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Altar of Remembrance

Identify Your Defining Moments with God

We don’t build altars anymore, rightly so. Under the new covenant, established through Christ’s sacrificial blood, the altar of God is now our heart. Yet there are significant events in our spiritual journey — breakthroughs into the blessings of God so life-altering we label them “defining moments” — that require a memorial of remembrance, or what we might call an “altar.” At times, establishing such a memorial at which we can stop to give praise to God and to remember his covenant is an appropriate thing, perhaps even a needful act of faith. Such an “altar” will serve to remind us of God’s greatness and faithfulness as we journey forward to the next challenge.

The Journey// Focus: Genesis 46:1-4

So Israel set out with all that was his, and when he reached Beersheba, he offered sacrifices to the God of his father Isaac. And God spoke to Israel in a vision at night and said, “Jacob! Jacob!” Jacob answered, “Here I am,”  God said, “I am God, the God of your father. Do not be afraid to go down to Egypt, for I will make you into a great nation there. I will go down to Egypt with you, and I will surely bring you back again. And Joseph’s own hand will close your eyes.”

Good news had flooded Jacob’s old, weary soul, worn thin by years of dashed hopes and dead dreams, like a flowing stream in the parched desert. Joseph, the son he favored, was alive after all these year of thinking he had been killed by a wild animal. And the news of Joseph’s incredible journey from the pit to the palace had revived the old patriarch’s heart:

When his sons told Jacob that Joseph was alive in Egypt, and everything he had said to them, and when he saw the carts Joseph had sent to carry him back to Egypt, the Jacob’s spirit revived. And Israel said, “I’m convinced! My son Joseph is still alive. I will go and see him before I die.” (Genesis 45:27-28)

As Jacob began the journey from Canaan to Egypt to see his son and to relocate his clan in the riches of Goshen during the time of famine, one of the first things he did was to build an altar and offer sacrifices to the Sovereign God who had revived his dreams by remembering the covenant the Almighty had sworn to his grandfather Abraham, his father Isaac, and to him. And as he sacrificed, the Lord spoke, calling him by name and recounting the promises of the covenant that he would fulfill as the clan of Israel lived in the land of Egypt.

We don’t build altars much anymore, and rightly so. Under the new covenant, established through the blood of Jesus, the altar of God is now our heart. Yet there are significant events in our spiritual journey, breakthroughs into the blessings of God so important that we would label them “defining moments”, that require an altar. At times, building a memorial at which we can stop to give praise to God and to remember his covenant, is an appropriate thing—perhaps even a needful act of faith. There are times along the way that establishing a memorial of remembrance will serve to remind us of the greatness and faithfulness of God as we journey forward to the next challenge.

These physical symbols that we choose to jog our memory are powerful. Every time we look at that sacred symbol, or touch it and consider what it represents, we call to mind the reality of God’s glorious presence and his unmerited intervention on our behalf.

God often used symbols in the Old Testament. So to, frequently in the Revelation, symbols are provided to help us grasp the glories of the eternal world where God dwells, physical representations of his invisible and uncontainable presence. These symbols provide a way for God’s people to worshipfully enter into God’s presence without being completely consumed or totally overwhelmed by God’s holiness. In other words, spiritual symbols allow finite people to momentarily grasp the infinite.

Have you ever noticed how small children at an ocean beach will run away from the crashing waves in absolute terror. Why? They are overwhelmed by the sheer magnitude and brutal force of something incomprehensible. But later they will dig a hole in the sand and fill it with a bucket of that very same seawater that made up the monstrous wave. Then they will scoop a handful of that water and let it drip through their fingers back into the hole.

What are they doing? They are partaking in the magnificence of the ocean without being overwhelmed by it.

That’s the benefit of a symbol. It allows finite beings to comprehend the infinite—if but for a moment. An altar or remembrance allows you to call to mind the incomprehensible greatness of Almighty God and his covenant faithfulness in the past without being complete undone by it. I am not suggesting that you go crazy with this, that you turn your prayer closet into a holy shrine full of religious artifacts and icons—that can obviously get way out of hand. But sometimes we just need a little help with remembering that since God is covenantally faithful, that what he has done in the past for us, like he did for the saints of old, he will do for us today, and we can count on him to do again and again in the future.

