Called to Suffer

Paul Tautges

“In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.”

John 16:33

For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps.

1 Peter 2:21

Suffering is no stranger to followers of Christ. It’s part of our calling, part of our identity. We are sufferers. We were born into a fallen world cursed by God when mankind first sinned in the Garden of Eden (Gen. 3:17). As a result, we groan. We groan because life hurts badly—there are unspeakable sorrows. We groan as we await the final day of redemption when “the creation itself will be set free from its bondage to corruption and obtain the freedom of the glory of the children of God” (Rom. 8:21). We groan as our hearts ache for the day when Jesus will make all things new (Rev. 21:5). Until then, suffering is guaranteed.

Don’t misunderstand me. The primary identity of each and every Christian is an exalted and victorious one. It is connected to who we are in Christ; that is, our position or standing before God. We are set apart by God (Eph. 1:1); adopted into his family (Eph. 1:5); objects of God’s grace (Eph. 1:6); chosen by the Father, redeemed by the Son, and sealed by the Spirit (Eph. 1:4, 7, 13-14); we are part of God’s eternal plan (Eph. 3:11); and much more. This world is not our home, “For our citizenship is in heaven, from which also we eagerly wait for a Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ” (Phil. 3:20). Positionally, we are already seated in the heavens and possess every spiritual blessing (Eph. 1:2). Make no mistake. The believer’s eternal inheritance is more glorious than we could ever imagine. Still we live in a world filled with pain, anguish, and loss. Suffering is common to all human beings; no one is exempt. However, its expectation is even more sure for Christians, due to our identification with the suffering Savior. Though he now sits at God’s right hand, our victorious, risen and ascended Savior still has his scars. We must never forget that!

More than seven hundred years before Jesus was born in Bethlehem, the prophet Isaiah wrote about the pain and anguish of Messiah, the Suffering Servant, as if it had already taken place. He was “despised and rejected.” He was not “esteemed” as he deserved, but instead was “stricken,” struck down by his own fallen creatures (Isa. 53:3-4). Ultimately, he was “wounded for our transgressions; he was crushed for our iniquities” at Calvary (Isa. 53:6). He was “oppressed” and “afflicted” by those whom he came to save (Isa. 53:7). Jesus is the Savior who suffered in the past, but remains understanding and compassionate toward us in our suffering—even now—as every believer’s High Priest (Heb. 4:15). With these realities in mind, let’s think about suffering in three ways.

Suffering is predicted by Jesus.

Jesus himself warns all who follow him: “In the world you will have tribulation,” but he also urges us to “take heart” since he already has “overcome the world” (Jn. 16:33). To believers who were scattered, due to persecution, the apostle Peter wrote, “For to this you have been called, because Christ also suffered for you, leaving you an example, so that you might follow in his steps” (1 Pet. 2:21). The specific context of this admonition is suffering for righteousness’ sake; that is, persecution for doing right in the face of evil treatment. However, the same truth also serves as an umbrella principle over all forms of suffering we endure. It’s part of our calling. Yet the suffering we experience is unlike that of Jesus in one very significant way: his suffering atoned for sin; ours could never. Jesus alone is the Lamb of God who can take away the sins of the world (Jn. 1:29). Jesus—and only Jesus—could be the “once for all” sacrifice which was foreshadowed by Old Testament law (Heb. 7:27; 9:12; 1 Pet. 3:18). He alone is the sinless God-man, the one, qualified mediator between God and man (1 Tim. 2:5). He alone is Savior (Acts 4:12). Our suffering can never save us (we could never atone for our own sin), but it can deepen our existing relationship with the One who already suffered in our place.

Suffering draws us closer to Jesus.

In our suffering, we are offered an opportunity to experience a kind of fellowship with Jesus that can be sweeter and deeper than at any other time in our lives. The apostle Paul spoke about this growth principle when he expressed the longing of his heart to know Jesus experientially: “that I may know him and the power of his resurrection, and may share his sufferings, becoming like him in his death” (Phil. 3:10). Paul knew Christ, and was known by Christ, due to receiving his righteousness by faith at the moment of his conversion. He was confident he had been saved from the wrath to come, but he was not content with his relationship with Jesus. Paul wanted to be walk closer and closer to his Savior, in the fellowship of his sufferings. Fanny Crosby echoed this same longing in 1874, in her hymn Close to Thee.

Close to Thee, close to Thee,
Gladly will I toil and suffer,
Only let me walk with Thee.[1]

Times of suffering typically send us looking for a compassionate, caring friend. Jesus is the Friend of all friends. Pain can bond us to our Savior if we will allow it to do its internal work.

Suffering shifts our heart’s affections.

