Thoughts on Scripture

The Advent of Truth

~ Heather Davis ~ 4 Comments

So Jesus said to the Jews who had believed him, “If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”
(John 8:31-32)

For the season of Advent this year, I toyed with the idea of revisiting some meditations I penned in the past; dusting off some ideas from an old blog and revisiting them with what I have learned about the Lord in the intervening years. And if you are interested, feel free to let me know and perhaps I will dredge them up after all.

But… as I prayed about what to write, all I could really think about was Jesus. After all, He is the sometimes overlooked celebrity of this story, buried as He may be beneath piles of wrapping paper, parties, and endless strings of lights. For today, let’s put aside all the chaos that we have added to this season and simply take a look at the King of kings as He first came to us, not with great pomp and privilege as royalty rightly should, but as a tiny sojourner wrapped in scraps of cloth whose first bed on earth was a temporarily requisitioned feeding trough. . .

It is no small thing that the Truth Incarnate came into the world in such a humble and unexpected circumstance. On that first Christmas, Truth came as a gift heralded by angels; knowable and yet known by few. Ironically, about thirty-three years later, this same Jesus would stand before a Roman governor who would look Truth in the face and respond in doubt; “What is truth?”

Perhaps Pilate believed, as many still believe, that truth is subjective and not something concrete or unchanging. But that is a lie. Despite what the ancient deceiver would have us believe Truth is knowable. Jesus is knowable. Yet we will not come to  know Him by accident,  nor will we do so without an expense of time and effort on our parts.

So how do we come to know this Man, Immanuel? How do we know Truth?

I think, to illustrate, I would like to give an example of how not to know Him; or rather, how to know a portion of the truth without knowing the whole.

Perhaps you have seen something along the lines of this floating around on social media:

It is time to elect a new world leader, and only your vote counts. Here are the facts about the three candidates.

Candidate A.
Associates with crooked politicians, and consults with astrologist. He’s had two mistresses. He also chain smokes and drinks 8 to 10 martinis a day.

Candidate B.
He was kicked out of office twice, sleeps until noon, used opium in college and drinks a quart of whiskey every evening.

Candidate C.
He is a decorated war hero. He’s a vegetarian, doesn’t smoke, drinks an occasional beer and never cheated on his wife.

Which of these candidates would be your choice? Decide first… no peeking, then scroll down
for the response.

————————————————————-

Candidate A is Franklin D. Roosevelt.
Candidate B is Winston Churchill.
Candidate C is Adolph Hitler.

That sounds compelling, doesn’t it? However, while there may or may not be some fact to these descriptions, not a single one of them contains the whole truth.

To be perfectly honest, I am woefully ignorant of the lives of FDR or Churchill. I know nothing about the former president. And despite my good intentions, I only made it through a couple of chapters of Churchill’s famous biography, The Last Lion, but in that portion I did read that he was a sickly child and as an adult would often nurse a single drink for the better part of a day in order to appear to be a “manly” drinker.

But after reading The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich by William Shirer, I can tell you that the facts about Hitler are only a tiny slice of the picture; a piece of the puzzle lifted out of context of the complete life of the man to prove a silly and useless point. To  know the whole truth requires a little more effort, but it gives you a more complete portrait of the man.

For one thing, Hitler was only a vegetarian later in life due to severe stomach trouble. Although he may never have cheated on his wife, he scarcely had the opportunity. Hitler and Eva Braun, his long-time mistress, were married for less than 48 hours before committing a double suicide in an underground bunker near the end of World War II.

As far as morality goes, besides having mistresses it is also true that a younger Adolf had an extremely jealous and possessive relationship with his niece, Geli Raubal, who later was found dead by gunshot in her room and ruled a suicide. Besides these things, he was also responsible for the breaking of many treaties, millions of deaths, and horrendous persecution of the Jewish people.

In that solitary  and far-from-complete example, it is easy to see how misleading a picture one can acquire from a partial truth.

In the same way, we cannot rely on social media memes, snippets of Scripture, or the opinions of others if we want to acquire an accurate portrait of Jesus Christ.  By His own statements, to know Him is to know the Father, and in order to know  them well, there are absolutely no shortcuts to reading and understanding the full counsel of the Word of God.

The sum of your word is truth, and every one of your righteous rules endures forever.
(Psalm 119:160)

That, my friends, requires time, dedication, prayer, and the gift of the Holy Spirit. If you truly want to know the Truth, you must read the Word of Truth and be guided by the Spirit of Truth.

Today I find myself fascinated that my incomprehensibly great God is all these things: the God of truth, the Word who was in the beginning, the Truth, and the Spirit of Truth.  Check out Isaiah 65:16, John 1:1-14, John 8:28-32, and pretty much all of John 14-17 for more insight on His truth. I would love to hear how you are experiencing the Word of Truth this Advent season!

