Further Up and Further In

 

“I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”

—Philippians 3:14

When someone I particularly love dies, I always try to imagine what it will be like for them at the moment they leave this earthly life and wake up in heaven. A lot of song writers have tried to portray what this might be like in song. Among those songs are titles like “O What A Day That Will Be,” “When We All Get to Heaven,” “When the Roll is Called Up Yonder,” “Finally Home,” and “Welcome Home, Children” to name just a few.

Many years ago, I wrote a tribute short story when two dearly loved saints in my church went home to be with the Lord within days of each other. In that story, I pictured their crossing over to heaven as if they suddenly found themselves riding on a train. As the train entered the station, a great crowd had gathered to greet them. There, standing on the platform, was the Lord Jesus Himself. The welcome celebration was amazing. All their loved ones who had gone on before them were there to greet them and show them around. But, it was that warm and loving embrace of Jesus that made them feel they had truly come home.

Of course, I have no idea exactly what it will be like to pass from this life to the next. Jesus told the repentant thief on the cross, “Today you will be with me in Paradise.” So, I’m quite certain Jesus will be there waiting to welcome us. I also do believe that every family member who has preceded us, and who was a believer in the Lord Jesus Christ, will be there to welcome us to heaven.

One of the most gripping descriptions of heaven comes from a few paragraphs written by C. S. Lewis in his book The Last Battle. This final book in Lewis’ classic set of tales, The Chronicles of Narnia, describes what the Book of Revelation calls the new heaven and the new earth. Here’s what Lewis wrote:

Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among the mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the glass there may have been a looking glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were somehow different—deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know. The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked like it meant more. I can't describe it any better than that: if you ever get there you will know what I mean.

It was the unicorn who summed up what everyone was feeling. He stamped his right fore-hoof on the ground and neighed, and then cried:

“I have come home at last! This is my real country! I belong here. This is the land I have been looking for all my life, though I never knew it till now. The reason why we loved the old Narnia so much is because it sometimes looked a little like this. Bree-hee-hee! Come further up, come further in!”

I very much suspect that will be our reaction when we reach that “golden shore.” And now, my dearly loved sister-in-law knows for certain. After nearly a year and a half of battling multiple myeloma—a dreaded cancer of the blood—at the age of 67, and with her beloved husband of just a few weeks shy of 47 years and one of her three daughters by her side, she has left her disease behind and is now at this very moment sitting at the feet of Jesus.

For my part, I have known this magnificently wonderful woman since she was a mere girl of 15. Gorgeously attractive, unbelievably talented as an artist, full of kindness, gentleness, and great grace, she had a deeply devoted faith in the Lord Jesus Christ. She who grew up on a dairy farm and once adamantly stated, “I will never marry a farmer!” did indeed marry one of the finest Christian men and dairy farmers in Chautauqua County, New York.

Together they raised three truly wonderful daughters, my beloved nieces. And those young women have, in turn, graduated from Christian colleges, married Christian husbands, and presented their parents with ten beautiful grandchildren.

Our sorrow at her passing is so profound that I do not have words to describe it. We are so very glad for her that her fight against this horrible disease has ended. But, we are so very heartbroken for ourselves that we will never again in this life hear her twinkling giggle, or see her loving smile, or see more of her beautiful new artwork.

At eighteen months old, her youngest grandson will never get to know his grandmother in the same way that his older sisters and cousins have. But, he will hear stories. Man, will he hear stories! And, he will see photos—hundreds of photos. And, most importantly of all, someday in the far, far distant future, he will get off that train in heaven and his grandmother will be waiting there to greet him. “Welcome home!” she will say with a smile. “I’ve been so much looking forward to spending some time with you. I am so very proud of you. I love you so very, very much.”

A Scripture that has certainly defined my sister-in-law’s life comes from the pen of the Apostle Paul found in Philippians 3:14:

I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Dearest Charlene, we mourn your passing. But, we praise God with a “Hallelujah!” that you have won that prize for which God has called you heavenward in Christ Jesus.

Some of us will likely join you in the not-too-distant future. Others will come when their God-appointed days have ended. We will someday spend all of the rest of eternity viewing the majesty of heaven, the beauty of Christ’s smile, the glories of the angels, and we will all exclaim, “We have come home at last! This is our real country! We belong here. This is the land we have been looking for all our lives... Come further up, come further in!”

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Genuine Church - Part 2: Devoted to Fellowship

 

“They devoted themselves to… fellowship…”

—Acts 2:42b

Over the course of the last two blog posts, I began to flesh out my suggestion that some people move from church to church trying to find a church that genuinely fits their ideal of what a church should be.

The trouble is that most people have a hard time defining exactly what qualities the perfect church would display.

We must remember that a genuine church is not a building, nor an institution. It is a group of like-minded believers who gather together in unity and focus.

So, if a group of believers want to form a genuine, Christ-honoring, life-supporting, question-answering church, how do they do that?

