Crosswalk.com--The Devotional

[Judy Harder]

July 15, 2011

Living in a Dream World
By Stephen Sanders, Audio/Video Editor for Salem Web Network

The Lord is my shepherd; I shall not want. Psalm 23: 1

A life with no challenges would be awesome, wouldn't it? Always making the right decision, never running out of money, your kids always doing what they are supposed to do, never biting off more than you can chew... circumstances just magically falling into place so that we can effortlessly waltz through life in a state of constant enjoyment. Man, that sure would be nice...

Let's just close our eyes for a few seconds and imagine what that would be like...

I'm 32, and I have 3 daughters. One of them just turned 13. The other is 7. The youngest is 2. They are all very, very different. I cannot begin to tell you how overwhelming this can be sometimes.

The baby is absolutely the cutest little thing ever. However, she has turned out to be the "stubborn child." She writes on everything no matter how many times we tell her to stop. She refuses to use the potty. She will do a halfway-pee in her diaper, hold it and wait for you to change it, then pee in the fresh one immediately. It's not like we don't discipline her because we do!

But she's cute, and she's little and can only really get into so much trouble, so she doesn't stress me out too much...

The middle child is fairly drama free these days. She recently got 1st and 2nd semester honor roll and citizenship awards at school with pretty much zero supervision. But a couple years ago she was the bane of her K4 teacher's existence. I got called to the office, seriously, almost every single day that school year for her bad behavior. The principal felt like our daughter might have psychological problems. The teacher broke down in tears in the middle of multiple conversations. We had no answers.

The very next year my daughter was the teacher's pet. But, at the time, we blamed ourselves for these issues because we were her parents. Now we don't feel like such failures.

My oldest is actually my stepdaughter, and this relationship comes with its obvious trials. She's also a very attractive 13-year old; this poses even more issues. And if that wasn't enough already, there are the unexpected things that happen. They are like dreams you hoped would never happen but did. Then they rear their ugly heads and taunt you like a nightmare you swear you've had before...

...they cause you to wake earlier than you want to type a devotional at 4am...

I remember living in a dream world when I was her age. I knew everything. Everyone else was wrong and stupid. I know that will change. What I don't know is what scares me. Will she get involved in the wrong crowd at school? Will she make one bad decision and end up pregnant before she graduates? Will she grow up and want to live a life that is pleasing to God or pleasing to her? These are new questions that have started popping into my head recently.

I try so hard. I desire more than anything for her to grow up and have a perfect life; a life where she always makes the right decisions. A life where she never runs out of money. A life where... yeah...

I begin to realize that my expectations for her life are unrealistic. She is going to make bad decisions. I just need to be here to listen, to guide and to comfort her. Let her fail. In those things, listen to her worries and hurts and remind her why we need Jesus in the first place.

He isn't our God for our benefit... even though our relationship with Him does benefit us. He isn't our God because He will make us rich and healthy and free from the pain and difficulties of this world we live in. But He is here with us through these trials.

Intersecting Faith and Life

I recently started studying the Book of Psalms; a part of the Bible I've always neglected to see the true value in. I suppose God must have inspired them for times when His people were having times like I'm having right now. It's only by God's grace that I am as content as I am these days. I honestly don't stress too much about the things that are going on in my life. Even when I do begin to stress, God brings others to my attention, like homeless people, and I realize things could be so much worse. Or maybe the material things I deem so important actually cause me more stress... who knows.

All I know is that God continues to teach me how to be more like Him. My kids will be OK. My family will grow and become everything they are supposed to be. I just have to have faith in God and know that He has a plan that is so much greater than I could ever predict -- that this crazy world I live in isn't going to change. I will probably have a few more sleepless nights because of it; some nightmares may actually come true, but He is with me to provide peace and restoration and comfort.

For Further Study

Psalm 1

"In The House of God, Forever" by Jon Foreman

[Judy Harder]

July 18, 2011

What's Your Nineveh?
Laura MacCorkle, Crosswalk.com Senior Editor

Those who worship false gods turn their backs on all God's mercies. But I will offer sacrifices to you with songs of praise, and I will fulfill all my vows. For my salvation comes from the LORD alone. Jonah 2:8-9, NLT

Have you ever run away from something that God wanted you to do? If so, then you've got a lot in common with Jonah. You know the story . . .

