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Tears in a Bottle

Our Tears Are God's Reminder That He Cares

SYNOPSIS: What is it that is making you cry today? A fractured relationship that’s breaking your heart? A hope that has been dashed or a dream that has died? It is a failed family or a personal sin or the consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that is making you feel such deep sadness? Entrust those tears to God, and let the very next one that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

The tears you cry

MOMENTS WITH GOD // CLAIM: Psalm 56:8

You keep track of all my sorrows. You have collected all my tears in your bottle. You have recorded each one in your book

Aren’t tears a mysterious part of what it means to be human? It is strange that we have the capacity to cry—to expel water from our eyes when we are sad. It seems to serve no real purpose—although science can explain the physiological “why” and mental health experts can explain the psychological “why”.

That still leaves the question of “why” tears—why were we created with that capacity?

Perhaps this psalm provides a clue. Maybe they are to remind us that God cares about the things that make us sad enough to shed tears. So much does he bear our sorrow that he collects our tears in a bottle, as the New Living Translation says, or as other versions put it, “he records them in his ledger.” In other words, God takes note—implying that he is not only aware of our sadness, but he will not forget it.

What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over?

It is likely that no one truly knows the depth of what you are feeling right now. Maybe no one will ever see those tears that have rolled down your cheek—and the intense hurt that caused them. Even if they do see your tears, how sad it is that long before your pain is healed, people will forget and move on.

But there is One who sees…and One who cares…and One who never forgets…and One who will never move on! And He wants you to know that, my friend. And that One, your Heavenly Father, simply asks you to take comfort in His compassion for you:

The Lord is like a father to his children,
Tender and compassionate to those who fear him. (Psalm 103:13)

And that compassionate, loving Heavenly Father likewise asks you to place your trust in him. In fact, so strongly does he desire your trust, that he extends the invitation twice in Psalm 56 just to make sure you really know his heart for you:

In God, whose word I praise, in the Lord, whose word I praise—in God I trust and am not afraid. What can man do to me? (Psalm 56:4,10-11)

I hope you will do that. Entrust those tears to God. And let the very next tear that fills your eyes and spills down your cheek be a reminder that your tears never really just dry up and fade into a painful memory, they go right into the bottle of that One who truly cares!

TAKE A MOMENT: What is it that is making you cry today? A heart broken by a fractured relationship? A dashed hope or the death of a dream? A failed family? A personal sin? The consequences of a past mistake that continues to haunt you? What is it that you feel such deep sadness over? Why no other human being may know how deeply you feel, or if they do know, they may not care all that much, just remember, there is One who is collecting those tears as you lift your brokenness to him.

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Is Your Opinion A Conduit For Arrogance?

True Love Never Struts, Never Gets A Big Head, Never Bullies

SYNOPSIS: Are your opinions a conduit for arrogance? 1 Corinthians 13 reminds us that true love, the kind of love that emanates from God, the kind of love that Christ-followers are to model, is never arrogant. That is, it never struts, never gets a big head, and it never powers up on another. So, how does that play out in the real world of your daily life? Well, I’d say more practically than you’d think. For example, take how you express your opinions. The arrogance that fuels an uninvited, unhelpful, and often uninformed view plows right through the flashing yellow lights of human relationships without pumping the brakes, leaving a trail of relational wreckage — usually in the name of “speaking the truth in love.” And in this age of social media, where there are no flashing lights warning us of dangerous relational curves ahead, isn’t there a lot of that? Whether you are on the receiving end of another’s view, or you are giving your own, keep in mind that an opinion is not divinely inspired, and therefore it may or may not be the truth. And for sure, if offered without gentleness, respect, humility, and grace, it is not loving. True love knows when to speak — and to speak with gentleness, respect, humility, and grace — and just as importantly, when not to speak. Here’s the deal: You have a right to your opinion, but you don’t have a duty to share every thought that pops into your head. So, go ahead and have an opinion, but stay alert to the arrogance that 1 Corinthians 13:4 is calling out if you want to incarnate Christ-hearted love.

Make Love Work // 1 Corinthians 13:4 (HCSV)

Love is patient, love is kind. Love does not envy, is not boastful, is not conceited.

