psychologists sometimes refer to three stages of human development as being: dependence, independence, and interdependence. I think that model may be highly influenced by Western culture.

Dana Yeakley writes in The Gentle Art of Discipling Women, "We need to recognize this: we are never in control, we were never in control, and we will never be in control. We completely deny this when things are going well. We simply do not recognize how out of control we actually are. And usually when complications arise we hope to 'regain' some control. Interesting, isn't it? The fact is that we were never in control even when life was 'normal'" (27).

There are many times in Scripture when God leads people through places they'd rather not go: out of the Garden of Eden (Genesis 3:24), to an unknown land (Genesis 12:1), into Egypt (Genesis 37:28), out of Egypt and across the Red Sea (Exodus 14:11), around the wilderness (Exodus 16:3), through the valley of the shadow of death (Psalm 23), to Nineveh (Jonah), into the wilderness to be tempted (Mark 1:12), through Samaria (John 4:4), through the storm (Matthew 8:23)... The list goes on. The unifying reason behind each those excursions was that people would learn to trust God as the One who provides and guides. His plan for His children includes a lot more than just enjoying a comfortable life. 

The question is, how long will it take to admit our dependence and learn to trust God and one another? It seems to be a lifelong process that we often fight to the bitter end. Jesus challenges us to have faith like a little child--not naive or ignorant, but trusting that the Father always knows and does what is best. 

“Truly, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will never enter the kingdom of heaven.  Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven" (Matthew 18:3-4). 

© Dawn Rutan 2016.

Learning Experiences

Some things can only be learned by experience I guess. Surgery and a night in the hospital have given me a much greater sympathy for those who have extended and/or repeated stays. It's not exactly a desirable event. Here are a few thoughts I've had, some of which mirror John Piper's reflections that I linked in my last blog. 

-It's humbling to suddenly be dependent on strangers for everything you need. I had to remind myself that it is not an imposition to ask for help from those who volunteer or are employed to help, and the vast majority seemed glad to do so. 

-It's not easy to be conversational when you can't string words together into a sentence. Sometimes it was all I could do to remember to say thank you. 

-When sleep is impossible, you might as well make the best of it. On sleepless nights at home I usually get frustrated because I know what is on my schedule for the next day. But in the hospital I was at peace just laying there and thinking and listening to music. (Thank God for iPhones with capacity for hours of music, plus books, email and Facebook!) I challenged myself with remembering the Scriptures I've memorized over the past year, and I enjoyed time to pray for many people and situations that came to mind. 

-It can be overwhelming to be released with a bunch of instructions but with no real idea of what to expect when you get home. How do I know if the pain pills will work or will cause side effects when I've only had IVs for two days? Doctors who go through the same spiel day after day may forget that this is all new to me. Having nurses or other people to talk to is helpful (as is Google).

-It is amazing to live in a country and time period when medical help is so readily available. Although the bills may cause a twinge of regret, it could be far worse. I could be in a place where I'd have to live with problems because help was not affordable or available. Many people die for lack of simple medicine. (Mark 5:21-43 comes to mind.) I have to be thankful as well for the quality of my hospital. 

-The prayers of friends and the presence of God are lifesaving. I am one who can get anxious about many things. But I had no fear of the surgery, being alone for the night, or even having a male nurse. God has been orchestrating this event and preparing me for it for quite some time. His timing is perfect. 

I'm sure I could think of more to add, but my brain is ready for a nap. The challenge for the weeks ahead is to remember that rest is good and that it is okay to be unproductive at times. Everything in due season. 

"Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort,  who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God" (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 ESV). 

© Dawn Rutan 2016. Photo by Dawn Rutan.

Getting Ready

This Wednesday I'll be doing something new, though it wasn't exactly on my bucket list-- surgery and a night in the hospital (woman's stuff 101). At the moment I'm more anxious about leaving my office in good order than about the surgery. My only regret is in missing several weeks of prime running weather. 

Several Scriptures have come to my attention lately:

"I trust in You, O Lord; I say, 'You are my God.' My times are in Your hand..." (Psalm 31:14-15 ESV).

"...The Lord takes thought for me..." (Psalm 40:17).

"Commit your way to the Lord; trust in Him, and He will act... Be still before the Lord and wait patiently for Him..." (Psalm 37:5, 7).

While I trust that God will do far more than all I ask or think (Ephesians 3:20), I also know that I have nothing to lose. Even if the worst were to happen, "For me to live is Christ and to die is gain" (Philippians 1:21). I can't imagine the fear that would come with facing any kind of surgery without knowing Christ. I can't even imagine facing the routine challenges of a single day of life apart from Christ. 

I know most of my friends are Christians, and I appreciate the prayers that will be made on my behalf. But if you don't know Christ as your Savior and Lord, consider where you would find peace in trying times. There is only one God who loved us enough to reach down to us when we were completely powerless to work our way to Him. We can't earn our way into heaven, but we can accept the free gift He offers and be adopted into His family. That gives us the peace to face any storm. 

For those of you who may be facing the "hospital storm," I found this resource from John Piper to be encouraging and more helpful than any pre-op appointment:

http://www.desiringgod.org/articles/ten-lessons-from-a-hospital-bed

In the hands of the One who knows all the answers when I don't even know what questions to ask...