God is faithful. He will fulfill his promises. Always. Do what you need to do to remind yourself of that. Perhaps an altar of remembrance would be the appropriate thing for you to erect.

Going Deeper: Think of a defining moment you have experienced with God. What can you do, literally and physically, to symbolize that moment in a way that will be a daily reminder of the greatness of a God who has promised to watch over and provide for you?

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An Encouraging Word During A Pandemic Season

God Has Led Us All The Way

As we consider the current Coronavirus pandemic and the restrictions that it has forced upon our lives, it’s helpful to keep in the forefront of our minds the long, steady arc of God’s faithfulness in human history. As we do that, we will have to agree with God’s self-testimony: “I have given you success. I have had your back—day and night. I have given you everything you needed.” Yes, as we review the history or God, we can only conclude, “God has been good.” He still is — and will be tomorrow, too — which means that this pandemic is no match for God’s goodness.

The Journey // Focus: Deuteronomy 2:7

For the Lord your God has blessed you in everything you have done. He has watched your every step through this great wilderness. During these forty years, the Lord your God has been with you, and you have lacked nothing.

In Deuteronomy 2, Moses is recounting the wilderness journey of the Israelites over the forty years between exiting Egypt and possessing the Promised Land (including some prescient quarantine regulations in times of pandemic). Mostly in this chapter, he gives a blow by blow account of their battles with enemy nations who opposed their travel—nations who paid dearly for their opposition to God’s plan. And in the middle of his account, Moses makes this amazing statement of how God has tenderly cared for Israel at each step of the way. Actually, Moses is directly quoting the Lord himself. In the statement, we see God’s own assessment of how he has carried his people all these years:

I have given you success.
I have had your back—day and night.
I have given you everything you needed.

Now of course, as Christians, you and I know that to be theologically true of God. He cares for us; he carries us. We sing about it every time we gather for worship. We remind one another that very truth to encourage us through the rough spots of life. Intellectually, we affirm in our minds that the Lord will provide—he is Jehovah Jireh, after all, the God who supplies all of our needs according to his riches in glory by Christ Jesus.

Yet, if we are to be honest about it, there are seasons when we question God’s care. There are spells where we don’t feel too successful, and we wonder if God even notices. We go through a deep disappointment or a painful failure or a tremendous loss, and we can’t see any evidence whatsoever that the Lord had our back. We pray for an answer—a provision, a healing, a breakthrough—and get a big fat nothing burger instead of everything we needed.

Most of us would never say that out loud—a few brave, unfiltered souls would, but you and I are too “holy” to say anything like that—but we are thinking that very thing to ourselves. Maybe in our prayers we let it slip, “God, where are you?” While disappointment with God is not something we like to dwell on and certainly don’t broadcast, it is a part of the journey for most, if not all believers. Yet God still says the same thing to us as he did to the Israelites: I have given you success, I have protected you, I have provided everything you needed.

Think about those statements from the view of the Israelites on their journey. They spent forty years meandering through a desert, with no end in sight, instead of making their beds in the land God had promised them. They were thirsty to the point of death on several occasions. They were sick and tired of eating the same thing day after day for forty years. They had to fight for their lives against enemy nations bent on destroying them—with bigger and better equipped armies than Israel’s. My guess is there were plenty of people on plenty of occasions who felt deeply disappointed with God’s care and provision.

Yet those emotions are based on just a relatively short slice of history—both the Israelites and ours. We see things in brief moments of time and make assessments about God. If we are in a season of success and wellbeing, we overflow with joy and thanks to God. But if the season is filled with disappointment and loss, we wonder where God is.

The point is, they are just that: seasons. Seasons have a beginning and an ending. And while we only see what is right in front of us, God is over it all, watching out for us, allowing according to his impeccable wisdom what will develop our character and our faithfulness through experiences of joy as well as sorrow, and always leading us to where he desires to take us.