Check out these various Bible translations—each of them faithful to the original text—of the Apostle Paul’s rendering of the second clause of 1 Corinthians 13:4,

Love is neither anxious to impress nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance nor does it cherish inflated ideas of its own importance. (J. B. Phillips)

Love doesn’t strut, doesn’t have a swelled head, doesn’t force itself on others, and isn’t always ‘me first.’ (Message)

Love doesn’t flaunt itself. (Modern English Version)

Now I have not been around too many braggadocious, mouthy egomaniacs—thank God—because this verse indicates that those kinds of people, no matter how they try to spin it, are not loving. Not like Jesus, anyway, which is the only kind of love the Christ-follower ought to pursue.

Yet I have been around a fair amount of believers who live with the opinion that their opinion is the only opinion that matters. And they are more than happy to share it—even if it is uninvited. And they do so without the slightest bit of self-awareness they are not obligated to share it, or that others’ opinions are equally worthy of sharing as their own.

I would say those kinds of people—and I hope you are not one of them … and if I am, I hope you will have the freedom to let me know (lovingly, of course)—have a love problem. Their need to share their opinions drags their “love” down into the category of boastful, self-inflated, needing to be impressive, strutting, me first, and flaunting. Listen to how The Passion Translation renders verse 4:

Love does not brag about one’s achievements nor inflate its own importance. (TPT)

So, here’s the deal: you have a right to have opinions, but it’s not your duty to share them in an unfiltered way. George Eliot warns of “always making [others] a ‘present’ of your opinions.” The arrogance that fuels an uninvited and unhelpful (and often uninformed) view plows right through the flashing yellow lights of human relationships without pumping the brakes, leaving a trail of wreckage—usually in the name of “speaking the truth in love.” Because it is an opinion, it may or may not be the truth, but for sure, it is not loving.

True love knows when to speak—and to speak with gentleness, humility, and grace—and just as importantly, when not to speak. Go ahead and have an opinion but stay alert to arrogance if you want to incarnate Christ-hearted love.

Why does the Apostle Paul feel the need to point out that love is neither braggadocious nor prideful? Simply because love is selfless, it puts others first, and it edifies the object it loves. Boasting and pride reveal a self-focus that belies corrosive insecurity and a spirit of scarcity. The famed preacher W. Graham Scroggie wrote,

Boasting is always an advertisement of poverty.

Make sure that early and often, you willingly put the people in your life ahead of you!

Take A Moment: The arrogance that leads to sharing your opinions in a way that harms your relationships—and your witness for Jesus Christ—is extremely hard to spot in yourself. So, if you have the strength and the courage—which I hope you do—give permission to two or three people whom you know to be loving yet honest to tell you the truth about you in this matter. As hard as it might be to hear what they say, remember, the goal is that you become a more loving person.

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The End

The Way that is Right: Living with the End in View

SYNOPSIS: Just a friendly reminder: the end is near! Hate to break this to you, but it’s coming faster than you think. In light of that, what if you lived every day with the end in view? What if you fast-forwarded the film of your life to the end, to that day when another will speak at a memorial service to eulogize your days on earth? What if you transported in your mind to that day at the end of all ends when you stand before God to give account for the breath of life He had loaned you during your earthly pilgrimage? What you want another person, and more importantly God, to say of you in the end means that you must rewind the tape to the present and begin now to live with the end in view! You see, the end is nothing more than a compilation of the motives, thoughts, attitudes, habits, words, and actions that issue from your head, heart, and hands moment by moment throughout all the days of your life. Yes—there is a way that seems right, but in the end, it produces only death. (Prov. 14:12) On the other hand, there is a way that is right—right in the sight of God—and in the end, it leads to life. We are all headed for the end, that’s for sure, so just make sure the reputation that precedes you will be celebrated by both God and man. Do that, my friend, and in the end, you will be found among the wise!

Moments With God // Claim: Proverbs 14:12

There is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end it leads to death.

Just a friendly reminder: the end is near! Hate to break this to you, but it’s coming faster than you think!

So, what if you lived every day of your life with the end in view? What if you fast-forwarded the tape of your life story to the end, to that day when another will stand before a crowd at a memorial service to eulogize your days on earth? What if you transported in your mind to that awesome and fearful day at the end of all ends, when you, along with all humankind, stand before the Righteous Judge to give account for the breath of life He had loaned you for the 70, 80, or 90 years of your earthly pilgrimage?

What do you hope will be said of you then—in the end?

Here’s the thing, my friend: What you want another person, and more importantly God, to say of you in the end means that you must rewind the tape to the present and begin now to live with the end in view! You see, the end is nothing more than a compilation of the motives, thoughts, attitudes, habits, words, and actions issue from your head, heart, and hands moment by moment throughout all the days of your life. They add up. They count. They form a pattern. They create the trend that is your life. They tell your story. They are your destiny. So be careful with the material you give them because it will come out in the end.

