Author: Happy

Imagine that you’re relaxing by the pool on a warm summer afternoon. You’re watching a child play when suddenly the smile vanishes from his face. He’s no longer splashing and having fun. He’s thrashing in terror. He drifted into the deep end, and he can’t swim. He’s drowning.

What would you do next?

Option One: Run inside, grab a copy of “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Swimming,” and bring it to the pool and throw it to the child so he can learn how to swim.

Option Two: Yell at the child, “You should really stop drowning! You’ll die if you don’t quit that! Start swimming!”

Option Three: Jump in the pool and carry the child to safety.

Option Four: Do nothing and watch.

Which option did you choose?

If you anything but number three, never offer to babysit our kids!

There are scenarios in which each of the options might be correct.

There are times that we need instruction. “The Complete Idiot’s Guide to Swimming” might have been useful to prevent this situation, but in the moment of panic, it is totally useless.

There are times we need correction. A reminder of the consequences of our actions can be really helpful. But once we’re in over our heads, it serves as little more than a self-righteous “I told you so.”

There are times when we sit by and let people learn lessons from the natural consequences of their actions. This story isn’t one of those times, the stakes are too high.

Sometimes, the only option is to jump into the mess and pick someone up and hold them.

It can be messy, dangerous, and hard, but sometimes that’s the only way. Jude says that some people need a gentle act of mercy, but we “save others by snatching them out of the fire” (Jude 1:23).

When people around you are drowning—spiritually, emotionally, financially, relationally—make sure to help in a helpful way.

Memorial Day is bigger than backyard barbeques. Our nation has set this day aside to remember the men and women who died in the military. The sacrifices of these brave soldiers deserve to be remembered. It causes us to think of the painful consequences of war. It inspires others towards the virtues of sacrifice.

We work very hard not to forget important things. We have calendars with important dates highlighted. Our doctors send us messages to remind us of appointments. We tie strings around our fingers and stick Post-It notes on the wall, all in an effort to remember.

One of the beautiful promises of scripture is when God promises not to remember. In Jeremiah 31:31-34, the Lord speaks of a new covenant that Jesus would make with his people. This covenant is unlike the covenant that the Israelites broke with God after Egypt. This new covenant ends with a promise: “I will forgive their iniquity, and I will remember their sin no more.” (Jeremiah 31:34)

The book of Hebrews uses this text to remind believers that they have something worth remembering: God’s promise to forget! When the prophet Micah described God’s forgiveness, he said, that God “will again have compassion on us; he will tread our iniquities underfoot. You will cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.” (Micah 7:19)

When God forgives us, he forgives us totally and completely. He doesn’t put us on divine probation. He wipes the slate clean and promises never to bring it back up again. What a blessing!

“Do not neglect to do good and to share what you have, for such sacrifices are pleasing to God.” (Hebrews 13:16)

There’s a fable that the old rabbis would tell about how the spot was chosen for the Temple of Israel.

Two brothers farmed one tract of land and shared one mill. Each day, the brothers worked the fields together. Each night, they would gather together whatever grain they produced and bring their portion home.

One of the brothers was single. The other was married with many children. The single brother decided that his married brother needed much more grain than he did. So secretly in the middle of the night, he snuck over to his married brother’s storehouse and gave some of his portion to his brother.

The married brother realized that his single brother had no children or anyone who could care for him in his old age, so he decided that he needed to have more in storage for the future. So each night, he secretly deposited some grain into his single brother’s storehouse.

One night, the two men each undertook their secret mission when their paths crossed halfway between the storehouses. When each realized what his brother was doing, they embraced and wept.

As the story goes, God witnessed what happened there and said, “This is a holy place—a place of reconciliation, love, and sacrifice—and this is the place where my presence will dwell.”

The story isn’t historically factual, but I believe it is theologically true. God is present when his people take care of each other and are reconciled to each other. You can make your home a “holy place” by practicing the art of forgiveness and sacrifice.

Almost every time that an angel meets a human, the angel says the same thing: “Do not fear.” I assume there’s good reason for that, because almost every time an angel meets a human, the human is face down on the ground, trembling in terror.

Two truths are revealed by the angels’ greetings in scripture, and both truths must be kept in perspective.

Truth #1: God is awesome.

“Awesome” means awe-inspiring. That means awe-full. That means terrifying. He is bigger, stronger, smarter, brighter and better than you. Being in his perfect presence makes my imperfections and limitations so painfully obvious I cannot stand it. Moses was so changed by being in God’s presence that the Israelites begged him to talk to God on their behalf because they would die if exposed to his radiance (Exodus 20:18-21).

Truth #1 means that we are wise to fear him.

