This is Why God is Good

A few weeks ago, I said goodbye to a friend, and I thought it was forever.  We had met through a program that she was now graduating out of.  And so I sat down and wrote a card to her.  On the top were the big, painful words:  Final Letter.

But it wasn't, somehow.  God brought us together through another avenue, and my Spanish friend sent me an online message.  As we chatted back and forth, she exclaimed over how she loves God and is seeking Him and is so thankful.  I smiled and responded in Spanish.

"Sí, Dion is tan bueno!"    (Yes, God is so good!)

My fingers paused on the keyboard, waiting.  She began to type back, and a message popped up.  This one was in English.

"Me too and tell me how."

The translation messed up the grammar, but I understood her question.  And I sat there for a minute, not sure how to respond.

Because we say God is good.  We try to sound Christian by using the expression over and over again.  We even use it as excuses for when we've had bad days but still try to sound okay.  

God is good.

But how?

Today I read a beautiful psalm that's actually not in Psalm at all.  It's found in 1 Chronicles.

Oh, give thanks to the LORD!

Call upon His name;

Make known His deeds among the peoples!

- 1 Chronicles 16:8 

It continues,

...Talk of all His wondrous works!

Glory in His holy name...

Remember His marvelous works which He has done,

His wonders, and the judgments of His mouth.

- 1 Chronicles 16:9-10, 12 

After the beginning of the piece, David does exactly what he tells us to do.  Going back through history, he recounts why God is good.  David talks of God's glorious works, from rebuking kings, protecting His people, and confirming His promises.

 And, in the end, the people respond.

And all the people said, "Amen!" and praised the LORD.

- 1 Chronicles 16:36 

Is that us?

Do we talk of God's wondrous works?  Do our lives show that we are glorying in His holy name?  Do we even remember the times He answered our prayers?

It's true:  Dios es tan bueno.  He is so good.  All the time.

Can you tell me how?  And do you live like it?

Recently, I met a guy who didn't stop talking about Jesus, about the Holy Spirit, how He is working in the man's life, and how thankful he is for God's direction and grace.  And I wondered: if I truly love God, won't I do the same?  Do I talk more about myself than the God I am dedicated to?

I want my life to be a continual outpouring of His grace.  Or in more practical words:

I want to reflect Jesus, not myself.

To talk like Him.  Love like Him.  Smile like Him.

I want to be like Jesus to this broken, hurting world, bringing shalom to the hearts that are hungering for hope.

There's a common phrase in our house that someone always says when we head out on errands or any other trip:  Remember to be Jesus!  That's my goal.  Not to become Him, but to be so much like Him that I reflect the way He lived.

God is good.  But my beautiful, Spanish friend reminded me that it's more than just saying it.  How is He good to me?  And do I live like it?

My answer could be a mile long.  God is good because He gives me hope.  Courage.  He brought me a job when I was seeking His wisdom in that decision.  He drew me through the long years of school to soon graduate and move to new adventures.  He gives me a future.  He never leaves me.  He helps me overcome every "impossible" trial and issue I face.

God is good, so good.

Dear friend, it's your turn.  We follow a good, faithful God; tell me how.  How is He working, how is He strong in your life?

But more so.  Let's live like it.  Let's live like we truly believe God is good.  And go tell the world.  Find someone and share why God is good.  Then find someone else.

Share the Gospel by sharing how Jesus is working.  Start with one person and be Jesus in their life.

And wherever you go - remember to be Jesus.

Give to the LORD, O families of the peoples,

Give to the LORD glory and strength.

Give to the LORD the glory due His name...

Oh worship the LORD in the beauty of holiness!

- 1 Chronicles 16:28-29

~ ♥~

I'm a Warrior. You Are Too.

I was outside with my little sister as we cleaned a dirty porch and brushed away cobwebs.  She used a squirt bottle to spray a white chair, and then she wiped the legs with a paper towel.  It came back brown with spots of spiderwebs.  She threw it on the ground with a "yuck!"

I laughed, looking down on my own towel - twice as dirty.  Tossing it beside hers, we began to share stories.

