better days are coming

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

“‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it^[c] will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’

Jeremiah 33:14-16

One of my favorite pastors used to say, “The best is yet to come!” And that’s true in God’s world. In the world in which we live, which in the end is also God’s world we see trouble piled on trouble, no end of it. If it isn’t one thing it’s another and another and then the next problem. There’s always something. And it’s not just problems we might solve, but issues far beyond us. And we can thank only ourselves collectively as well as individually for much of the mess we’re in.

But God’s promise in Jesus is that better days are coming. God can’t wait to forgive and pour out God’s love on us. This does require repentance of sins, of our own foolish ways. All we have to be is honest to God, to others. God will take care of everything in the end. In the meantime God helps us, setting us on a course to be a part of solution the world needs, nothing short of God’s kingdom and that kingdom come in Jesus.

But we can take solace and even find relief with the thought that good days are ahead. That the problem or problems, troubles and trials which weigh in on us will someday be a thing of the past. It will all be gone. This can help us in the present, not to ignore hard reality, but not be suffocated in it, either. God will help us now as we look forward to the day when it will all be gone. In and through Jesus.

focus on God

Do not let your hearts be troubled. You believe in God^[a]; believe also in me.

John 14:1

I have told you these things, so that in me you may have peace. In this world you will have trouble. But take heart! I have overcome the world.

John 16:33

I’ve been enjoying the new hymnbook entitled Voices Together. Reading through new hymns and new songs (to me), as well as familiar hymns. And readings in the back, including morning, evening, and night liturgy, with prayers. Other than a Bible, this is the book I have in hand now every day.

What I’ve found is that it helps me get my focus on God, the same way Scripture does. Well, it’s meant to do that, as we raise our voice in songs, hymns and spiritual songs. With helpful readings and prayers in the back. The present day liturgy of the denominations Mennonite Church Canada and Mennonite Church USA.

On the eve of his crucifixion Jesus was telling his disciples some quite heavy things, not only more than they could wrap their heads around, but more than their hearts could bear. But he told them to believe in God, to believe in him. And to realize that in the midst of their troubles, he had overcome the world.

Scripture is replete with this theme. Trouble real and imagined. There is no end to that. But God wants us to lift our eyes up, off our troubles and onto God and God’s promises. We’re to be transfixed there. We can be either looking at our problems, or at God, one of the two, not both. I am speaking of focus here. It’s not like we’re oblivious to reality. But that’s not where we’re to live. We’re instead to live in God.

God will take care of it. Christ has won. What that means for us is that God wants us to learn to live above circumstances, so to speak. Still owning proper responsibility, but doing so in a way which puts God front and center. A matter of both perspective and expectation. Seeing everything more as God does, and finding God’s priority as well as God’s help. Learning to live in that. In and through Jesus.

don’t despise what’s simple (the example here for the anxious, like me)

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near. Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-9

We can often look at the simple as simplistic. And maybe somehow beneath us? That may or may not be what we need to humble us. But whatever may be the case, we dare not discount and put aside what might seem too obvious, for something more sophisticated and complex, even if we think that our problem is complex. It surely is, but we need to remember too that what is simple is often quite profound.

And this is no less the case in the above Scripture passage. What if we like myself, who are so prone to anxiety would start to put this passage into practice? I know there might be some who would roll their eyes thinking that this is like using a precious promise book, strewn with maybe a hundred verses we’re supposed to claim. It would be good to read the entire book of Philippians, for sure, and meditate on it all, and we need to do that, too.

Remember, the exercise itself will be beneficial, even if one is still lost in anxiety. What is true about those who suffer anxiety as I have over the years, is that the real problem is not the problem itself, but the anxiety. If one is not anxious about one thing, they’ll be anxious about something else. When one anxiety is lifted, there will be another anxiety to take its place. And what one finds out is that basically the approach to life is to be anxious, more or less filled with anxiety.