Yes—there is a way that seems right to a man, but in the end, it produces only death. On the other hand, there is a way that is right—right in the sight of God—and in the end, it leads to life.

We are all headed for the end, that’s for sure, so let’s just make sure the reputation that gets there ahead of us will be celebrated by both God and man.

Endings are better than beginnings. Sticking to it is better than standing out. (Ecclesiastes 7:8)

The end!

Take A Moment: If you knew that you had one week to live, what would be the first five things you would put on your “To Do” list? Why not go ahead and do them?

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Love Is Not Jealous

To Get Rid of Jealousy, Risk All You Have to Give

SYNOPSIS: Jealousy — ubiquitous among humanity (a fancy way of saying we all struggle with it) — desires to possess what another has: their looks, their lovers, their likes on social media, their popularity, their possessions, their achievements, their accolades, you name it. However, our jealous feelings say more about us than those whose things we covet. In reality, jealousy simply disguises our own insecurities. Worse still, it becomes a tool of Satan, whose leading motivation is jealousy. But the Christ-follower is to be different. Scripture is very clear that “love is not jealous.” So, to combat the possessive love-killer called jealousy and send it packing, we must learn to risk all we have to give for the benefit of those of whom we are jealous. Today, get rid of jealousy by risking what you have to give: your un-jealous love!

Love is not jealous

Making Love Work // 1 Corinthians 13:4-8

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance…Love never fails.

Love–agape love, the love that emanates from God’s being—is not jealous. If you truly love a person, then in the passive sense, you will never be envious of who they are and what they have. In the active sense, you will not allow their successes or possessions or looks to lead you to feel insecure about yourself, then allow that feeling to metastasize into fear, bitterness, suspicion, humiliation, plotting, and rage.

Think of how much damage jealousy has unleashed throughout human history. Two classic examples are found in scripture—one in the Old Testament and the other in the New. In Genesis 37:10-12, we are told that Joseph’s brothers were jealous of their father’s favoritism toward Joseph, of the ornate coat he had given him, of Joseph’s dreams of superiority over his brothers. Because they didn’t have what Joseph had, they sold him into slavery. And even that was a far cry better than what they initially plotted to do—to murder him. Then in the New Testament, Matthew 27:16-20 informs us that the Jewish leaders handed Jesus over to Pilate to be crucified because they were jealous of him.

The poet John Milton said that envy is the devil’s own emotion. Oscar Wilde tells the story of the devil “crossing the Libyan Desert, [when] he came upon a spot where a number of small fiends were tormenting a holy hermit. The sainted man easily shook off their evil suggestions. The devil watched their failure and then he stepped forward to give them a lesson. ‘What you do is too crude,’ he said. ‘Permit me for one moment.’ With that he whispered to [the] holy man, ‘Your brother has just been made [the] Bishop of Alexandria.’ A scowl of malignant jealousy at once clouded the serene face of the hermit. ‘That,’ said the devil to his imps, ‘is the sort of thing … I [would] recommend.’” (Sir Arthur Conan Doyle, Memories and Adventures, 66)

So ubiquitous is the sin of jealousy in the human race that there was even an offering for it in the Old Testament (Numbers 5). Yet jealousy is arguably the hardest sin to recognize and admit to in ourselves. But it’s everywhere; it’s universal. And mark it down: unchecked jealousy eventually leads to relational tragedy.

James 3:16 says, “Where you have envy … there you find disorder and every evil practice.”

Jealousy leads us to do evil. It’s why Cain killed Abel. Abraham’s two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, were torn apart by jealous rivalry. Bitter envy separated Isaac’s two sons, Jacob and Esau. The jealousy of Jacob’s twelve sons rips the family apart. It’s why Saul tried to kill David.

It is throughout the Bible, from beginning to end. And it is still at work in the world today. It is destroying families, killing friendships, ruining community, shrinking hearts, wrecking lives—and it is at work in you and me. Nobody gets a pass on jealousy!

Jealousy desires to possess what another has – their love, success, things, popularity, social media likes, Instagram followers, you name it. But in truth, jealous thoughts and feelings are simply insecurities disguised. However, scripture bluntly tells us that we cannot be both loving and jealous. As Dorothy Sayers said of the mutual exclusivity of love and jealousy,

We can’t possess one another. We can only give and hazard all we have.

And that, my friends, is the way to deal with the problem of jealousy: get rid of it by risking what you have to give—your un-jealous love!

