“Those Who Hope in the Lord Will Renew Their Strength”

     We are in the season of the slow, long months of winter. Of grey skies and cold tight air. This time of year can make one feel weary. Emotionally, physically, and particularly spiritually, you can feel downtrodden.

     It can be disheartening when you feel like you have nothing more to give or offer to those around you, whether its family, friends, or someone in need. Oftentimes, we can pour out of ourselves until there is nothing left. We forget that it should not be coming from us, but from our Father. That we need to spend time with Him, filling up and recharging.

     I read a verse the other day that buoyed my spirits :

Philippians 1:6 “...being confident of this, that He who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

     This creates a sense of relief within me. That even when we feel empty and exhausted, that we are not condemned or written off by God, but instead He continues to walk with us. It is relieving to know that God is refining us, polishing us, working away at our imperfections. Even in the seasons where all we feel is weariness and fatigue.

     That is freeing.

     We don't have to come to Him, heavily done up and hiding our imperfections beneath a mask. We can't. Instead, we can come to him with our hands and feet dirty, with our minds and our hearts messed up. We can come and fall at His feet. He is our good Father and He loves his children very much.

     It is there that He can continue the “good” work in us. He began a good work and he will continue working on us. It is there that we can be refilled.

     God is not going to give up on us. He is not going to stop the good work He began. That is a comforting thought. That is freedom. We don't have to have it all together. We don't have to pretend that everything is a-ok all the time. We can continue to trust and walk with our Father, who is leading us by the hand, and know that in the end, it will be okay.

     Part of the journey is to continue to choose Him, to proclaim the truth and promises of His word even when we don't feel like it, and most definitely worship and praise Him when we are in the eye of the storm.

Isaiah 40: 28-31

     “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”

Do, Love, Walk

"What can we bring to the Lord?  What kind of offerings should we give him?  Should we bow before God with offerings of yearling calves?  Should we offer him thousands of rams and ten thousand rivers of olive oil?  Should we sacrifice our firstborn children to pay for our sins?  No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do justice, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God."  Micah 6:6-8

     When I was a little girl, I went every Tuesday night to a group for girls called Busy Bees when we were very young, and Calvinettes when we were older.  Every Tuesday evening we began our time together with Micah 6:8 and I have thought about it lots since then in many circumstances.  Often, I think of it when my heart does not want to conform to one of the directives contained therein.  Three things, we are told, are required of us, and all of them are active and engaging requirements.  We cannot passively conform to any of them.  We must do, love and walk.

     

     What is it to do justice?  Other translations say "do what is right."  How often it is easier to ignore what is right!  It is sometimes painful to tell the truth, or admit a mistake, or perform an unlimited number of other "rights."  Acting justly for others is usually hard.  It is a requirement nonetheless, and sometimes we miss the mark.

     

     Loving mercy is the bit I think about most.  We are required to love being merciful.  Mercy is "compassionate or kindly forbearance shown toward an offender, an enemy, or other person in one's power."  It is forgiveness, unconditional.  To be grudgingly merciful is not enough.  (Oh, dear.) 

     

     The final requirement is to "walk humbly."  Not only are we to walk with God, but we are to do it humbly!  How difficult this becomes as we consider how amazing it is that we are the "prized possession of God" (James 1:18).  It is also hard when things are going well, and we have received many blessings.  Pride tends to creep in, doesn't it?

     

     All in all, the three requirements are impossibilities on our own.  The good news is that Jesus performed them perfectly so that we could do them better with His help and example.  He loved us enough to be merciful, taking our punishment, judgment and curse on himself so that we can escape death.  He "drank the cup" so that we don't have to.  He performed justice, taking what we deserved and paying the price.  He walked humbly with God, accepting the will of the Father throughout His life.  He excelled at all three requirements so that we are forgiven when we can't live up to them.  Jesus Christ is the fulfillment of all, and His death and resurrection have set us free.   

-Chanelle

God Cares Enough to Let You Lament

“Listen to my words, Lord,

consider my lament.

Hear my cry for help,

my King and my God,

for to you I pray.”

Psalm 5:1-2 (NIV)

We live in a very good creation and you and I, along with our neighbours and everyone that comes before and after us, are the bit of creation that bumped it up from good to very good. Knowing this makes me feel, well, very good. But…

We live in a very good creation that has been damaged. We are the bit of creation that did that. Our disobedience took something that is very good and turned it into something that is, frankly, very bad at times. Knowing this makes me feel very bad. But…

The damage is not irrevocable. God gave people a lot of power and authority, which is why our disobedience had such a profound effect on creation. However, God did not give us so much power and authority that he can’t do something about our disobedience and its impact on creation. A “new creation” is in play here. We saw day one of this on the first Easter. Jesus’ resurrected body was the first glimpse of new creation. Creation was saved. Even though we were the reason creation needed saving in the first place, God includes even people in salvation. But…

Creation does not appear particularly saved right now. This is why lament is crucial in ministry.

A complete discussion of the “problem of evil” is too big both for this short blog post and my mind, so we are going to have to simply accept that in spite of appearance, creation is indeed saved and that God indeed saved it. It seems we are caught in a process. In The Problem of Pain, C. S. Lewis considers the idea that God did in fact do something about the damaged creation and that something is the death and resurrection of His son. The full result of the resurrection – salvation – is not yet complete. To me, this looks to be in line with 2 Peter 3:9, which talks about God’s patience with His return so people will come to him rather than perish.

Along with God we must be patient too. Patience, though, does not mean we do not grieve at the sight of evil and we do not grieve at the sight of pain. We are in a saved creation that is still rebelling against its salvation. It would be very odd for the people of God to look at this rebellion, particularly where it comes to a life that does not flourish (even if a particular sin is not able to be pinpointed to cause the lack of flourishment), and not have an emotional reaction. The Bible is full of people having these reactions. We can have them too.