Instead we need to take this simple yet not simplistic approach of mouthing the above Scripture passage, for example, maybe after we’ve memorized it. And seeking to put it into practice in the midst of our day. If we stay at it, we’ll find eventually that the cloud will lift, that God will honor that. Always in the context of a life in which we are committed to following the Lord. Yes, in view of the full letter of Philippians, and all the rest God has given and will give us. In and through Jesus.

breaking new ground

While Jeremiah was still locked up in jail, a second Message from God was given to him:

“This is God’s Message, the God who made earth, made it livable and lasting, known everywhere as God: ‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’

“This is what God, the God of Israel, has to say about what’s going on in this city, about the homes of both people and kings that have been demolished, about all the ravages of war and the killing by the Chaldeans, and about the streets littered with the dead bodies of those killed because of my raging anger—about all that’s happened because the evil actions in this city have turned my stomach in disgust.

“But now take another look. I’m going to give this city a thorough renovation, working a true healing inside and out. I’m going to show them life whole, life brimming with blessings. I’ll restore everything that was lost to Judah and Jerusalem. I’ll build everything back as good as new. I’ll scrub them clean from the dirt they’ve done against me. I’ll forgive everything they’ve done wrong, forgive all their rebellions. And Jerusalem will be a center of joy and praise and glory for all the countries on earth. They’ll get reports on all the good I’m doing for her. They’ll be in awe of the blessings I am pouring on her.

Jeremiah 33:1-9; MSG

Jeremiah was in prison, and it was not a promising time. God’s judgment had come and was coming, and the people neither liked that, nor the messenger of it, Jeremiah. God’s promise here though is to see beyond that judgment to God’s restoration. Not that we should brush off the judgment as unimportant, or just a necessary nuisance until we get to the good part. Judgment is actually a necessary prelude to God’s blessing. What the passage is referring to is God’s judgment of the wicked to prepare the nation for what is just and good. In our own lives, God’s judgment comes in the form of loving discipline, to clean house in our lives in ways which we may or may not understand, and certainly we have yet to enter at least fully into that experience.

Breaking new ground is about God’s change in our minds, hearts, and lives. That’s the groundbreaking I’m thinking of here. It requires a commitment before God by us so that God can see that through with the least resistance from us, even cooperating with that insofar as God helps us do so. Again, the prayer God encouraged Jeremiah to pray is applicable to us here:

‘Call to me and I will answer you. I’ll tell you marvelous and wondrous things that you could never figure out on your own.’

Jeremiah 33:3; MSG

And later in this passage we see what we now know to be the ultimate fulfillment of God’s answer to Jeremiah in Jesus:

“‘The days are coming,’ declares the Lord, ‘when I will fulfill the good promise I made to the people of Israel and Judah.

“‘In those days and at that time
I will make a righteous Branch sprout from David’s line;
he will do what is just and right in the land.
In those days Judah will be saved
and Jerusalem will live in safety.
This is the name by which it^[c] will be called:
The Lord Our Righteous Savior.’

Jeremiah 33:14-16

Breaking new ground we can see from this passage begins with God’s word, God’s promise, and prayer. We have to expect God to answer, but not dialed down to our own expectation. But instead with answers and blessing we would never arrive to on our own, not even in a million years. In and through Jesus.

daily strength promised

and your strength will equal your days.

Deuteronomy 33:25b

In Moses’s blessing of the tribe Asher, he tells them that God will give them needed strength for each day. This is not just to individuals, but to that tribe, the people. Certainly meaning each individual, as well as them all. This was part of Moses’s blessing to them. But for them to remain in that blessing, they would have to remain in God’s blessing, and not fall under a curse by departing from that.

All of God’s promises according to Paul are available to us in Christ. This is like a promise, and can surely be claimed as part of what is ours in Christ. God will give us the strength we need for each day. We need to remain in the blessing of God, today being those who remain followers of Christ, of course in and through Christ. We can’t follow without the gift who is Jesus himself, and the eternal life that’s in him.

This is a great encouragement to me. I am thankful for the help God gives me, but not only me, but others with me and I with them. We’re all in this together. God will help us as we look to him, seek to remain faithful through faith in Jesus. And go on. Doing what is set before us day after day. In and through Jesus.

the slippery longing for shalom in this world

The wolf will romp with the lamb,
the leopard sleep with the kid.
Calf and lion will eat from the same trough,
and a little child will tend them.
Cow and bear will graze the same pasture,
their calves and cubs grow up together,
and the lion eat straw like the ox.
The nursing child will crawl over rattlesnake dens,
the toddler stick his hand down the hole of a serpent.
Neither animal nor human will hurt or kill
on my holy mountain.
The whole earth will be brimming with knowing God-Alive,
a living knowledge of God ocean-deep, ocean-wide.