Scripture offers us a definition of a genuine church. Dr. Luke records four elements that comprised the early church in Acts 2:42:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

In the last post, I suggested that the believers striving to create a genuine church need to start their quest by laying a super-strong foundation of the apostles’ teaching.

The next step is to work diligently to create a milieu in which heartfelt, soul-refreshing fellowship will occur.

This fellowship will be more than a superficial “church-luncheon-after-the-morning-worship-service” type of gathering. It will be fully inclusive, totally welcoming, completely engaging, and clique-free.

In the next blog post, I will explore the third element of a genuine church.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Genuine Church - Part 1: Devoted to the Apostles’ Teaching

 

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching…”

—Acts 2:42a

I began the last post by suggesting that some people move from church to church trying to find one that genuinely fits their ideal of what a church should be.

In response to that phenomenon, I suggested that Scripture offers us a definition of a genuine church.

Dr. Luke records four elements that comprised the early church in Acts 2:42:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

The first element is that they devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching. A genuine body of believers will feel compelled to study God’s Word.

They will not be content to only hear a 15-minute sermon or homily once a week during the worship service they attend. Rather, they will want to pursue a time of corporate Bible study, as well as setting aside time for personal Bible study.

They will give priority to attending worship and these other opportunities to learn about what God has to say to them through His Word. And, they will make a serious and concerted effort to obediently apply the truths they learn in their own lives. Why? Because they are “devoted” to what they are being taught.

In the next blog post, I’ll continue to pursue the four elements of a genuine church. And, of course, by now you realize a genuine church is not a building, nor an institution. It is a group of like-minded believers who gather together in unity and focus.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

The Genuine Church: An Introduction

 

“They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.”

—Acts 2:42

I once knew a pastor who opined that, if he could harness the energy produced by the people who move from church to church, he could greatly reduce his electricity bill. I’m not certain how he would do that. But, there is a lot of movement as people leave one church to join another.

Their stated reasons for leaving one church and moving to another church produces a long list of both serious and trivial reasons. They’re always looking for the perfect church and don’t realize that once they join such a church it is no longer perfect.

Dr. Luke records four elements that comprised the early church in Acts 2:42:

They devoted themselves to the apostles’ teaching and to fellowship, to the breaking of bread and to prayer.

In the next few blog posts I’m going to explore what those four elements might look like in a 21st century church. Maybe together we can figure out how to renew the vitality of our churches in a way that would honor God. I’m willing to try. Are you with me?

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Godly Parents

 

“Listen to advice and accept discipline…”

—Proverbs 19:20a

Parents play such a key role in a child’s life. While no parent is ever perfect—after all, parents are sinners, too—godly parents can set a tone for a child's life that can start the child on the pathway toward holiness.

King Solomon understood this first hand. His father, King David, had an amazing and profound influence on Solomon's life. Notice what Solomon wrote in Proverbs 19:20-21:

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise. Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

If you were fortunate enough to have godly parents, praise God this day for their positive influence in your life.

If you are one who was not blessed with parents devoted to our Savior, praise God that He has chosen you to belong to Him. He has become both Father and Mother to you and showers you with His unfailing love.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Place of Refuge

 

“Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge.”

—Psalm 57:1a

On extremely rare occasions when I was very young, my father’s family would gather at my aunt’s home. The cousins, who were for the most part strangers, would play together. The cousins delighted in playing the game “Hide and Seek.”

I greatly disliked the game. I actually disliked these visits with the cousins. As an only adopted child, I was used to playing alone. I also had to endure whispers from some of the female relatives about my origin that didn’t realize I already knew that I was adopted—as if adoption was some terrible disease. They would nod to one another and remark, “Of course he’s not really our blood. He’s not really a part of our family.”

In any case, when the game began I would try to find a place of refuge where, securely hidden from the cousins, I could safely avoid being found for as long as possible.

When the difficulties of life come barging into our lives, they often bring a terror far greater than a bunch of cousins he doesn’t really know to a five-year-old boy.

At such times we need a place of refuge, a hiding place. The Psalmist understood this need to find a trustworthy place of safety when he wrote these words in Psalm 57:1:

Have mercy on me, my God, have mercy on me, for in you I take refuge. I will take refuge in the shadow of your wings until the disaster has passed.

Yes! There is a safe refuge in time of distress. That refuge is found under the shadow of God’s loving wings. There we may calm our fears and catch our spiritual breath. There we can become renewed in the shadow of God’s Presence.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Anchored in the Rock

 

“Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him.”

—Psalm 62:1

As a teenager, I was one of a five-member gospel singing team. We traveled to churches in a 50-mile radius, sang, and gave words of testimony.

When we were searching for a name, I remembered that I had picked up some bright read pins at an evangelistic meeting that I had attended. These pins had the words "Anchored in Christ" written across the red-colored pin in black lettering. So, we became the "Anchored in Christ Quintet." And we each wore one of these distinctive pins in the lapel of our sport coats.

