Great Influence, Great Responsibility
August 13, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Lar,
1 Samuel 3 was one chapter in my reading today. Verses 11-14 especially stood out. They read,
“Then the Lord said to Samuel, ‘Behold, I am about to do a thing in Israel at which the two ears of everyone who hears it will tingle. On that day I will fulfill against Eli all that I have spoken concerning his house, from beginning to end. And I declare to him that I am about to punish his house forever, for the iniquity that he knew, because his sons were blaspheming God, and he did not restrain them. Therefore I swear to the house of Eli that the iniquity of Eli’s house shall not be atoned for by sacrifice or offering forever.’”
I wrote a few paragraphs on this and posted them on Joe’s Notes this morning, but just take notice of the responsibility Eli had to lead his house. This should serve as a sobering reminder to every husband and father out there. The Lord has entrusted to us great influence and thus, great responsibility. Our influence is so great that every weakness in our home reflects a weakness of our own. And our responsibility is so great that any issues we find in our home, we are responsible to adequately address.
Humbled again by this great reality….
Joe
Monday Meditation
June 30, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
I am off to Hilton Head for a week and will probably be blogging very little (if at all). But I wanted to begin a new tradition on the Seeking Him blog, which I’m calling Monday Meditation. I have noticed that on the World Magazine blog they take a passage of Scripture every Saturday and people post comments on their thoughts regarding that passage. So I’m hoping to stir some encouraging conversation as people share their insights about a passage of God’s Word each week. Our first passage is this one from Hebrews 1:
Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 2 but in these last days he has spoken to us by his Son, whom he appointed the heir of all things, through whom also he created the world. 3 He is the radiance of the glory of God and the exact imprint of his nature, and he upholds the universe by the word of his power. After making purification for sins, he sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high, 4 having become as much superior to angels as the name he has inherited is more excellent than theirs.
Leave a comment, friends, and share your thoughts about how this passage ministers to you today.
Have a good week,
Larry
Answering a Fool
June 25, 2008 | 3 Comments
Has anyone else ever been…perplexed by these two verses back to back in Proverbs 26?
4 Answer not a fool according to his folly,
lest you be like him yourself.
5 Answer a fool according to his folly,
lest he be wise in his own eyes.
So how exactly should we respond to a fool in his folly? We believe the Bible does not contradict itself, right? So how should we understand the tension in these verses?
Leave a comment and let me know what you think,
Larry
Pursuing Personal Piety and Public Good
June 19, 2008 | 2 Comments
Joe,
Abraham Piper may get very upset with me…I fear this is going to be a lot longer than 22 words.
Currently I am working my way through the Gospel of Mark in my morning devotions. This morning I read Mark 1:35-45, and was struck by the beautiful mingling of personal piety and commitment to the public good that meet in Jesus (This paragraph alone is 41 words…how does he do it???).
By piety I mean what the dictionary means: devout fulfillment of religious obligations. Jesus mingled this pious commitment to religious activities with an eager, compassionate commitment to the social good of the human community that surrounded Him. In other words, from reading this text, it is hard to determine whether Jesus is a conservative or a liberal. And I think that’s just the way He wants it.
It is incredibly difficult for Christians to keep these two together. Some Christians are strong at Bible reading, prayer, Scripture memory, private and corporate worship, tithing, etc. Yet often with all these acts of piety they essentially do not lift a finger to care for the poor, the oppressed and the marginalized in their communities. Sadly, I fear that I fall into this category.
On the other hand, there are Christians who put me to shame in their involvement with the ‘outcasts’ of society. They are clothing the naked and feeding the hungry and caring for the sick and visiting the prisoners. They always seem to be committed to some form of social work for the common good of their surrounding neighborhoods. Yet sadly, such people are often so busy with this kind of ’social work’ that they say they do not have the time to seek God in private through the disciplines of the Word, prayer, accountability, etc. Or they might minimize the importance of theology/doctrine altogether, saying things like ‘Doctrine divides, Christ unites’ or ‘Penal substitutionary atonement is a horrible doctrine that amounts to cosmic child abuse,’ or ‘Stop wasting your time fattening yourself with Bible study and start actually making this world a better place, because that is all Jesus wants you to do.’
Essentially these two extremes are (to be very stereotypical) fundamentalist and emergent. Fundamentalists are all about acts of personal piety, but the society knows them only for what they are against (abortion, homosexuality, removing prayer from the schools, etc.), not what they are for. They rail about how awful our society is, but they typically engage very little in pouring themselves out for the physical, social and cultural improvement of the society around them. Meanwhile, emergents are all about improving social structures and restoring ’shalom’, but they don’t think one set of religious activities is any better or worse than another kind. Muslim, Jew, Hindu or Christian, just get out there and care for the poor! That’s Kingdom living!
Yes, I know I am probably grossly stereotyping these two extremes…but I do believe there is some legitimate truth in this assessment. Contrast these two extremes with the example of Jesus in Mark 1. Look at His commitment to the spiritual disciplines, to private communion with His Father:
“And rising very early in the morning, while it was still dark, he departed and went out to a desolate place, and there he prayed” (v.35). Jesus was never too busy to get alone and seek the Father in solitude; even if He had to get up while it was still dark (which was a lot more difficult then, considering they had no electricity).
Yet His personal, private piety propels (Yes, I know that’s a lot of P’s!!) Him out from the prayer-closet to seek the common good: in the rest of the passage we see Him preaching God’s Word, casting out demons, touching and cleansing lepers. In both word and deed (and both are essential to authentic Christian living), Jesus sought the good of the people around Him, no matter how marginalized they were (lepers were totally excluded from the community).
