Scripture Focus:

Always be full of joy in the Lord. I say it again—rejoice! Let everyone see that you are considerate in all you do. Remember, the Lord is coming soon. Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything. Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done. Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand. His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.

Philippians 4:4-7 (NLT)

Paul was in prison when he wrote his letter to the Philippians, yet this is one of his most remarkable contributions to us Christians. From prison, and nearing the end of his life, he wrote an appealing and convincing argument for the Christian faith. It’s Paul’s most joy-filled letter. He calls on the Philippians to rejoice – not just to rejoice in one act of praise and thanksgiving, but to rejoice always.

The last two verses of his letter form the capstone and give the reason why joy is not only possible but is the logical response to the experience that is ours.

And this same God who takes care of me will supply all your needs from his glorious riches, which have been given to us in Christ Jesus. Now all glory to God our Father forever and ever! Amen.

Philippians 4:19-20 (NLT)

It’s a bold affirmation: Our God will supply our every need “according to his riches in glory in Christ Jesus.” One difference between happiness and joy is that happiness is tied to circumstances – what’s going on around us. Joy is much deeper – it’s not dependent on circumstances but on commitment and trust.

A big enemy of joy is self-pity. The antidote to self-pity is the confidence that God will supply our every need. However much we lack that confidence, that’s how much our joy will be limited.

Do you remember the story of Elijah in the Hebrew Scripture? He was overcome with self-pity when he began to think that God no longer cared for him. It happened when he heard Jezebel had sent her soldiers to kill him (1 Kings 19:1-2). How quickly he had forgotten. God had intervened with direct and supernatural care by responding to his request that it not rain (1 Kings 17:1), by feeding him through the ravens for an entire year (1 Kings 17:6), and by providing the support of a widow who hid him from his enemies (1 Kings 17:9). And God demonstrated his faithfulness by sending fire to incinerate the altar when all the prophets of Baal couldn’t get even a whimper from their god (1 Kings 18:38).

How quickly Elijah forgot. So, when Jezebel came after him, he gave in to self-pity. When immediate success and visible results didn’t come in his ministry, he wallowed deep in despondency: “I have had enough, Lord. Take my life, for I am no better than my ancestors who have already died” (1 Kings 19:4).

How quickly we forget!

Elijah discovered, as we need to discover, that God doesn’t always work in the ways we want God to work. But that doesn’t mean God isn’t working. Our joy isn’t in the WAY God works, but in the fact THAT God works. For Elijah, God wasn’t in the earthquake, wind, and fire, but in the still small voice.

As you pray and fast this week, reflect on a time when you knew God supplied your need. What was going on in your life? What were your needs? How were those needs met? How did you feel and respond?

Are you struggling now with particular issues and needs, wondering why God doesn’t help or intervene? Maybe you have prayed, but no answers seem to be forthcoming. How might your reflection above give you clues about how you might respond to what is going on now?

This week I will be praying that you would become ever more aware that our joy isn’t in the way God works, but in the fact that God works.

I talk to many people today who seem anxious. There is a great deal of anxiety due to global conflicts, national elections, or a myriad of issues that continue to fester around the world. The attack on Christians and Christianity from people of power and influence seems to be on the rise. The answers to these problems are complex and will take years to answer. 

A World Contrary to God’s Command

We should not be surprised that the world is full of teaching and practices contrary to God’s commands and principles. Jesus said as much to his followers on several occasions. Having grown up around farms and farming, I can hear the wise old men looking at me and saying, “You shouldn’t be surprised when you look at the cow pasture and see cattle.” A careful reading of Scripture tells us that the world around us will often be hostile to Jesus’ teaching. However, for the follower of Jesus Christ, we need not lose hope. Rather, God’s Word is full of examples when He calls His followers to speak words of life-changing truth and hope.