I even wrote a theme song for the group, which my then girlfriend—now my wife—very reluctantly, but patiently, harmonized—reluctantly because she thought the tune I had created was such awful music. Fortunately, no audio recording of that tune has survived the intervening 50 years. But I think I remember the words:

We’re anchored in Christ
the victory is won.
Jesus is ours
our sins are undone.
Someday He's coming
what glories we'll see.
We’re anchored in Jesus
’tis plain to see.

Looking at those words from the viewpoint of a half-century down the timeline of life, I spy a certain arrogance of my foolish youth popping through in the last line. Although one certainly should hope and pray that one’s life plainly shows the Presence of the Living Christ to whom one is firmly anchored.

You see, it really is all about Jesus. He is the Rock to which we must anchor our lives. The Psalmist testified to this very fact in Psalm 62:1-2:

Truly my soul finds rest in God; my salvation comes from him. Truly he is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken.

Let us anchor our lives this day by connecting fully and deeply to our Savior and by allowing Him absolute control over our hearts, minds, souls, and bodies.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Flourish Like an Olive Tree

 

“But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God…”

—Psalm 52:8a

We live our lives on two distinct planes: the temporal plane and the spiritual plane. We can try to maintain these two planes completely separate from each other, but that tactic always fails.

So, we must choose which plane will dominate our lives. Will the immediate problems in the temporal plane of our lives take dominance over the spiritual plane of our lives? Or, will the spiritual plane take a superior position with respect to the temporal plane?

While the problems we face may challenge us to choose to focus more on the temporal plane of our lives, it makes far more sense to place a greater emphasis on our spiritual plane.

Comedian and talk show host Dennis Miller, in response to the results from the 2012 election, often tells his listeners that he believes the United States has flipped 180 degrees. He urges people to live their lives inside out: to focus on friends, family, and the blessings in their lives and lay aside any focus on politics or government or things outside their immediate control. In other words, focus on the spiritual plane, not on the temporal plane.

The Psalmist expresses this thought in Psalm 52:8-9:

But I am like an olive tree flourishing in the house of God; I trust in God’s unfailing love for ever and ever.

For what you have done I will always praise you in the presence of your faithful people. And I will hope in your name, for your name is good.

Let us consciously and purposely bend our selfish will to God’s perfect will. Let us allow the Holy Spirit to guard us and guide us.

And, as we see God open up a new pathway before us, let us focus more on the spiritual plane of our lives and, just like the olive tree, let us flourish along this new path.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Untouched by Trouble

 

“Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.”

—Proverbs 19:20

Every person who has faced difficulty in this life wishes he or she could do so with courage and strength. No one desires to face his or her problems with an attitude of defeat. Yet, when trouble comes at us, sometimes it wears us down.

I have suffered with what the doctors call “profound progressive osteo-arthritis” of the knees, hips, and back for the last 15 years. This virtually untreatable disease robbed me of my job. It took away my ability to climb stairs. It has severely limited my ability to walk.

I am fortunate to live in a wonderful home—truly a gift from God. But, I can’t climb the stairs to the second floor, nor descend the stairs to the basement.

When I leave my home, I must either walk with two canes or ride in a powered wheel chair.

Let me be clear: I am not complaining! God has been so very good to me across the span of my life. He gave me loving parents who adopted me and made many sacrifices to give me every possible opportunity. over the years, He has opened numerous doors for me that have greatly enriched my life.

On at least two occasions, God preserved my life when I could easily have died. The depth of gratitude I feel for His love and care exceeds my ability to express it adequately.

Most of the time—99% of the time—I face my disability with grace and strength, even courage. But once in a while, I become so very tired of my limitations and the discomfort of my illness.

In those few times I long to fall back in God’s loving arms and, once again become “untouched by trouble.”

You see, God doesn’t promise a life free of trouble. But, He does promise to insulate us from the way trouble affects us.

Notice what King Solomon writes in Proverbs 19:20-23:

Listen to advice and accept discipline, and at the end you will be counted among the wise.

Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the Lord’s purpose that prevails.

What a person desires is unfailing love; better to be poor than a liar.

The fear (deep, profound honor and respect) of the Lord leads to life; then one rests content, untouched by trouble.

As we begin a new day, let’s praise and thank God for His unfailing, undying love that keeps our heads above the flood waters of trouble.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Living Under Grace

 

“For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.”

—Romans 6:14

The story is told of a woman and a man who had been held captive by an evil slumlord.

Every day the slumlord forced these two captives to go to the central city well and fetch a day’s supply of water. Then, he made them grind hard stones at the city’s central rock pile and bring the stone dust home with them. Only if they ground enough stone dust would the slumlord feed them supper.

One day, the slumlord died and his son set the two captives free. The very next day the two arose at their usual time and made their way to the city well. They fetched water and carried it to the home of the now-dead slumlord.

