Romans 5:18-21

Romans 5:18-21
English Standard Version (ESV)

  I don't know about you, but I've been feeling particularly imperfect lately.  It's really hard to be a Christian in this world -- there are so many subtle and obvious ways that temptation steals our attention away from Christ, our beloved, and we find ourselves lost in a life very different from the one Christ intends for us to live.
  But where sin increases, grace abounds all the more.
  Friends, grace abounds.  When we beat ourselves up for the sin in our lives, grace abounds.  When we hang our heads in shame or disappointment, grace abounds.  When you worry or fret over your spiritual progress, grace abounds.  You are wrapped in the solemn blessing of grace both now and forever, and there is nothing in the universe that will change that for you.  Through Christ Jesus our Lord, grace reigns, in the universe and in your life.

Revelation 1:4-8

Revelation 1:4-8
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  The Bible is a long and complex book, and yet it presents a single story, and that is captured so well here in Revelation -- God wishes grace and peace, and he loves you and has freed you from your sins by his blood.  That's the essence of the Biblical story -- it's a love story, one of grace and peace, and it begins with God creating and ends with God's re-creation.  He is the beginning and end of your story, for we end our stories in his peace, in his love.  His Kingdom is our destiny, and in the meantime, let his love and peace wash over and renew you.

Ephesians 2:4-10

Ephesians 2:4-10
English Standard Version (ESV)

  We think about the promises of Scripture often in future terms, but here's something that has already happened -- you were dead in your sins, and now you are alive.  In so many ways, it is that simple -- the power of God was put to work to raise you from the grave that sin had dug for you.  It's not some distant thing that happens to other people, to bad people -- you were dead, and now, because of Christ, you are not.  You are alive together with Christ. 
  Not only are you alive, but you are seated in the heavenly places -- you have a seat at the banquet, a place of honor.  You haven't earned it, but God chose to give it to you, because of how much he loves you, because he crafted you with his bare hands, and as his creation, he loves you.
  So walk with a smile on your face today -- the God of the universe loves you.

John 3:16-21

John 3:16-21
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Sometimes we forget the epic depths of God's love.  Maybe we've heard the story so many times, or maybe we're focused on the wrong things, but we forget how massive a sacrifice God makes.  He sends his Son, his only Son, his beloved Son, the Son who has dwelt with him for all of eternity, into the world to die a felon's death on a cross, to suffer and absorb the punishment of the Roman empire, an army that could not stand for a second were God to unleash his mighty angels.  God had the power to spare his Son, but his will was focused on delivering humanity from sin, and his love is such that he was willing to endure the painful death of his Son in order that humanity might live and thrive.  He did this while humanity was often ungrateful.
  Such is the love of God.  He would have endured anything to redeem us, to redeem you, and so then you have a choice between darkness and light.  God doesn't force you to choose light, but rather pours out infinite and eternal love in the hopes that you might choose life, that you might believe and be saved through the blood of the Lamb.
  So be in awe of God's love today.  He endured the cross so that you might be saved!!

John 3:9-15

John 3:9-15
English Standard Version (ESV)

  How can these things be?  We are all asking that question at some level, trying to make sense of faith, when the reality is that the root of our faith exists beyond time and space -- in the eternity that God inhabits.  By grace, God entered into our world, taking on human form in Jesus Christ, the Word made flesh.  Jesus pointed to the reality that our hearts cry out for, but it's still something that our minds cannot envelop, for it is bigger than we are.  We have to trust in faith, looking at the evidence we have in the Gospels and trusting in the God who keeps every promise.  God is good and can be trusted, but we have to choose to believe what we cannot grasp and follow the path that leads to a place we cannot see but know in the depths of our souls to be our true home.