Guy in a tunic hears from God.

Guy doesn't like what God wants him to do.

Guy runs in the other direction.  Literally.

Guy gets on a boat.

Guy get tossed overboard during a storm.

Guy gets swallowed by a big fish.

Guy repents.

Guy goes and does what God tells him (a second time) to do.

Guy gets angry when God is compassionate to others (who guy doesn't think are deserving).

Guy gets rebuked, and God has the last word.

Jonah was running from Nineveh—a city with an idolatrous people so wicked that they would cut off the feet and hands of their captives just to intimidate others. Yikes!

So it's probably safe to say that all of us might have felt like Jonah did when thinking about ministering to the Ninehvites: scared for himself and disbelieving that these people could ever be saved. Why even try, right?

But God wanted Jonah to preach and to reach out to others, because God has reached out to all of us. We are all undeserving of his love and his unmerited favor, but mercifully God forgives. Jonah didn't want to see this, and so he ran.

Perhaps you are running as well. You're trying to get as far away from your Nineveh—the thing that truly scares you, the thing that you know God is leading you toward, the thing you don't really want to do.

I have run away from so many things in my life. But one of these days, maybe I will have grown enough in my faith that I will immediately say "Yes, Lord" when he gives me instruction.

Until that point in my maturity, there's a current Nineveh that has been occupying a lot of my thoughts lately. It's my fall group Bible study. Now, that's not so scary in and of itself. But you know what is? What we'll be studying come September: the book of Revelation.

I confess that I've thought about dropping out a few times already, as I've had too much time to anticipate and be afraid. To me, this is the most intimidating book of Scripture. I have a fear that I'll never understand the symbolism, that I'll look dumb trying to answer the questions in front of my group and that I'll spend the entire eight months of study in a fog of frustration.

But I think I'm missing the most important point. What seems impossible to me is exactly what God wants me to do. So that I will learn. And grow. And draw closer to him as I work on understanding his Word.

Jonah is one of the shortest books of the Bible, so I invite you to read through it today when you have a half hour to spare. See if you don't see yourself in Jonah's thoughts and fears, in his actions and in his initial response to God's call in his life.

And then ask yourself, "What is my Nineveh?" and pray. Ask the Lord to help you work through your fear, your anger, your rebellion.

Instead of running this time, and from our own Ninevehs, may God help us all to run toward what he has purposed for our good.

Intersecting Faith & Life:

Stop running in the wrong direction! Repent and start moving obediently toward whatever God is calling you to do today. Despite our proclivity toward unfaithfulness, he is always faithful.

Further Reading:

2 Samuel 22:1-4, NIV
2 Corinthians 10:5, NIV
Philippians 1:6, NIV

[Judy Harder]

July 19, 2011

"Just Keep Swimming!"
by Katherine Britton, Crosswalk.com News & Culture Editor

"Let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us." – Hebrews 12:1

On Saturday night, I let myself go limp in front of the TV. The blur of activity, newness, and ridiculously hot weather the week before had exhausted me, so a complete mind/body check-out seemed in order. I don't have cable and I didn't bother to turn on instant streaming, so my viewing selection was pretty limited. I soon found myself watching "Finding Nemo."

Remember the part where the all-important scuba mask slips down, down, down into the dark gorge? Marlin panics and goes after it, only to swim frantically back out of the darkness. Then the crazy blue fish with a short term memory problem frolics her way into that same blackness with nary a care. A moment later Dorrie comes back to encourage Marlin. "Hey, Mr. Grumpy Gills," she says, "When life gets you down, you know whatcha gotta do?" "No, I don't want to know watcha gotta do." "Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming! Just keep swimming!"

Not that I'm taking lessons from a digitized blue fish, but Dorrie's attitude reminded me what perseverance should look like. It's not that sitting on the couch and taking a break was evil in itself, but my can't-go-any-farther attitude was. That attitude indicated that I was slogging away in my own strength and had run out of energy without looking to the Lord for supernatural help. At points like that, even though I know the answer, "I don't want to know watcha gotta do" to keep pursuing what God has called me to do. Wallowing in my exhaustion seems so much easier.