Take A Moment: If you are struggling with jealous emotions toward another, first confess it before God, repent of it, and ask for His help to eliminate it from your life. Then every time you feel the emotion of envy of jealously toward someone, practice “thanks therapy.” Simply and consistently offer prayers of specific gratitude for that person until the jealousy vanishes—and if you will do that, it will vanish.

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Be a Disappointment to Satan

The Lord Gives and Takes Away - Blessed Be His Name

SYNOPSIS: Instead of cursing God to His face, as Satan had predicted — “take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face,” Job praised God in his grief — “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” I hope that I will be equally disappointing to Satan! And I hope that my faith will prove equally confident in the sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness of God — no matter what.

Moments With God // Job 1:20-22

At this, Job got up and tore his robe and shaved his head. Then he fell to the ground in worship and said: “Naked I came from my mother’s womb, and naked I will depart. The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” In all this, Job did not sin by charging God with wrongdoing.

The story of Job, and particularly, the first chapter where God seems willing to bargain with Satan over testing Job’s faith, is sobering and perhaps even confusing for us modern American believers. We are not used to suffering, or at least we don’t allow that God might give permission for our suffering. Our theology prefers a God who keeps us from all discomfort, so Job story rattles us.

Yet throughout Job, we learn of the unimpeachable sovereignty and goodness of God despite difficult circumstances that would test our confidence in that. And one of the things we learn about God is that in His foreknowledge, He is unshakably confident that Job’s faith is strong enough to handle even the most devastating loss a human being can imagine.

And not only at the end of the book do we see how Job’s faith has come through the furnace of affliction, but from the beginning, we see that he is pre-committed to God sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness as this unimaginable tragedy strikes, as demonstrated by these two juxtaposed verses:

Satan – “Strike everything Job has, and he will surely curse you to your face.”

Job – “The Lord gave and the Lord has taken away; may the name of the Lord be praised.” (Job 1:11, 21)

Instead of cursing God to his face — as Satan had predicted, “take away everything he has, and he will surely curse you to your face!” — Job praised God in his grief.

I hope that I will be just as disappointing to Satan!

Likewise, since God knows in advance how Satan will attack my faith with hardship and has confidence in the strength of my faith to come through the fire of testing as pure gold, I hope that like Job, I will never disappoint God’s confidence in me.

The Lord gives and the Lord takes away. Blessed be the name of the Lord.

Take A Moment: We never know what might befall us in life, and how our faith will stand up to the test of tragedy, but God knows that our faith is strong enough to handle the worst that Satan can through at us. He is that confident in us. So today, express your pre-commitment to God’s sovereignty, wisdom, and goodness.

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God Will Perfect That Which Concerns Me

There’s No Stopping The Almighty

SYNOPSIS: As we passionately pursue God’s purposes, God has passionately committed himself to fulfill His purposes in us. No matter what things may look like—horrible circumstances and hateful people notwithstanding—God will never abandon the work that He has lovingly and painstakingly invested in us, and He will ultimately bring that work to perfect completion. No way—you can’t stop God from doing what God does!

Moments With God // Psalm 138:8

The LORD will fulfill his purpose for me; your love, O LORD, endures forever—do not abandon the works of your hands.

“God will perfect everything that concerns you.” (Psalm 138:8, NKJV) I have heard my wife use King David’s phrase many times in her public prayers. I like that promise, don’t you? Nothing will stop God from fulfilling His purpose for my life—nothing!

That was the essence of David’s thinking in this psalm. Nothing could get in the way of what God had in mind—God’s perfect will for his life—not even David’s own fleshly desires. That’s the caveat to this truth: the perfecting is of that which is according to God’s will, which of course, is what ought to concern us more than anything else in this life.

The New Testament writer Jude capture the essence of this truth in his benedictory prayer when he wrote, “To him who is able to keep you from stumbling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior be glory, majesty, power, and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore! Amen.” (Jude 1:24-25) Likewise, the Apostle Paul wrote similar words in Philippians 1:6, “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

How comforting and empowering to know that if we are passionately pursuing God’s purposes, God has passionately committed Himself to fulfill His purposes in us. No matter what things may look like—horrible circumstances and hateful people notwithstanding (Psalm 138:7)—God will never abandon the work that He has lovingly and painstakingly invested in us, and He will ultimately bring that work to perfect completion.

What David had discovered was that when we are for God, and when God is for us, we cannot lose! 2 Chronicles 16:9 reminds us this profound truth,

For the eyes of the LORD range throughout the earth to strengthen those whose hearts are fully committed to him.