Suffering always involves some form of loss and, therefore, it naturally loosens our grip on the temporal by forcing our focus onto the eternal. The apostle Paul testifies of this helpful comparison: “For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worth comparing with the glory that is to be revealed to us” (Rom. 8:18). Without suffering we undoubtedly would think less about the eternal glories of heaven. In addition, physical, mental, and relational pain have the unique power to dethrone idols, and redirect the affections of our heart toward Christ. The anguish we feel exposes the insufficiency of what we hold to most dearly in this life, offering to us the opportunity to repent of disordered worship and renew our vows to Christ. Indeed this is one of the most important redemptive purposes of God in our suffering.

If by faith you have been united to Jesus in his death, burial, and resurrection, you can expect suffering to be a regular part of your life. Painful trials are not punitive for the Christian, since Jesus was already punished in our place. However, because our loving heavenly Father is eager to bless us more and more, he employs suffering to draw us closer and closer through more childlike faith and obedience. For the believer, the fiery blaze of suffering does not destroy. Instead it is a refining fire that carries with it the potential to purify our hearts, increase our love, and sanctify our lives in order to more clearly reflect the humility and love of Christ.

Take a moment to pray. Thank God for the good purposes he has for your suffering. Ask him to give you a teachable heart as you draw near to him.

[1] Fanny J. Crosby, “Close to Thee,” 1874.

Posted at: https://counselingoneanother.com/2020/11/07/called-to-suffer/

Encouragement for Hard Times from Saints of Old

Tim Chester

Let me tell you a story about a pandemic, lockdown and social distancing. Sound familiar? Yet this is a story not from 2020, but from 1665.

That year, the so-called “great plague” broke out in southern England – part of a global pandemic of bubonic plague. At some point a bundle of flea-infested cloth arrived in the village of Eyam in the Derbyshire Dales. The package was opened by a tailor’s assistant called George Viccars. Within days he was dead. Other members of the household fell ill, and the people of Eyam realised they had an outbreak on their hands.

What happened next is an amazing story of courage and self-sacrifice. Three years before, the Rector of Eyam, Thomas Stanley, had lost his ministry during the Great Ejection when around 2,000 Puritan leaders were forced out of the Church of England. The new rector, William Mompesson, remained within the established Church but shared Stanley’s living faith in Christ. Under their combined leadership, the village made the decision to self-isolate. It made sense for people to escape the plague by leaving the village. But that risked spreading the disease to other parts of the north of England. So instead they chose a self-imposed lockdown. No one came into the village and no one left.

To this day there’s a stone on a footpath out of the village with natural indents which, during the plague, were filled with vinegar so villagers could safely leave coins in exchange for supplies. No funerals were held; instead families had to bury their own dead. Church services were held outside so people could practice a seventeenth-century version of social distancing. The plague ran its course over fourteen months. How many people died is disputed, but it’s thought to have been over half the village. The dead included the rector’s own wife, whose grave is still in the churchyard.

Sustained by the truth

COVID-19 has certainly led to strange and challenging times. But, as the story of Eyam reminds us, they are not without precedent. In 1665, the great plague left around 100,000 people dead—a quarter of London’s population. Just as someone can think they’re the centre of the world, so we can think we’re the centre of the ages—as if our challenges are special. But the people of God have faced crises again and again across the centuries. This is one of the great values of church history: the gospel truths that sustained the saints of old are the same truths that will sustain us today.

The writer of Hebrews says,

Therefore, since we are surrounded by such a great cloud of witnesses, let us throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles. And let us run with perseverance the race marked out for us, fixing our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith (Heb. 12: 1-2).

The Christian life is a long race, he says, and if we want to make it to the finish line we need to do two things. First, we’re to turn away from distractions, especially the distraction of sin, and “throw off everything that hinders” (v 1). Second, we’re to turn instead to look at and “[fix] our eyes on Jesus” (v 2).

To help fix our gaze on Jesus, we are surrounded by “a great cloud of witnesses” (v 1). For the first readers of Hebrews, these witnesses were the saints of the Old Testament, whose faith in God’s promises had sustained them through troubling times and had enabled them to achieve great things in God’s name. But as readers today, we can add names from across the pages of church history to that crowd of cheering spectators. Two thousand years on, the cloud of witnesses is larger than ever.

The key thing is that such people are “witnesses.” Like the witness in a law court, they have evidence to present and, in this case, their testimony concerns Jesus Christ. Their purpose is not to draw attention to themselves but to him. Their lives may inspire and their words may inform, but their true value is that they point us to Jesus.

The best of Christian writers from across the centuries keep on directing our gaze to Christ and his work. The seventeenth-century Puritans wrote book after book about Christ, perhaps because it was the glory of Christ that sustained them through their hardships. Here, for example, are the Christ-centred words of Puritan William Bridge in his book, Lifting Up for the Downcast:

Be sure that you think of Christ in a right way and manner as he suits your condition and as he is held forth in the gospel … The Scriptures hold forth the person of Christ in ways that make him very amiable to poor sinners. Are you accused by Satan, the world or your own conscience? He is called your Advocate. Are you ignorant? He is called the Prophet. Are you guilty of sin? He is called a Priest and High Priest. Are you afflicted with many enemies, inward and outward? He is called a King, and King of kings. Are you in dire straits? He is called your Way [1].