Sunday evening, someone reminded me that, "when life gets you down" and you're exhausted, God's faithfulness has the chance to shine through. The end of my rope is the beginning of grace made evident in my life, providing the strength to "keep swimming" even though I'm exhausted. And He gets the praise, because I know that strength is no longer something in me. His mercies are "new every morning" (Lam. 3:23) and enough to keep me moving in the direction that He encourages me to go. My responsibilities are just one more way to bring me to my knees and let the Lord refresh me with His grace. After that, I can keep going in His mercy, and even sing while I'm at it. His faithfulness never ends.

Intersection of Faith & Life: The Bible is full of reminders of God's faithfulness to believers, and the stories all end with God being glorified for their reliance on Him. In the end, it's when we are weak that He makes us strong (2 Cor. 12:10).

Further Reading:

Philippians 1:4-6

1 Corinthians 9:24

How to Pray on the Go

[Judy Harder]

July 20, 2011

A Life Dedicated to the Gospel
by Sarah Phillips, Crosswalk.com Family Editor

For whoever wants to save his life will lose it, but whoever loses his life for me and for the gospel will save it. Mark 8:35

"To love God as He ought to be loved, we must be detached from all temporal love." ~ St. Peter Claver

Sometimes God asks us to faithfully follow Him in the everyday tasks, and sometimes He calls us to do something really big and really hard. This is the kind of calling I stumbled across when I read about a man named Peter Claver while researching Christian heroes of days gone by. While our lives are playing out in different times with different issues, reading about his courageous devotion to the Gospel is a good reminder to me of what it looks like to live for God instead of myself.

Born in 1581, Peter Claver's beginning reads like the typical story of a man growing up in 16th century Spain. He studied theology and joined the Jesuit order of priests. But in 1610, Peter left his homeland to become a missionary in the country we now call Colombia.

Columbia was the center of the slave trade in the New World during this time, and while church officials had openly condemned the injustices of the African slave trade, the industry continued to flourish. Peter's mission in this foreign land would be to minister to fellow foreigners, the African slaves.

Bought, sold and treated worse than animals, thousands of African men and women were shipped into the wealthy city of Cartagena to be sold to plantation owners. An estimated one third to one half of them died on the journey over, unable to endure the horrific conditions - conditions so putrid, it would make you feel ill if I described them in depth. By the time Peter Claver met them, these men and women were starving, dying, dirty, and mentally broken.

Peter Claver was known for boarding the suffocating ships immediately upon arrival with food and medicine, caring for men and women in a situation most would find unbearable.

But Peter's ministry did not end with meeting physical needs. He trained interpreters to communicate with the diverse array of African dialects, assuring each person of their dignity and worth as human beings created in God's image. After sharing the Gospel in their respective languages, he baptized men and women before they were sold.

While Peter Claver was powerless to stop the slave trade, he worked hard to defend African men and woman against their oppressors every chance he got. He visited their plantations to encourage them and exhorted the plantation owners to treat them well. He even assembled African slaves for worship services during Easter and did everything he could to fight for their freedoms and meet their needs.

Claver not only displayed Christ-like love to the oppressed but with God's grace he overcame personal shortcomings. Born with a timid nature, Claver displayed uncharacteristic boldness in his ministry. He endured hatred from the slave traders and societal rejection from the citizens of Cartagena. Even some Christians thought he was wasting his time, but Claver continued his work. He baptized an estimated 300,000 African men and women in his 33 years of ministry.

Claver ultimately became a societal force for good in Cartagena, and after his death, the "apostle to the slaves" was openly granted the respect he never received in his lifetime.

How can a man give up all that is familiar and comfortable to spend a life defending those few were interested in saving at that time? Claver was not holier than you or I, he simply followed God's leading in his life. His love for God and for those in need superseded everything else, and no doubt he enjoys many friendships in heaven.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Has God ever asked you to do something hard, something that felt impossible or threatened your reputation? What was your response? Ask God for the grace to do His will, even in the face of personal sacrifice.

Further Reading:

John 12: 20 - 36

William Wilberforce: The Man Who Didn't Desert

*Details of Peter Claver's life from: "St. Peter Claver", "Saint of the Day, September 9th," "Saints and Angels: St. Peter Claver"

[Judy Harder]

July 21, 2011

When Life Gets Hairy
by Shawn McEvoy, Crosswalk.com Managing Editor

In him all things hold together.
Colossians 1:17

"It's just hair; it'll grow back. She'll still look cute."