Sanctify them in the truth; your word is truth.
(John 17:17)

 

 

 

Imitation

~ Heather Davis ~ 8 Comments

ariahandTherefore be imitators of God, as beloved children.
Ephesians 5:1

Ephesians 5:1 takes me back to a simpler time when my children were small and all of their dreams, heartaches, and goals were simple, touched with the endless possibility of imagination and not yet crippled by reality. Back then, my husband and I were incredibly cool. We might have even been the most amazing people on the planet… at least in the eyes of our children.judo

I have so many memories of them imitating us — my son’s pudgy, two-year-old hand flopping to and fro on the table as he tried to mimic the rhythm his daddy was tapping out with his fingers; my middle daughter trying to “mother” her baby sister as I mothered her; my youngest carefully watching our judo class and attempting ukemi on another mat until she melted the heart of our 6′ 5″ sensei (who had no daughters) and he decided to make an exception for her on the minimum required age.

Yesterday, Ephesians 5:1 kept drifting through my mind, jumbled together with thoughts like those I just shared. However, each time I sat down to write about it, the words simply would not come.

After a final, frustrated attempt, I deleted all the clunky and disconnected sentences I had written and chalked it up to being distracted by the plethora of animals scattered about my home (we are pet sitting for some friends and are currently outnumbered by four-legged beasties, mostly predators save for one very squeaky and nervous prey).

Forgive my digression…

At any rate, I did pray for understanding since the verse would not leave my mind. Although my small group recently finished studying the book of Ephesians, apparently God had more to say to me through this epistle. So this morning, I sat down and began reading at Ephesians chapter 5 when I sensed the Holy Spirit’s gentle suggestion to start back in chapter 4.

Beginning in 4:17, I read through to 5:2, and… well… Go ahead and read it yourself. I’ll wait.

Did you see it?

As I prayerfully read this passage, I saw something I had missed in the way the book was segmented in our recent study. In verse 24, there is the admonition to “put on the new self, created after the likeness of God…” dressup

Of course, this reminds me of a similar verse; Galatians 3:27 which states, “For as many of you who were baptized into Christ have put on Christ…” and others like it.

As I read with these Scriptures in mind, I had a mental image of a small child dressing up in a parent’s clothes in joyful mimicry of the person they look up to the most. And it hit me — that is the way we ought to be with
God.

Sure, most of chapter 4:17-32 is composed of a list of what is often called “thou shalts” and “thou shalt nots,” and while these guidelines on the behavior expected of the redeemed are exceedingly important, if a person is truly in Christ, those actions are the symptom, not the cause. 

For we who are in Christ are not a people called merely to follow a prescribed set of rules and regulations, we are a people set free from bondage to sin and death.  Although it is true that there are things we should do and things we should avoid,  the driving force behind our behavior is the key. We do not live for the sake of the rules, but we live in imitation of our holy, pure, compassionate, and gracious God.

As His children, we dress ourselves rather clumsily in His garment of righteousness, our adoration of Him compelling us to strive to the uttermost of our childish ability to walk and talk as He does. Astonishingly, in His mercy He has even given us the gift of His Spirit to help us along the way.

Do you see it now? The list of “dos and do nots” in Ephesians 4 — and indeed anywhere they occur in the New Testament– is less a list of rules to follow so much as it is a gauge by which we measure our likeness to Him.

If you will, think of it as that impossibly high mark on the growth chart that represents our Father’s stature as we put on His tallest hat and stretch up on the tips of our toes in an attempt to reach it.

Forgiving others, putting aside falsehood and speaking truth, walking in forgiveness and purity, striving for holiness, laying aside bitterness and wrath — all these and more are things that our God already does. He is the goal we are running this race to reach; He is the reason we run at all.

Instead of trying first to modify our behavior, what if we simply kept our adoring eyes fixed on the Lord, giving our entire effort to emulate Him? Through His Word and prayer, He will indicate areas that we may need to adjust. When He does, like beloved children, we can respond in joyful obedience, fully convinced of our Father’s great love for us as we imitate Him in righteousness and holiness not out of guilt or shame or duty but because we want to be like Him more than anything else in the world.

 

 

 

 

Redeeming the Time

~ Heather Davis ~ 5 Comments

Then watch how carefully you walk, not as unwise, but as wise ones, redeeming the time, because the days are evil.
Ephesians 5:15-16, LITV

After writing what ended up being closer to something like three separate posts concerning my thoughts about the fact, often mentioned in my circles, that Christians are viewed by many people as intolerant, bigoted, self-righteous, and other less-than-flattering labels, I have decided not to publish it… at least not right now.

Instead, as I have studied through the book of Ephesians, it struck me that there are several highly-relevant passages in the little letter that are probably worthy of greater consideration at present than my inane puzzlings over other folks’ perceptions.

For example, the focus for today in Ephesians 5:15-16 is a pretty little jewel that those of us who are in Christ ought to polish and wear prominently as this ugly little election season grinds to its close. I especially like the phrasing in the King James or the Literal Translations of “redeeming the time.”

It was a dear friend who pointed out the wording as a remnant of our small group sat around and discussed our week’s homework in Ephesians. In most of our translations, the phrase was given as something closer to “make the best use of time,” or “make the most of the time,” but he had run across it in the King James. I took a moment to check the origin in Thayer’s Greek Definitions, and it seemed to us all that “redeeming the time” was a more accurate translation.

And as my friend noted, if we are to redeem the time, it is going to cost us something. In fact, a quick check of any dictionary will reveal that most of the possible definitions of the word “redeem” indicate a buying back, repurchasing, or even payment of ransom.