Yes, I know, perfect love casts out fear. But yes, we need to know that his presence is bright and full and terrifying in a way that we cannot stand to be in his presence. Scripture affirms this in Ecclesiastes 12:13 “Fear God, and keep his commandments, for this is the whole duty of man.” (See also Deuteronomy 10:12)

Truth #2: We shouldn’t be afraid when the terrifying Lord of Heaven shows up, because he tells his people not to be afraid. (See Luke 1:30, Matthew 1:19-25, Luke 2:8-20 and others).

In summary, we need to be afraid. We need not to be afraid. Confused yet?

This is one of those beautiful and powerful paradoxes of scripture. “God is a consuming fire” (Hebrews 12:29, Deuteronomy 4:24). We should never let our view of God become too tame or too small. “It is a terrifying thing to fall into the hands of the living God” (Hebrews 10:31 NASB).  If we forget that we are dealing with God, we risk minimizing him, disobeying him, and trivializing him. When Lewis imagined him in Narnia as Aslan, he was not “a tame lion.”

This fear should not be our only or overwhelming response. If fear is all we have, we don’t have a relationship with God who invites us to fear no more. We remember his mercy towards us. Paul said, “Notice therefore the kindness and harshness of God” (Romans 11:22 NET).

Don’t neglect the fear or the kindness, rather, bow before the God who says do not fear!

Thursday was the National Day of Prayer. People from all sorts of backgrounds met together to pray for our nation and our communities.

Do you ever run out of things to pray for? Here are some things that might spur your prayer list:

• For the government to rule justly and peaceably
• For the safety of our police, paramedics, and fire fighters
• For wisdom and patience for school teachers
• For endurance for our missionaries overseas
• For the farmers who grow our food
• For single people to feel valued and loved in the Kingdom
• For the health of the athletes who entertain us
• For artists to use their gifts to glorify God
• For those whose faith is weak to be strengthened
• For boldness to speak the gospel in a world that has forgotten it
• For the media to report truth accurately
• For those who are grieving to find comfort
• For the billions enslaved by the false promises of materialism
• For our military men and women who serve on our behalf
• For those who are researching cures for diseases to have success
• For preachers of the gospel to study truth and communicate well
• For the sick to find health and peace
• For eyes to see the sins hiding in our own hearts
• For parents to raise their children in the love of Jesus and not give up during those sleepless nights
• For doctors and nurses to serve compassionately and wisely
• For teens to make good decisions in a world without a moral compass
• For our enemies to repent and find a better way
• For those stuck in cycles of poverty to find a way out
• For opportunities to share Jesus with people who are searching for him
• For married people to have relationships that reflect the love of Jesus
• For authors to write useful and beautiful books to inspire us
• For the wicked to repent or that God will stop their harm
• For children who are orphaned or neglected
• For elders to shepherd the church wisely
• To praise and thank and glorify the God who allows us to make such bold requests of him
• For a better ability to pray, for the wisdom to ask the right things, and for the will of God to be done.

You could easily expand this list. Why not make your own, personal, day of prayer and spend some time in it?

When celebrities walk the red carpet outside the major award shows, there’s always a reporter who is commenting on “who” everyone is wearing.

After David defeated Goliath and ushered in God’s deliverance of Israel, he became national hero. The women lined the streets and sang songs of him. Jonathan, King Saul’s son, became dear friends with David—perhaps even the best human friend we read about in scripture.

To demonstrate his loyalty and love, in 1 Samuel 18:4, “Jonathan stripped himself of the robe that was on him and gave it to David, and his armor, and even his sword and his bow and his belt.” This was no small act; Jonathan gave up the robe of the heir to the throne of Israel. He gave up the armor that might save his life. He forfeited his weapons and his authority and laid it at the feet of David. David now wore Jonathan’s garments.

Jonathan isn’t the only man in scripture who gave up his kingly garments for someone else. Isaiah praised the Lord, saying, “I will rejoice greatly in the Lord, My soul will exult in my God; for he has clothed me with garments of salvation, He has wrapped me with a robe of righteousness.” (Isaiah 61:10)

God has given his people his own garments of righteousness. In 2 Corinthians 5:21, the Bible says, “For our sake he made him to be sin who knew no sin, so that in him, we might become the righteousness of God.” Most Christians understood that in Jesus, God has taken away our sin and uncleanness, but many don’t understand the rest of what God has done. Not only did he take away our imperfection, he has given us something new—his righteousness!

As Christians, we are clothed with the King’s garments. We are not perfect—but we are clothed in his perfection. Like children, as we grow and develop in the grace of Jesus, we “grow into” that garment and become more like him. What a gift! So, who are you wearing?