Lamentation is oftentimes what gets me through a day. Look at who felt grief in the face of brokenness and evil. There were prophets, there were kings, there were psalmists, there were apostles, there was Jesus. If these giants see evil and there is nothing they can do beyond calling out to God, surely this is allowed of us too. Surely if Jesus has nothing to do but cry, we have nothing to do but cry.

Watch what is happening in lament, however. It is not simply despair. It is grief in the face of brokenness that is expressed to a good God who we proclaim shares our grief and is doing something about the situation that grieves us. When I lament, I am not questioning God’s ability to fix things. Instead, I declare that God is doing something right now and that I simply don’t see it. Lament demonstrates our faith in God, otherwise we would see the broken creation and turn our back on our creator.

Sometimes life is bad. Go ahead and tell God. He wants you to. You will be in good company.

-Tony

Pink Skies

Growing up, I remember many great summer days and nights at my grandparents' cottage with my parents and sister. Now, with my wife Donna and our four sons... we love the cottage! The waterfront, the bonfires, the food, the retreat, the time with family and friends is one of the things I regularly look forward to. For me, it's that place that you can't wait to get to and once you arrive you stay as long as possible. It's peaceful to sit on the deck and watch the sun go down, relaxing with family and friends.

You know the old saying, “pink sky at night, sailor's delight; pink sky in morning sailor take warning!” (Matthew 16:2). I remember when I was little I'd want to wait for that moment of the day, so I'd know if tomorrow was going to be sunny or at least not stormy!

Since I've been with the ministry of Outflow I've thought of that verse as an example of our daily living. That's something I still say today and more often than not think about life when I say it. We make plans, but God determines our steps and the mercies of God are new everyday. It's the hope of a Christ follower that in the morning we receive mercy and that Jesus might increase and that we would keep in step with the Holy Spirit. For some, the sky is pink in the morning and for some, at night. It would be nice for each evening to have a beautiful pink sky with a promise of sailor's delight the following day, but the reality is we don't know what the future holds- it's in God's hands.

One of the men staying at the men's shelter recently moved into his own place. He is a Christian man that struggles with addiction and has for most of his life. It would be rare for him to say tomorrow is going to be a great day based on his struggles. As we were gathering up his stuff for the move, Joshua 1:9 came to mind. “This is my command—be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the LORD your God is with you wherever you go.” The truth is we'd like to determine our own steps if we could, but when we give our lives to Jesus, He is in control. As we daily lay down our sin and our will, He is with us and loves us through it all.

As people come through the doors of 162 Waterloo Street or attend one of our evening suppers, whether it is a man staying at the shelter, a lady coming to the women's drop in, someone stopping by for morning Bible study or someone simply looking for a safe place, we want people to realize that we serve God and that He is the LORD of every day... pink sky in morning or at night! Whatever today brings let's strive to be strong and courageous, clinging to the promise that God is with us and that the LORD is good.

God Bless!

Jayme

More Blessed to Give Than to Receive

A prominent Christian writer and philosopher once advised to not be too concerned with having a place to preach, but instead to be concerned with having something to say. I mention that because I'm not sure how much I have to say right now and am hesitant to add my words to the many that already flood the Internet. I would, however, like to share with you some old words - words from a sermon that has had an impact on me. This excerpt comes from Robert Murray M'Cheyne, a Scottish Presbyterian minister and missionary who lived from 1813 to 1843. The sermon was titled "More Blessed To Give Than To Receive", and I certainly could not put it better or more boldly than Mr. M'Cheyne does here:

"Now, dear Christians, some of you pray night and day to be branches of the true Vine; you pray to be made all over in the image of Christ. If so, you must be like him in giving. A branch bears the same kind of fruit as the tree. If you be branches at all, you must bear the same fruit. An old divine says well: "What would have become of us if Christ had been as saving of his blood as some men are of their money?"

Objection 1. My money is my own. 

Answer. Christ might have said, My blood is my own—my life is my own; no man forceth it from me: then where should we have been?

Objection 2. The poor are undeserving.

Answer. Christ might have said the same thing. They are wicked rebels against my Father's law: shall I lay down my life for these? I will give to the good angels. But no, he left the ninety-nine, and came after the lost. He gave his blood for the undeserving.

Objection 3. The poor may abuse it. 

Answer. Christ might have said the same; yea, with far greater truth. Christ knew that thousands would trample his blood under their feet—that most would despise it—that many would make it an excuse for sinning more; yet he gave his own blood.

Oh, my dear Christians! if you would be like Christ, give much—give often—give freely, to the vile and the poor—the thankless and the undeserving. Christ is glorious and happy, and so will you be. It is not your money I want, but your happiness. Remember his own word: "It is more blessed to give than to receive."

I thank God that there are some among you to whom Christ will say: "Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world." Go on, dear Christians, live still for Christ Never forget, day nor night, that you are yourselves bought with a price. Lay yourselves and your property all in his hand, and say: "What wilt thou have me to do? Here am I, send me;" and then I know you will feel, now and in eternity, " It is more blessed to give than to receive."

Ah, my dear friends! I am concerned for the poor; but more for you. I know not what Christ will say to you in the great day. You seem to be Christians, and yet you care not for his poor. Oh, what a change will pass upon you as you enter the gates of heaven! You will be saved, but that will be all. There will be no abundant entrance for you: "He that soweth sparingly shall reap also sparingly."

I fear there are many hearing me who may know well that they are not Christians, because they do not love to give. To give largely and liberally—not grudging at all— requires a new heart; an old heart would rather part with its life-blood than its money. Oh, my friends! enjoy your money—make the most of it—give none away—enjoy it quickly; for I can tell you you will be beggars throughout eternity."

Phil