So what will it cost us, my brothers and sisters; what will be the personal cost of snatching back precious hours and minutes from the downward spiral of moral decay?  How shall we personally reclaim vital moments of self-focus and idolatry and redeem them for use in honoring our Lord and God instead?

What will it cost us to gain the wisdom we need to put aside foolishness and understand what the will of the Lord is?

Time, for starters. It will cost us time on our knees, time spent in the Word, time repenting of our selfish ways and our diligent pursuit of passing pleasures so that we can reclaim all our silly, wasted moments for use in Kingdom purposes.

Redeeming the time may cost us the sympathy of others when we choose to praise our King rather than complain. It may cost us the company of certain friends or the favor of others. There may come a time such as has already come for many of our brothers and sisters around the globe when it may cost us our lives.Certainly it will cost us our pride.

And I do not know about you, my friends, but on Monday morning, the day before election day, redeeming the time will cost me a couple of meals and snacks after sunrise. I plan to spend a 24 hour period fasting and praying, repenting of my sin and the sins of my nation, and seeking wisdom from my God on how I can recapture the rest of the time allotted to me and use it for His purposes.

And I will give thanks to God as I do, knowing that no matter what happens, He truly will work out all things according to the counsel of His will as Ephesians 1:11 states. He has already prepared good works for me to do. All I need is the wisdom and strength to walk in them.

That’s really all any of us need.

Most High God, humble our hearts and teach us to redeem the time. May we no longer be afraid of the cost but willing to spend our reputations, our time, even our very lives for the glory of Your Kingdom. Teach us to praise You always, trusting You even through the darkest valleys and praising You even in the midst of pain. Through Your own priceless blood, You have already redeemed us; we invite You to come and take full possession of what is already Yours, amen. 

 

 

 

 

The King Sits Enthroned

~ Heather Davis ~ 2 Comments

Ascribe to the LORD, O heavenly beings, ascribe to the LORD glory and strength. Ascribe to the LORD the glory due his name; worship the LORD in the splendor of holiness.
Psa;lm 29:1-2

Normally, I am not a politically-minded person, probably to a fault. Although admittedly my focus strays from time to time, I try to view everything — even politics — through the lens of God’s Word.

That being said, I am of two minds this year concerning the political mess in my country.

On one hand, I am angry. It infuriates me to be told that I have a voice in our government and simultaneously told that my voice is limited to a choice between two candidates that, as far as I can tell, are morally reprehensible. This does not feel like a choice. It feels like a sham.

When I happen to look in on the news, read a bit of text from the “debates,” or take a peek on social media, my anger quickly turns into something more akin to a wondering despair

And behind all the noise and reactionary chaos of social media, I can almost hear someone (or a group of someones) laughing in their sleeve. I could very easily be wrong, but the circus-like quality of the modern political “debate” seems to be a thing more akin to a diversion for an entertainment-hungry mob than a civil discussion of various viewpoints on critical national issues.

But…

On the other hand, I really cannot get too upset. To be perfectly candid, it truly does not matter much who wins this election. For either way, God will bring about His purposes, and not all of those purposes are going to be enjoyable at the time.

And although you may occasionally see a glimpse of the other side of my brain if I get excited, the truth is I actually have a good deal of peace this election year. The crazy thing is, that peace exists although I do not know what to do.

I know I’m not alone here. Many Christians do not know what to do. Most of us feel trapped, although if we are honest with ourselves, we are trapped in a cage that we have watched being welded together bar by bar over generations. But that’s another tangent…

“Oh, our God, will You not execute judgement on them? For we are powerless against this great horde that is coming against us. We do not know what to do, but our eyes are on you.” 2 Chronicles 20:12

What I do know is that my God does know what to do. He is God. Lest we forget, I fully believe He is perfectly capable of doing something strange and amazing through this election. He just might. But, much like the ancient nation of Israel, He may just give us what we have asked for.

They wanted a king and got one, along with a vendetta against the up-and-comer, David, a great deal of war and strife, and eventually a divided kingdom and moral bankruptcy. What we crave in America is freedom — freedom from consequences or repercussions, so much freedom that the boundaries of reason begin to blur and fade around the edges.

And we might just get it, too, along with all the chaos, mischief, damage, and debauchery that come along with “freedom” from logic and limits. It’s called anarchy, and it typically does not end well.

But there I go again…. I will do my civic duty and vote, but not before I have gotten on my knees in fasting and prayer to ask my God what He would have me do. Whatever He tells me, I will do. If He chooses to be silent, I will do my level best with the information (albeit rather shady information) I have been given to work with. And I will trust Him with the results.

The truth is, brothers and sisters, for those of us who are in Christ, this election is just another point of interest or intrigue in the land we are journeying through. This is not our homeland. We already have a Ruler, and He is our Refuge and our Strength; the King of kings and Lord of lords, The Almighty, the Most High,  Maker of heaven and earth, and He has not changed.