Our Puritan brothers and sisters in Christ wrestled with God through hard times, and the fruit of their labour can help us through the hard times we face. Sometimes the language and emphases of the past seem strange to us. But this very strangeness is actually a key reason to read old authors. They present familiar truths in a different way—a way that can capture our imaginations anew. Moreover, the strangeness of their world becomes a vantage point from which to view ourselves with a fresh perspective, potentially exposing the strangeness of our own preoccupations and prejudices.

When we listen to heart-warming wisdom from the saintly witnesses of old, we are encouraged to fix our eyes on Jesus, the pioneer and perfecter of faith.

_____

Tim Chester’s new book is An Ocean of Grace: A Journey to Easter with Great Voices from the Past, a collection of devotions and prayers for Lent from writers across church history.

 Posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2020/11/encouragement-from-saints-old/

Above All These, Put on Love Part 13 (Loves Hope All Things and Endures All Things)

Love Hopes All Things and Endures All Things

By Wendy Wood

Love hopes all things.  The Greek is elpizō.  Hope means to wait with full confidence and joy.  A Christian lives a life of hope in the gospel of Christ.  A believer doesn’t cross their fingers or wish for an unsure future, but is rock solid in the guarantee of salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ.

Consider what the Bible says about HOPE!

1 Peter 1:3-4  “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ! According to his great mercy, he has caused us to be born again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead;  to an inheritance that is imperishable, undefiled, and unfading, kept in heaven for you,”.  We are born again to a living hope!  Our hope is living because our Savior is living.  Christ rose from the dead and ascended to be in heaven as our living advocate and mediator.  Our hope is alive and we know that we will live eternally in God’s presence because of this promise.  Our hope is imperishable - we can’t lose our salvation!  Our hope is undefiled - it cannot be tainted in any way!  Our hope is unfading - it is eternal!

Colossians 1:27  “To them God chose to make known how great among the Gentiles are the riches of the glory of this mystery, which is Christ in you, the hope of glory.”  Christ is our hope.  He indwells every believer.  We receive His power and His presence!  Our hope is in a real person who lived, died, and rose.

Colossians 1:23  “if indeed you continue in the faith, stable and steadfast, not shifting from the hope of the gospel that you heard, which has been proclaimed in all creation”.  The hope of the gospel is that it is the power of God to save and sanctify people for the Lord (Romans 1:16).  Our hope is in God’s power and His decisive will to save to the uttermost those who believe (Hebrews 7:25).

Hebrews 6:17-18  “So when God desired to show more convincingly to the heirs of the promise the unchangeable character of his purpose, he guaranteed it with an oath, so that by two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled for refuge might have strong encouragement to hold fast to the hope set before us.”  God does not change.  Our hope is secure because He will never change!  God swears by His own name.  There is no variation or shadow due to change in our God (James 1:17). He does not change so our hope is unwavering.

Hebrews 6:19  “We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain”.  Our hope is in Christ, who was our perfect substitutionary atonement, who opened the way for us to be in relationship with God.  The inner place behind the curtain was only for the high priest in the old testament who would make sacrifices once a year for the sins of the people.  When Christ died on the cross, the curtain in the temple was torn from top to bottom.  This is a picture of God now providing access to Himself through faith in the atoning work of Christ.  We are not dependent on a priest because Christ was the final High Priest whose sacrifice was once for all sins.

Romans 15:13   “May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace in believing, so that by the power of the Holy Spirit you may abound in hope.”  God is the God of hope!  God confidently and joyfully knows the future.  God isn’t an angry person expecting doom.  God is directing all things to bring about His purpose and is 100% guaranteed that purpose will stand.  He fills believers with joy and peace so that by the Holy Spirit, which He gives us, we abound in hope too!

These are just a few of the many verses about our hope.  Hope is trusting God’s nature, His attributes, so that we live in a way that demonstrates how sure His promises are.  

So what does this have to do with “love hopes all things”?

Do your relationships reflect a hope that God is who He says He is, that Christ is all you need, and that your future is in heaven with God? 

Do your relationships show that you know eternity with God is your real home and that in this life you are an exile, sojourner, a mist that will vanish soon?

When we are not living in this hope, we tend to act like we need to make sure we get what we want now.  Oftentimes, our responses to others show we believe we have to be treated with respect to be happy.  Maybe we are tempted to be “right” and prove it because our hope is in justifying ourselves.  Maybe our dream of what life will be like is so important to us that we prioritize our job or financial security over God.  Maybe for you, it’s the picture of what a Christian family looks like that is where you place your hope and you will fret and stew with anxiety over a mistake or sin your child is involved in.

When “love hopes all things” we live with confident and joyful hope in God.  We trust His promises that He rewards those who earnestly seek Him (Hebrews 11:6)  and that giving up our desires now will lead to great reward (Mark 10:30).  If we truly place our hope in Christ, that relationship with Him is what will bring joy and peace and satisfaction, we won’t need to seek those things from other people.  We will be able to respond with love even when others do not.  Knowing that our hope is secure because it is in Christ, should change how we are in relationship with family, friends, church members, neighbors, and even enemies.