My encouragement was falling on deaf ears. It was all my wife could do to hold it together. We had just picked up our 4-year-old goldilocked girl at a friends' house, and my wife was met at the door by a teary-eyed mother whose own daughter had just practiced for pre-K cosmetology school.

Me? I was just glad everyone still had their eyes and ears, and that Lauren had not been the one doing any cutting (though letting someone do that to you is an issue in its own right). My son - he didn't understand what the big hairy deal was at all. His sister was still his sister, and we were still going out to dinner for his excellent report card... weren't we?

Everyone had their own point of view and their own set of facts. Nobody else's views or words were doing much swaying. All that was going to fix this was a detour to the one who can right all wrongs, by which I mean, of course, Desiree, the woman who was familiar with my daughter's hair from having trimmed it on several occasions.

She worked a miracle I didn't believe was possible. The women rejoiced! "Why is Mommy hugging the woman?" asked my son. "Come, son," I said. "Come with me. Let me explain to you what hair means to a woman."

My daughter does look cute again. A special spritzing scrunching product helps you not be able to see the jagged cuts. A pleasant side effect is that her blue eyes look bigger and really pop now. Already, my wife feels silly for having reacted like she did (though I do have to point out she was gracious and forgiving to the mom of the little girl who did the dastardly deed). We have heard from untold numbers of folks who have experienced something similar. We have even begun to look back on this - as I suggested right after it happened - as a funny story.

But at the time? Nothing was going to be right; nobody was going to convince anybody else of anything, no words were going to be meaningful until everyone and everything came together in The Great Fixer.

It's no different with real-life events, real points of view, real pains, real cuts, real well-meaning people. Until we slow down and see the miracle, it's all just noise and chaos.

He makes all things new.

He makes all things hold together.

He makes you look back and shake your head at yourself and maybe even laugh.

He is the judge, doctor, professor, artist, miracle worker. And his office is always open. After he does his thing, you can count on hugging and rejoicing and chances for bonding. Multitudes will be able to relate.

Intersecting Faith & Life: Don't panic. Don't argue. Just go see him. Bring your friends and family, too. See what he can and will do.

Further Reading

All Things
Why I Believe in God
The Trend of 'Believing without Belonging'

[Judy Harder]

July 22, 2011

High Infidelity
Alex Crain
Editor, Christianity.com

"...you also were made to die to the Law through the body of Christ, so that you might be joined to another, to Him who was raised from the dead, in order that we might bear fruit for God."

Romans 7:4 NASB

Usually, we think of "having faith" as simply "trusting, believing." And while that is true, it can be incomplete if we forget that, as Christians, we are also joined to Christ as our Bridegroom. In other words, there is a real relationship with Him—the living Christ—that is at stake. It is not just a matter of possessing correct content of what we believe about the person and work of Christ. And although we never have a legitimate cause to do so, we often break faith with and betray our faithful Bridegroom.

Francis Schaeffer talks about this in chapter seven of True Spirituality where we continue our journey with him this week. Citing the passage above, he notes that since we have been rescued from the tyranny of the devil and placed safely in the arms of the Lord Jesus Christ—we are now positioned to bring forth His fruit.

Schaeffer expands upon the simple, yet remarkably powerful word picture in Romans 7:1-4 to make the point plain:

"Imagine a married couple both of the one color of skin. Suddenly the wife brings forth a child clearly of another race [sic]. All the world would know that she has been unfaithful to her proper mate. So it is with us."

When we do not bring forth His fruit—love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control (per Galatians 5:22)—but bring forth immorality, impurity, sensuality, idolatry, sorcery, enmities, strife, jealousy, outbursts of anger, disputes, dissensions, factions, envying, drunkenness, carousing, and things like these (Gal. 5:19-21), it is because we have broken faith with Him and are in the state of infidelity of the highest order.

What generally causes us to distrust Christ and leads us to break faith with Him and run to the arms of another is the fact that we often think that we have a better way. We think that, somehow, God really doesn't have our best interests at heart. I know for me, personally, this happens mostly when I am "Law-minded" in a way that discounts or obscures the gospel. One writer, Milton Vincent, in his A Gospel Primer for Christians provides a helpful counter to this erroneous and sinful way of thinking (p. 18):

"...when I begin my train of thought with the gospel, I realize that if God loved me enough to sacrifice His Son's life for me, then He must be guided by that same love when He speaks His commandments to me. Viewing God's commands and prohibitions in this light, I can see them for what they really are: friendly signposts from a heavenly Father who is seeking to love me through each directive, so that I might experience His very fullness forever." (see Deut. 5:29)

Not only are they friendly signposts, they are friendly love letters from our faithful Bridegroom who has done nothing to warrant our distrust. By His life-giving Spirit, He is actively seeking to love us and bring forth His fruit in us today. What is the state of your union with Him?