© Dawn Rutan 2016. Photo by Dawn Rutan.  

Glory & Joy

I shared this quote from Tony Reinke in The Joy Project on Facebook:

“God’s glory and our most blissful joy collide into one end. Our collective joy requires majesty. We can have no true joy apart from his grandeur. To delight in God’s glory is the weightiest matter in the universe. We were made for this. To behold God’s resplendence is to be filled with his holy joy.”

That is a deep subject that requires more thought. It is perhaps illuminated by some verses from John’s gospel:

“I glorified You on earth, having accomplished the work that You gave me to do. And now, Father, glorify Me in Your own presence with the glory that I had with You before the world existed... But now I am coming to You, and these things I speak in the world, that they may have My joy fulfilled in themselves” (17:4-5, 13 ESV).

“These things I have spoken to you, that My joy may be in you, and that your joy may be full” (15:11).

The work of Jesus was to glorify God through the plan of redemption, which enabled God to draw men unto Himself for eternity. God had no need to create the universe or mankind, but He did so in order to share His love and joy with us. C.S. Lewis said, “Joy is the serious business of heaven.” God’s glory and our joy are inextricably linked.

Jude wrote: “Now to Him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you blameless before the presence of His glory with great joy, to the only God, our Savior, through Jesus Christ our Lord, be glory, majesty, dominion, and authority, before all time and now and forever. Amen”(24-25). In reading these verses this week, my first thought was to wonder whether the “great joy” referred to God’s joy or to our joy. The more I think about it, I believe it means both. God’s joy and ours will be mutual at that point. His glory will be magnified and our joy will be made complete.

In the meantime, it seems that the pursuit of joy and the pursuit of God’s glory are one and the same. As we pursue those things that glorify God, we experience the delights of His love and savor the joy of pleasing Him. That’s not to say that He doesn’t love and delight in us when we aren’t pursuing His glory, but our experience is tainted by sin, and we don’t perceive the relationship the same way.

After writing this far, I discovered this article by John Piper, God’s Glory and the Deepest Joy of Human Souls Are One Thing, in which he shares fifteen implications of this truth. Two of his points are: “sin is the suicidal exchange of the glory of God for the broken cisterns of created things;” and “Heaven will be a never-ending, ever-increasing discovery of more and more of God’s glory with greater and ever-greater joy in him.” So this pursuit of our joy and God’s glory is not limited to this life, but continues through eternity.

Piper is noted for saying, “God is most glorified in us when we are most satisfied in Him.” The Westminster Catechism states, “The chief end of man is to glorify God and enjoy Him forever.” Let us pursue those things that glorify God and maximize our enjoyment in Him!

“...In Your presence there is fullness of joy; at Your right hand are pleasures forevermore” (Psalm 16:11).

© Dawn Rutan 2016.

United

We’re all familiar with the scriptural admonition that is often repeated at weddings, “So they are no longer two but one flesh. What therefore God has joined together, let not man separate” (Matthew 19:6 ESV). The Apostle Paul repeated part of this verse in Ephesians 5:31 and then adds, “This mystery is profound, and I am saying that it refers to Christ and the church.” Sam Andreades points out in his book enGendered that we tend to get this backward—it’s not that Christ and the church is like marriage, but that marriage is like Christ and the church. Marriage is a metaphor for the reality of union with Christ.

There are many Scriptures that talk about our union with Christ both as individuals and as a Body. Here are a few:

“For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him… So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus” (Romans 6:5-6, 11).

“I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave Himself for me” (Galatians 2:20).

“There is one body and one Spirit—just as you were called to the one hope that belongs to your call—one Lord, one faith, one baptism, one God and Father of all, who is over all and through all and in all” (Ephesians 4:4-5).

“So we, though many, are one body in Christ, and individually members one of another” (Romans 12:5).

“…We are to grow up in every way into Him who is the head, into Christ, from whom the whole body, joined and held together by every joint with which it is equipped, when each part if working properly, makes the body grow so that it builds itself up in love” (Ephesians 4:15-16).

So if we are united as one body with Christ, what God has joined together let no man put asunder. I think this has many applications for us individually and collectively.

1) If we have indeed been crucified with Christ and are dead to sin, then we have the ability to resist temptation, but even if we do sin we are not torn away from union with Christ. We may lose some of the intimacy of that union for a time, but we are not permanently separated.

2) If we in the local church are united with Christ, we should also be united with one another in worship, fellowship, and work. Those who choose not to participate are either not members of the body to begin with, or they are malfunctioning members who hinder the unity of the church. If they are indeed members of the body, then the body is responsible for bringing them back into fellowship and equipping them to work properly.

3) If the Body of Christ is the universal Church, united across time and distance, then some of the nonsense that divides us needs to be set aside. That’s not to say that we won’t have differing opinions on some interpretations of Scripture, or that there won’t be heretics in sheep’s clothing, but the true Body should be united in the essentials of faith. We have more in common with one another than we should have with those outside the Church.

Unity with Christ and in Christ is not just the ideal state, but it is the reality. God has indeed joined two into one flesh, and man cannot separate them. We may not really understand or know how to live in that reality now, but one day we will see the full consummation of it when Christ returns.

“For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord” (Romans 8:38-39).

© Dawn Rutan 2016.