Thomas said to him, “Lord, we don’t know where you are going, so how can we know the way?”
Jesus answered, “I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. If you really know me, you will know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him and have seen him.” John 14:5-7

You cannot please God by attempting to accomplish godly things in ungodly ways. The way you do things is as important as which things you choose to do. No matter how politically correct or socially fashionable you wish to be by not downplaying other people’s differing religious beliefs; there is one and only ONE way to the Father, and that is through the Son, Jesus Christ. Your life as a follower of Christ is a journey on a long road, not crossing from one side of the street to the other. The Greek word for “way” used here is hodos and refers to a literal road or, metaphorically, a course of conduct… a way (i.e. manner) of thinking, feeling, or deciding.

These are a few of the things I have learned about this section of John’s Gospel over the years. Jesus explains the way we should live. Jesus demonstrated how we should go about serving God and serving others. Jesus is the very road that leads to the Father, and eternal life. We all need to walk that road the way Christ told us to, because the way we travel on that road is as important as being on the right road. Verse 15 seems to reinforce that.

Praise God for the second half of this chapter. God’s Holy Spirit has been sent to help us on the Way. Comforting us when the Way gets tough (which it will). Jesus, help us to act as your Body in this world in a way you would be proud of; guide us by your Spirit into obedience and away from sin.

With all of the complications that our life and upbringing and society and culture and sin bring to the table as we prepare to study God’s Word… there is at least one plain truth that I feel confident needs little translation. 

Jeremiah 3:22    “Come back, wandering children! I can heal your wanderlust!” -the message 

“Return, faithless people; I will cure you of backsliding.” -NIV
“Return, O faithless sons, I will heal your faithlessness.” -NASB 

God is able and willing to heal.  To restore.  To make whole what we have willingly and sometimes enthusiastically broken.  God reconciles us to Himself through Jesus Christ.  The Psalm reading for today mentions some of the amazing things The One True God does on a regular basis: He is the Maker of heaven and earth, He upholds the cause of the oppressed and gives food to the hungry. The LORD sets prisoners free, gives sight to the blind, lifts up those who have fallen, loves the righteous. The LORD watches over the foreigner and takes the side of orphans and widows.                   The LORD reigns forever. 

We really messed ourselves and our world up with the fall in the Garden of Eden.  We continue to mess things up… regularly.  Fortunately the reading from Titus tells a little bit more of the plain truth I mentioned above:  But when the kindness of God our Savior and His love for mankind appeared, He saved us, not on the basis of deeds which we have done in righteousness, but according to His mercy, by the washing of regeneration and renewing by the Holy Spirit, whom He poured out upon us richly through Jesus Christ our Savior, so that being justified by His grace we would be made heirs according to the hope of eternal life. 

The plain truth of it is simple.  The kids in the children’s program can tell you…  Jesus loves me, this I know, for the Bible tells me so.  The song simplifies, but does not water down what we will spend an entire lifetime learning, relearning, wrestling with, and deepening in understanding: Because of who The Lord is, I am loved by Him and He pursues me with reckless grace.  Thank you God, may we all remember this and never feel as though the Good News is somehow “simple” and “old news.”  Amen.

“Pushed to the wall, I called to God;
      from the wide open spaces, he answered.
   God’s now at my side and I’m not afraid;
      who would dare lay a hand on me?”  Psalm 118 

When things go wrong we often call on God.  Rescue me, we pray with desperation.  Sometimes we get ourselves into the mess we are seeking deliverance from - sometimes it is out of the blue.  Our wish is usually that God would pick us up out of the seemingly unescapable jam we are stuck in.  In this instance, the Psalmist got just what he was hoping for.  His or her back was pushed to the wall, God stepped in.  The sense that Yahweh had stood shoulder to shoulder with them prompted this Psalm of thanksgiving and a tremendous confidence - “The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid.  What can human beings do to me?”

This psalm contains some of the most well-known prophetic descriptions of what the Christ would be: verse 22 talks about the rejected stone becoming the very cornerstone.  Not only a stone worthy of being accepted, but the hand-crafted foundational piece that holds the building together.  Not just a great teacher, but The Teacher.  Verse 26 is a preview of Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem… these very words would be screamed and sung as he arrived in King David’s city.  Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord.