Intersecting Faith & Life: 
In light of today's devotional, contemplate afresh Schaeffer's summary of the life of faith: "The how of the Christian life is the power of the crucified and risen Lord, through the agency of the indwelling Holy Spirit, by faith moment by moment."

For Further Prayer & Study:
If repentance for spiritual infidelity is in order, reflect on Isaiah 30:15 "Thus the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel, has said, 'In repentance and rest you will be saved, In quietness and trust is your strength.'" For further study, read Romans 6-8.

[Judy Harder]

July 25, 2011

Unqualified
Ryan Duncan, TheFish.com Editor

"It is the LORD your God you must follow, and him you must revere. Keep his commands and obey him; serve him and hold fast to him."- Deuteronomy 13:4

Sometimes I feel like, as a Christian, I'm no good. I have no memory for Bible verses, I don't have any gifts in leadership or preaching, and I've done some pretty stupid, not to mention embarrassing, things while trying to serve Christ in the past. In moments like these, I try to remember Gladys Alyward.

Gladys Alyward was a London born woman who became a missionary to China in the 1930's. Another missionary named Mrs. Lawson had invited Alyward to China, where the two women would run an inn and tell Bible stories to the passing travelers. Lawson and Alyward were the only foreigners in the city, at a time when Europeans were looked on with great distrust by the Chinese, and not long after her arrival, Mrs. Lawson suffered a severe fall and died a few days later.

Only a few weeks after Lawson's death, Alyward was approached by the city's Mandarin. The government had decided to put an end to the ancient practice of foot-binding, and this meant the government needed a foot-inspector, a woman (someone who could invade the women's quarters without scandal) who would patrol the district and enforce the decree. Though Alyward was now running the inn by herself, she chose to accept the position and used it to minister to countless individuals.           

A year after that, Alyward was once again summoned by the Mandarin. A riot had broken out at a local prison, and Alyward was told to calm it. The prison guards had heard of her strange religion and wanted to put it to the test, so Alyward had no choice but to walk into the rampaging prison. To everyone's surprise, when Alyward called for the rioting prisoners to stop, they did. She told them to select a spokesman for the prisoners whom she could speak with, which again, they did without argument. It turned out the prisoners were confined to close quarters all day, with nothing to do and nothing to eat but food sent to them by family members. Though prison reform was unheard of at the time, Alyward managed to gather equipment the men could use to grind grain, earning them money for food.   

As the years passed, the people of the city gave Alyward the name Ai-weh-deh, meaning "Virtuous One". Her inn expanded to become an orphanage where she cared for over 100 children, and when the Japanese threatened to invade in WWII, it was she who led the children over the mountains to safety. Alyward continued to preach the message of Christ all her life until she died in 1970.     

Funny thing about Gladys Alyward: when she first applied to be a missionary, she was turned down. The organization she'd applied for considered her "unqualified" to minister in a foreign country.

God loves unqualified Christians. Look at Peter - a day laborer and a coward. Look at Matthew, who was a tax collector and an outcast. Look at Mary, who the scripture say Jesus cast twelve demons from. Don't underestimate what Christ can do with your life. Give God one willing Christian, and he can change the face of the world.                 

Intersecting Faith and Life

Do you feel like an unqualified Christian? Don't feel down; pray to God and seek a place where you can serve him.

Further Reading   

Romans 12:11

[Judy Harder]

July 26, 2011

Appearances Can Be Deceiving
Laura MacCorkle, Crosswalk.com Senior Editor

But the LORD said to Samuel, "Do not consider his appearance or his height, for I have rejected him. The LORD does not look at the things man looks at. Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart." 1 Samuel 16:7, NIV

Leave it to God to pick the guy no one else would have picked to become Israel's greatest earthly king: David.

When I think of how unlikely it is that a shepherd boy became a king, I am reminded of the song I used to sing in Sunday School as a child, "Only a Boy Named David" . . .