Then the former captives went to the city’s central rock pile where they spent the day grinding stones into stone dust.

You see, the captives had been set free, but were unable, or unwilling, to appropriate their freedom.

As believers in the life-renewing power of the Lord Jesus Christ, we must make certain we let go of our past way of life and fully grab onto the new freedom we have in Christ.

The Apostle Paul expressed this important truth in Romans 6:12-14:

Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its evil desires.

Do not offer any part of yourself to sin as an instrument of wickedness, but rather offer yourselves to God as those who have been brought from death to life; and offer every part of yourself to him as an instrument of righteousness.

For sin shall no longer be your master, because you are not under the law, but under grace.

Having been set free from the penalty of sin through God’s redeeming grace, let us wrap our arms tightly around His mercy, grace, and love.

Let us shun our past, cling to the present, and look to the future through eyes of faith.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Holding Fast to God

 

“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

When I first joined the fire department in 1965, fire fighters still rode on the rear step of the engine, clinging tightly to a chrome bar just above their shoulders. It was a dangerous practice that has largely been abandoned.

The only way to make it safely to the scene of the fire was to hold fast and pay attention so you would always anticipate the next move the driver of the engine might make.

Moses talks about holding fast to God as we make our way through the "fires" of life, in Deuteronomy 13:1-4:

If a prophet, or one who foretells by dreams, appears among you and announces to you a sign or wonder, and if the sign or wonder spoken of takes place, and the prophet says, “Let us follow other gods” gods you have not known “and let us worship them,” you must not listen to the words of that prophet or dreamer.

The Lord your God is testing you to find out whether you love him with all your heart and with all your soul.

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.

As believers in God through the life-transforming work of the Lord Jesus Christ, let us learn the critically important lesson of holding fast to Him and only Him.

If we do so, He will smile on us and be pleased by our obedience.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

What God has done, He will do!

 

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.”

—Isaiah 43:1b

History gives us perspective. In his play, The Tempest, William Shakespeare includes this declaration: “What is past is prologue.”

When we consider the God who loves us, we can learn much about Him from what He has said and what He has done in the past.

The Prophet Isaiah records these words of God spoken to His chosen people Israel, as recorded in Isaiah 43:1-7:

But now, this is what the Lord says—he who created you, Jacob, he who formed you, Israel:

“Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.

“When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you.

“When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze.

“For I am the Lord your God, the Holy One of Israel, your Savior; I give Egypt for your ransom, Cush and Seba in your stead. Since you are precious and honored in my sight, and because I love you, I will give people in exchange for you, nations in exchange for your life.

“Do not be afraid, for I am with you; I will bring your children from the east and gather you from the west.

“I will say to the north, ‘Give them up!’ and to the south, ‘Do not hold them back.’

“Bring my sons from afar and my daughters from the ends of the earth—everyone who is called by my name, whom I created for my glory, whom I formed and made.”

What God has done for His children down through the ages, He will do for us. He loves us, cares for us, protects us, and keeps us.

Yes, what God has done, He will do!

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Our God, He is the Lord

 

“I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior.”

—Isaiah 43:11a

The religions of the world present many gods. In our post-modern, post-Christian culture it is common for people to act as if all gods are the same.

Even some Christians and Jews do not seem to understand that our God, the God of the Jewish scriptures (our Old Testament) and the God of the New Testament, is a unique being. There is none like Him.

The god of Islam, Allah, is a false God. He is not the triune God of Christianity. He is not the God of love who sent His only Son, Jesus, to die in our place on the cross.

God speaks through the Prophet Isaiah and declares who He is in Isaiah 43:11-13:

“I, even I, am the Lord, and apart from me there is no savior. I have revealed and saved and proclaimed—I, and not some foreign god among you.

“You are my witnesses,” declares the Lord, “that I am God. Yes, and from ancient days I am he. No one can deliver out of my hand. When I act, who can reverse it?”

Let us remember this day that God calls us to be witnesses of His mighty acts and also of His unquenchable love.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Does God care about me?

 

“You have searched me, Lord, and you know me.”

—Psalm 139:1a

In the midst of the trials in this life, it is not surprising that people may wonder whether or not God really does care about them.

King David addresses this very question with a thorough answer found in Psalm 139:1-18, 23-24:

You have searched me, Lord, and you know me. You know when I sit and when I rise; you perceive my thoughts from afar. You discern my going out and my lying down; you are familiar with all my ways.

Before a word is on my tongue you, Lord, know it completely. You hem me in behind and before, and you lay your hand upon me.

Such knowledge is too wonderful for me, too lofty for me to attain. Where can I go from your Spirit? Where can I flee from your presence?

If I go up to the heavens, you are there; if I make my bed in the depths, you are there. If I rise on the wings of the dawn, if I settle on the far side of the sea, even there your hand will guide me, your right hand will hold me fast.