On a personal level, as I review the ups and downs of all the seasons of my life, I have to admit to the self-testimony the Lord gives:

I have given you success.
I have had your back—day and night.
I have given you everything you needed.

In looking back over all the seasons of my life, I can honestly say, “God has been good.” That indisputable fact leads me to declare trust in his goodness in the current Coronavirus season.

Yes, God has been good. As you think about your life, I bet you can say that too!

Go Deeper: Review your life—both the good and the bad. Now offer up a declaration of trust by telling the Lord, “God, you are good!”

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Useful Idiots

With All Due Respect

Joseph’s submission to the sovereignty of God allowed him to see the pain his brothers had inflicted not merely through his own perspective alone, but through a perspective that saw God working through their evil actions. He recognized that in all the circumstances of life, big and small, good and bad, God had been inexorably bringing the currents of his personal history to a providential conclusion. His brothers might have been idiots for selling him into slavery twenty plus years before, but they were useful idiots in the hands of the Providential Ruler of all mankind.

Going Deep // Focus: Genesis 45:5

Don’t be upset, and don’t be angry with yourselves for selling me to this place. It was God who sent me here ahead of you to preserve your lives.

Useful idiots! With all due respect (it’s odd that we use that term when we’re about to disrespect someone), that’s what I would call Joseph’s brothers. Or I could clean it up a bit and call them unwitting but useful instruments in the hands of a sovereign God.

Twenty plus years after they had sold him into slavery, the brothers are now standing before Joseph, and they don’t even recognize him. They have been blinded by two decades of thinking he had long since died, their perspective jaded by the haunting fear, endless guilt and corrosive shame of what they had done. (Genesis 44:16) Finally, when Joseph’s identity is revealed, the brothers expect him to exact revenge, make them pay dearly and do to them what they had done to him.

But Joseph was cut from a different cloth than these lousy brothers. His submission to the sovereignty of God allowed him to see the pain they had inflicted not merely through his own perspective alone, but through a perspective that saw God working through their evil actions. Joseph recognized that in all the circumstances of life, big and small, good and bad, God had been inexorably bringing the currents of his personal history to a providential conclusion.

Joseph’s submission to the sovereignty of God is revealed three times as he discloses himself to his brothers with words to this effect: “Don’t beat yourself up; it was God, not you, who sent me here. You had a plan and God had a plan, and God’s plan trumped yours. You were simply unwitting but useful instruments in his hands.” (Genesis 45:5,7,8). Joseph’s brothers might have been idiots for selling him into slavery twenty plus years before, but they were useful idiots in the hands of the Providential Ruler of all mankind.

The bottom line to Joseph’s story is that God is in control. He turns what is meant for evil to our good, extracts glory for himself even in the most impossible circumstances, and no matter what, always, always, always fulfills his sovereign purposes. He is in control! He is the Sovereign God of the universe, the Providential Ruler over the affairs, big and small, of all mankind, the Incomparable One who works all things for his glory.

And here’s the kicker: He works all things not only for his own glory—but for your good! That’s right—for your good. Now why would the Sovereign, Providential, Incomparable One bother with little old you? Simply because you’ve surrendered your life to him; and when you did that, you, perhaps even unwittingly, signed up to be on his sovereign benefits plan.

So here’s the deal: If you have a few idiots making your life difficult, just remember, in God’s hands they are useful idiots.

Going Deeper With God: Here is a prayer you might want to offer today: “Sovereign Lord, today I express my trust that you will use what was hurtful to me for your glory and my good. I will refuse to allow bitterness and unforgiveness to take root in my spirit. Rather, by faith I will choose to see you actively at work in me.”