Only a boy named David
Only a little sling
Only a boy named David
But he could pray and sing

Only a boy named David
Only a rippling brook
Only a boy named David
But five little stones he took

And one little stone went in the sling
And the sling went round and round
And one little stone went in the sling
And the sling went round and round

And round and round
And round and round
And round and round and round

And one little prayer went up to God
And the giant came tumbling down

"Only" this and "only" that. There's so much depth of meaning in the word "only," isn't there? At the time, I don't know if I really grasped the concept of God's powerful hand at work in and through the life of such an unlikely hero, but I sure do now.

David was small in stature, young and inexperienced when the Lord instructed Samuel to anoint him as the chosen one who would replace Saul as king.

In Samuel 16, the Lord had told Samuel to find Jesse because he had chosen one of his sons to be king. As probably most of us would do, Samuel first gravitated toward who looked best suited for the part: the oldest and taller child, Eliab.

"Surely the LORD's anointed stands here before the LORD," Samuel thought.

Nope. Not quite.

In verse 7, we see how the Lord showed Samuel that what he was looking for was not in someone's appearance or in anything that man can see.

"Do not consider his appearance or his height . . . Man looks at the outward appearance, but the LORD looks at the heart."

So Samuel considered another son. And then another. Yet the parade wasn't over until seven of Jesse's sons had been seen by Samuel.

"Are these all the sons you have?" he asked Jesse. "There is still the youngest," Jesse replied, "but he is tending sheep." "Send for him," Samuel said. "We will not sit down until he arrives."

He was "only a boy named David." But Samuel heeded the Lord's command ("Rise and anoint him; he is the one"), and David was filled with the Spirit of the Lord and his life—and history—was changed forever.

Only a boy named David. How can you not be encouraged after reading these verses?  If God can use "only a boy named David" to carry out his plan, can he not use you and me as well?

Perhaps you are the one who is limiting yourself and all that God wants to do through you. Have you ever thought about it in that way?

Stop looking at yourself the way the world sees you—the way the world wrongly places importance on what is temporal and fleeting—and start looking at yourself through the eyes of faith. What does God want you to see? What purposes does he have for you? How is he equipping you to serve him in mighty ways right now?

Yes, appearances can be deceiving. But thankfully our God sees underneath to the wonderful creations he has made us to be.

Intersecting Faith & Life:

A couple of years ago, I had the opportunity to hear Nick Vujicic speak. He was born without limbs, but hasn't let that slow him down as he travels worldwide sharing the Gospel through his ministry, Life without Limbs. I encourage you to learn more about his story at www.lifewithoutlimbs.org. Be inspired and remember that no matter how the world tries to label our "limitations," God can see our true potential and can use any and all of us for his Kingdom.

Further Reading:

Luke 1:37

2 Corinthians 4:16-18

Philippians 4:13

[Judy Harder]

July 27, 2011

"I Have Confidence!"
by Katherine Britton, Crosswalk.com News & Culture Editor

"But we are not of those who shrink back and are destroyed,
but of those who believe and are saved."
Hebrews 10:38

One of my favorite moments in "The Sound of Music" comes when Maria's perky "I Have Confidence" song suddenly ends at the sight of the Von Trapp mansion. She gulps and just manages to squeak, "Oh, help."

This last week presented me with some similar moments, as my husband David and I got off the proverbial bus and discovered this road led to a rather different place than we'd expected. We knew we were following God's leading, thanks to the peace He'd given us so far. But seeing that great big house - a rather different opportunity than we had expected - made us gulp and wonder if we were in over our heads. For a day, we were stuck. Unsure about walking through that gate, we thought about continuing along the road and looking for a not-so-huge opportunity to trust God. 

As we surveyed our options, we pondered what it means to take a "step of faith." We've never heard of someone taking a step backward in faith, we realized. We were confident that the Lord would direct us to the right place, and apparently this gate we need to walk through. The final push came from Hebrews 10:35, as the author writes, "So do not throw away your confidence; it will be richly rewarded." Confidence? "Oh, help."

God must chuckle when we go bug-eyed at His plans. I'm like Maria as she stands before that gate, wondering how she'll manage when this place so little resembles what she anticipated. Thankfully, the confidence to take the step of faith lies not "in me," but in knowing that God has led me to my destination. The Lord answers my cries of "oh, help!" with ultimate peace and a taste of what He has planned just beyond the bend.