John 3:1-8

John 3:1-8
English Standard Version (ESV) 

  Have you ever listened to someone that you didn't fully understand and nodded along, pretending to understand while the entire time not quite grasping the truth of what they are saying?  I've certainly done it -- especially when it seems like everyone else is grasping what is going on.
  Nicodemus deserves some credit here -- he's heard what Jesus has to say, and while he recognizes the truth in it, he doesn't quite understand, so he pursues the truth, coming to Jesus in the middle of the night to ask questions.  The other Pharisees have belittled Jesus and disregarded what Jesus has to say, but Nicodemus is trying to determine for himself what is going on.
  So for you, how are you seeking to make sure you have a full grasp of what Jesus has to say?  Do you pursue the truth, making sure that you when you don't have a full understanding, that you make time and space to ask hard questions?  It's the most important question we can ask -- what Christ's words mean for us -- so let's make sure we make room to find those answers, to seek out the Holy Spirit and listen to what he has to say to us.

Micah 1:2-4

Micah 1:2-4
English Standard Version (ESV)

 The Bible talks about God in a lot of ways.  Some of them are familiar, even tender -- we get the image of God as a Mother Hen, God as a devoted Father, God as a dedicated and faithful friend.  We have the Suffering Servant, God offering himself on the cross.  We have God as the patient teacher, tending to the disciples and the crowds in the midst of their confusion. 
  Let us not forget the pure power of God.  Here in Micah, we have mountains melting under his feet, valleys splitting like wax before a fire and waters pouring down.  When we worship and when we pray, may we do so with humility, recognizing that we come before a mighty and magnificent God who hung the stars in the sky, loves us with incredible power and purpose, and yet can also dissolve the world with a word.  Let us humbly bow before this God, recognizing how small we are and being amazed at the fact that this God, this mighty and powerful God, loves us with patience and saves us through gentle grace.

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8

Ecclesiastes 12:1-8
English Standard Version (ESV)

  You should start saving money for a rainy day now, when you don't need it, rather than waiting for that rainy day and wishing you had started saving years ago.  In the same way, you should get a flu shot when you're healthy, so that if you happen to get the flu, hopefully the effects will be weakened.   If you exercise before the doctor tells you that you need to, perhaps your annual physical will go better.  All these things we know -- but we often fail to do them, because other things get in the way.
  In the same way, we are told to remember our Creator know, and to build the relationship now.  We should focus on building our prayer life now, on living in such a way that reminds us that God is with us always, because if we do that, then when we discover ourselves in the valleys of life, we'll already have taught ourselves that God is always with us.  The stronger we build our relationship with God now, the better we'll be able to draw upon and recognize God's presence with us in hard times. 
  It's like learning a language.  Let's say you start learning French now, when you have no trip planned, but you practice it every day for 2.5 hours.  Then in 2 years, when you suddenly win a free trip to Paris, you'll be prepared, rather than trying to learn French in two weeks.  In the same way, building your spiritual life not only helps you now, but also strengthens you for whatever trials may come your way.

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20

Ecclesiastes 5:10-20
English Standard Version (ESV)

  Our life is driven by what we love.  We will order our time, prioritize ourselves, and make choices based on what we love.  (Often, what we actually love most of all might not be what we would say -- but if we look at how we make choices and how we ended up where we are, that will often reveal our heart's true love.)  What the Bible often tries to teach us is that money is a lousy thing to love most of all -- it will only drive us deeper into a spiral, never allowing us to be satisfied, always demanding more, always pushing us further away from true joy and peace.  If we love money for the sake of money, Scripture says, we'll find ourselves, at the end of it all, with hands that still feel empty no matter how full our bank accounts may be.
  If, however, we love God more than anything else, we discover that (unlike so many material things) God can fill our hearts with peace and joy.  God can satisfy, because he understands the human heart in a way money never will.  God wants what is best for us, wants us to lead abundant lives, so if we seek God with all of our hearts, we can sleep in peace, knowing that we are eternally and infinitely cared for.  Perhaps we will have much money, perhaps we will have none, but we will know the peace and love of God, and that gives us joy in our hearts in a way money never can.