Isaiah 11:6-9

Shalom (שָׁלוֹם) is the Hebrew word meaning “completeness, soundness, welfare, peace” (BDB). It certainly carries the idea of the absence of war which so many of us more than less take for granted, but would seem a luxury in too many places. Both human flourishing, and the harmony and well being of all creation are part of this wholeness which shalom brings. It is really like a dream that comes true in the First/Old Testament writings, as seen above in the prophet Isaiah. It is not to come to fruition until the new creation. God who made creation, can certainly remake it, and that’s the promise from Scripture that God’s people count on. While the word is not in the above passage, the words there are an apt description of this shalom.

We long for something of that in this current existence. That promise is present in our minds, and the new creation is breaking in through the new life and existence in Jesus, but it’s breaking into a world which seems largely incompatible with it. That is in part why Christians are called to take the way of the cross in following Christ even today. It is an uphill battle and slippery slope we might say, a daunting journey all the way, though Christ followers don’t do it in their own strength, but in all their weakness through the life and power of the Spirit.

I  think as we say in “the Lord’s prayer,” that we should long for something of God’s kingdom and perfect will in this life. But at the same time, we have to recognize the limitations set in place. After all we have natural disasters, and conflicts between warring factions, as well as just random violence everywhere. Add to that the human abuse of the earth for consumption and greed. And then to cap all of this off, even in the best of times humans just don’t get it all right, but we live in an existence in which even if one possibly did, they still wouldn’t be shielded from trouble, even disaster at times.

God’s people must remember that while the Day is coming, we need to be advocates for the poor, the marginalized, the outcast and downcast. We must not let up, but go forward in love, taking the way of the cross, remembering that nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus. In this life the lamb and the wolf don’t get along, and sin resulting in broken relationships between people and God is very much present among us.

In Christ is our hope for seeing the beginning of shalom now. Bringing healing and new life in the midst of the old. We accept the limitations, in the way of Jesus now, even as we are part of that new creation in Jesus breaking in.

not being distracted from God’s leading

Abraham’s story in Scripture and recounted elsewhere is classic. I mean it’s unique and unforgettable. But true to life, it’s rather clunky at certain parts. God calls Abraham from his country and culture into something brand new. And it really didn’t make much sense. Sarah and Abraham had no children, and she was past the age of childbearing. But God’s promise remained, that they indeed would not only have a son, but that through him and his offspring all nations would be blessed. That Abraham would become the father of all nations. Just breathtaking stuff from what was more than hard to believe in the first place.

I think the same can happen to us. We may pick up some sense of God’s leading and direction. But there’s an elephant in the room. And we get distracted by that. Instead of just trusting in God and God’s promises, we begin to flounder because we just can’t see beyond the one issue or problem.

Whatever that might be, we need to trust God. How do we do that? We quit focusing on what troubles us, and instead seek to remain in God’s leading, focusing instead on the big picture. Often when we’re troubled by this or that, we need to give it over to God. God will more than take care of it. The point is that we need to keep moving in the direction God has given us. God is faithful and will work it out. Yes, for our good, for the good of others, and all of that good resulting in God’s glory. What was true of Abraham is true for us today. In and through Jesus.

one day and one step at a time, and keep going

By an act of faith, Abraham said yes to God’s call to travel to an unknown place that would become his home. When he left he had no idea where he was going. By an act of faith he lived in the country promised him, lived as a stranger camping in tents. Isaac and Jacob did the same, living under the same promise. Abraham did it by keeping his eye on an unseen city with real, eternal foundations—the City designed and built by God.

