Unchanging

Psalm 89:34

"I will not violate my covenant or alter what my lips have uttered." 

In the midst of an ever-changing, uncertain world of hypocrisy and broken promises, there is a God who is constant, unchanging, faithful and true. 

He is Jesus.

The Overflow

Proverbs 10:11

"The mouth of the righteous is a fountain of life, 

but violence overwhelms the mouth of the wicked."

Think back to the things that have come out of your mouth today. Would you categorize those words as life-giving? I imagine that words of life are encouraging, kind, building-up, loving and truthful. Is your mouth a fountain of life? Or do you spurt forth waves of violence and trouble and dissatisfaction? 

Jesus said in Matthew 12:34 that the mouth speaks from the overflow of the heart. That violence or life that is coming out of your mouth is a reflection of the darkness or light that is filling your heart.

So when you catch yourself saying something unhelpful, stop and ask Jesus to fill you with his life [John 4:14] so that it can flow out of you into others.

Because his words are life, life to the full.

It's A Trap!

Proverbs 10:9

“The man of integrity walks securely, but he who takes crooked paths will be found out.”

Integrity is a choice. It is made in the daily little decisions we make, the things we say no to, the things we do even when we don’t want to.

Integrity is hard. It is often the harder of the options in the choices we make. The crooked path seems more exciting and adventurous. It’s the kind of pretty road that you would Instagram.

It’s a trap!  That road leads to places you do not want to go. It’s a pretty looking road riddled with land mines called consequences that will blow up in your face when you least expect it [Proverbs 7:21-27]

Integrity isn't easy, but it is a safe road because we walk with the King of kings and the Lion of Judah.

Integrity is a road that leads to Jesus. If the people around us follow us down that road, they too will find Jesus.

It is the best road to walk because it leads to life.

Whatever You Do

Ephesians 1:1

“Paul, an apostle of Christ Jesus by the will of God…”

What is your role in God’s will right now? For Paul at that time it was to be an apostle. But we can’t all be apostles. So what will you be?

A student? Teacher? Mother? Leader? I don’t know what it is that God has for you to be right now in your life, you can fill in that gap. But I do know two things:

1.       Whatever it is be it for Jesus. Be a ______ of Christ Jesus; a ______ that belongs to and lives for Him.

2.       Be that thing with all your heart. God is not a fan of half-heartedness. You don’t necessarily have to be the best in all you do, but I do believe you’re called to give your best in everything you do: studying, friendship, work, whatever.

Colossians 3:23-24

“Whatever you do, work at it with all your heart, as working for the Lord, not for men. It is the Lord you are serving.” 

Established

Psalm 87:5

“The Most High himself will establish her.”

I recently sat in a presentation done by my new employer where they told us trainee accountants that they will make us successful. If we give our time [and overtime] to them, they will make something of us and set us up for our futures.

To an extent this is true. Working for one of the top accounting firms in the world will do wonders for establishing my career. How much more than will I be established by living for the Creator of the world?

See the world tells me that my value and identity lies in:

-          My employer

-          My degree and my grades

-          My provincial colours

-          Who I know

-          What people think of me

-          Anything and everything but God

But the truth is it is God who is building me. He is the Master Builder. He has designed my successes and my story. He has written my journey. He has given me value and my identity is in him.

It is God Most High who establishes me. There’s no one who could do it better.

Not A Tame Lion

This week as I've been praying for some literal miracles in my friends’ lives I keep thinking of the story of Lazarus being raised from the dead in John 11. Although the story is all about one of Jesus’ biggest miracles, it really is about so much more than that. It’s about how Jesus loves and feels, it’s about trusting God, and about Jesus doing the unexpected.

It’s back in the day when Jesus walked the earth, and he’s healing people left, right and centre. So when a good friend of Jesus, Lazarus, is sick, his family tell Jesus. Jesus loves Laz. He will rush to him and heal him, obviously.

But no, that’s not what happens. “When he heard that Lazarus was sick, he stayed where he was two more days.” And Lazarus dies. What?! Imagine being his family there and then. That’s definitely not how it should go! He said he loved Laz?! What is Jesus doing; how can he even justify that?!

Here is what I think Jesus’ response to that is: “Just wait, people. I haven’t done what you wanted because I am going to do something so much better and greater. Trust me. Healing now would have been cool, but I’m gonna raise him from the dead: the coolest! Your way ends up with one guy being healed which is nice, but my way results in redemption, in many many people being brought to spiritual life. Trust me.”

And he does what he promised. Lazarus is alive again. Martha and Mary learn to trust Jesus, even through their disappointment, God’s glory is shown and many people believe in Jesus and are saved. Win win win win! So much good out of a dark and dead situation.

Jesus didn’t do what the people wanted or expected because he knew the bigger picture and saw the end. He was always in control, always working for the good of those who loved him and whom he loved.

Copy paste this into your own life. If God isn’t healing or sorting out things you face right now, I believe it’s for a bigger purpose. I believe that we can trust him to move and heal and change things when the time is perfectly right. Ask Jesus to teach you trust and patience and faith through this time of death. Ask him to bring redemption to the people around you through your story. Run to him in your disappointment like Martha, knowing that he loves you, and trust him to bring his life in his time.

Like the great quote about Aslan: “He is not a tame lion, but he is good.” Our Jesus is unpredictable, doing wild and unexpected things, but boy is he good.

He can’t be tamed or told what to do, but you can trust him. He always loves us and he is always good.

Crave

Hope is a funny thing. Like a craving, it's such an internal thing, yet it affects all the external stuff too. My hopes, though no one know what they are, affect my friendships, my choices, my conversations and often the expressions on my face.

And I think that that internality [not a word, but let's go with it] is what causes so much disappointment between people. It's something I've written about before, that when our hopes are not met we are left heartsick.

Like if you didn't know that I was really hoping you'd give me a hug, I probably won't get the hug so you defer my hope. If you didn't know that I hoped you'd be here, it's likely you won't be so there goes my hope again. Silly examples, but do you get what I'm saying? Hopes are being crushed daily; hopes that no one even knew existed.

Also, my hopes are different to your hopes. If you could read my mind and see my hopes, you'd probably be surprised and perplexed by them. In fact, they tend to surprise even me. But something that I so love about Jesus is that He knows the secrets of my heart [Psalm 44:21]. He knows the desires of my heart [Psalm 37:4]. My hopes don't surprise Jesus. He's not perplexed by what I desire. He knows me [Psalm 139].

And not only does He know all my hopes, but Jesus is the fulfillment of every hope.
When I hope for love, He is love [1 John 4:16].
When I hope that someone will listen, God hears my cry [Isaiah 65:24].
When I hope for my future, God has already planned it for me [Jeremiah 29:11].
When I hope that I can face the day, Jesus gives me courage for He has overcome [John 16:33].
When I have no hope left, He is my hope [Colossians 1:27].

Hope is what we crave.
Hope is what Jesus gave.