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Mercy Me God With Us 

Scripture
“Why are you looking among the dead for someone who is alive? He isn’t here! He is risen from the dead! Luke 24:5-6

Observation
Angels see life very differently from humans. The heavenly sentry at the tomb blurted out, “Why are you looking for among the dead for someone who is alive?” It’s an obvious question if you are an angel and see human life from heaven’s point of view.

But it is not an obvious question if one is a human. Cemeteries seem very logical places to look for the living when someone has died. It’s hard to understand until someone close to you has be placed into a coffin and dropped into the ground. Not an old aunt or old high school friend, but someone so close it is difficult to imagine life without them. The graveside can feel like the closest place to them.

Of course it doesn’t have to be death, it can be the loss of anything in life. It can be the loss of a friend, children, homes, income, reputation, position, relationships. When we lose something there will be some place of sadness that we connect with the loss. In our minds we think that if we can but return to that place something will change. But in fact we feel even sadder.

Application
There are times we need to be counseled by angels to see our lives from heaven’s point of view. If it is hope we are looking for we cannot find it by going back to the place of loss. Hope will be found among the living and not the dead. When we have a loss and want to retract back, we must force ourselves into the mainstream of life. There we will find the Lord. One thing is clear in the resurrection stories: the more they gathered together the more they found Jesus. If we are to find hope we must stop returning to what has been lost and plunge ourselves into the flow of human life. There we will find the Lord in the land of the living.

Prayer
Father, today I take the counsel of the angels. I want to see my life from heaven’s point of view. Show me where the living are so that there I may find Jesus who is truly alive. Amen.

Every Season by Nichole Nordeman

Scripture
She kept his cloak beside her until his master came home. Then she told him this story: “That Hebrew slave you brought us came to me to make sport of me. But as soon as I screamed for help, he left his cloak beside me and ran out of the house.” Genesis 39:16-17

The chief cupbearer, however, did not remember Joseph; he forgot him. Genesis 40:23

So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” Genesis 41:16 (NKJ)

Observation

Joseph had a dream planted in his heart by the Lord. It was more than just an idea that Joseph had for his life. It was a plan that God has for him. That dream was like a seed buried deep in him. One day, in right conditions, that seed would grow. Meanwhile, that seed would need to remain hidden from view under prison clothes deep in his heart.

There were people that God put into Joseph’s life who made holding onto dreams difficult.

He first met the Dream Taker, Mrs. Potiphar. When she couldn’t steal his dream with her swinging hips she turned to purgery. Because Joseph made the right choice, she could snatch his cloak but she could not steal his dream. Sometimes we have to leave our reputation in the hands of others so we can hold onto the dream God has given to us.

Then Joseph met the Dream Faker, Mr. Cupbearer. Joseph showed genuine concern for his injustice, and gave him a great gift of hope. But words were forgotten and all the promises made were never delivered. There are many people in life who will promise opportunity and never deliver. Networking is a remarkable advantage in life. God can use it to open doors. But there are many who never deliver. Their lack of performance does not in any way hinder the power of a God-given dream. A true dream can survive disappointment.

The only reason Joseph’s story survives nearly 4,000 years later is because he met the Dream Maker, the Lord himself. As David Seamonds said, “Joseph was in prison but he did not let prison get into Joseph.” The last two years of waiting were the most important. Marinating in disappointment, Joseph never let it mutate into discouragement. Instead he came to the conclusion that he had been given a God given dream, which only the Lord could fulfill if he would so choose to do. His first public words tell it all: So Joseph answered Pharaoh, saying, “It is not in me; God will give Pharaoh an answer of peace.” He now knew that God alone could fulfill dreams.

We built our first house with the rustic feel of a ski lodge. Strewn about the job site were many left over blocks of timber. One hefty chunk of wood lay sunk in a mud puddle. I had walked around it many times, until the day came to craft the mantle piece. I needed a nice, thick slab of Cyprus pine to do the job. When I measured I found that the only one to fit the bill was the muddy beam in the puddle. I cleaned it up and went to work with my planer and router. Once the outer husk was peeled away, the beauty of heart of the wood sang out. With a sand and shine I fixed the mantle on top of the fireplace as the feature of the room. Just as mud could not deter the purpose of that board, so too disappointments from Dream Takers and Dream Fakers cannot inhibit God from working his purposes out through us.

Application
I could give some names for Dream Takers and Dream Fakers in my life. But I know there is a Dream Maker watching over me. He has surprised me before and he will likely do so again…when the time is right.