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The Road To Restoration

“Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is Near"

The Gospel literally begins with the word “repent.” That’s because salvation starts with a repentant heart. In an age when believers, for fear of being offensive, are afraid to call out moral wrong, warn of divine judgment, and invite people to repent, let’s not forget that no one—not a single human being—is ever made right with God without first expressing sorrow for their sin, admitting their guilt, and making the decision to change their ways to follow God’s way—which is what repentance is. Nothing could be truer: spiritual restoration starts with sincere repentance.tion starts with sincere repentance.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 44:14-16

Joseph was still in the house when Judah and his brothers came in, and they threw themselves to the ground before him. Joseph said to them, “What is this you have done? Don’t you know that a man like me can find things out by divination?” Judah replied, “What can we say to my lord? What can we say? How can we prove our innocence? God has uncovered your servants’ guilt. We are now my lord’s slaves—we ourselves and the one who was found to have the cup.”

Without knowing the full context of this story (Genesis 37-45), you might think that Joseph is exacting a pound of flesh from his brothers. They had horribly mistreated him two decades before. Wanting to murder him, they ultimately had thrown him into a pit, then sold him into slavery, which landed Joseph in Egypt where he was again sold to another master. His brothers were not just angry with him, not just jealous of their father’s preference for him—they actually profited off of their cruelty to him. They went as low as human beings can go.

As the story goes, Joseph’s mistreatment continued in Egypt for twenty years, until finally, as God providentially directed the affairs of Joseph’s life, the Lord raised him to the second highest position in the land. At the same time, again God providentially used a region-wide famine to direct these same brothers back to Joseph to plead, first for food, then for their very lives. All of this, by the way, was the exact fulfillment (Genesis 44:14) of the dreams Joseph had told his brothers years before (Genesis 37:10) that had unleashed their murderous hatred and insane outrage against him.

In this story, Joseph, his identity not recognized to his brothers, allows them to plead their case before him. He listens as they unfold their story, pleading their integrity, protesting their innocence, yet admitting their guilt. (Genesis 44:16) His brother, Judah, even offers to substitute his life as a payment for the punishment Joseph will inflict on their youngest sibling, Benjamin. (Genesis 44:33-34)

As Joseph allows this to slowly play out, one gets the sense that he has rehearsed this very moment over and over in his mind for years. Perhaps he had; he’d had a long time in a lonely prison cell to think of the evil his brothers had done to him, and what he would do if he ever had the upper hand on them. But being the man of integrity and godly character that we observe in the chapters surrounding this story, Joseph was not at all slowly, painfully extracting an admission of guilt from them, as if somehow that would make up for all the years that had been lost from the family. No, this was not about revenge, it was about repentance. Joseph was allowing them to come to grips with their evil, and to verify if their sorrow was simply because they had gotten caught or if they were truly sorry for their sin against him. Obviously, they recognized their guilt, not just before Joseph, but before Almighty God: “God has uncovered your servants’ guilt.” (Genesis 44:16)

Ultimately necessary to restoration of the broken relationship between Joseph and the brothers was their repentance. Repentance would lead to the offer of restitution, which was appropriate, but as we see, graciously not demanded by Joseph (Genesis 50:15-21) and the reconciliation that Joseph offered back to them. Of course, the story has many levels of application: It provides the history of how the people of God move through the course of time. It demonstrates the dynamics of family restoration. Most importantly, it reminds us of the sovereignty of God in moving the course of events to fulfill his purposes in the world—and in our lives. But this also provides for us a picture of repentance and our restoration to God.

And the salient point as it relates to spiritual restoration is that it all starts with repentance. In point of fact, the New Testament Gospel literally beings with the word “repent.” When John the Baptist announced the coming of the Messiah, he proclaimed, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 3:2) When Jesus launched his public ministry, he preached, “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven has come near.” (Matthew 4:17) Salvation begins with repentance—no if’s, and’s or but’s about it.

It all starts with repentance. In a age when believers are afraid to call people to repent for fear of being offensive, or not liked, or actually telling the world that they are morally wrong and in danger of divine judgment, we must remember that no one—not a single human being—get’s to “pass go or collect $200” without first expressing sorrow for sin, admitting guilt before a holy God, and offering to change both way of thinking and behaving to walk in obedience to his way. And that is what biblical repentance means.