Ezekiel and the Valley of Dry Bones

One such example is in Ezekiel’s journey to the valley of the dry bones (Ezekiel 37:1-14—take a minute to read that now). The Israelites are living in captivity and a long way from the Promised Land. God calls his prophet Ezekiel to a valley full of dried up bones. God asks Ezekiel if he thinks that there is hope for the death and desolation around him. The prophet’s answer to this challenge is, though his faith is small, God—in whom his faith lies—is great. These bones can live, Ezekiel says, if You will make it so.

The Power of Prophesying Life

Though God could have made those bones alive again without help, He tells Ezekiel to “prophesy to these bones, and say to them: O dry bones, hear the word of the Lord.” (v.5) I am always fascinated and humbled that God asks His followers to be a part of His work in bringing healing and restoration on Earth. Though God does not need our help, he gives us the joy and privilege of being part of His work. Sometimes we misunderstand the term “prophecy” and think it only means foretelling. It also means forthtelling: speaking the truth in love. Here Ezekiel speaks forth the promises of God and reassures them that He will resurrect them from the grave of their crippling anxieties, of their shattered hopes and dreams. God’s Word is the source of life and vitality they are seeking. 

When Ezekiel spoke to the bones, miraculous things happened! The bones were gathered together; they grew flesh and resumed the form of living things. Yet, there was work to be done. Though they had the form of humanity again, there was no life in them yet. God told Ezekiel to prophesy—to speak the truth again—to them so that there would be breath and life in them. Then, what was once a valley full of dry bones, now contained an abundance of life—“the breath came into them, and they lived, and stood on their feet, a vast multitude.” (v.10)

A Message of Hope for Today

While this message was originally given to Israel to remind them that God would gather them together and give them new life, the message applies to Christ’s followers today. Many in the world today are unknowingly lying lifeless in the valley. Many of Jesus’ followers are looking for the mountain tops from which they call yell down into these valleys, far from the effects of being in that valley inanimate bones and decay. Maybe it is time for each of us to listen carefully for God’s commands anew. He may be calling us into a valley of bones–not to become one of them, but to speak truth and life in the middle of a broad road that leads to death and destruction. Our job is to go where God calls, to speak the word of the Lord, and to let him bring new life in the darkest and driest places.

Scripture Focus:

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. It is by his great mercy that we have been born again, because God raised Jesus Christ from the dead. Now we live with great expectation, and we have a priceless inheritance—an inheritance that is kept in heaven for you, pure and undefiled, beyond the reach of change and decay. And through your faith, God is protecting you by his power until you receive this salvation, which is ready to be revealed on the last day for all to see. So be truly glad. There is wonderful joy ahead, even though you must endure many trials for a little while. These trials will show that your faith is genuine. It is being tested as fire tests and purifies gold—though your faith is far more precious than mere gold. So when your faith remains strong through many trials, it will bring you much praise and glory and honor on the day when Jesus Christ is revealed to the whole world. You love him even though you have never seen him. Though you do not see him now, you trust him; and you rejoice with a glorious, inexpressible joy. The reward for trusting him will be the salvation of your souls.

1 Peter 1:3-9

Years ago, my father received a handwritten note from The Broadmoore, in Colorado Springs, Colorado, one of America’s premier hotels. The writer lived in Indiana. Maybe he was on a business trip of vacation. Whatever the case, he was in a reflective mood and wanted to share with my father, even though they had never met. He identified himself and told his story.

Dear Dr. Dunnam,

A little more than two years ago, out of sheer desperation, I began a spiritual journey that has transformed my life. Some of your work, especially The Workbook of Living Prayer and The Workbook of Intercessory Prayer, have been vital guideposts along that journey.

My life was lost to alcohol and I was on the verge of losing my family, joy, money, and even my life. After a series of unsuccessful suicide attempts, God intervened through a number of agencies including AA and a rehabilitation center. As a result, I came to know God, then Jesus, and finally the Holy Spirit – not overnight, but slowly, surely.

I am enormously grateful to [God] for restoring my life and returning my family, health, joy, and showing me a way to live that I never thought possible.