If I say, “Surely the darkness will hide me and the light become night around me,” even the darkness will not be dark to you; the night will shine like the day, for darkness is as light to you.

For you created my inmost being; you knit me together in my mother’s womb. I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well.

My frame was not hidden from you when I was made in the secret place, when I was woven together in the depths of the earth. Your eyes saw my unformed body; all the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

How precious to me are your thoughts, God! How vast is the sum of them! Were I to count them, they would outnumber the grains of sand—when I awake, I am still with you.

Search me, God, and know my heart; test me and know my anxious thoughts. See if there is any offensive way in me, and lead me in the way everlasting.

You see, just as King David knew how much God cared about him, so we can be assured that God really cares about us, too.

What a comfort to know that God does care about us.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Thirsting for God

 

“You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you…”

—Psalm 63:1a

I have a friend who has traveled the world on business. He has been to many exotic places. He told me the most fascinating place for him was the Sahara Desert.

The thing that struck him the most when confronted by the vastness of that place was the overwhelming desire to constantly take a drink of water from his canteen. His guide kept reminding him to resist the urge to take a drink lest he run out of water.

He told me the urge was overwhelming. He wasn't actually thirsty, he was just compelled to fill his mouth with cool water.

King David experienced a spiritual longing that was every bit as strong and compelling as my friend's urge to take a drink of water. David wrote about this in Psalm 63:1-5:

You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you, in a dry and parched land where there is no water.

I have seen you in the sanctuary and beheld your power and your glory.

Because your love is better than life, my lips will glorify you. I will praise you as long as I live, and in your name I will lift up my hands.

I will be fully satisfied as with the richest of foods; with singing lips my mouth will praise you.

Let us fill the longing in our heart, mind, and soul with the many blessings that flow into our lives from the God who loves us with His everlasting love.

And, let us lift our voices in praise to Him this day. Let us acknowledge to everyone who crosses our pathway that God's love through His Son, Jesus, is better than life.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Yes! We Trust in the Lord

 

“Trust in the Lord forever…”

—Isaiah 26:4a

In this post-modern, post-Christian culture, a fight seems brewing over whether the public square should contain any reference whatsoever to God, or especially to Christianity. People today either don’t know or don’t care that Judeo/Christian ethics were woven into the very warp and woof of the new republic by its founders.

Of course, some claim the founders weren’t really Christian, but were Deists. They believed in God, but not the triune God of the Bible: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. They believed that while God may well have created all things, He put the world in motion, but then has had little to do with it since.

A careful reading of the founding documents renders this argument both foolish and an affront to the historical documents that are readily available to us. It’s just more convenient for some people in our day to pretend that God has nothing to do with us. “We’re on our own,” they say. “We owe allegiance to no one, especially not to a God who supposedly created us and sustains us.”

In sharp contrast, those who believe in the life-transforming power of the Son of God dispute this ridiculousness. But, we must realize we are in an ever-shrinking minority. That’s why it is so important for us to have a solid understanding of who we are and whose we are. We belong to God. He chose us, before the foundation of the earth, to belong to Him.

Fighting errant notions is not new. The Prophet Isaiah had plenty of foolish notions to deal with in his day. He addresses one of them in Isaiah 26:4:

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

It is not enough to pretend that God has nothing to do with our “here and now.” Some in our culture can pretend all they want. That doesn’t change the very present reality that God is the Creator/Sustainer. He is the one who makes all things move in perfect harmony.

Worried about climate change? Don’t be. God is the only One who controls our climate. Concerned about pandemics? Take precautions as any normally intelligent person would. But, don’t lose sight of the fact that God controls every moment of our lives. If He wishes to preserve us from death by a dread disease, He will do so. If He wants to call us home to heaven, He will do so.

Part of learning to trust God involves our surrendering our concern about the things in life we cannot control. Yielding our will to God requires us to let go and fall back into His loving arms. Whatever He wills for us, that needs to be fine with us.

He sent us the Holy Spirit to dwell within every person who believes through the power of Jesus. The Holy Spirit will help us in our weakness and give us the confidence to all ourselves to trust in God.

We can declare with our lives each day that we are people who trust in God. Yes! In God we trust! Indeed!

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Steadfast and Yearning

 

“Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.”

—Isaiah 26:4

Psychologists tell us that the direction in which we focus our yearning affects the state of our minds and plays a very important role in setting the outlook we have on any particular day.

For example, I read about a man who connected on Facebook with some friends from high school. Now in his mid-forties, he began to spend an inordinate amount of time focusing on the past.

His conversations always took on a tone of yesteryear. He located his high school yearbooks and other memorabilia and began scanning photos to post on his Facebook timeline. He shared stories of his glory days as a teenager.

He made many comparisons between those long ago days. Even though he had a lovely and devoted wife and four beautiful daughters, his posts took on a tone of how much better he was back in high school than he was today.

Like all nostalgic moods, his psyche edited history. He didn’t seem to remember the painful times, the times of discouragement, the sense of angst that he actually felt growing up. He forgot how empty he felt because he did not yet know Jesus.