Wow! God so desires to fulfill His purposes in this world that He is actually scouring the earth looking for fully devoted people in order to release His enabling power in their lives. Is your heart fully committed to Him? If it is, then God will find you, and sooner or later you will come into the greatest joy that anyone can ever experience in this life: God fulfilling His purposes for you and through you.

Yes, God will perfect that which concerns you! In other words, There’s no stopping God!

Take A Moment: What are the obstacles standing in your path to pursuing God? According to Psalm 138:8, God will repurpose those stumbling blocks into building blocks. Try praying a thanksgiving prayer for everything that seems to impede your progress. Then ask God to empower you to work with Him to use those very things to perfect you. Pray this risky prayer: “God use this to shape me.”

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Love Is Kind

Love Is Action, Not Abstraction

SYNOPSIS: More than anything else right now, this world needs to be infused with massive doses of kindness, and no other group of people is more equipped to lead the way in flooding Planet Earth with kindness than Christ’s followers. In fact, just about the only currency the Christian community has these days to impact culture is acts of compassion wrapped in genuine kindness. Transforming our culture will not happen by Christians gaining political power or imposing their collective will; neither by cursing the darkness nor by leveraging enormous resources, but by modeling love dressed as simple acts of kindness in the common spaces of life—offering an encouraging word to a friend, humbly serving the poor, giving undivided attention to the marginalized, and last but certainly not least, unconditionally forgiving those who have offended. If we started a revolution of kindness we could change the world!

Making Love Work // 1 Corinthians 13:4-7

Love is patient and kind. Love is not jealous or boastful or proud or rude. It does not demand its own way. It is not irritable, and it keeps no record of being wronged. It does not rejoice about injustice but rejoices whenever the truth wins out. Love never gives up, never loses faith, is always hopeful, and endures through every circumstance.

Among the many expressions the Apostle Paul uses to describe and define agape—that is, the kind of love that characterizes God himself—one of the most profound of his descriptions is that love is kind. I will say it again: love is kind.

Think for a moment where kindness begins: God’s loving-kindness to you. And that is precisely where your kindness toward others is rooted—in God’s kindness. Romans 3:23-24 tells us,

All of us have sinned…yet now God declares us ‘not guilty’ of offending Him if we trust in Jesus Christ, who in His kindness freely takes away all our sins. (LB)

Simply because He is kind, God has wiped clean your record. There’s no condemnation if you put your faith in Christ. That is good news! Consider this: Even before you were born, God already knew every evil, mean and nasty thing you would say and do. Yet He still made you and He still loves you, and He still sent Jesus to die in your place.

That is the kindness of God, and that is precisely why Paul said in Ephesians 4:32,

Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other, just as in Christ God forgave you.

You can take a giant step toward a harvest of the kindness fruit in your life (after all, kindness is a fruit of the Holy Spirit) by forgiving people who have offended you. And that is precisely your assignment today—mine, too: Go down the list of offended, estranged, or strained relationships, and simply, unconditionally, fully and personally forgive them—even if they don’t deserve it! Jesus said in Luke 6:35,

Love your enemies, do good to them, and lend to them without expecting to get anything back. Then your reward will be great, and you will be children of the Most High, because he is kind to the ungrateful and wicked.

There is simply no more compelling witness than God’s kindness on display through you. Romans 2:4 asks, “Can’t you see that God’s kindness is intended to turn you from your sin?” God’s kindness toward you, even though you have sinned against Him, draws you back to Him. And so it is that the kindness you demonstrate by forgiving those who have sinned against you will be the very thing that draws them back into a restored relationship with you—and perhaps even God if they have wandered from Him.

Love is the most powerful force for good in the universe. When you are kind, you transform love the noun into a verb—love becomes an action, not an abstraction. Arguably, love clothed as kindness is the most powerful force on earth, precisely because most people know very little about genuine kindness.

More than anything else right now, our world needs massive doses of kindness, and Christ-followers ought to lead the way modeling it. We have the power to change a life, a community, a nation—not by gaining political power, not by imposing our will, not by cursing the darkness, not by giving away enormous resources—but by love dressed as simple acts of kindness, again, not the least of which is through forgiveness.

Let’s start a revolution of kindness—let’s change the world!

Take A Moment: With whom do you need to demonstrate kindness today? And what expression of kindness will be most meaningful to them—forgiveness, an encouraging word, an act of service, giving them your undivided attention? Give them a gift of kindness and so show yourself to be a true child of your infinitely kind Father in Heaven.