What would cause a person like this, a stranger, to take the time to share his joy with someone he had never met? His was the “glorious, inexpressible joy” that Peter is talking about in our Scripture passage for this week. He was full of joy that he had to share because he was receiving the reward of trusting God – the salvation of his soul. (v.9)

The primary source of our joy is the fact of our salvation. Too few of us reflect enough on this fact. That might be one of the reasons our joy isn’t “full.” If we don’t know the joy of salvation, it may be that we haven’t dealt deeply enough with our sin. There’s a connection, even a parallel, between our sorrow for sin and our joy in the Holy Spirit.

In A Diary of Readings, John Baille quotes Blaise Pascal: “The knowledge of God without that of our wretchedness creates pride. The knowledge of our wretchedness without that of God creates despair. The knowledge of Jesus Christ is the middle way, because in Him we find both God and our wretchedness.” [1]

That puts in perspective doesn’t it?

There’s a story in Luke’s Gospel (chapter 7) about a woman “who was a sinner” (some translations say an “immoral woman”) who crashed a dinner party where Simon, a wealthy Pharisee, was entertaining Jesus. It was a shocking interruption. Jesus was reclining on the floor cushions around the table and she stood behind him near his feet and began to weep. Her tears gushed forth uncontrollably – so much so that she began to bathe Jesus’ feet with her tears and dry them with her hair. It was an outrageous display in the eyes of the Pharisee and the others who were there. This woman of the street kept kissing Jesus’ feet and anointing them with costly ointment.

Simon thought to himself “If this man were a prophet, he would know what kind of woman is touching him. She’s a sinner!” (v.39) But it was quite the opposite. Jesus did know, so he confronted Simon.

He turned to the woman and said to Simon, “Look at this woman kneeling here. When I entered your home, you didn’t offer me water to wash the dust from my feet, but she has washed them with her tears and wiped them with her hair. You didn’t greet me with a kiss, but from the time I first came in, she has not stopped kissing my feet. You neglected the courtesy of olive oil to anoint my head, but she has anointed my feet with rare perfume. I tell you, her sins—and they are many—have been forgiven, so she has shown me much love. But a person who is forgiven little shows only little love. (Luke 7:44-47, NLT)

This woman was full of joy and abandoned all reserve. She took the initiative in seeking Jesus out in a place where she was not invited or welcome. With the boldness of one who knew the depth of her sin and the extravagant extent of Jesus’ forgiveness, she poured out her love and gratitude.

As you pray and fast this week, reflect on the relationship between your sorrow for sin and your joy in the Holy Spirit. Is your salvation real enough to give you joy? I pray that it is! And I pray also that you would be empowered to share that joy with others.

[1] John Baille, A Diary of Readings, Day 37.

Scripture Focus:

If you love me, obey my commandments. And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate, who will never leave you. He is the Holy Spirit, who leads into all truth. The world cannot receive him, because it isn’t looking for him and doesn’t recognize him. But you know him, because he lives with you now and later will be in you. No, I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you. Soon the world will no longer see me, but you will see me. Since I live, you also will live. When I am raised to life again, you will know that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you.

John 14:15-17

Mark Twain’s wife did her best to censor the more picturesque flights of her husband’s language. One story says that he cut himself shaving and cursed long and loud. When he stopped, his wife tried to shame him by repeating to him word for word all the profanities he had just uttered. Twain heard her out and then remarked, “You have the words, my dear, but I’m afraid you’ll never master the tune.”

I’ve always chuckled at that story, and it also reminds me of the sorry state of many Christians. Not as it relates to profanity necessarily, but as it relates to our faith. We know the words, but we haven’t mastered the tune. As Christians we’re recipients of the Holy Spirit. A new kind of power, a new kind of action, a new kind of joy filled life is now possible. But it’s not automatic.