He focused so much on the past that he neglected the present. He began to compare his mature Christian life of today with the wildness of his youth.

As he realized how many of his classmates had gotten divorced and were re-living their days of freedom, he even began to contemplate divorce himself, even though there was nothing really wrong with his marriage that a few "tune-up" counseling sessions and some concerted prayer couldn’t correct.

You see, this man began living in the past and forsaking the present in a way that would destroy his future. His backward looking through rose-colored glasses brought unrest and dissatisfaction into his life.

The Prophet Isaiah reminded the people of Judah to remain steadfast in their yearning when he wrote the words found in Isaiah 26:3-4, 7, 9a:

You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you.

Trust in the Lord forever, for the Lord, the Lord himself, is the Rock eternal.

The path of the righteous is level; you, the Upright One, make the way of the righteous smooth.

My soul yearns for you in the night; in the morning my spirit longs for you.

This day, and every day, let’s keep the eyes of our mind and heart on Jesus. Let’s live in the present, ever grateful for the pathway of steadfastness that He lays out before us. Let us yearn only for Him and for the obedience of devoted disciples.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Longing of the Heart

 

“ My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord…”

—Psalm 21:2

Every person is born with a deep longing in his or her heart. Many decisions we make, from early childhood all the way through to old age, are motivated by this longing in our hearts.

If you take a look back at your life, you will see how this longing has motivated you to try to fill a void—a hole in your heart. But, only one thing can fill that void.

When someone asks me, “What is the reason for the gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ?” I am tempted to answer using Pastor Rick Warren’s summary: “Our sins forgiven, a reason for livin’, a home in heaven.”

I have come to realize that while His role as “The Rescuer of our souls” is vitally important, the Lord Jesus is also the only One who can satisfy the longing in our hearts—filling this hole in our hearts that we inherited at birth.

Speaking of God, the Psalmist testified with these words found in Psalm 21:2-4:

You have granted him his heart’s desire and have not withheld the request of his lips. You came to greet him with rich blessings and placed a crown of pure gold on his head. He asked you for life, and you gave it to him—length of days, for ever and ever.

Only the true Love that comes from God can satisfy the longing of our hearts. And that Love is Jesus. Encountering the living Lord Jesus Christ is the most startling event we will ever experience.

Even those of us who believe that God chose the ones who would belong to Him before the foundation of the world also realize that each of those ones He has chosen had some moment in their lives where the Holy Spirit revealed to them the depth of their sin, their need of a Savior, and the marvelous gift that God has given them is His Son, the Lover of their souls.

So, an extremely important component of the gospel of Jesus is that He, and He alone, can fulfill the longing of our souls.

Again, the Psalmist puts my poor thoughts into elegant words in Psalm 84:2, 4:

My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God. Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they are ever praising you.

When someone asks you why you have become a follower of Jesus—a Christian or a “Christ’s-one”—most certainly explain how you came to understand you are a sinner in need of a Savior.

But please, also be certain to tell them what you know in the very core of your being: that there is a hole in your heart—a longing of the heart—that only God’s precious Son can fill.

Clara T. Williams wrote these stunningly accurate words in the hymn “Satisfied”:

All my life long I had panted
for a draught from some cool spring,
that I hoped would quench the burning
of the thirst I felt within.

Hallelujah! I have found Him
Whom my soul so long has craved!
Jesus satisfies my longings;
Through His blood I now am saved.

With all this evidence, is it any wonder that we follow Jesus?

 

Here’s a particularly beautiful rendition of Clara Williams’ hymn from the late tenor soloist, Donald Doig that I hope you will enjoy:

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Knowing God - Part 2: It’s the Second Kind of Knowing

 

“Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.”

—Galatians 4:8-

In the last post, I suggested that “Knowing God” seems like a pretty important part of spiritual formation. I also wrote about the knowing of the mind. The assimilation of knowledge through nature, through Jesus Christ the Living Word,, and through reading the Bible.

In this post I want to consider another kind of “knowing.” This knowing involves actual first-hand, palpable experience. It is a knowing of the soul, the very essence of a woman or a man.

As I shared in the previous post, the Apostle Paul writing in Galatians 4:8-9 makes this declaration:

Formerly, when you did not know God, you were slaves to those who by nature are not gods.

But now that you know God—or rather are known by God—how is it that you are turning back to those weak and miserable forces? Do you wish to be enslaved by them all over again?

The second kind of knowing entwines actual experience with an exchange of mind and heart between a Lover and His beloved child. Such a knowing takes a lifetime of close fellowship. It involves a daily relationship of trust in the Lover by the beloved.

It involves the bending of the beloved’s will to the greater, wiser, and more perfect will of the Lover.

The pathway of obedience, of which I have so often written and of which I truly believe is our only contribution to our relationship with God, is held secure by the total, obedient submission of our will to God’s will.