The apostle Paul knew how to strip away the fears and insecurities and see the essentials. Paul visited some incredible places, and had some incredible adventures on his missionary journey. I'm sure that very little could surprise him by the end of his lifetime. Yet he wrote to the Corinthian church that even in his vast experience, nothing kept him going forward except God's calling (2 Cor. 3:5). The confidence to carry out his mission came from knowing who sent him and who directed his steps. He had seen God work, and knew that the Lord would provide everything necessary, including the confidence to walk forward.

Intersecting Faith & Life: In Jeremiah 29:11, God says simply, "I know the plans I have for you... plans to give you hope, and a future." That means God's plans for us don't include dead ends, but more opportunities. When we believe this, practical changes happen. We don't "shrink back," but step out in faith. How does this look in your job situation? In your family? In your leisure time?

Further Reading:

Hebrews 4:16
Wild Goose Chase

[Judy Harder]

July 28, 2011

Wisdom for All Ages
Sarah Phillips, Crosswalk.com Senior Family Editor 

A wise man's heart guides his mouth, and his lips promote instruction. ~ Proverbs 16: 23 NIV

How can we live the Christian life well? Is it dependant on nebulous feelings of doing good? Thankfully, there's more guidance than that. Cultivating the cardinal virtues is one concrete way to live a solid Christian witness. The four cardinal virtues are: wisdom, justice, courage, and temperance.

Let's examine what one virtue looked like in the life of someone committed to Christ.

If someone asked me to draw a picture of wisdom when I was a child, I would have drawn an old, wrinkly, robed man meditating in a tent. I imagined wisdom as something that belonged to those focused on the "higher things," people isolated from the day-to-day grind of life. But this is a faulty understanding of wisdom. True wisdom contains both clarity of insight and the ability to apply that insight to real life situations

In my recent reading of the book The 33 Doctors of the Church, I came across an ancient Christian who exemplified both aspects of wisdom. While his name is not well-known, God worked through St. Ephrem to greatly influence the early Church.

Ephrem was an eastern Christian, born in Syria during the 4th century. His native language was Syro-Chaldaic -- the same language Jesus, His family, and His apostles spoke in everyday life. Born of Christian parents, Ephrem developed a thirst for God's Word early in life. He soaked in the Scriptures line by line, delving into the nuances that came more easily to him than you and me today.

Ephrem's deep study of Scripture inspired him to employ his gift for language by writing countless poems, hymns, and homilies for God's glory. Unlike most writers, he never seemed to be at a loss for words. Bishop Gregory of Nyssa, a contemporary of Ephrem's, joked that if you needed a cure for writer's block, you should just ask Ephrem for an idea he already "prayed away."

In some ways the studious, poetic Ephrem resembled that old, robed man in the tent because he lived as an unmarried hermit. But Ephrem hardly isolated himself. He often wrote to instruct the confused and played an active role in shepharding youth.

One of his more famous uses of his poetic talent came in response to a heresy spreading among the local community in the form of a collection of popular hymns. He witnessed young people embracing the songs' messages and falling away from godly living. In response, Ephrem borrowed the melody and wrote new lyrics. Ephrem's version of the hymns, superior in artistry and taught with fatherly love, ultimately became so popular the old hymns were all but forgotten.

Ephrem's love for God's Word also inspired him beyond his writing and music. He often pitched in to help the local community during times of need, and he was loved even by bishops abroad. Ephrem was a sensitive, kind man known for joyfully weeping with those who rejoiced and sorrowfully weeping with those who mourned. He died from exhaustion in his 60's after assisting his suffering community during a famine.

Ephrem's legacy continues to resonate with the modern world. He lived in a time and place not unlike our own, surrounded by war, sadness, confusion, and even rebellious youth. He could have thrown his hands up and said, "What difference can a poet make?" Yet he did not shun the surrounding culture but wisely employed his gifts to engage those around him. In fact, Ephrem's gift for hymnody was so great, many churches around the world continue to sing his hymns today.

Intersecting Faith & Life: St. Ephrem cultivated wisdom by immersing himself in God's Word. This week, read a chapter of the Bible you've never read before and study up on its meaning.

Further Reading

Proverbs 16: 21