It’s a great day in our lives when we discover that the Holy Spirit and the indwelling Christ are one. It’s the witness of Scripture and is clear in the words of Jesus in our passage for this week. Jesus is preparing the disciples for his death. He tells them he is going away; that he is going to prepare a place for them but will come again. He says, “When everything is ready, I will come and get you, so that you will always be with me where I am.” (John 14:3) As he talks about his death, he promises that he won’t leave us alone but will send an Advocate, a Comforter, one to be with us forever. And here is the key. When Jesus promises the gift of the Holy Spirit, he immediately identifies himself with the Spirit. “I will not abandon you as orphans—I will come to you.” (vs18)

Last week we talked about abiding in Christ, and that’s where the words and the tune come together. Jesus is the revelation of God and the personification of the Holy Spirit. The Spirit who gave us faith to accept Christ as Savior is the Spirit within us as the indwelling Christ. The Spirit is with us now to give us faith and the will to yield ourselves to Jesus as Lord. The Spirit is with us now to produce the “fruit of the Spirit” – the sign of Christ alive within us and our abiding in him. The words and the tune come together, and the tune is joy.

K. Chesterton said, “joy…is the gigantic secret of the Christian.” That’s so true. So many of us have the words but we simply don’t have the tune – or we aren’t living in a way that people can hear the tune. We aren’t abiding in Christ in a way that allows the stream of God’s love and joy to flow to us and through us. And yet, we are promised abundant life, a life of overflowing love and joy. That love and joy is the tune of the Christian life.

My first grandchild will be celebrating his first birthday in October. From the time he was born, I have used his picture as the wallpaper for my phone, updating it as he grows. Every time I use my phone, I see Charlie smiling back at me and my heart is filled with an indescribable joy.

In the months since Charlie was born, I’ve noticed two small, seemingly insignificant changes in my behavior. First, I find myself looking at my phone for no other reason than to see the smiling face of my grandson. I’ve also noticed that when I’m stressed or feeling frustrated, I pull out my phone, see Charlie’s smiling face, and the stress or frustration recedes as a wave of love and joy flow over me.

These experiences remind me of the stream of love and joy that flow to us from God through the power of the indwelling Spirit of Jesus. The love and joy I feel when I look on the face of my grandson mirror in a human way, the love and joy God feels for each of us. Charlie can do nothing for me, he didn’t have to earn my love or do anything to elicit my joy. The same is true with God. We cannot earn God’s love or do anything special to elicit God’s joy. It simply flows to us because of who God is.

Likewise, as we abide in Christ and live in the stream of that love and joy, the words and tune come together. Our joy isn’t dependent on our circumstances or artificially created by material goods or our cultures. Rather, as our roots go deep into the love of Christ, we experience waves of joy, even in the midst of frustration, stress, or hardship.

As you pray and fast this week, I pray that the words and the tune would come together. That the love and joy that flows from God would be yours and would in turn flow outward to others.

Scripture Focus:

When you produce much fruit, you are my true disciples. This brings great glory to my Father. I have loved you even as the Father has loved me. Abide in my love. When you obey my commandments, you abide in my love, just as I obey my Father’s commandments and abide in his love. I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!

John 15:8-11 (NLT)

Though it doesn’t seem like a big deal now, back in 1997 the world was shocked to hear that Scottish cell biologists, Dr. Ian Wilmut and Dr. Keith Campbell had created the first clone of an adult mammal – a sheep which they named Dolly.

We’ve come a long way since then, but deep questions still linger. What does it actually mean to clone a living being? What are the possibilities for human cloning? What are the moral, ethical, and spiritual implications? In the age of artificial intelligence, the idea of cloning a human may seem passe, but it still remains fascinating. In the midst of debate about the strangely blurred lines created by AI, what would it mean to potentially replicate an actual adult human being?

As interesting as the question of cloning may be, and as far as we’ve come in the years since 1997, there are certain things that just can’t be cloned. Joy is one of them. It’s the unique experience of each person. Yet, no matter who we are and where we are, joy can be ours. It’s the promise of Jesus.

