Month: December 2023

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The Resolution of a Resolute God

We’re not going to talk about it. Nope. We’re not going to use this space to bemoan the fact we’re not good at keeping New Year’s resolutions. Though we lose our resolve within months, days, or perhaps hours, we won’t bring it up here, not even a mention. Huh-uh. No siree! After all, we’re after self-improvement, right? It’s “new year, new you” time! (Again.) Surely, we’ll be better versions of ourselves when the calendar page turns.

All kidding aside, the truth is, we can do better. It is a matter of knowing and embracing what is already true about God and His work in us. So, let’s start by dropping “new year, new you” and embracing “in Christ, forever new,” for Paul teaches us, “if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come.”1 This newness in Christ never fades; it is as fresh as the dawning of each newly created day, for we live safely and securely in Him who always was and will always be. Contemplate this reality. Receive this gift. Celebrate this truth.

Yet if God is changing us, why still our shortfalls? Why do we keep repeating the same mistakes? Once again, it comes down to knowing what is true, for newness in Christ is only the beginning of an entire lifetime of transformation. It is a process of love. The Spirit of God is constantly at work in us, not merely that we would clear the low bar of altered outward behavior, but that we will soar to the heights of Christlikeness in our inner being. Paul again, “We all . . . are being transformed into his image with ever-increasing glory, which comes from the Lord, who is the Spirit.”2 This is not our limited and fickle version of self-improvement; it is God’s steady and purposeful improvement of self. It is His relentless craftsmanship in us, for we live in the certainty that “he who began a good work in you will bring it to completion at the day of Jesus Christ.”3

Our best resolution for change, then, is to trust God’s resolute purpose to change us. “The one who calls you is faithful,” writes Paul, “and he will do it.”4 So in this comfort and joy, draw near to Him in prayer and His Word, for He works through these to bring about in us the change He promises, the change we seek, change that lasts.

Now to him who is able to do far more abundantly than all that we ask or think, according to the power at work within us, to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, forever and ever. Amen.5

1 2 Corinthians 5:17 ESV, emphasis added
2 2 Corinthians 3:18 NIV
3 Philippians 1:6-7 ESV
4 1 Thessalonians 5:24 NIV
5 Ephesians 3:20-21 ESV

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God’s Purpose for Us

The imprisoned prophet sent two of his followers to inquire of Jesus, “Are you the one who was to come, or should we expect someone else?”1 John the Baptist was human, and we all face doubts at times. After sending the two disciples back with the assurance they had sought, Jesus affirmed the man to the crowd, “Among those born of women there is no one greater than John.”2 Luke records their response: “All the people, even the tax collectors, when they heard Jesus’ words, acknowledged that God’s way was right . . . but the Pharisees and experts in the law rejected God’s propose for themselves, because they had not been baptized by John.”3 Whoa! Did you catch that? In refusing John’s call to turn back to God, the religious leaders “rejected God’s purpose for themselves.” How tragic! We all want our lives to have meaning, and we seek our purpose in life. The elusive answer to the universal question was in reach for all within earshot of John, but these leaders rejected it. So close, yet so far.

There is more here. For if through unbelief, the Pharisees and experts of the law rejected God’s purpose for themselves, what can we conclude about the others but that, believing John’s message and turning to God, they had found God’s purpose for themselves. The same must be also true for all who do likewise: in Him, we find His purpose for us.

It was John’s father, Zechariah, who foretold that the Messiah’s purpose was, in part, to empower us to realize our own purpose: “to serve [God] without fear in holiness and righteousness before him all of our days.”4 In Christ, we serve effectively and with eternal impact, for He purposes that we “go and bear fruit—fruit that will last.”5 We speak and serve in gospel truth, then God reaps the harvest of hearts—new life where death once reigned. And what purpose could possibly exceed this—that we the church, through our redeemed and indwelled lives, make known “the manifold wisdom of God . . . to the rulers and authorities in the heavenly places”—this according to God’s eternal purpose, realized in Christ.6 With resounding echoes, our new lives in Christ shout God’s glory.

Know this: through faith in Christ, we receive God’s purpose for us, for we who were dead in our sins yet live, and these reborn lives proclaim the wisdom and mercy of our God. Then in this confidence, do what He calls you to do today. There will be fruit, and God will be glorified.

Father, thank You for the gift of purpose, for our redeemed lives proclaim Your goodness. Lead us into Kingdom work, and may our lives in Christ bring you glory today. Amen.

1 Luke 7:20 NIV
2 Luke 7:28 NIV
3 Luke 7:29-30 NIV
4 Luke 1:74-75 NIV
5 John 15:16 NIV
6 Ephesians 3:10-11 NIV

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The Silent Killer Within

Resentment kills a fool, and envy slays the simple. —Job 5:2

Saturday evening on a Kairos Prison Ministry weekend is a powerful time. That morning, all attendees—residents and volunteers—receive a slip of paper and are encouraged to write down the names of those we need to forgive. No one except the individual will ever see these names; this is a private encounter between self and God. As we gather in the chapel at day’s end, we drop our forgiveness lists into water and watch them instantly vanish, for the paper on which we write the names is dissolvable. The moment is externally symbolic and internally liberating, and the relief that follows forgiveness is palpable. Freedom feels good.

Does this mean old feelings of hurt and anger never fester and surface again? Not at all. As one who has had to forgive some knuckleheads over and over again, I can attest that old feelings return. In fact, though “resentment” has come to connote holding a grudge in anger or pain, the literal origin of the word is to “feel again.” How descriptive! And how diagnostic! Isn’t this what we do—feel the same anger, disappointment, or pain again and again, refusing to let it go? A friend recently learned that someone had been holding him in resentment for close to ten years, and my friend didn’t even know it until someone else told him! So who did resentment hurt for so long?

When our son was a boy, Peggy would occasionally teach him, “Emotions are good, but you cannot let them master you; we must learn to manage them.” This is a decision, as Paul likewise exhorts us, “Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice. Be kind to one another, tenderhearted, forgiving one another . . .”1 But how can I relinquish my pain and release my grudge? Paul continues, “. . . as God in Christ forgave you.”2 Therein lies the key: we have sinned against God exponentially more than any one individual has ever offended us. Our sin against God is immeasurable, but others’ wrongs against us are finite. Then as God in Christ forgives us much, so we as people forgiven in Christ are free to forgive others for comparatively little. And in doing so, we overcome that silent “killer of fools”—resentment.3

And when you stand praying, if you hold anything against anyone, forgive them, so that your Father in heaven may forgive you your sins.4 —Jesus, to His disciples

Father, thank You for forgiving me my trespasses. May I flourish in Your forgiveness to the point of overflowing it to those who have trespassed against me. In Christ I pray. Amen.

1 Ephesians 4:31-32 ESV
2 Ephesians 4:32 ESV
3 Job 5:2 ESV
4 Mark 11:25 NIV