Nor will he. Oh, this old world will change. We’ve already seen its tendency to slow decay. It’s called “entropy,” and it is an actual, accepted scientific law. Nor does it only apply to matter. Civilizations rise and fall; all that is new fades, becomes old, and crumbles;  governments rise to glory and fall to ash; and still this ball of rock spins on its axis around its wondrous and fearfully-powerful star. Until it does not any longer, that is.

For once now, God sent His own Son to live as one of the very beings He created. He walked as one of us, enduring the same joys and sorrows, trials and triumphs with one exception — He alone understands the full depth and breadth of temptation because He alone has withstood it until the bitter end without knuckling under or bending even once.

He fulfilled the Laws given to Moses, then He gave Himself willingly in a bloody and terrible sacrifice to save the very ones who beat, mocked, and rejected Him — including me. Then He rose again, this God-Man who is my King. And someday He will return, this time not in meekness and to offer sacrifice,  but in power and great glory to claim the earth that He paid for in blood. Then, oh my friends! Then every knee will bow before before Him, whether in worship or in fear.

That is my Ruler. That is my Sovereign. That is why I only worry for small times in weak moments, mostly for the sake and safety of my children.  But then I rally and take heart, because I remember that I am a stranger in a strange land (and I already know how strange, so you don’t have to say it!). My King is secure, and He is my strength in weary times.

The LORD sits enthroned over the flood; the LORD sits enthroned as king forever. May the LORD give strength to his people! May the LORD bless his people with peace!
Psalm 29:10-11

Cake Confession

~ Heather Davis ~ 4 Comments

But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire when it has conceived gives birth to sin, and sin when it is fully grown brings forth death.
James 1:14-15

This morning, I had caramel-glazed pear cake for breakfast with my coffee.

I actually premeditated this event. I looked forward to it when I went to bed last night. I may have even dreamed about it. However, it would seem that one cannot enjoy cake for breakfast at the age of 42 without paying some price. For hours, my stomach complained rather distressingly about my morning meal choice. Needless to say, it is not a price I will be willing to pay again.

Oh, I could justify myself because I have not tasted  my favorite cake for many years thanks to a wheat sensitivity (this one was made with a gluten-free flour substitute). I could even go further and explain that I can no longer have coffee every day thanks to GERD, but those are really just threadbare excuses.

In all truth,  I was simply tempted by an unhealthy choice and I underestimated the cost.

But it did get me thinking…

My morning seemed to be a sort of unpleasant, physical metaphor for sin. So many times, we are tempted by something in this world that seems incredibly appealing, even though we know it is not good for us.

In fact, I would conjecture that very few of us set out defiantly with brazen intent of becoming ensnared by sin. Instead, I believe most of us fall because what looked at first like an innocent indulgence quickly grows into a murderous monster, devouring us from the inside.

We are tempted and we underestimate the cost.

Fortunately, my little dietary error was easily correctable — and easily avoidable. Not all sin is so easy to rectify, however. But there are sins which not only drag the transgressor down, but leave a path of wreckage and desolation strewn behind, shattering trust and slaying relationships. There are sins that are not easily correctable.

In a nutshell, that is exactly why we need Jesus. It is why we have to abide in Him, staying diligently connected to Him through reading the Scriptures, memorizing and meditating on His words,  and cultivating a vibrant prayer life that is listening as much as it is talking.

There is no place safer, no reward more wonderful than to be in His presence. Once we have experienced His incredible beauty… well, I cannot say it better than the refrain of old hymn, “Turn Your Eyes Upon Jesus:”

Turn your eyes upon Jesus,
Look full in His wonderful face,
And the things of earth will grow strangely dim,
In the light of His glory and grace.

Even so, there are times we do stumble. We look away from the glory of the Lord and are distracted by the trinkets that surround us. Never fear, brothers and sisters, for even when we stumble or fall there is still hope. We can always run back to our Savior, for though we may be faithless, He is always faithful and will forgive us when we truly repent and turn back to Him.

If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.
1 John 1:9

And as for me? Well, let’s just say tomorrow I’m back to clean eating.  This old machine just runs better when it’s fueled properly!

 

Still Waters

~ Heather Davis ~ 7 Comments

campingsouthcumberland005

 

Depression has been much on my mind lately. There are people in my little sphere who are being consumed by it, and my heart grieves for them because I know. 

I know what it is like to feel hopeless, to look at all the information and conclude that you are a mere waste, to feel that the light of day is dim and dreary and all you long to do is slip into unconsciousness, maybe forever — but even sleep is elusive and there’s a part of you that knows duty must come first. You are at war, and your foulest enemy is the one with hollow, weary eyes who peers at you from the mirror.

I have been there before, years ago when I was a young woman struggling with a poor self-image and feeling desolate inside. Even more recently, I have been there when physical pain was a ruthless companion and I began to feel like more of a burden than a blessing to my family.

However, my friend, there is more to this story than the dank rottenness of despair. There is hope and even wonder and magnificence to come, but first there is something you must do.

Poor, lost soul, you must yield to the Good Shepherd who searches for you even now as you read these words.  He longs to find you, to bring you back into His sheepfold and rejoice with all who are glad at the finding of another lost soul.

Then, having yielded to Him, you will find that your troubles do not vanish.

Did you think they would? This is no fairy tale, my friend — it is something far more rare; far more precious and wonderful. It is a true story of redemption and hope beyond the grave.