It’s not a matter of cloning, but of abiding – that is, abiding in Christ. Our passage for this week comes from the fifteenth chapter of John. That chapter begins with Jesus’ revealing metaphor of the vine and the branches. Jesus tells us who God is and who he is in relation to God: “I am the true vine and my Father is the gardener.” (vs. 1) Then Jesus tells us who he is and who we are in relation to him “I am the vine; you are the branches.” (vs. 5) The gardener provides life for the vine and the vine provides life for the branches, and they are all connected. So Jesus calls us to abide in him as the branches abide in the vine. If we do that we will abide in Jesus’ love and joy will be ours. “I have told you these things so that you will be filled with my joy. Yes, your joy will overflow!” (vs. 11)

Our joy is dependent on our abiding in Christ. Self-centeredness is the barrier to our abiding in him. Our basic problem is that we have dislodged God from the center of our being; self-interest, self-serving, self-worship have taken God’s place.

We were created by God with personalities that can only operate properly when fed by God’s love. When we seek to run our own life on our own terms, dominated by self-interest, we separate ourselves from the stream of love and joy that flows only from God. And yet, when we abide in Christ, allowing his love to nourish us and give life to our spirits, our world expands beyond the horizons of our own limited perspectives and we are able to experience a joy that overflows.

As you pray and fast this week, I encourage you to reflect on whether you are actually abiding in Christ. Do you really want to abide in Christ? I pray that you do, and that as you abide more and more in him, the overflowing joy that he promised will be yours.

Scripture Focus:

When we were utterly helpless, Christ came at just the right time and died for us sinners. Now, most people would not be willing to die for an upright person, though someone might perhaps be willing to die for a person who is especially good. But God showed his great love for us by sending Christ to die for us while we were still sinners. And since we have been made right in God’s sight by the blood of Christ, he will certainly save us from God’s condemnation. For since our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son while we were still his enemies, we will certainly be saved through the life of his Son. So now we can rejoice in our wonderful new relationship with God because our Lord Jesus Christ has made us friends of God.

Romans 5:6-11 (NLT)

In his classic book In the Grip of Grace, Max Lucado tells a story that exemplifies grace.

Once a monk and his apprentice traveled from the abbey to a nearby village. The two parted at the city gates, agreeing to meet the morning after completing their tasks. According to plan, they met and began the long walk back to the abbey. The monk noticed that the younger man was unusually quiet. He asked him if anything was wrong. “What business is it of yours?” came the terse response.

Now the monk was sure his brother was troubled, but he said nothing. The distance between the two began to increase. The apprentice walked slowly, as if to separate himself from his teacher. When the abbey came in sight, the monk stopped at the gate and waited on the student. “Tell me, my son. What troubles your soul?”

The boy started to react again, but when he saw the warmth in his master’s eyes, his heart began to melt. “I have sinned greatly,” he sobbed. Last night I slept with a woman and abandoned my vows. I am not worthy to enter the abbey at your side.”

The teacher put his arm around the student and said, “We will enter the abbey together. And we will enter the cathedral together. And together we will confess your sin. No one but God will know which of the two of us fell.” [1]

There is a sense in which this story describes what Christ has done for us. “When we were utterly helpless… while we were still sinners… Christ died for us… While we were still his enemies, our friendship with God was restored by the death of his Son.” In our Christian vocabulary, we call this grace. Story after story in Scripture paints the picture.

Hosea takes back his wife in love and forgiveness, reflecting who God is. Grace, all grace!

A son rebels against his father, leaving home to squander his inheritance in a foreign land. Yet his father waits patiently for his return; and when he finally arrives, throws a grand celebration of welcome. Grace, all grace!

Jesus refuses to allow a woman taken in the act of adultery to be stoned, because none of us is without sin and God forgives. “Neither do I condemn you, go and sin no more!” Grace, all grace!

A woman “crashes a party” where Jesus is the guest. The host would have thrown her out, but Jesus reminds him that the woman was expressing love because she knew forgiveness and pity. The host didn’t know that love and forgiveness yet. Grace, all grace!

Grace is undeserved, unearned, unmerited acceptance. The grace of God is God’s unconditional love for us. Though we may never love in God’s way, that is the standard.