Where do you place your hope?  

Is your hope in having your circumstances change or is it in God?

Is your hope in having people around you change or is it in God’s promises?

Is your hope in being loved and respected by people or is your hope in what Christ has already made you to be?

Is your hope in your career, family, status, or possessions, or is your hope in heaven?

The way we interact with people shows where we are placing our hope.  Do you live in such a way that you display the greatness and surety of God’s promises?

Love endures all things.  Love perseveres.  You’ve studied the multi-faceted love God calls His children to live out.  Love endures all things means that there is never a time when these evidences of love should stop.  Love will continue to be patient and kind.  Love will continue to put aside arrogance and boasting and be humble.  Love will honor others ahead of self.  Love will continue to respond with grace and mercy when wronged.  Love will persevere in forgiveness even when sinned against repeatedly.  Love will grieve over sin and rejoice when God is honored.  Love will continue to cover over other minor sins and be gentle in correction.  Love will give charitable assumptions until it is wise to draw other conclusions based on evidence.  Love will place its hope in the only One who is secure and steadfast.   Love will endure because God has loved us this way!

Application:

1. What did you learn about love in this section?

2. Based on how you respond to your circumstance, where do you place your hope?

3. Write your own summary of the hope we have in Christ.

4. What scripture about hope do you need to meditate on and memorize?  Write it out and start working on it!

5. What will it look like in your relationships to demonstrate your hope is in Christ?

Why We Don’t Lose Heart

Devotional by John Piper

So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day. For this light momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:16–18)

Paul can’t see the way he used to (and there were no glasses). He can’t hear the way he used to (and there were no hearing aids). He doesn’t recover from beatings the way he used to (and there were no antibiotics). His strength, walking from town to town, doesn’t hold up the way it used to. He sees the wrinkles in his face and neck. His memory is not as good. And he admits that this is a threat to his faith and joy and courage.

But he does not lose heart. Why?

He doesn’t lose heart because his inner man is being renewed. How?

The renewing of his heart comes from something very strange: it comes from looking at what he can’t see.

We look not to the things that are seen but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that are unseen are eternal. (2 Corinthians 4:18)

This is Paul’s way of not losing heart: looking at what he cannot see. What, then, did he see when he looked?

A few verses later in 2 Corinthians 5:7, he says, “We walk by faith, not by sight.” This doesn’t mean that he leaps into the dark without evidence of what’s there. It means that for now the most precious and important realities in the world are beyond our physical senses.

We “look” at these unseen things through the gospel. We strengthen our hearts — we renew our courage — by fixing our gaze on the invisible, objective truth that we see in the testimony of those who saw Christ face to face.

“God, who said, ‘Let light shine out of darkness,’ has shone in our hearts to give the light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ” (2 Corinthians 4:6). “The light of the knowledge of the glory of God in the face of Jesus Christ.” We see this as it shines in our heart through the gospel.

We became Christians when this happened — whether we understood this or not. And with Paul we need to go on seeing with the eyes of the heart, so that we not lose heart.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/why-we-dont-lose-heart

Models for Combating Discouragement

Devotional by John Piper

My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever. (Psalm 73:26)

Literally the verb is simply fail, not “may fail.” This God-besotted psalmist, Asaph, says, “My flesh and my heart fail!” I am despondent! I am discouraged! But then immediately he fires a broadside against his despondency: “But God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.”

The psalmist does not yield to discouragement. He battles unbelief with counterattack.

In essence, he says, “In myself I feel very weak and helpless and unable to cope. My body is shot, and my heart is almost dead. But whatever the reason for this despondency, I will not yield. I will trust God and not myself. He is my strength and my portion.”

The Bible is replete with instances of saints struggling with sunken spirits. Psalm 19:7 says, “The law of the Lord is perfect, reviving the soul.” This is a clear admission that the soul of the saint sometimes needs to be revived. And if it needs to be revived, in a sense it was “dead.” That’s the way it felt.

David says the same thing in Psalm 23:2–3, “He leads me beside still waters. He restores my soul.” The soul of the “man after [God’s] own heart” (1 Samuel 13:14) needs to be restored. It was dying of thirst and ready to fall exhausted, but God led the soul to water and gave it life again.

God has put these testimonies in the Bible so that we might use them to fight the unbelief of despondency. And we fight with the blast of faith in God’s promises: “God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.” We preach that to ourselves. And we thrust it into Satan’s face. And we believe it.

Posted at: https://www.desiringgod.org/articles/models-for-combating-discouragement

Three Ways to Grow While You Wait

Colin Smith

Waiting is not wasted time.

Often, though, it seems to be! I am waiting for the train. I am waiting for my appointment. I am waiting in a long queue. Sound familiar? Waiting can seem futile, so we look for something to do while we are waiting. This is why there are magazines in the doctor’s waiting room. We try to fill up the time with something useful while we are waiting.