We learn how to submit by submitting. We learn how to trust by trusting. We learn how to love by loving. We learn how to know God by knowing.

Sometimes our lesson involves a swift change in direction that leaves us reeling. But, in the end, we learn how to expect the unexpected.

And, at the end of our road, we come to know God through a process that will last for eternity.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Knowing God - Part 1: It’s the First Kind of Knowing

 

“I am in the Father and the Father is in me”

—John 14:11a

“Knowing God” seems like a pretty important part of spiritual formation. In fact, you may have read J. I. Packer’s excellent book by this very name. If you haven’t, I urge you to obtain a copy and read it carefully.

How do we go about knowing God? We should begin by recognizing at least two very different kinds of “knowing.”

The first "knowing" principally begins as an exercise of our minds and only later sinks into our hearts. We observe the creative handiwork of God in nature. As the Apostle Paul writes in Romans 1:18-20:

The wrath of God is being revealed from heaven against all the godlessness and wickedness of people, who suppress the truth by their wickedness, since what may be known about God is plain to them, because God has made it plain to them.

For since the creation of the world God’s invisible qualities—his eternal power and divine nature—have been clearly seen, being understood from what has been made, so that people are without excuse.

We know God because we see His hand in all creation. We also know God by seeing the Father in His Son Jesus. In John 14:8-11, the Apostle John records this exchange:

Philip said, “Lord, show us the Father and that will be enough for us.”

Jesus answered: “Don’t you know me, Philip, even after I have been among you such a long time? Anyone who has seen me has seen the Father.

“How can you say, ‘Show us the Father’? Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me?

“The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work.

“Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.”

We come to know God by seeing Him in Jesus. We also know God by seeing God in His written Word, the Bible.

In each of these cases, we know God through the faculty of our mind. The more we know of Him, the more we will want to truly know Him.

And that kind of knowing, dear ones is the second kind of knowing. I will share more about that kind of knowing in the next post.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Citizens of God’s Kingdom

 

“But our citizenship is in heaven.”

—Philippians 3:2a

Just yesterday, we citizens of the United States of America celebrated the anniversary of the birth of our great nation. We did so with parades, picnics, family gatherings, and fireworks displays. We also did so with visits to the graveyards that hold the remains of those who sacrificed their very lives to protect the freedoms that we celebrated.

But for “Christ’s-ones”—Christians—we are citizens of an even greater Kingdom. For, before the foundation of the earth, God chose us to belong to Himself. In due season, He sent the Holy Spirit to speak into the deep recesses of our hearts and draw us into the fullness of the knowledge of what the Lord Jesus Christ has done for us by taking the penalty of our sins on Himself and dying on the cruel cross of Calvary.

As the Holy Spirit whispered to us, He revealed how Jesus rose again from the grave, thus conquering sin, and death, and Satan. Jesus ascended into heaven where He sat down at the right hand of God the Father Almighty. In that seat of honor and authority, Jesus makes intercession for us. Now, when God looks at us, He sees the blood stains from His Son’s precious blood covering us from the crown of our heads to the soles of our feet.

We are no longer only sinners. Now we are sinners redeemed by the blood of the Lamb, the Lord Jesus Christ. God has adopted us as His sons and daughters. We belong to Him. We have moved from mere creations to children, children of God.

God has adopted us into His family. We are now citizens of the Great King. Our home is with Him. That’s where we will spend all eternity. The Body of Christ, the Church, will evermore live in the Presence of the King.

The Apostle Paul elegantly and succinctly captured the reality of this fact in these words found in Philippians 3:20:

But our citizenship is in heaven. And we eagerly await a Savior from there, the Lord Jesus Christ.

It is fitting and proper that we celebrate our great nation, the United States of America. We owe so much to all those who have gone before us. The men and women who sacrificed to give birth to this nation. The men and women who dies to preserve our freedoms. And, the men and women who live today on the battlefields across the world to preserve our freedoms still.

It is fitting and proper that we fall to our knees and implore God to protect our nation; to ask Him to forgive our waywardness; to send a great, sweeping revival across our land that will draw men, women, boys, and girls into a relationship with the Lord Jesus Christ; and to keep us safe from those, both within and without, that would forever change our nation and destroy our freedoms.

But, in so doing, we who belong to the Great King must always remember that our true citizenship is with the God who loves us and who sent His one and only Son to die in our place—the God who sent the Holy Spirit to live within us and grant us His comfort, strength, mercy, grace, and unfailing love.

We truly do have a story to tell to the nations. It is a story of what God has done in our individual lives. It is a story of what God has done in and through us as members of the Body of Christ, the Church. We are God’s children. We are citizens of His Great Kingdom.