As you pray and fast this week, I pray that you would experience the extravagant, unconditional love of God for you and that you would understand the remarkable and undeserved grace of God in a new way, even more aware of the reality that when we were utterly helpless, Christ died for us.

[1] Max Lucado, In the Grip of Grace, Dallas: Word Publishing, 1996, p91-92.

Scripture Focus:

If I could speak all the languages of earth and of angels, but didn’t love others, I would only be a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal. If I had the gift of prophecy, and if I understood all of God’s secret plans and possessed all knowledge, and if I had such faith that I could move mountains, but didn’t love others, I would be nothing. If I gave everything I have to the poor and even sacrificed my body, I could boast about it; but if I didn’t love others, I would have gained nothing.

1 Corinthians 13:1-3 (NLT)

We sing it to a lilting tune, adaptable to most any musical instrument, but frequently accompanied by the guitar and sung around the campfires of youth camps. “They will know we are Christian by our love, by our love, yes they’ll know we are Christians by our love.”

The question is, Do they? Do the people around us know we’re Christians by our love? In many parts of the world there have been ongoing “culture wars” for quite some time. In these contexts and others, the Church seeks to make a convincing apologetic for Christian values in society, to stage a powerful beachhead against moral relativism and secular materialism.

Our militancy on behalf of values is dulled, at least a bit – or should be – when we consider the “culture war” Jesus had to deal with. The people who seemed to give him the most trouble – the people he seemed to admonish the most – were the ones who held the “right” values. These weren’t the folks who were excited about his message. The people who were most excited about the message of Jesus – the ones who flocked to him and followed him even with empty bellies – they didn’t seem to hold any of the “right” values. They were prostitutes and tax collectors, Samaritans and Zealots.

It was almost as though these “right believing” folks were no longer able to love. They didn’t want the sick to experience healing – especially on the Sabbath. They didn’t want sinners to receive forgiveness or share in the breaking of bread.

The truth we need to remember is that we can be right – and yet act wrongly. Being right and knowing it often produces loveless, calloused sermons. We can be so intent on preserving our rightness, our values, that we fail to love. When being right and being on the right side becomes our driving passion, it’s easy to forget the heart of the gospel. Jesus said that the heart of the law is to love God with your entire being and to love your neighbor as yourself. (Mt 22:37-40) And note the dramatic way Paul put it in our Scripture for this week. Without love, we are nothing and gain nothing.

Our primary task as Christians is not to make a rational apologetic for Christian values, but to participate in and witness to the gospel, which has love as its core. We need an experiential apologetic far more than we need an intellectual one. Jesus didn’t say, “All persons will know you are my disciples if you present a convincing argument or promote my agenda.” He did say, “All will know you are my disciples, if you love one another.” As we discussed last week, we demonstrate “the mind of Christ” by loving and serving as he did.

This year we’ve been exploring the notion of allowing virtue to grow in our lives – seeking to be good. As you pray and fast this week, reflect on your life of virtue – your seeking to be good. When has it kept you from loving?

I’m praying for you – that your experiential witness will be strengthened as you relate to others in love. That as you move through this week God will provide more opportunities for you to act the Christian life than talk about it.

Scripture Focus:

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT)

Last week I encouraged you to reflect on things you might need to change in your life to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus. One aspect of Christ’s attitude was that he didn’t think of equality with God as something to cling to. It wasn’t something to be exploited. It’s not always easy to identify with this action of Jesus because we don’t see ourselves as being God or approaching equality with God. And yet, we would do well to press the issue.

In our current age of religious nationalism, where political perspectives are given religious significance, we would do well to question whether we see our relationship to God as something to be exploited. Even in more personal situations, how do we “use” our relationship to God? Do we use it to enhance our image in the community? Do we pray only when we’re pushed against the wall or when we want something?

If someone who knew you intimately wrote a biography of you, what would they write about most? What are the activities that demand most of your attention? Who are the persons to whom you give most of your time? What really excites you and gives you joy and meaning?