Or rather, I retold a story from Revelation, and she listened.  And somehow, the old tale blew me away.

(ps)       For my 5-year old sister, I gave her a much more concise (and less descriptive) narrative than the one that follows.  People say knowing your story's audience is important for some reason...   =)

The heavens opened.  Lightning spewed like a fountain.  A million rumbles like thunder or like a resounding drum burst in an echoing chamber.  The light had a noise all its own.  It shook me, tore me, made me tremble and fall and hide my face.

And then the storm changed.  Light split the skies.  The noise seemed to quiet, intensifying the emotion that hung in the clouds like a whip ready to snap.

Light growing, growing.  The entire world was the sun, burning my eyes and seeping through every atom in my body.  But I still looked up, still gaped into the blindness.  Until it parted.

A white horse.  Yet not the beast itself, although the steed broke through the clouds in thundering power.  Pure white, brighter than the most stunning flash of lightning, yet the light didn't come from the animal.  The horse arched its neck and pranced from the place between heaven and earth.

My eyes caught on more.  The light.  It came from the One who rode.  He charged like a man entering battle.  With every pounding of the horse's hooves, I heard the Rider's name pulsing through the air.  Faithful.  True.  

His eyes were like a flame of fire, burning sharper and hotter than fire itself.  Crowns adorned His head, sparkling in the colors of the rainbow yet gold all at the same time.  And still His holy names rang through the air, ones I could not comprehend nor grasp.  Yet one caught - The Word of God.  His robe was scarlet, like the blood of His enemies.

An army rode behind Him on white horses, but I couldn't focus on them.  For there was still more, a million things in His countenance that were beyond my understanding.

The armies behind Him stilled as the world was overcome by the Rider's weapon.  Out of His mouth flew a sharp sword.  And with it He struck the nations and ruled.

I just hid there, watching it all, wishing I somehow understood this thing that was too great for me.

Another booming rang, His names continually pouring out.

KING OF KINGS.

AND LORD OF LORDS. 

(story taken from Revelation 19:11-16)

As I read Revelation's story, I'm blown away.  This. is. God.  This is the One we can talk with, love, be a child of.  He calls us His own.

The One who slays every enemy is our Defender.  The One who created the stars says "I formed you."  The One who can melt mountains lifted up His hands, allowed Himself to be marred and bleed, and died for us.

What type of love is that?

And yet, we don't live like it.  We hold onto our little fears, wondering if His plan is good enough.  We forget to pray when it's the greatest honor one could give us.  And we worry that we're not reading the Bible enough, memorizing enough, being a "good enough" Christian.

Guys.  This is God.  Riding on the clouds, knowing your name.  Where does "good enough" fit anywhere?

You are immensely loved.  Every fear you face is also facing a King who fights with a sword that spews from His mouth.  Every word He says is true.  Powerful.  All-consuming.

Yet it doesn't end there.  I told my sister this tale, and then I turned to her.  "This is so cool, right?  But did you know that we also have swords in our mouths?"

God has given us incredible power.  The hugeness of God is something we can never grasp, never comprehend.  And yet He offers us a tiny piece of His glory.

We're His ambassadors to a broken world.  The words we say are swords in the hands of warriors.  How are we using them?

Do we love with the type of sacrifice Jesus had?  Do we fight the enemies in our lives and slay the attackers who bewitch those around us?  Do we encourage and serve because all of us are in a battle, and we all need someone to get our back?  Are we on white horses, trailing after our mighty King who charges from the heavens?

Because if we're not living every moment and speaking every word for Him, we're either waving around a sword like a silly child - wasting our words on trifling moments - or we're slaying our own armies.

Our words and actions show who we are.

The hypocrite with his mouth destroys his neighbor,

But through knowledge the righteous will be delivered.

- Proverbs 11:9

A good man out of the good treasure of his heart brings forth good things, and an evil man out of the evil treasure brings forth evil things. But I say to you that for every idle word men may speak, they will give account of it in the day of judgment. For by your words you will be justified, and by your words you will be condemned.

- Matthew 12:35-37

(see also James 3:5-8)

Let your words speak life.  Truth.