No, once you belong to the Great Shepherd, your troubles will remain and truth be told, more will come. Yet, you no longer fight alone. Trembling little sheep, you are now under the protection of the Shepherd, and He will fight your battles for you. You have only to trust Him.

Then, when you are fully surrendered to Him, you will find that he makes you find rest in green pastures. Ah, and then! There it is, when He has called you into the wilderness., He will speak to you with tender mercy. There, in the growing green, out away from your dismal dungeon of twisted pride, He will lead you to still waters where He will restore your soul.

And such a restoration! This Shepherd who loves you will invite you to drink deep of the Water of Life. No matter how you have failed Him; no matter what weight of guilt crushes you or what horrors you have done or have been done to you; in fact, no matter how much you have failed to believe Him and even if you have openly mocked Him, He will restore you in total forgiveness that knows no bounds.

Now, precious child of the King, He will lead you on paths of righteousness that travel far from the gloom of the tiny confines of your own mental prison. For His own name’s sake, He does this, for He has set you free from the bonds of sin and death. You live for Him now, and your once meaningless life has a glorious purpose.

Now when you once again walk through the valley of deep darkness and death stalks behind, you have no reason to fear. Even the rod of discipline and the staff of guidance are a comfort to you, because you know that He disciplines those He loves.

You are safe in His love,little sheep who is no longer lost. Though the darkness may close in and despair scratch at your windows, He is there with you. No, your problems do not disappear when you are a child of God, but there is hope despite them, even because of them.

 

Now your suffering has meaning, for it is in the furnace of affliction that your faith is tried, tested, and purified. The darkness has no hold on you, for you are a child of the Light. You belong to the Good Shepherd and you are no longer alone.

You have walked through that dark valley and died to yourself. No longer do woes consume you, for your mind is no longer fixed on yourself but on your gracious and loving Redeemer. When your old mental habits loom and you are weary and too weak to stand, run to the Great Shepherd and find peace in the still waters of His never-ending grace and love.

For this reason I bow my knees before the Father …  that according to the riches of his glory he may grant you to be strengthened with power through his Spirit in your inner being, so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith–that you, being rooted and grounded in love, may have strength to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth and length and height and depth, and to know the love of Christ that surpasses knowledge, that you may be filled with all the fullness of God.
Ephesians 3:14, 16-19

Sacrifice

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Abraham said, “God will provide for himself the lamb for a burnt offering, my son…” Genesis 22:8a

Sacrifice.

If there’s a word that entirely fails to evoke sentiments of serenity or images of lazy spring picnics beside a murmuring stream, “sacrifice” may well be it.  It’s a rare Christian, indeed, who falls asleep at night dreaming of what else he may sacrifice or who wakes in eager expectation of the day’s abnegation.

We are such funny creatures…

Fifteen years ago, my husband and I chose to waive the relative ease of a dual income in order that one of us might invest more heavily in our children. As the kids grew, we opted to forego the “free” public school in favor of home education; another sacrifice of time, money, and effort. Now, in this newest season of our lives, the oldest two attend a private school, which brings with it a new kind of fiscal load.  Financially, at least, we have felt called to sacrifice.

And here is why I say we are funny creatures. I need you to understand that I have not delineated areas of my own personal sacrifice in order to seek accolades, but rather in order to highlight my own laughable silliness.

You see, none of the things I have “sacrificed” were truthfully and wholly my own.  Each penny my husband or I have earned was earned through talent or ability first supplied us by God. Even my body — the heart that beats, the lungs that draw breath; even the air I breathe — all are only mine in the sense that all gifts belong to the beloved.

Yet do not miss the fact that they are gifts; I neither created nor produced a single element of any of them. God, Himself, has always provided the sacrifice beginning with the very first one written of in Genesis 3:21 and continuing to this day in the lives of believers.

Thus my earlier comment that we are funny creatures. It strikes me as humorous that we would take every gift our Creator equips us with and cling to it as solemnly as if we had given it form and substance ourselves.

When I think about it, it’s more than a little amusing that I might think myself righteous when God hands me $100 and I offer Him $10 back… and in too many areas, I do not even give Him that much recognition!

With that thought it mind, let’s view a reminder from the apostle Paul:

Or do you not know that your body is a temple of the Holy Spirit within you, whom you have from God? You are not your own, for you were bought with a price. So glorify God in your body.
1 Corinthians 6:19-20

There is nothing we possess, not even our persons, which was not at first a Divine allowance.

However, there is One whose life truly was His own. Jesus called the Christ alone among men could claim complete possession of His life, for He did fashion the body He inhabited. He, Himself, as the agent of creation actually did call into being the air He breathed, the dust He walked in, even the tree He was slain upon.

His life was truly His own, and so His sacrifice could arguably be called the only authentic sacrifice ever offered in the entire history of  mankind.

This fact is one among many reasons why His death on that cross was enough to atone for my sin — because it was complete: the sacrifice truly was His to make.

Of His own accord, He laid down a life that was thoroughly and unreservedly His. He was no mere steward but the Master, and He chose to give it all away out of sheer love for His creation. 