When the author specifically described your Christian life, what would they write about?

• what you believed and how tenaciously you held to certain doctrines?
• your faithfulness in church attendance?
• the positions you held in the church organization?
• your prayer life?
• how effectively you witnessed to the faith?

How much would they write about your lifestyle as a servant? How would they describe how you served? What would they say about whether you saw your relationship to God as something to be exploited?

The core issue is love. Love as the fruit of the Spirit must be love after the style of Jesus. As we’ve seen, this love is that of one who “gave up his divine privileges…took the humble position of a slave… humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.” Not many of us want to be servants like that, do we? Think about the way we serve. We choose when, where, how, and whom we will serve. We stay in charge. When we serve in the style of Jesus, we give up the right to be in charge. We empty ourselves and become vulnerable. We humble ourselves and give up control. We become obedient and sacrificially offer what we have and who we are. When we cease seeing our relationship to God as something to be exploited, we lose our fear of being stepped on, or manipulated, or taken advantage of. Love becomes the power for action that gives us the attitude of Christ Jesus and thus we look like him in the pattern of our lives.

As you pray and fast, reflect on the idea of someone writing a biography of you. What might the author write about that would make you happy? What do you wish the author could say about you, but your life is “not quite there yet?” As you reflect, I will be praying that you would move ever closer to a life that is in harmony with the pattern of Jesus.

Scripture Focus:

But the Holy Spirit produces this kind of fruit in our lives: love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, and self-control. There is no law against these things! Those who belong to Christ Jesus have nailed the passions and desires of their sinful nature to his cross and crucified them there. Since we are living by the Spirit, let us follow the Spirit’s leading in every part of our lives. Let us not become conceited, or provoke one another, or be jealous of one another.

Galatians 5:22-26 (NLT)

When Paul named what have come to be called the theological virtues – faith, hope, and love – he said, “But the greatest of these is love.” When he named the “fruit of the Spirit,” he began with love. Who would question the centrality of love in the shape of the Christian life? But there are still questions:

• What is the nature of this love?
• How do we appropriate it?
• How does it express itself in our lives?

To begin to answer these questions, we look to Jesus.

You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had. Though he was God, he did not think of equality with God as something to cling to. Instead, he gave up his divine privileges; he took the humble position of a slave and was born as a human being. When he appeared in human form, he humbled himself in obedience to God and died a criminal’s death on a cross.

Philippians 2:5-8 (NLT)

The birth of my oldest son was both filled with incredible joy and overwhelming fear. Though Nathan arrived nice and pink and healthy, within moments of being put in my arms he began to turn blue. The doctors and nurses recognized trouble and whisked him away from me before I could even finish my question about his appearance. They worked diligently. Thankfully, Nathan bounced back quickly and all was well. But in those moments when the doctors and nurses were working so diligently on Nathan, and in the hours after when they placed him in the nursery for observation, I was overwhelmed with a kind of love I had never experienced until that moment. I realized that my love for Nathan was so intense that I would have gladly given my life for this tiny creature who could do nothing for me in return.

As I’ve reflected on that experience over the years, I continually return to the Apostle Paul and his Damascus Road experience. He caught the vision, not of the love of an earthly parent, but the love of an Eternal Father, who became human in Jesus, hanging bare hearted on a cross out of love for you and me. It was this love, the crucified love of Christ on the cross, that Paul was talking about when he said, “in Christ, God was reconciling the world to himself.” (2 Corinthians 5:19)

The above passage from Philippians is one of the most beautiful descriptions of Christ in Scripture. It’s also a description of Christian obedience and discipleship. It’s the ultimate paradigm for love – a pattern for us to f0llow: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.” (Philippians 2:5).

Christ’s obedience to the point of death is offered to the Philippians (and to us) as a pattern for our own obedience. Just as Jesus obediently suffered, so the Philippians (and we) should stand firm in the gospel, even when it requires us to suffer (Philippians 1:27-30). Just as Jesus humbled himself and took upon himself the form of a slave, so the Philippians (and we) should become servants in love to others.