Some of you are searching for a job, but what you are looking for has not opened up; you are waiting. Some of you are looking for that special person to be your life partner, but you haven’t found them; you are waiting. Couples long for a child, but nothing has happened; you are waiting. Others are longing to see a deep change in a person you love. You have prayed for it. But you are still waiting.

All of these instances can make waiting seem futile at best and frustratingly difficult at worst. But what if we were thinking about waiting in all the wrong ways? What if waiting was not wasted time, but valuable time in the life of the Christian?

We think of waiting as something we endure in order to get what we want. But God speaks about waiting as the way that we grow when we don’t have what we want. So waiting is not wasted time. In fact, waiting can be the greatest growth opportunity of your life.

I want to suggest three ways in which you can grow while you wait.

Grow in Patience

Patience is what you need when things have not worked out as you hoped.

Somewhere deep within every heart there is a dream of life as we would want it to be. Our culture is sold out in the pursuit of paradise now. I’ve been thinking about designing a sign that could be very useful for some of us. It would have just four words on it: “This is not paradise.”

There are a lot of places where you could put that sign. You might want to hang it over your front door at home.  It would help because some of us are so intent on a perfect family life that we are reaching for what cannot be attained in this world, and it becomes crushing for everybody.

Some couples ought to put that sign on the door to your bedroom. It would take a great deal of pressure off you. Perhaps you need to put that over your desk at work. Or what about in your car? It will help you when you are in a traffic jam.

I’d be very happy to have the sign over the entrance to the church. This is not paradise. If you came here looking for a perfect Christian community, you won’t find it.

Friends, if you give yourself to the pursuit of paradise now, you will be disappointed. When that happens you will be angry with God because he has seemingly let you down. But this life is not paradise. And the sooner you discover that, the sooner you will be able to break free from the pursuit of an advertiser’s dream that will always elude you.

When God does not give what you eagerly desire, a door opens for spiritual growth. Embrace the pain. Love God in the disappointment. Detach yourself from the pursuit of paradise in this world, and set yourself apart for the Lord. Paul says, “For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what he already has?” (Rom 8:24).

Embrace the disappointments of life as opportunities for spiritual growth.

Grow in Hope

As you embrace disappointment, ask yourself this: Do you honestly anticipate heaven? All that you can experience in the Christian life is only a taste of what Christ has in store for you. There is much, much more to come! This is why we are to grow in hope while we wait.

The Bible speaks about the Holy Spirit being like a deposit, guaranteeing what is to come. Think about when you bought your first house. How much was the deposit? How much was the mortgage? Though it may have seemed large at the time, the deposit was only a tiny fraction of what you had to pay. Similarly, all that you experience of God in this life – every good gift, every blessing, every pleasure – is only a tiny advance on what God has in store for you in heaven.

As you wait for eternity with God, use both the disappointments and the joys of your life to cultivate a healthy anticipation of what God has promised. Are you in pain or alone? Have you shed tears? Does this life seem empty to you? Wait upon the Lord: “God will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain. For the old order of things has passed away” (Rev 21:4).

Grow in Worship

Waiting on God is equally a wonderful expression of worship.

My calling is to wait on God. Your calling is to wait on God. The purpose of our lives is to make ourselves wholly available to Jesus Christ, who has come into this world to die for our sins. But often, we forget this wonderful truth and make ourselves the center of attention. We want God to wait on us!

Jesus gives us the perfect model of what waiting on God looks like. He delights in the will of the Father, and He is ready to do it even when it involves a cross. He tells us plainly that if we follow Him, we should not expect a trouble-free life. Jesus is not offering us paradise now.

Saying ‘yes’ to Jesus in the disappointments of life will be the highest worship you can offer. We learn this from the story of Job who lost everything, and in the middle of his pain he worshipped. We learn it from Jesus who, in the agony of the cross and with His “why” unanswered, committed Himself into the hands of His Father.

Worshipping God through disappointment will be the greatest evidence that you love God for Himself and not just for His gifts. If all your dreams were fulfilled, and if all your prayers were answered, there would be no way of knowing if you loved God for Himself.

So I want you to think of the great disappointments and the great joys of your life. I want you to think about all the waiting you are doing right now, and how you are perceiving that waiting. I want you to hear God saying to you, “I want to make this waiting useful. I want to use it to grow you in my likeness – in patience, hope, and worship.”

Posted at: https://unlockingthebible.org/2020/01/three-ways-to-grow-while-you-wait/

Look Up

Mike Emlet

Lately, I’ve been reading in the Psalms of Ascent. These are the songs sung by the Israelites as they journeyed to Jerusalem for their annual feasts. This morning I lingered over Psalm 123:

To you I lift up my eyes,
O you who are enthroned in the heavens!
Behold, as the eyes of servants
look to the hand of their master,
as the eyes of a maidservant
to the hand of her mistress,
so our eyes look to the Lord our God,
till he has mercy upon us.Have mercy upon us, O Lord, have mercy upon us,
for we have had more than enough of contempt.
Our soul has had more than enough
of the scorn of those who are at ease,
of the contempt of the proud (vv.1-4).

