Tag Archives: Salvation

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 19

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Chuck Colson On that Day, there will be a highway all the way from Egypt to Assyria: Assyrians will have free range in Egypt and Egyptians in Assyria. No longer rivals, they'll worship together, Egyptians and Assyrians! Isaiah 19:23 (MSG)

Charles Colson is well known in Christian circles for his teaching, his writing, and his ministry through Prison Fellowship. As the years go by, fewer and fewer people remember his incredible story. His life journey led to a pinnacle position among the conservative republicans and the political elite of the Nixon administration. Then came a rapid, deep descent he did not foresee. Colson was the first person convicted in the Watergate scandal that led to Nixon's resignation. Alone, broken, sitting in prison, Colson entered into a relationship with Jesus Christ and struck out on the path of redemption which would forever change his life and the lives of countless others.

What is often forgotten in Colson's story is the name of the person who visited him in prison and shared God's Message with him. It was not one of his political cronies. They all fled when he was convicted. His friends had also abandoned him in fear that they might be soiled by the Watergate scandal. The man who reached out to Colson was his political enemy. Harold Hughes was a liberal democrat, former governor of Iowa, and recovering alcoholic. Hughes visited Colson in prison, shared God's love with the pariah, and introduced Colson to Jesus.

Several years ago I had the opportunity to see Colson and Hughes reunited and hear them speak together. They were as opposite as opposites could be. Hughes the long-haired, liberal hippie and Colson the horn-rimmed, straight-laced conservative. I imagine that there was a lot on which the two disagreed. I was touched by watching the two of them together sharing their agreement on the single-most important truth. They were a living example of what happens when we follow Jesus' command and love our enemies.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and speakingoffaith

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 12

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Drawing deep. "Joyfully you'll pull up buckets of water from the wells of salvation." Isaiah 12:3a (MSG)

No matter the depth of sin to which you've fallen, the well of salvation is deeper still.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr& babomike

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Isaiah 4

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Life springs up. And that's when God's Branch will sprout green and lush. Isaiah 4:2 (MSG)

I write this post on the back end of one of the longest, and most brutal winters my hometown has experienced. We shattered the record for the amount of snowfall we had. Each week brought more snow, ice, wind, and cold. And then, it was over. In one week the snow melted, revealing green grass that had been well inslated under a thick blanket of snow. The tulips immediately began to shoot from the ground. Life springs up in the wake of deathly winter.

There is a pattern, a theme, that runs through God's message. It is a message of hope and redemption. We see it in today's chapter and we will see it throughout Isaiah's prophecy. Doomsday and judgement are followed by salvation. Winter is followed by spring. Valleys give way to the next mountain top.

Believe. Press on.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flick and natmeister

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Exodus 29

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Without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness. Then you will slaughter the bull in the presence of God at the entrance to the Tent of Meeting. Take some of the bull's blood and smear it on the horns of the Altar with your finger; pour the rest of the blood on the base of the Altar. Exodus 29:11-12 (MSG)

Have you ever picked up a novel and started reading it from the middle, or started watching a movie half-way in? It's a crazy-maker, isn't it? You find yourself trying to follow threads of the story without knowing what happened before. You feel lost and confused about characters and where the story is going.

According to God's message, the history of mankind is, indeed, a story. It's His-story. It is the story of man's willful disobedience, fall from God's grace and God's work of restoring that broken relationship. Without the context of the entire story, the chapters (like today's) are difficult to understand. The sacrificial system we read about it Exodus is brutal and confusing in today's world. Yet, it is an important piece of the larger story.

When Adam and Eve disobeyed God and ate the fruit in the Garden of Eden, relationship was broken and the punishment was mortality and death. For that ultimate disobedience to be forgiven, the penalty price of death had to be paid. God's message tells us that without the shedding of blood, there is no forgiveness for sin. The consequence of our sins is brutally destructive. The price of our redemption is equally as brutal. That's why Jesus had to die, and his blood had to be shed. God's own son was the ultimate sacrifice.

The sacrifical system of Exodus is but a foreshadowing of the ultimate sacrifice God would make for me, for you, for all mankind. The daily, bloody affair prescribed for the wandering Israelites was a constant reminder of the seriousness of our disobedience – and the hight price of our redemption.

Today, I'm thankful for God, who provided the ultimate sacrifice for me.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and the_brazilian

Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 146

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Chains. God frees prisoners— he gives sight to the blind, he lifts up the fallen. Psalm 146:8 (MSG)

It's easy to read God's message with such literal, earthly eyes that we lose sight of the spiritual realities God is communicating. I have never been arrested or incarcerated, so it's easy to gloss over the verse above as though it has no meaning for me. Yet, I am daily captivated by things which aren't good for me. I have two good eyes, but am regularly blind to the needs of others. I can't see God's hand working in me and around me.

I have to remind myself, constantly, that the Kingdom of God is not of this world. It is possible to be physically healthy and spiritually sick. I can have 20/20 vision and be blind to the truth of God's Kingdom. I can walk in earthly freedom while my soul is chained and enslaved.

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 140

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The law of the playground. I prayed, "God, you're my God! Listen, God! Mercy! Psalm 140:6 (MSG)

I remember, as a kid, playing a game called "Mercy." It was your typical alpha male, king of the mountain, game of physical domination and abject humiliation. I'm sure it was created by some bully named Zeke who thought it up after he'd already given wedgies to every kid on the playground. Basically, two people face each other and put their hands together as if they were giving each other high fives. However, they lace their fingers together so that their hands are now clasping. Then they try to bend the other person's hands back until one of them is on their knees in submission and cries, "Mercy!"

How easily we come to equate "mercy" with defeat and humiliation. How quickly mercy becomes a cry to be avoided as we hang desperately to our pride and rugged self-sufficiency. As a child on the playground I learned that asking for "mercy" was a repugnant admission of defeat.

But, God is no school ground bully. If life were a mere playground game, God would have sent Jesus to be King of the Mountain. From his throne, Jesus would tyrannically force people in submission to his will. Instead, God sent Jesus to suffer humiliation and death on our behalf. The way of salvation became, not a meritous reward we earn in the dominating power of our own goodness, but an undeserved gift to any who are willing to pick up their own cross, follow Jesus and cry to God: "Mercy!"

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Chapter-a-Day

Chapter-a-Day Psalm 130

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A long list on the balance sheet. If you, God, kept records on wrongdoings, who would stand a chance? As it turns out, forgiveness is your habit, and that's why you're worshiped. Psalm 130:3-4 (MSG)

Part of my job is analyzing phone calls that people take as part of their Customer Service job, and then coaching them on how they can improve (a la "your call may be monitored to ensure quality service"). When I go into the coaching sessions, I never cease to be amazed at how hard people are on themselves. It's rare that I have to convince somebody they can do a better job. Most often, people criticize their own performance far more mercilessly than I ever would. Most of us are hurtfully self-critical.

I've discovered the same thing to be true when talking to people about their faith journey. Many of us, deep down, are so convinced that the balance sheet of wrong doings to good deeds is so heavily weighted towards the wrong doings that we're convinced God wants nothing to do with us. "You don't know what I've done," is a phrase I've heard a time or two. I've uttered it a few times myself.

On one hand, our natural inclination is correct. If God judged us based on our balance sheet, not one of us would stand a chance. However, when God's message tells us about Jesus dying for our sins, it simply means that He paid the price for our wrong doings. If you will believe Him, God makes a habit of tearing out the negative side of our balance sheet and tossing it in the incinerator.

I'm sure he's surprised when we keep bringing up the subject.

Creative Commons photo courtesy of Flickr and Alpha_Delta20