Prayer
Father, you alone interpret dreams. Fulfill through me what you have placed deep inside of me. Amen.

Getting ready for a drive with my Dad. He’s drawing diagrams (as normal!)

Scripture
He controls my destiny. Job 23:14

Observation
It’s Thanksgiving day, or perhaps Christmas eve. On one end of the map is your toasty home with a strong roof and a thick comforter on your bed. On the other end of the road is your parents’ house with frosted windows, golden light pouring through the panes welcoming you into aromas, meals and love.

But between your house and your parent’s home stretches a windswept interstate with chilling winds, snow drifts and gas stations with dirty bathrooms. The road is not homey. Changing a flat tire in the blustering winds you might begin to wonder if there is any love in the world. On the windswept road the memories of home are snow blasted from your mind. The realities of the highway surround you: hitchhikers alone, roadkill ignored, billboards faded and headwinds.

Kids can’t handle this. “Are we there yet?” is the first full sentence any child first learns to speak in any language. But adults can handle the lonely motorway because they know that there is a home on either end of the lonely road. Love awaits them any direction they move, so they bundle up and move ahead.

There are windswept moments of life where we are left alone with a sovereign God. Job felt God’s presence and zipped up his jacket to shield himself from the cold wind. In chapter 1 of Job’s life were warm memories of family dinners. In chapter 42 of his life there would again be new families pictures. In between was a windswept road that only Job could travel. His friends leave the service road. HIs wife wouldn’t budge, so Job walked alone.

How was it that Job made it? Was it his great faith? Probably not, because more than faith is needed to counteract the fear of being alone with the will of God. What helps us on the lonely road is love. It is not our love for God but his love for us that casts out all fear.

Job put it this way,

But he knows where I am going.
And when he tests me, I will come out as pure as gold. Job 23:10

Application
What keeps me driving long distances on black asphalt, under gray skies, through driving rain is the knowledge that there is love on the end of the highway. We need to reinterpret the sovereignty of God in these windswept moments. His will is not something uttered from an ice palace of a frozen heart of indifference. God’s will pours through his love. He is leading us home and the inclement roadway is his only way. Yes God is sovereign and because he is love sovereignty is a comforting thought.

Prayer
Father, keep me driving home. Amen.

Scripture
When the Israelites escaped from Egypt—
when the family of Jacob left that foreign land—
the land of Judah became God’s sanctuary,
and Israel became his kingdom.
The Red Sea saw them coming and hurried out of their way!
The water of the Jordan River turned away.
The mountains skipped like rams,
the hills like lambs!
What’s wrong, Red Sea, that made you hurry out of their way?
What happened, Jordan River, that you turned away?
Why, mountains, did you skip like rams?
Why, hills, like lambs?
Tremble, O earth, at the presence of the Lord,
at the presence of the God of Jacob.
He turned the rock into a pool of water;
yes, a spring of water flowed from solid rock. Psalm 114:1-8

Observation
What does God look like from a rock’s point of view?
How does the ocean feel about the Almighty?
How does a river react to the presence of the Lord?

Those may seem like odd questions, but they are exactly what Psalm 114 asks. When God shows up things change; that’s the message of this psalm. Even the rocks and oceans and rivers make a reaction when God arrives on the scene.

The poet picks inanimate, natural objects like stones and water to show just how daunting the presence of the Lord really is. If inert objects snap to attention at the passing of God, then we can have every confidence that anything else that may block his path will also move.

If you follow God’s personal Daytimer as recorded in the Bible, it is clear that there are times when the Lord seems to step back and allow human events to unfold with divine tampering. Then when human events have reached a crisis, or the sins of the people have reached full measure, God steps in the ring and takes control.

That flux of God in and out of human affairs takes some getting used to, especially when it is your life that could use some divine intervention. God doesn’t show up exactly when we would like him to, and he arrives on the scene when we least expect him. But we can be certain of this…God will show up.

Application
There can be stubborn rock slides that block our progress or raging torrents that even a four wheel drive will not cross. There can be insurmountable obstacles that are before us. But of this we can be certain nothing can stop the Lord from accomplishing his will.

Every time we are asked to worship the Lord it is an invitation to re-calibrate what we are daunted by and fearful of. Instead of shaking in fear at the rocks and rivers in our way we should be trembling at the presence of the Lord. We need to be afraid of the right thing.

Prayer
Father, I ask you to show up.� � Amen.