Hebrews 11:8-10; MSG

Abraham’s story is a fascinating one and not without a lot of bumps, bruises, and some bumbles along the way. The account given here from Genesis by the writer to the Hebrews looks at it in its totality in a nutshell. What kept Abraham going through thick and thin, as well as the fits and starts he had along the way was the sense of a call from God with a much bigger goal than anything the world could offer, and indeed against the grain of what would surely be expected. The abandonment of all idols to serve the true living God; Abraham built a number of altars in worship of God along the way. And a trust in God’s promise which on the bare face of things was indeed impossible, or at best like a nice dream.

We are called to the same faith as Abraham, yes, for our justification before God in being declared in the right through faith now in Christ’s finished work. And really also for all of life. Like Abraham, we too are blessed to be a blessing. We are part of Abraham’s progeny here on the earth that all nations might be blessed through us, indeed through the Seed which would be the fulfillment and the way of bringing this to pass: Christ, Jesus, the Messiah.

For me that means one day at a time, one step at a time, and to keep going. With eyes on the big picture and on the goal: God’s will and calling for us in Christ Jesus. We have to have a sense of God’s leading in this. We need that, and then we proceed on. Yes, even when it makes little to no sense to us. We press on through the bumps and bruises and indeed bumbles along the way. God has it. We have to trust in God, in God’s promises to us. Together in this with others. In and through Jesus.

waiting on God

A song of ascents.

Out of the depths I cry to you, Lord;
Lord, hear my voice.
Let your ears be attentive
to my cry for mercy.

If you, Lord, kept a record of sins,
Lord, who could stand?
But with you there is forgiveness,
so that we can, with reverence, serve you.

I wait for the Lord, my whole being waits,
and in his word I put my hope.
I wait for the Lord
more than watchmen wait for the morning,
more than watchmen wait for the morning.

Israel, put your hope in the Lord,
for with the Lord is unfailing love
and with him is full redemption.
He himself will redeem Israel
from all their sins.

Psalm 130

This psalm is rich, with so much of importance to say to us.

I would like to focus a little on one part. Waiting on God, waiting on the Lord. We can be overwhelmed, weighed down by our sin and shortcomings. Thankfully as we see in this psalm, we have all we need to carry on, even well.

But a key point for us is to learn to wait. Wait on God, wait on the Lord fully. Relying on his promises. No matter what, we need to stop ourselves and just wait. Too often we immediately react, or I speak for myself, anyhow.

We need to learn something different, far better. To stop ourselves dead in our tracks, and simply wait, wait, and keep waiting.

God’s answer might come sooner than later, or at least we can be changed in the process. But that requires time. We refuse to take matters in our own hands, trying to figure it out ourselves, or imagining that we have the answer. We can do what we would do. Not good enough, or maybe not good at all. Or we can wait on God, on the Lord.

Something I’m preaching at myself right now. In and through Jesus.

access closed to grumblers

Then they despised the pleasant land;
they did not believe his promise.
They grumbled in their tents
and did not obey the Lord.
So he swore to them with uplifted hand
that he would make them fall in the wilderness,
make their descendants fall among the nations
and scatter them throughout the lands.

Psalm 106:24-27

It’s easy to grumble about this and that. So and so is not doing this right, or someone has a lousy rotten attitude, or whatever negative it might be on our mind. Then we flare up, maybe curse under our breath or out loud. And often we can decry what we ourselves are up against, the tough responsibilities we have, the at times nearly unmanageable things we have to do. And we can descend into something we would rather not be. Groveling and grumbling. A grumbler, down in the mouth, on edge, doing what we do because we have to do it. I’ve been there.

This psalm awakens us to the fact that grumbling is not pleasing to the Lord. It amounts to lack of faith and is plain downright disobedient. We need to tell God our troubles and what is happening, what we’re up against. But we also need to believe his promises to us, that he is present with us, and will help us through whatever we face. Not just to get through it and get it over with. But to actually both do well and prosper in it.

It’s up to us, the outcome here actually hinges on us, our decision, what we choose to do. Are we going to be true followers of Christ or not? We need to acknowledge to Christ our shortcomings, our propensity to respond to unkindness with unkindness ourselves. Just our poor attitude. To follow Christ in this life won’t be easy, but that’s our calling. And that includes trusting in God, believing God’s promises, checking ourselves when we want to grumble, turning such thoughts into prayers, and in this seeking to be obedient children of God. In and through Jesus.