That is why I worship Him, my friends, because when I think of the unimaginable humility of my Lord in paying my ransom, I know that He is absolutely worthy of my adoration. His very act of abasement places His gift of salvation so far above my own most noble and heroic efforts as to reveal mine for what they are–filthy rags.

When I stop to think of all He has provided, the proportionally minuscule amount He requires me to give back no longer looks much like a sacrifice. Instead, I feel more like a child hoping to make my Father smile with a gift, absurdly unconscious of the fact that my gift is one He bought and paid for Himself.

O my God, thank You for your mercy and grace and for Your true sacrifice on behalf of one so unworthy as me!

…And I myself have given it to you all so that atonement may be made for your souls on the altar, since the blood itself makes atonement through the life that is in it.
Leviticus 17:11b, ISV

The Battle Within

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation and my God.
Psalm 43:5

Oh, how I wish each step of this race could be joyful; filled with moments of awe and splendor and wonder. How I wish that I could run my race without the weight of the sin curse dragging at my heart and snatching the breath from my lungs. But this is real life, and David’s Psalm aptly expresses my real state of mind today.

One of my oldest enemies, the fiendish Despair, still dogs my heels from time to time as I labor on my course. Oh,though he is sly, I know him; I know his true name — it is Pride, dressed though he may be in a darker suit of self-focus. From time to time on deserted stretches of the track, my sinister stalker will fling the well-paired bolas of fatigue and pain, entangling my legs and causing me to sprawl ingloriously onto my face.

One would think I would learn to keep an eye out for him when the way is desolate… one would think.

Always, always it is the same setup: a few weeks of relentless pain, a sense of uselessness and failure, a realization that much of the past efforts I have given in ministry was  either  unheeded or unneeded. Too little sleep. Too much to do. A certainty of ineptitude made more concrete by the actions of others. The reality of being forgotten. The conviction that not only do I not belong, I have passed that quirk of not belonging on to my children. The very painful understanding that sometimes to be a sojourner on this earth means that I will sojourn alone.

Well, not entirely alone.

There is One who has promised never to leave me nor forsake me… not even when I allow my thoughts to fall into the familiar old iniquity of despondency.

There is my Shepherd who will be with me even in the valley of deepest darkness.

There is the Light for my path, even if it is just glimmer enough to see an inch or two of the way before me.

There is my great High Priest who can sympathize with my weakness, for He has been tempted in all ways that I have yet without my sin.  For in Gethsemane, I am certain that even He was tempted to give in to Despair… yet He fought on. And won.

So at times like this, I remember that my body is weak and prone to falter, but that my Savior is neither of these. Though I may feel cast down, discouraged, defeated, and useless; though I may not have the strength to fight, in Christ I can find the strength to stand. And I remember that the battle is not mine but the Lord’s.

When the horrible ache of being a person on the fringes threatens to swallow me in sorrow, I recall that I do belong — to the King of kings. That, too, I can pass to my children and together we can view this vast and often hostile territory with fresh eyes, cherishing its beauty and even loving those who unwittingly inflict pain because we remember that we are just passing through until the great Day of our final Homecoming.

So why are you cast down, O my soul? Rather, hope in God for I will again praise Him, for He is my King and His grace is sufficient for me.

 

 

 

 

An Appeal to my Brethren of Any Color

~ Heather Davis ~ Leave a comment

And then many will fall away and betray one another and hate one another. And many false prophets will arise and lead many astray. And because lawlessness will be increased, the love of many will grow cold.
(Mat 24:10-12)

I am a white woman.

There is nothing I can do about this. I was born this way.

My sisters are white women. They did not choose their skin color, either, but were also born this way. All three of us have some things in common: our skin is  of that pinkish-tan hue that for some reason is called “white” and our hair and eyes are brown. We can make alterations with dyes, contacts, and other superficial and temporary aesthetic changes, but we can never be anything but white women.

Besides our coloring, we three share other characteristics. We all made similar mistakes before we came to know Jesus as King and Lord of our lives. Despite our love for Him, we all are imperfect and still struggle with sin. We all make mistakes, we are all learning to humble our hearts and repent when we do, and we encourage each other to this end.

Additionally, we are all married to husbands we love and have children we adore. As it happens, our husbands are also human beings, are imperfect, make mistakes, and are striving to be Godly men who love and support their families.

But there is one difference that, to us, is insignificant but to this irrational and fear-driven society in which we live, often becomes inflated beyond aesthetics: one of our husbands is black.

And to be truly honest, I don’t care.Hands004

I enjoy my brothers-in-law equally. I love the
m both the same. At times, I am even irritated by them both the same, not because of their skin color, but because of our mutual sin natures. What I mean is that sometimes my irritation may be justified while at other times it is not because I, too, struggle with sin and pride and fail to be humble. To me, my brothers are no more or less different than my two sisters. We are all in this family together, and Lord willing, we will all be together from now and forever on into eternity.

Why am I telling you all this? Frankly, this is nothing short of an outright plea to all fellow members of the human race to stop thinking in skin colors and remember who the real enemy is.

The real enemy is not marked by something as arbitrary as the amount of melanin in a person’s skin. The real enemy is not a person at all; he is a liar and the father of lies, and he has come to kill, steal and destroy. And in fact, that is just what I see him doing when the racial pot is stirred.

Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.
(1Pe 5:8)

Please, brothers and sisters of all colors, please remember this. In God’s house, there is not black and white but we are all one in Christ, part of His body and paid for by His blood. Please do not be distracted by our enemy’s attempts to divide us up into little knots made up of labels we have imposed upon ourselves. We are not merely black and white — we are Christ’s and it is for Him that we should stand together.

I am not saying racism does not exist. It does; I have seen it too often to ignore. What I am saying, however, is that we who are one in Christ ought not let ourselves be divvied up so easily into racial categories. Instead, I propose we keep our eyes on the proverbial ball and keep in mind who our enemy really is. I propose that we remember that behind each killing lies one common factor: sin. The skin color of the murderer or the murdered does not matter in the least. Murder is murder. Sin is sin. This has not changed and will never change.

We cannot generalize. We cannot class a people’s behavior by a merely cosmetic difference.  I have friends and loved ones of many colors. Because we who are in Christ are God’s children, I even have brothers and sisters of many colors.

Imagine, for a moment, a world in which people with blue eyes were considered to be sinister in intention simply because of the stark blueness of their eyes. Ridiculous, but no less ridiculous than being divided over skin color. Please see this.

Even if you read these words and you do not know my Lord (who, by the way, was also not a white man but a Jew), I urge you to consider Him. I implore you to get to know Him through the Bible and through honest and sincere prayer that seeks to find the truth in a world teeming with lies. I encourage you to put into practice His words; such actions as loving your enemies and praying for those who persecute you, dying to yourself and living for Christ, obeying God no matter the personal cost. But even if you will not listen to God, at least listen to one of His servants and my brother in Christ, Martin Luther King, Jr.:

I have a dream that one day on the red hills of Georgia, the sons of former slaves and the sons of former slave owners will be able to sit down together at the table of brotherhood. . .

. . . I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character.

I implore you all –brothers, sisters, or non-relatives; black, white, brown, or whatever you may be: Do not judge anyone by the color of their skin nor by their nationality  but solely by the content of their character.

In my youth, I was once protected from a white rapist by a black man who frequently acted as a sort of big brother to me.  Indeed, this man of different skin saved my skin more than once from white guys with unsavory motives. Their skin color did not matter, but their character did. Back then, I did not understand who my enemy was, but I knew enough to realize that it wasn’t a person with a differently colored epidermis.

Today, I enjoy sitting at the table of brotherhood with fellow humans who happen to have a variety of colors of skin, eyes, and hair; who are of different heights and weights; who have different backgrounds and different family upbringings; even who attend different denominations. We do not all always agree,  but we can still love each other. We can still find what we share in Christ, and that is His undeserved forgiveness and love.

I am begging you no matter what your skin color, if you are in Christ, remember that we are one body in Him and individually members of one another. Let’s rally around the cross, not divide up over incidents sparked by sin and lawlessness. Let’s not even look too hard upon the sins of others but remember to feel shock and grief over our own sins most of all.

Most of all, let’s remember who the enemy is and resolve to stand firm against his schemes together. Your brothers with various flesh tones are not your enemy. Our enemy is the prince of this world, the one called Accuser. Do not listen to his accusations against our brethren.

Now more than ever the world needs to see Christians coming together in Christ regardless of external differences. Now more than ever, the world needs to see the love and forgiveness of God acted out and spoken out in the real, day-to-day lives of His children. Now more than ever, the world needs to see us humbly addressing our own sin with repentance instead of angrily addressing the sins of others and assigning blame. Now more than ever, the world needs to see that God is real by genuine acts of love and forgiveness, of unity in Christ and in His purpose, and by the ways God’s children refuse to be distracted from the real struggle.

Put on the full armor of God, so that you will be able to stand firm against the schemes of the devil. For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the powers, against the world forces of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places. Therefore, take up the full armor of God, so that you will be able to resist in the evil day, and having done everything, to stand firm.
(Eph 6:11-13, NASB)

Remember, brothers and sisters, remember who the enemy is. Don’t let your love grow cold. Stand together. Resist evil. Rejoice together; grieve together. Share each others’ burdens. And always, always remember that we are to forgive as we have been forgiven and love one another.

By this is love perfected with us, so that we may have confidence for the day of judgment, because as he is so also are we in this world. There is no fear in love, but perfect love casts out fear. For fear has to do with punishment, and whoever fears has not been perfected in love.

We love because he first loved us. If anyone says, “I love God,” and hates his brother, he is a liar; for he who does not love his brother whom he has seen cannot love God whom he has not seen. And this commandment we have from him: whoever loves God must also love his brother. 

(1Jn 4:17-21)

 

My Two Cents: An Appeal to Reason

~ Heather Davis ~ 4 Comments

I have struggled for many days about whether or not to post this, and so after the encouragement of some friends, I have decided to do so. If you read this, please commit to it and read through to the end,  particularly my post script.

Often I will stay out of hot button issues just because I hate fueling fires unless said fire is necessary for warmth and light; however…there is one recent controversy which has left me completely bewildered.