The phrase that caught my attention was, “I lift up my eyes.” In the midst of “more than enough” suffering, the psalmist looks up to the One who is enthroned in heaven. This is no casual glance upward. It is a fixed, steady, expectant gaze at the LORD. He calls out for and awaits God’s mercy. The psalmist appeals to the only one who can truly help, the King on His throne.

This is similar to the focus of Psalm 121:1-2:

I lift up my eyes to the hills.

From where does my help come?
My help comes from the Lord,
who made heaven and earth.

Are you faced with “more than enough” hardship today?

Do the challenges you face seem insurmountable?

Does the journey seem too much?

Where do you look for help?

If you’re like me, you don’t always look up. In fact, too often we look out, we look in, or we look down. What do I mean?Sometimes we “look out,” expecting that our help comes from other people. There is a certain rightness to this. Others do bear our burdens (Gal. 6:2). Others are called to encourage our faintheartedness and help our weakness (1 Thess. 5:14). Others comfort us with the comfort of Christ (2 Cor. 1:3-4). But they are not our Messiah.

In their own human frailty, they often fall short of what we truly need.If others are untrustworthy helpers and unable to bear the full weight of our suffering, where else do we look? Sometimes we “look in.” We look inward for the fortitude and perseverance to face our hardships. We ratchet up our planning and our doing. That strategy may work for a season, but inevitably our small boat of personal resources swamps in the wind and waves of life in a fallen world. As we feverishly bail water, we realize we’re in a losing battle. The broken relationship is irreparable. The cancer is terminal. Our reputation is forever tarnished. The chronic pain is truly chronic. The business will indeed fail. Then what?

I find that at these points, too often I “look down.” I become discouraged and overwhelmed. Life shrinks to the rocky ground before me, and in that Earth-bound gaze, I try to plod on.When we experience the insufficiency of looking in, out, or down, this is precisely the point at which our loving and faithful Father King calls me—and you—to look up. To call out for mercy in our time of need.

To fix our gaze on mercy personified—Jesus Christ—who sits enthroned in heaven. He faced “more than enough” suffering in the humiliation of His freely chosen incarnation, earthly life, and death (Phil. 2:6-8). He was despised and rejected, a man of sorrows and well acquainted with grief (Isa. 53:3). And in the midst of His horrific suffering, Jesus offered up prayers and supplications, with loud cries and tears, to Him who was able to save Him from death (Heb. 5:7). In His resurrection victory over sin, suffering, and death, He now invites you, weary traveler, to draw near to the throne of grace, that you may receive mercy and find grace in your time of need (Heb. 4:16).Look up to the merciful One who stands ready to help.

Questions for Reflection

In the midst of hardship, are you more tempted to look out, look in, or look down?

How does each of these strategies specifically manifest themselves in your life and relationships?

In what practical ways can you look up to your faithful Savior today?

What have you read recently in Scripture that could give you a hopeful perspective on your troubles?

How might that shape your prayer life?

Editor’s Note: This article was originally published on the CCEF website and is used with permission from Mike Emlet and CCEF. The original article can be found here.

Mike practiced as a family physician for 12 years before joining CCEF as a counselor and faculty member. Mike holds an M.D. from the University of Pennsylvania as well as an M.Div. degree from Westminster Theological Seminary. He has authored the mini-books: Asperger Syndrome; Help for the Caregiver; OCD; and Angry Children, and authored CrossTalk: Where Life and Scripture Meet.

Posted at: https://www.biblicalcounselingcoalition.org/2020/01/27/look-up/

He Holds Us Fast

Madelyn Canada

The morning light was still hours away from creeping through our windows yesterday morning when I woke up and stumbled downstairs to the coffee pot at five o’clock. Rubbing my eyes thoroughly and rummaging through the fridge to find the creamer helped wake me up and by the time I curled up in my usual spot on the couch with my coffee, Bible, and journal, I was well awake and alert. It was the day before my birthday and just as I always do, I read through the last year of my journal.

Every year before it’s been a very enjoyable thing to do. Memories that made me smile, ones that made me laugh, and always a few that brought on a cringe. But this year was different. This year was hard to read through.

Exactly one year ago yesterday, my journal entry opened with, “Lord, I don’t understand and I really don’t know where to go from here. I feel worn and empty and alone. Can You hold me fast?” Many entries from this last year were similar.

And here I am. One year later looking back and seeing the hard days and the long nights, but woven in between are the endless mercies of God and the joy that comes in knowing that there is perfection stamped on His every act.

He can indeed hold me fast. He held me fast.