Whenever Paul talks about who Jesus was and what Jesus did, he always talks about the cross. The cross was the event in which God acted for the redemption of all humankind. It was also, for Paul, the paradigm for the obedience of all who are followers of Christ, a paradigm, for the life of faith. When he wrote in Galatians 6:2, “Bear one another’s burdens, and in this way you will fulfill the law of Christ,” Paul has taken the pattern of Christ’s self-giving on the cross and made it the imperative for the Christian community to serve one another in love.

Paul insisted over and over that the Christian lifestyle is a cross-style life. The cross is the definition of how we’re to love. Paul’s most descriptive word about Jesus is in the passage in Philippians that we’ve discussed today. As you pray and fast this month, keep in your mind the way this passage begins: “You must have the same attitude that Christ Jesus had.”

The passage isn’t just a description of who Jesus is, it’s a call to each of us. How would you have to change to have the same attitude as Christ Jesus? I pray that you would have a deep experience of the depth of God’s love for you in Christ Jesus. And I pray that experience would empower you to live out that same love for others in the daily comings and goings of your life.

Scripture Focus:

Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy. May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven. Give us today the food we need, and forgive us our sins, as we have forgiven those who sin against us. And don’t let us yield to temptation, but rescue us from the evil one.

Matthew 6:9-13 (NLT)

Christians the word over, in various words, pray the above prayer, adding, “For thine is the kingdom, and the power, and the glory for ever and ever.” We call it The Lord’s Prayer. In this prayer we make the petition, “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.” It’s obvious that this prayer is yet to be answered. Things are not as they should be; life is certainly not as God intended it to be.

Last week we reflected on the difference between secular optimism and Christian hope. The condition of the world offers no cause for optimism. For all of our progress, there is still brokenness – it’s just new brokenness in new places. And yet, the reality and power of God offers every reason for hope. Because the hard world gives no sign of hope, there is no excuse Christians have to sit back, fold their arms and do nothing except complain and judge.

If we believe and trust God enough to pray, “May your Kingdom come soon. May your will be done,” then we must order our lives and relationships, establish our priorities, and use our resources as though the kingdom had come. Thus, we reflect (albeit only partially) in this earthly order that which already exists in the heavenly realm. We practice what someone has designated the “ethics of hope.”

We feed the hungry and let them know a better day is coming.

We stand in solidarity with the oppressed, ministering to them in every way possible and letting them know that deliverance will one day come.

We go to the lonely, the sick, the dying, and tell them in words and deeds, and by our presence, they are loved.

Our presence and ministry will be signs, however limited, of hope. We will be witnesses to the coming Reign of God that we do not bring, but is the will and work of God. As Christians, we don’t hunker down in retreat or wring our hands in despair, no matter what is going on in the world. We have only two legitimate positions – on our knees in prayer, saying “Lord, have mercy on me, a sinner,” or on our feet, standing erect, saying, “Here am I, Lord, send me.” Despair paralyzes. Hope mobilizes. Christians have hope.

In his resurrection, Jesus Christ has conquered death and has given us a guarantee of life everlasting, and a kingdom that will know no end, a kingdom where all of creation – the entire universe – will be made new and nothing can separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus.

Everything that touches our fear and anxiety – from growing older to not having enough food, from the specter of random crime and violence to short tempers that fly when our comfort zone is invaded – it all has its roots in our fear of death, the ultimate enemy.

This death has a thousand faces. But because Jesus endured to the ultimate extent his undeserved death and because God raised Jesus from the dead, we can live in the power of the resurrection and eternity under God’s rule, we can lose our fear of death and trust God to save us now and forever. This is Christian hope.

As you pray and fast, reflect on the petition, “May your Kingdom come soon.” Think about the areas in your family and community where it is obvious that the kingdom has not come. What “ethics of hope” might you practice in relation to these? I pray you will be a sign of hope, through your words, through your deeds, and through your presence.