Let us rejoice this day that God has chosen us to belong to Him. And, let us surrender our own foolish wills to Him and allow Him to spread His love across the pathway of our lives. May every person who comes into our lives soon learn of the reason for the hope that we hold within us. And, as God uses us for His divine purposes, may we become instruments of His mercy, grace, and love to a very needy world.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Honoring Our Founders

 

“Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord…”

—Psalm 33:12a

We honor our Founding Fathers this day and remind ourselves of the heritage we have inherited from them. Perhaps the Psalmist put it best when he wrote these words from Psalm 33:12-15:

Blessed is the nation whose God is the Lord, the people he chose for his inheritance.

From heaven the Lord looks down and sees all mankind; from his dwelling place he watches all who live on earth— he who forms the hearts of all, who considers everything they do.

With words by Samuel Francis Smith and music arranged by Thomas Arne, the heartfelt strains of “My Country ’Tis of Thee” fill our hearts and minds on this day of celebration.

My country, ’tis of thee,
Sweet land of liberty,
Of thee I sing;
Land where my fathers died,
Land of the pilgrims’ pride,
From ev’ry mountainside
Let freedom ring!

My native country, thee,
Land of the noble free,
Thy name I love;
I love thy rocks and rills,
Thy woods and templed hills;
My heart with rapture thrills,
Like that above.

Let music swell the breeze,
And ring from all the trees
Sweet freedom's song;
Let mortal tongues awake;
Let all that breathe partake;
Let rocks their silence break,
The sound prolong.

Our fathers’ God to Thee,
Author of liberty,
To Thee we sing.
Long may our land be bright,
With freedom'’s holy light,
Protect us by Thy might,
Great God our King.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Living in the Present

 

“Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.”

—Proverbs 27:1

As a child, I often would stare at the calendar hanging on the wall in our kitchen. My mom would write appointments and other upcoming events on that calendar. I would daydream about what was going to happen in the future.

Sometimes, I would complain to my dad about how far away in time some event seemed to be. I would tell him that I wished the event would happen tomorrow.

Wisely, my dad would often reply, “Son, don’t wish your life away.”

King Solomon agreed with my dad when he wrote the following in Proverbs 27:1:

Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring.

Even more so, our blessed Lord Jesus Christ reinforced King Solomon’s admonition when He told His disciples the words the Apostle Matthew recorded in Matthew 6:33-34:

“But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well.

“Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about itself. Each day has enough trouble of its own.”

As we move into another day, let’s determine to live fully in the present knowing that whatever lies ahead on our road of life the God who loves us with His everlasting love will see us through.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

Fully Satisfied

 

“Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love…”

—Psalm 90:14a

If we could rise up above the normal terrain of our lives in something like a drone—just high enough to see what’s happening below us -- we would notice everyone moving around from place to place looking for something or someone to bring satisfaction into their lives.

We who believe in the God who loves us through the life-transforming power of the Lord Jesus have found the only reliable source of true satisfaction.

The Psalmist affirms what we have discovered when he writes these words in Psalm 90:14, 16-17:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.

May your deeds be shown to your servants, your splendor to their children.

May the favor of the Lord our God rest on us; establish the work of our hands for us—yes, establish the work of our hands.

God is the ultimate source of satisfaction. Nothing even comes close to supplying either the quantity or the quality of satisfaction that God provides for those He loves.

Let us enter this night with the peace that comes from knowing God loves us, supplies all our needs, and brings reliable satisfaction into our lives.

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}

 

A Different Kind of Lover

 

“The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.”

—Psalm 29:11

When we think about God and His love for us what image comes to mind? Do we think of some jolly, grandfatherly figure into whose lap we may climb and cuddle into His warm embrace?

God is certainly the giver of that kind of tenderness. He cares for us in the most gentle and sweet way. But, He’s more than that. The God who loves us with His infinite love is a different kind of lover.

The Psalmist understood all too well who God is and reminds us of this in Psalm 29:1-5, 7-11:

Ascribe to the Lord, you heavenly beings, ascribe to the Lord glory and strength.

Ascribe to the Lord the glory due his name; worship the Lord in the splendor of his holiness.

The voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of glory thunders, the Lord thunders over the mighty waters.

The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic. The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; the Lord breaks in pieces the cedars of Lebanon.

The voice of the Lord strikes with flashes of lightning. The voice of the Lord shakes the desert; the Lord shakes the Desert of Kadesh.

The voice of the Lord twists the oaks and strips the forests bare. And in his temple all cry, “Glory!”

The Lord sits enthroned over the flood; the Lord is enthroned as King forever.

The Lord gives strength to his people; the Lord blesses his people with peace.

It is the God of Power and Might who loves us with His never-failing love. We must not forget that, in His tender care for us, He is also the Almighty, the King of Creation.

The reality of who God is should fill us with awe and amazement that He loves us so much. We should take comfort from His willingness to tenderly care for us when He is so strong and so powerful.

Let us this day truly “worship the Lord in the splendor of His holiness.”

 

_{Copyright © 2015 by Dean K. Wilson. All Rights Reserved.}

_{More info at www.DeanKWilson.com}