God, through the sacrifice and resurrection of Jesus, rescued us from the sin-mess we have made for ourselves.  God has stepped in and stood shoulder to shoulder with us, and asks us all if we want to be taken to the wide open spaces of His Redemption.  Total redemption.  All we have to do is say yes.  This starts a long and difficult journey, but it all starts with a simple acceptance of help we can’t give ourselves or anyone else.  God did this because He is good and His love endures forever - verse 29 tells us this.  Following the lead of the psalmist, those of us who have received this Holy helping hand should respond with a bolstered confidence (in Jehovah’s provision).  With gratitude.  With songs.  With thanks.  With praise.  With each other.

Thank you Father God - you have rescued us.  May we respond with thanks and devotion.  May we give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; His love endures forever.

A strange title, you say?  Perhaps a little inflammatory?  Yes, I suppose it is.  It is true there is a struggle between good and evil within our own hearts, Paul confirms that for us in Romans 7.  But we shouldn’t let ourselves get duped into thinking that there is some cosmic arm-wrestling match between God and the Devil… one alternately advancing on the other.  Maybe it is better to think of it as God as the largest of buildings, and Satan as a wounded ant, banging his head against the base in hopes of doing damage.  I don’t underestimate the power and craftiness that the Evil Spiritual forces have, they just don’t compare to The One True God.  The Lord wins.  Period.

In our Esther passages you see God delivering His people once again.  One of so many plots to wipe out the Jews that was met with failure.  In this instance, the Jewish people were given the right to defend themselves “to the death,” unbeknownst to their enemies, they had Jehovah on their side.  God is not specifically mentioned by name throughout the entire book of Esther.  Not once.  But as I read the scriptures through the lens of God’s promises to His people, Israel, I can’t help but see Him and His providence and faithfulness in most every sentence.  Even in our reading from the Psalms, we see another instance of someone out to destroy the people of God.  Don’t be fooled into thinking this is a possibility.  Jesus said even the gates of Hell cannot overcome His church.  We certainly should pray to God for deliverance from those who want to kill us, it may be the only emotionally honest prayer we can make in times of grave danger.  And yes, believers have and will be killed by wicked people because they choose to name the Name of The Lord… but no one, and nothing can ever destroy the people of God as a whole.  And even people who have been martyred have not been destroyed - they are present with the Lord eternally.  So, we as believers in the God of the Bible should not be bluffed into silence by the threats of bullies. There’s nothing they can do to your soul, your core being. Save your fear for God, who holds your entire life—body and soul—in his hands. 

God, help me (and all of us) to live my life in The Way you ask me to with boldness, not in fear of the “next catasrophe” that comes my way.

“God, God, save me! I’m in over my head…”  Psalm 69:1

Boy, I could spend days on just this one Psalm.  It takes me from one end of David’s (or whoever wrote this Psalm with David in mind) emotions to the other.  I think that’s what I like about it.  This Psalm lets me know that God listens to us each time we speak – even in our revengeful anger.  The Bible is full of stories and attitudes that are not condoned by God, but He listens and responds.  When I am angry and say things out of the wrong motivations of my hurt, God listens.  He definitely corrects my poor attitudes and destructive thoughts, but He listens.  And then He responds.  Sometimes He responds to me through a particularly committed friend.  There have been times that music has communicated God’s heart to me.  I am appreciative that God shows me the respect and the attention that I often forget to show other people.  He makes time for me and my rants, every bit as much as my prayers of thanksgiving.  He loves me just as I am, but – here’s the part I am most appreciative of – He refuses to leave me there. 

Like many of our most sincere prayers, this Psalm starts with the brutal honesty of our need for God and His rescue.  “Save me, O God…”  David works his request out with God, asking for rescue from his terrible circumstances and all of his enemies, but he is also honest about his own shortcomings “God, You know every sin I’ve committed…”  David’s fear drives him towards anger against “those who seek to destroy” him because of his belief in Yahweh, the God of Israel.  All of David’s innermost thoughts come out here.  There’s a funny thing about prayer I find in a good portion of the Psalms… no matter where they start out, they usually end up in praise and true worship.

God, may my prayers be as honest as David’s - putting myself into Your hands as The Potter.  May we all feel the confidence in you as our Father to come to you with whatever we are feeling or experiencing, especially when we feel dry and cracked.  And may we all be willing let You mold our attitudes into the shape of true worship and trust.