It all starts with repentance. Let’s never forget that. If we do, we, and those we are trying to reach, are dead in the water.

Furthermore, let’s never forget what a gift God has given us in making the provision for authentic repentance. For by it, the guilty are pardoned and the undeserving are showered in his grace. Thank God for repentance!

Going Deeper: Repentance is more than just an apology. It is to change your thinking and to change your way; to turn and move in the opposite direction—the right path toward God. Is there any area of your life that you need to offer to God in repentance? Today is the day!

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You’ll Get Rained On

God Keeps Us In The Storm, Not From It

God didn’t promise to keep us from either the famine or the storm, but he did promise to bring us through them. Moreover, he promised to actually use them to bring about his good plan in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be produced if we had been preserved from them. So if you are in a storm, start singing in the rain—the Son is coming.

The Journey // Focus: Genesis 43:1-2

Now the famine was still severe in the land. So when they had eaten all the grain they had brought from Egypt, their father said to them, “Go back and buy us a little more food.”

In Matthew 5:45, Jesus said something of the universal goodness and common grace of God to which we all nod in glad agreement, pointing out that our Heavenly Father “causes his sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” But what happens when that same sun that warms the body beats down mercilessly upon not only the heads of the unjust, but on the just as well? What happens when, as children of our Father in heaven, the same God-sent rain that causes the crops to sprout rains on our parade?

If you are like me—even though I know better—I begin to question God’s goodness and his personal love for me. When unfair and unwanted circumstance find their way into my life, my sense of fairness is assaulted and my assumption that bad things shouldn’t happen to good people is shocked back to reality. I know better, but I still tend to drift into that ditch of despair. I’ll bet you do too.

In truth, bad things happen to good and bad people alike. I don’t like that, but that’s the way it always has been and always will be in this world broken by sin that we live in for the time being. Jacob and his family, flawed as they were, found themselves suffering the same famine as the wicked, godless people of Egypt were enduring. Bummer—the same sun that torched the Egyptians scorched the Israelites.

But here’s where the redeeming benefits of being the children of our Father in heaven kick in: He didn’t promise to keep us from either the famine or the storm, but he did promise to bring us through them. Moreover, he promised to actually use them to bring about his good plan—both his larger plan for the world and his personal plan for our lives—through our problems in ways that otherwise wouldn’t be produced if we had been preserved from them.

Now I don’t always understand why he works that way, and I certainly wouldn’t do it that way if I were God—but I am not. And when I step back from my childish expectation and shortsighted perspective, I can see that God has a long and perfect track record of bringing his people through their painful difficulties to a glorious conclusion. And because of that exemplary record of faithfulness and goodness, in the words of Corrie Ten Boom, I will never need to “be afraid to trust an unknown future to a known God.” He will see me through.

Jacob and his sons were scorched by a famine, and though they could not see the guiding hand of God in their desperate time of need, nonetheless, God was at work, maneuvering them, both in the short term and for the long run, to a place of greater blessing and greater usefulness.

And as far as you are concerned, even when the same famine that is touching the evil is touching you, or to switch weather analogies, even when your parade is getting rained on, you can trust him. Seriously!

So start singing in the rain!

Going Deeper: If you are praying for relief from an unpleasant and unwanted circumstance and God is not bringing relief as quickly as you would like, realize that he may be leading you to a place of greater blessing and greater usefulness. Why not take a moment to rejoice in advance?

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You’re Worth It

He Endured The Cross For You

“For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.” (Heb. 12:2) What was this “joy” that so motivated Jesus to go through the most humiliating, torturous death when he didn’t have to? It was you, my friend—you were the joy Jesus felt in his heart as his hands and feet were nailed to the cross. And when his mind’s eye saw that you would one day stand with him as one of the redeemed before his Father’s throne, his heart swelled even as the life drained from his body, and he said, “it’s worth it!” All the pain and shame of the cross was worth it to Jesus, because you’re worth it!

Holy Saturday Reflection: Mark 15:24

Then the soldiers nailed him to the cross.