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22

Ecclesiastes 3:16-22
English Standard Version (ESV)

 Ecclesiastes isn't known for its humor or ability to cheer you up.  It's certainly not full of laughs.  These are the questions we ask ourselves at 3 am as we're staring at the ceiling, trying to figure out what it all means.  The central question he lands on, time and time again, is the one Jesus so clearly answers in the Gospels -- what are we here for and what is our future, our reason for hope?
  The earlier point in verse 17 is that God is the ultimate Judge.  We like to play judge, and we like to think we know exactly how it will work out, but we don't have final say in the matter.  God isn't waiting for our opinions before judging someone.  Judgment isn't a democratic process, and it's not a popularity contest, either.  God judges, and that is that. 
  This relieves us of the burden of knowing exactly what everyone's fate is.  We like to judge people, to know where we stand in relation to them.  In reality, only God ultimately judges, so we are wise to love unconditionally and trust in God to judge.  Also, let us not forget that the same God who judges is the God who saves, the God who pours out the life of his only Son so that everyone who believes in him might have eternal life.  The ultimate judge is the one who gives love more freely and unconditionally than any human can ever fathom.

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15

Ecclesiastes 3:9-15
English Standard Version (ESV)

  God has put eternity in your heart.  It explains our longing for God, our desire to see beyond the veil, to ask and seek the answers to the biggest questions in life.  Humans have always stared into the heavens and wondered.  We have looked at the way things are and known that they are not as they should be -- we have something in our hearts that tells us there is another way, a better way.
  Ecclesiastes is a bit of philosophy -- a man has set out to figure life out, and he's wrestling between the beauty of the earth and the despair that often surrounds us.  He reminds us to enjoy the creation God has given us, to eat what is good, to relish the pleasures of life and do good.  God has blessed us in this life, and so we should live as we are grateful, and yet that eternity in our hearts will remind us that God endures forever, and that we, too, are invited into that reality.

Job 40:4-5

Job 40:4-5
English Standard Version (ESV)

  We often tell children to listen more than they speak, because they have two ears and one mouth.  Me?  I'd just be happy if my children talked at a regular volume and didn't shout all the time! 
  We all love the sound of our own voice, and we fall into the trap of our prayer lives becoming wish lists of things God needs to do to make our lives better.  Often, what we really need to do is to learn to be still before God.  In our lives, we spend so much time posting our lives, posting our moments and thoughts on social media, shouting into the whirlwind, that we need time to be still, to let God speak to us, to be silent and listen.  How else should we expect to hear what God has to say to us?

Job 38:34-38

Job 38:34-38
English Standard Version (ESV)

  We sometimes forget to be in awe of God.  We tend to shrink God down so that we can understand God -- we take our human emotions and experience and assume that God goes through the same thing, only perfectly.  We have to do this in a way, just because we need some way to understand God.  This is part of why God came to us in the person of Jesus Christ -- so we could better understand God's love.
  But sometimes, we need to lose ourselves in awe of God.  We need to remember that God's voice can cause the rains to pour down, that his commands send lightning, that he can number the stars and count the hair on our heads.  God is so much greater than we, and it makes it all the more amazing that he loves us so.  God loves you and will never let you go, but he is also almighty and perfect and powerful and hung the sun and moon in the sky.
  Be in awe of God.  Be grateful for his love, and wonder at his mercy.

Job 38:1-11

Job 38:1-11
English Standard Version (ESV)

  This is a helpful reminder for us -- God has a much bigger perspective than we do.  God understands things from an eternal point of view, outside of time and space.  Job is asking some big questions of God, and God reminds Job that Job can only see things from a limited point of view.  God, who sees redemption that stretches beyond our lifespan, points out that he was there at the beginning of the earth.
  The upshot of this for us is that we need to trust in God.  Even when we can't fully understand or grasp what God is doing, it's vital that we trust in God.  God has promised that he has our best interests in mind, and that he will carry us through (not always around) whatever trials we face.  God will never leave or forsake us, so even when we can't see around the next corner or through the darkened channel ahead, may we remember that God's light will always shine, even in the darkest night.