What wondrous love

This last year was hard in a lot of different ways and maybe yours was too. If that’s true, I want to tell you something that made a hard year end up being a most beautiful gift: you may very well have lost your grip, messed up, or failed, but dear friend, your hope is not in you. Your security is not in your perfectly laid out plans or your ability to get things done right. Your rest is not in the fact that you have it all under control or that you’re strong enough. Your hope, your security, and your identity are in Christ and He cannot fail. His promises will never fade. His love will never waver. His power will continually be perfected in your weakness and it’s okay to find that you are helpless in His hands, for I have come to believe that is the safest of all havens.

Christ offers us an unconditional love and in order to fully embrace that love, we must first come to terms with the fact we don’t deserve it and we cannot earn it. His love is one that is rooted in His perfection and holiness, not in anything we have to offer or become. As long as we think we did something, have something, or can become something worth the love of Christ, we will never see it in it’s fullness.

For while we were still weak, at the right time Christ died for the ungodly. For one will scarcely die for a righteous person – though perhaps for a good person one would dare even to die – but God shows His love for us in that while we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”

ROMANS 5:6-7 ESV

Here’s the bottom line: you and I are helpless. We are weak. We are sinners. And we were His enemies. But the love of Christ was displayed on Calvary when He was crucified by those He came to save. The King of glory, who never once came close to sinning, died the death you and I deserve. Our unimaginable debt was paid by the One to whom it was owed. Our legal standing before Him went from guilty to innocent; from red stained to whiter than snow.

And He didn’t stop there.

His love and grace took us from being orphans to being the children of the One we rebelled against. The One we had hated. He opened heaven’s doors to the vilest of sinners, and rather than letting us merely live amongst His household, He calls us His own sons and daughters. He tells us of the place waiting for us in glory. He promises to never leave us, to make sure that we are not lost. He promises to hold us fast until we stand with Him in the home which awaits us.

What wondrous love is this, oh my soul?

I cannot try to understand it, this powerful and unconditional love that I do not deserve, but I have come to believe that this love, so strong as to save it’s enemies, is indeed strong enough to complete the work Christ began. Do you doubt that the Savior who died and rose again in your place will fail to hold you fast in the storms of life? Do you wonder whether or not the King who has prepared a place for you and adopted you as His child really means it when He says He will withhold no good thing?

We have failed, yes. But He has not. He will not.

Look to the cross

Jesus told us we would have tribulation. Tears are no strangers to believers. Suffering and sorrow in this fallen world are guaranteed. The Enemy wants these things to cause us to doubt the love that set us free. Whether it’s in the form of “how could a good God let this happen?” or “I’ve fallen too far for His grace to reach,” when these lies strike, we must do what people throughout all of Scripture and church history have done. We must look back.

Look back to the cross where love and mercy met and the enemies of God became His children. Look back to the empty tomb and the risen Savior. Look back to last year and see how amongst the waves, He was the solid Rock. Look back on the tears and see that He was the Comforter. Look back on the joys and see that He was the Giver. Look back on the need and see He was the provision. Look back and see how He has not failed. His faithfulness is great and His mercies new each morning.

This God, our God, is mighty. He is strong. He is steadfast. He has not failed in saving us. He will not fail in sanctifying us. He cannot fail in completing the work He began.

Heaven is coming. He will wipe away the tears. He will heal the wounds. He will give rest to the weary. Do not doubt Him even when your soul is shaking and your tears are falling. When you fear your faith will fail, lean not on your own understanding or your own strength or your own abilities, fall into the arms of Christ.

He will hold you fast. He has held you fast. He is enough.

He is enough

He didn’t promise us ease or luxury. He promised that whatever came, He was with us. He promised that He would be enough when all else seem to fade or fall or fail. Do not look to this passing world, this fleeting life for happiness or purpose. Do not look to your skills or failures for identity. Do not look to fair weather and ease for security. Look to Christ who died in your place and set you free. Look to the One who knows you and made you and loves you with an unconditional love. For He alone is enough. He always has been. He always will be.

Hard years are just that, hard. But as I look back, I see they are also good. For what better thing is there in life than being forced to rest in the mercies and love of the God who has not, will not, and cannot fail?

I see nothing better.

Hard year? Yes. Good year? Most assuredly. Here’s to a new year and a lifegiving hope in the God who holds us fast.

When I fear my faith will failChrist will hold me fastWhen the tempter would prevailHe will hold me fastI could never keep my holdThrough life’s fearful pathFor my love is often coldHe must hold me fast

Those He saves are His delightChrist will hold me fastPrecious in His holy sightHe will hold me fastHe’ll not let my soul be lostHis promises shall lastBought by Him at such a costHe will hold me fast

For my life He bled and diedChrist will hold me fastJustice has been satisfiedHe will hold me fastRaised with Him to endless lifeHe will hold me fastTill our faith is turned to sightWhen he comes at last

He will hold me fastHe will hold me fastFor my Savior loves me soHe will hold me fast*

*”He Will Hold Me Fast” — Original Words vv 1-2 by Ada Habershon New Words and Music by Matt Merker©2013 Getty Music Publishing (BMI) / Matt Merker Music (BMI) (admin by MusicServices.org

Posted at: https://thecornershelf.com/2019/11/27/he-holds-us-fast/

5 Truths from Romans that Help Us to Abound in Hope

Paul Tautges

Earlier this week, my heart was enriched by the teaching of Stephen Yuille at the ACBC conference in Memphis. Dr. Yuille observes that there seems to be an increased level of despair among God’s people, which led him to open the book of Romans to us. He defines hope this way:

Hope is the life-changing certainty that someday we’ll have all that God has promised.