The account of the betrayal, arrest, trial, suffering and crucifixion of Jesus is moving beyond words. As you read again his description of what Jesus went through, I would encourage you to remember that Jesus didn’t have to go through this. But he did—and the reason was you.

The soldiers took Jesus into the courtyard of the governor’s headquarters (called the Praetorium) and called out the entire regiment. They dressed him in a purple robe, and they wove thorn branches into a crown and put it on his head. Then they saluted him and taunted, “Hail! King of the Jews!” And they struck him on the head with a reed stick, spit on him, and dropped to their knees in mock worship. When they were finally tired of mocking him, they took off the purple robe and put his own clothes on him again. Then they led him away to be crucified. (Mark 15:16-20)

He did it for you! Hebrews 12:2 says, “For the joy set before him he endured the cross, scorning its shame.” What was this “joy” that so motivated Jesus to go through the most humiliating, torturous death? I am convinced, my friend, that you were the joy Jesus saw as he hung there on the cross. And when he saw that you would one day stand with him as one of the redeemed before his Father’s throne, his heart swelled even as the life drained from his body, and he said, “it’s worth it!”

All the suffering and humiliation of the cross was worth it to Jesus, because you’re worth it.

Just take a minute before you do anything else today and offer your heartfelt thanks to God yet again for what he did by placing Jesus on the cross in your stead.

A Simple Prayer:

God, thank you for Jesus. Thank you for the cross. Thank you for your grace. Thank you for my salvation, so rich, so free.
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Good Friday Reflection: Thoroughly and Barely Saved

What Makes Us Worthy of Salvation? Absolutely Nothing!

What was it that made the repentant thief hanging on the cross next to Jesus worthy of salvation—even if it was at the very last minute of his life? The same thing that makes you and me worthy of our salvation: Absolutely nothing. The thief had no time for a single good deed nor time to make right his long list of wrongs. All he could do was recognize his own guilt, receive the redemptive righteousness of Jesus, and rest his eternity in the mercy and grace of God. By the way, that is all anyone can do to be saved.

The Journey: Luke 23:42-43

Then the thief said to Jesus, “Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.” And Jesus replied, “I assure you, today you will be with me in paradise.”

Two thieves hung on the cross, with Jesus between them. One of them joined the mocking crowd in hurling insults at the Lord, but the other hurled himself upon the mercy of God. And, according to Jesus’ own words, he was thoroughly saved that day, even if it was just barely.

The penitent thief had done no good works, had no track record of righteousness, had no opportunity to make right all the wrongs he had done. Yet Jesus assured him that within hours, he would be at the Lord’s side in eternity.

So what was it that made him worthy of salvation—even if it was at the very last minute of his life? The same thing that makes you and me worthy of our salvation: Absolutely nothing.

All the man could do was recognize his own guilt (“Don’t you fear God even when you have been sentenced to die? We deserve to die for our crimes…”), believe in the redemptive righteousness of Jesus (“but this man hasn’t done anything wrong….”), and entrust his eternity to the mercy and grace of God (“Jesus, remember me when you come into your Kingdom.”)

By the way, that is all anyone can do to be saved. The thief was thoroughly saved that day; as saved as you, me, or those who have faithfully served the Lord their entire lives. And that is the whole basis for the Gospel. That is what sets Christianity apart from every other religion: Salvation by grace through faith in Jesus Christ alone. Every other religious effort to attain eternal life is based on what we do. But what we do, no matter how much we do and how well we do it, can never be enough to satisfy a perfect and holy God.

Christianity is based on what Jesus did for us on the cross. Only by acknowledging our sinfulness, believing in his atoning work, and receiving him by faith can we appropriate the grace of God that thoroughly saves us for all eternity.

And that’s the Good News.

Going Deeper: Take a moment before you do anything else and offer this prayer: Lord, if my salvation was based on what I could do, I would never make it. Thank you, Lord, that it is based solely on what you did! I will be eternally indebted to your grace and mercy. Praise you, Lord, for I am thoroughly saved for all eternity!