To put it bluntly, I’m astonished at whole issue of “gender identity.” For the life of me, I cannot fathom why this is an issue at all. Whatever happened to common sense and reason? Gender is somewhat startlingly evident by certain physical markers, thus it is not a detail that is difficult to assess.

And while I am a Christian — and openly so — I feel strongly that the concept of gender has less to do with any one person or group’s Christianity or lack thereof than it has to do with any one person or group’s ability to be sensible. I am puzzled as to why this thing is often made a point of Christian vs. Non-Christian when it is solely a matter of facts vs. fiction or reality vs. fantasy. This is not a hateful viewpoint; it is a rational one. It is patently absurd to haul words like “love” and “hate” into the thing at all.

You see, a person’s identity is not and has never been a basis for reality, but identity certainly should be affected by reality. We teach this to every three-year-old who zooms around the room wearing a pillowcase for a cape. He may indulge this fantastical identity as a superhero to a point, but the moment the tyke attempts to fly from the upper story window ought to be the point at which the loving parent intervenes with a healthy dose of reality.

To put it another way, I may identify myself as a 7-foot tall, black NBA player, but an appointment to be fitted by the Big and Tall Men’s shop, a peek in the dressing-room mirror, or about six seconds on the court would lay that fantasy to rest rather efficiently. The reality of my shortness, pasty whiteness, and sports-related ineptitude would give lie to my belief.

Why is it, then, that the  reality of physical gender has become such a stumbling block? I’m not saying that people might not be genuinely confused, but isn’t it more loving to help them deal with the reality of their circumstance rather than redefine what is and is not “real?”  As a culture, have we forsaken reason altogether?

I wonder sometimes. It frightens me to think of whole groups of people careening through life without a tether to anything so concrete as reality, though I daresay that the sensation of free-floating must be, at times, even more frightening to them. When I think of it in those terms, it makes me terribly sad.

But since many insist on dragging Christ’s name into this mess, I will address the matter from that standpoint as well. Perhaps it is inevitable, for He is never far in my thoughts on any  matter; this one is no different.

If this world has entirely forsaken facts for feelings, then I do have an appeal to make to my brothers and sisters in Christ. This is one of those points at which we must, must rally around the cross. We have a solemn duty to uphold the truth of the One who first created us and then ransomed us through no merit of our own — and truth as He created it and not as we interpret it. We must be humble, but humbly accepting His truth and not the world’s version. Truth and reality were not our creation and therefore are not ours to rewrite, and I fear we cannot bend truth to please mankind when to do so would dishonor our Creator.

Besides that, I do believe that fallout will come of this eventually, perhaps not for all but for some. The initial thrill of abandon caused by casting off anchors to truth will diminish. Soon confusion and fear will set in as lives affected by  this faux freedom find themselves in dismay, floundering in the deep with nothing to indicate up from down; no beacons to indicate a right turning from a wrong one.

At that point, we need to be there; a levelheaded people of Truth standing on the firm foundation of the Rock of Ages,  ready to give an answer to the hope that is within us to a deluded and frightened world; a hope that is in Jesus Christ alone.

Make no mistake: Jesus did come to save sinners and He does come to all of us just as we are.  That is truth. However, it is only a part of the truth. He comes to us as we are, dressed in filthy rags , blind and disease-ridden, but He does not leave us there.

Because of His love for us, He heals the blindness, cleanses us of the disease, and dresses us in His own garment of righteousness. In fact, He gave his life to pay a debt we cannot pay.

We have no choice, none of us, but to come to Jesus just as we are: sinners enslaved by sin. However, we cannot remain as we are and still walk with Him. There must be a change, a yielding to His authority and a dying to self, even to self-identification.

As His ambassadors, we who are in Christ must hold fast to truth. Who will speak truth and life into madness and decay and show the way out if it is not those who belong to the Way, the Truth, and the Life? If we fear being labeled “intolerant” more than we fear tolerating wrongness, what good do we do? Does love ever tolerate those habits or practices that cause ultimate harm to the beloved? Not at all!

Do not become confused by shifting ideologies nor afraid to speak intolerantly of deceit, my brothers and sisters! Love people enough to tell the truth, enough to be intolerant of those things that may cause temporary pleasure but will bring eternal harm.  Jesus is, was, and always will be the only hope we have in this world, and it is His truth — THE truth — that provides genuine freedom.

“If you abide in my word, you are truly my disciples, and you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.” (John 8:31b-32)

Post Script — Because of the current social climate, I feel it important to add this. When it comes to the whole issue of gender or sexual identity, I am absolutely not picking on one sin over another. The reason I speak so passionately against sexual sin is that I was once enslaved to it. Though all my iniquities were committed with men, they were not by any means lesser sins. They were grievous  and horrible, and although I have received forgiveness, I still carry memories that I wish I could shed.

I know the danger, I know the corruption, and I was rescued from it by the grace of God. It is from genuine love that I long for that same rescue to all who remain enslaved, wherever in the spectrum of sexual sin their particulars may fall.

That being said, I reiterate that do not see the gender identity issue as much an issue of “worse” sin — again, it is simply a matter of facts vs. fiction. I am not appealing to a lost world to act saved; I am appealing to all mankind to act rationally.