Ezekiel 13:20-23

Ezekiel 13:20-23
English Standard Version (ESV)

  So there's a bunch of magicians, and they're somehow ensnaring the people through trickery and falsehood, bringing despair into their lives through false hopes.  You can picture disappointed lives, led astray through promises that didn't turn out, through hopes that once rose to the clouds but didn't fulfill their lofty goals. 
  Surely, we've all fell prisoner to false hopes.  We've believed in someone or something, thinking that it would be the cure what ails us, only to be let down, disappointed, entangled in the falling shreds of a promise that once carried us into the skies.
  God delivers us from such entanglement.  How do we know that he is God?  Because he delivers us.  That's who God is -- a deliverer.  His identity is confirmed by his actions.  This is the cause of Jesus' response to John's disciples.  They came and asked if he was the Messiah, and he told them to look around -- the evidence of his identity was in his actions. 
  So God delivers us from our sin, and in his actions , he reveals his identity as our true hope and deliverer.

Ezekiel 11:17-24

Ezekiel 11:17-24
New International Version (NIV)

  The German word 'schadenfreude' means taking pleasure from someone else's misfortune.  We look upon our enemies who fall upon hard times and we find a secret joy in it.  When we see those we oppose doing well, we often cross our fingers and hope that they'll get what we think is coming to them.  It's a human desire for revenge -- and often, when someone has received their just desserts, we hope they stay in whatever pit they have fallen into.  We hope their despair becomes permanent.
  It makes it all the more amazing to think about the love, grace and forgiveness that is available in God.  The Israelites are banished to captivity, but God doesn't forget about them -- God gathers them back, like a mother hen gathering her chicks, like a faithful teacher gathering her students.  God reaches out and restores our hearts, offering us a new spirit, one of hope and love and patience and kindness, which can be very different than the true condition of our hearts.  God does not forget us in our trials, whether they are self-imposed or not, but rather reaches out, offers grace, and points to a new and wondrous future.

Ezekiel 3:1-9

Ezekiel 3:1-9
New International Version (NIV)

  So many of us want to skip to the second part of God's command.  We want to go out, but we don't want to eat first.
  God commands Ezekiel to eat the scroll.  He's not just looking at it -- he's taking it in, to the point that it's becoming part of him.  The Word is food that nourishes us, sustenance we need for our journey.  This is more than just reading -- it's reading with the intent that our consumption of the text changes us.  Do you read the Bible this way?  Do you take it in, or do you just scan it?
  Once the text is within us, then we can be sent, but it isn't always going to be easy or glamorous.  Sometimes, it's a hard message, one that people will oppose.  God tells Ezekiel that he is in for a rough road.  God's blessing to Ezekiel is to make him as tough as the people who will be opposing him.  What a gift!  God reminds him that the fear and anger of the people will be directed towards God, and that Ezekiel is not to be responsible for that.  Ezekiel's job is to be transformed by the Word and then to be faithful, no matter the challenges.

Isaiah 43:16-21

Isaiah 43:16-21
New International Version (NIV)

  Happy New Year!  We're a full day into a new year -- who knows what God might have in store for the year? 
  Think of the Israelites -- trapped between the onrushing Egyptian army and the sea, they couldn't see what God might do, but God made a way through the sea and led them into safety while defeating their enemies.  All the planning in the world might not have predicted that, but the Israelites did need to be ready to move.
  So we don't know what God might have in store for us this year.  God could have prepared us for something big this year, or this year may be a year of preparation.  Maybe this is a year of healing, or maybe the most important thing you'll do this year will be to be present to a friend in need of companionship on their journey. 
  But let's not sit idly while we wait for God to show us our next step.  There is plenty of active preparation you can be involved in.   You can be in active prayer every day, training yourself to listen to God and leading your heart to love God more than you do today.  You can be in worship, re-orienting yourself and your life around the worship of God, being reminded of God's glory through communal worship.  You can be involved in community, leaning into one another and both offering your gifts and love to others while simultaneously being lifted up and encouraged on your walk in faith.  There is plenty for us to do as we wait for God to reveal what the next step is for us in faith.