If we really understood the power of Almighty God as shown in Revelation 19, everything would be different.  We'd love more, rejoice more, fear less.  Jesus is changing the world, and He can change you too.

The One we follow is called The Word of God.  He spoke the world into being, and He can also slay the enemy with the power from His mouth.

You have a sword too.  You're a warrior.  Let's fight these battles, following the King who reigns over the oceans and mountains yet call us child.  Every battle can be won by Him.  Every sin defeated.

And despite our minuscule smallness compared to His grandeur, there's a promise.

I have loved you  (Isaiah 43:4).

 

Exalt the LORD our God,
And worship at His footstool -
He is holy.

- Psalm 99:5

~♥~

You Are Meant to Shine

There's mist, drizzling down outside my bedroom window.  It's grey and white, somehow at the same time.  Soft.  Cold.

I look further.  In the distance, there's a tall structure standing silently.  It's probably a cell-phone tower.  But over the last few weeks, I've stared up at it and wondered.

Because it used to shine continually.  Every morning, every evening, the tower would shoot out a blinking light.  In the thickest storms when I could only see blackness, it would radiate.  In foggy mornings, I could push open my window and see the light.

But recently, the tower stopped shining.  Maybe the cell-phone company shut down or the tower has an electrical issue.  Yet I still look at it, hope to find it shining through this dreary mist.  Hope one day it will shine again.  Sometimes it does, fleetingly, and then turns off again.  

I used to think the phone tower was like Jesus, the way He always shines in our darkness.  Now I look at it differently.  The tower is a lot like me.

If we're followers of Jesus, we have a lot of responsibility.  The Bible calls us ambassadors for Christ.  We are light.  We are children of God.

I look at the tower outside my bedroom window.  That's us; that's me.  I'm standing in a dark world, a representative of the very Light of the World.  This life is my opportunity to radiate Jesus to a broken culture.  To broken hearts.  Not because of my own power but because of the strength He holds.

There are problems though.  Sometimes it's fear.  Pride.  Weakness.  Sin.  And my light flickers off.

I become a candle hidden under a basket.  The fog comes, the wind, and I'm an ugly grey tower, standing with my light turned off.

All my reasons for failing to represent Him are silly, especially when I look at what He has done.  Especially this last Easter.

I read about how strong Jesus' love is.  How He agonized because of what He would go through.  How He was abandoned by every friend.  How the entire city chanted His death.  He was flogged and mocked and beaten and struck and murdered.

Because He loved me.  Because He loved you.

When Jesus died, light fled from its Maker, and "there was darkness over all the land" (Matthew 27:45).  Are we doing the same?

Do we stand here in our age and hide our lights?  When He prompts us to share our faith, call our hurting friend, wake up early to spend time with Him, sacrifice ourselves and live for Him, do we do it?

Is Jesus our all?

I don't want to forget His story or let it become so old that it seems to lose its power.  I don't want Easter to have been a time we just skimmed through a tale we've heard a thousand times.  Jesus has given us life, a future, and a hope.  And He bled so we could have it.

You have a purpose.  Go shine your light in this broken world.  Listen for His voice and obey.

Jesus wants to be King, Lord.  That means He receives all the glory, honor, and praise.  That means He is ultimate in your life.

Yes, it's hard.  But, dear friend, He died for you.

This is a letter to myself, a reminder that my comfort isn't priority.  Because I often live like it is.  I live like my light doesn't need to shine when the wind blows, when darkness comes, when no one is looking.

I look outside my window where the cell phone tower sleeps in the mist, and I don't want to be like that.

Keep shining, friend.  He is the reason.  ♥

   

And Jesus came and spoke to them, saying, "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth.  Go therefore and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, teaching them to observe all things that I have commanded you; and lo, I am with you always, even to the end of the age." Amen.

- Matthew 28:18-20

(ps)  Over the course of Easter, I enjoyed this music album that offers an instrumental approach to the story we celebrate... as you listen to it, remember the love that bled and the reason we shine.  For Him.

God's got this.  *hugs*

~♥~