Stephen Yuille

As Stephen walked us through Romans, he made five stops along the way.

1. Hope is fueled by the conviction that God is able to do what He has planned (Rom. 4:18-21).

2. Hope is rooted in the assurance that we have peace with God through Jesus Christ (Rom. 5:1-11).

3. Hope is fixed on the glory that will be revealed to us (Rom. 8:16-25).

4. Hope is cultivated through the encouragement of the Scriptures (Rom. 15:14).

5. Hope abounds by the power of the Holy Spirit (Rom. 15:13).

Take some time in your devotions to meditate on these Bible passages, taking note of the mention of “hope.” You will also be blessed by listening to this podcast episode with Dr. Yuille, talking about Longing for Home.

Posted at: http://counselingoneanother.com/2019/10/12/5-truths-from-romans-that-help-us-to-abound-in-hope/

How To Be An Encourager

by Paul Tripp

How To Be An Encourager

When was the last time you encouraged someone?

As we walk through life in a broken world, encouragement is an essential skill. Are you willing and equipped to do this in the lives of others?

First, we have to define what biblical encouragement is not.

Biblical encouragement is not about trying to make someone feel emotionally better, temporarily.

• “Hang in there; you can make it.”

• “It’s not really as bad as you think.”

• “You’re not the only one who has faced this.”

• “It’s going to be okay.”

• “This too will pass.”

These statements may offer momentary comfort, but they never lead to lasting change. At best, you might see their mood lift for a moment, only to watch it melt away when they are faced with difficulty again.

A second mistake we often make while trying to encourage is to explain what the problem is and why it’s happening. An explanation may be helpful, and at times necessary, but it doesn’t always comfort. In fact, the more accurate their assessment, the more discouraged they may get!

The biggest reason believers get discouraged is because they don’t see Christ, or they forget to look for him. Therefore, biblical encouragement that leads to lasting change is about helping people see Christ with the eyes of their heart.

There are three aspects of Christ that we need to encourage people to see and look for:

The Presence of Christ

Your goal here is to help people develop a “Christ is with me” mentality. This perspective on life is captured in Psalm 46:1—2: “God is our refuge and strength, a very present help in trouble. Therefore we will not fear though the earth gives way, though the mountains be moved into the heart of the sea” (emphasis mine).

The Promises of Christ

Christ has made countless promises that can radically alter the way we perceive and respond to difficulty. You can encourage others by helping them remember what is promised. These promises should not be viewed as mystical, pie-in-the-sky dreams, but as an accurate assessment of their right here, right now resources as one of God’s children. Help them to connect the transforming promises of Christ to their everyday situations, locations, and relationships.

Their Potential in Christ

When we struggle, we measure our potential. We assess ourselves to see if we have what it takes to get through the trouble. The problem is that most of us are poor spiritual accountants. When we add up the equity that defines our potential portfolio, we often forget to calculate the most essential asset: Jesus Christ!

The radical truth about our potential is that, as God’s children, our potential is Christ! To view ourselves any other way is unbiblical and inaccurate. In Galatians 2:20, Paul says, “I have been crucified with Christ. It is no longer I who live, but Christ who lives in me. And the life I now live in the flesh I live by faith in the Son of God, who loved me and gave himself for me.”

How’s that for an assessment of personal potential?

Our help and hope in trouble never rest on the shoulders of our wisdom, strength, or character. When we see Christ with us, we realize that we have more than ourselves to rely on. He is here and able to do what we could never do.

Today, why don’t you commit to encouraging people with the presence, promises, and potential of Christ!

God bless,

REFLECTION QUESTIONS

1. When was the last time someone encouraged you with biblical truth that led to lasting change in your life? What can you learn from their encouragement to help you be a better encourager?

(For these next questions, consider a person who is discouraged or suffering:)

2. How can you communicate that Christ is a very present help in their trouble?

3. How can you practically incarnate the love of Jesus by using more than just your words?

4. What are some specific promises available in Scripture for what they are experiencing right here, right now?

5. How are they inaccurately measuring their potential? What are they emphasizing too much and/or not emphasizing enough?

6. How can you graciously and lovingly help them apply Galatians 2:20 to their troublesome situation, location, or relationship?

Posted at: https://www.paultripp.com/wednesdays-word/posts/how-to-be-an-encourager?fbclid=IwAR2XQJLR1tNwSlatlGzIoqu8LabNtBoA0hfkEH4pgELEAhQAdy-_X7zS-Q0