Are you, like me, very committed to personal piety but slow to pursue public good, even for those who don’t believe like you? Or are you always pouring yourself out for others, yet slow to refill yourself with silent communion with God through acts of piety?
Let’s not be fundamentalist or emergent…let’s be Christians. And that means following the example we have in Christ, who pursued personal piety and public good, even if it means waking up before daylight.
Larry
‘Today’
June 18, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Lar,
It’s been too long since my last post, but interestingly enough, this post focuses on the same topic as the one I made last week. These verses from Hebrews struck me hard this morning.
“Take care, brothers, lest there be in any of you an evil, unbelieving heart, leading you to fall away from the living God. But exhort one another every day, as long as it is called ‘today,’ that none of you may be hardened by the deceitfulness of sin. For we share in Christ, if indeed we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” (Hebrews 3:12-14)
Two things stood out to me this morning.
1) This is for real.
Now I realize that we all know that, but do we really? Do I really? Do we really feel the weight of such words? Do we really know that if we are to put off community and worship and the spiritual disciplines, an evil, unbelieving heart will soon be our own? Honestly, it needs to land on us hard now and again. “For we share in Christ, if we hold our original confidence firm to the end.” That’s a big if. It’s a life and death ‘if.’ And we need to feel it. We need to feel the weight of the reality that we could fall away. For the Lord uses this reality as a means by which He sustains us until the end (which, thankfully, He promises to do).
2) Every single day.
Sin doesn’t take a day off, so neither can I. I long for the day in which I will find freedom from this fight against sin. But that day is not yet here. It is now time to fight. The day I choose to cruise is the day I choose to die. Living–really living–isn’t easy. It’s an uphill climb and one that we are called to do together.
May we be faithful to take care and to exhort one another and to receive one another’s exhortations for our good and the glory of God.
Taking care with you,
Joe
Cutting Timber to God’s Glory
June 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
Currently one of my daily Bible readings is in 1 Kings. This morning I read chapter 5. Solomon has resolved to build a temple for the Lord, and he sends word to Hiram, the King of Tyre. I was struck by these words in verse 6,
Now therefore command that cedars of Lebanon be cut for me. And my servants will join your servants, and I will pay you for your servants such wages as you set, for you know that there is no one among us who knows how to cut timber like the Sidonians.
Solomon was able to identify that that no one could cut timber like the Sidonians, so he recruited them to use their talent in the service of the Lord, for the building of His temple. The number and diversity of gifts that God has given to His people are without limit, and He means for all of them to be used joyfully in His service.
Cutting timber probably did not seem as glamorous, or perhaps as spiritual, as say, being a priest or a prophet of God. But those Sidonians who cut timber so well had been equipped to do so by Creator of the universe, and their talents are given to be used in His service and for the advancement of His Kingdom.
I fear that many people in the Church hear so much talk about the importance of evangelism, worship, Bible-reading and prayer that they have no capacity to think that their gifts of ‘timber cutting’ really matter to God. To be sure, the disciplines of evangelism, Bible-reading, etc. are of great importance. Every Christian ought to be engaged in them. But it would be a great sadness if those who attend church week after week are not given a framework for thinking about how the more ‘ordinary’ talents they have (whether it be cutting timber, playing a sport, playing a musical instrument, cooking, landscaping, etc.) can be used to bring God glory and bring foretastes of God’s coming Kingdom.
I would be quite sad if the people sitting under my ministry would regard foreign missions to be a more godly calling than being a carpenter, or a construction worker. Solomon identified the gifts that people had been given around him, and he encouraged them to use those gifts for the glory of God.
May the Shepherds of God’s sheep be so like-minded, that we identify the gifts God has given our people, and empower them to fulfill their calling joyfully for His honor and fame…whether that calling is preaching or cutting timber.
Larry
Take Care…Watch Out…Be on Your Guard
June 11, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Lar,
I encountered these words in Deuteronomy 4 today. It was a welcome reminder.
“Only take care, and keep your soul diligently, lest you forget the things that your eyes have seen, and lest they depart from your heart all the days of your life. Make them known to your children and your children’s children…
Therefore watch yourself very carefully….beware lest you act corruptly….beware….Take care, lest you forget the covenant of the Lord your God…know therefore today, and lay it to your heart, that the Lord is God in heaven above and on the earth beneath; there is no other.” (Deuteronomy 4:9, 15, 16, 19, 23, 39)
Standing fast with you,
Joe
Patient Love in the Life of Jonah
June 10, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
Yesterday I wrote briefly on loving affliction in the life of Jonah, as evidenced by the Lord’s appointing a plant to provide comfort for Jonah, then appointing the destruction of that plant.
In my sermon from Sunday morning I drew out one other lesson about God’s love: it is patient. This point is the one that was most personally gripping in my preparation for the message. In the beginning of chapter 4 Jonah vents his anger towards the Almighty:
2 And he prayed to the Lord and said, “O Lord, is not this what I said when I was yet in my country? That is why I made haste to flee to Tarshish; for I knew that you are a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love, and relenting from disaster. 3 Therefore now, O Lord, please take my life from me, for it is better for me to die than to live.”
These words are simply astonishing. Jonah says to God’s face, ‘I’d rather be dead than live in a world in which You are You.’ Jonah says he knew that God was ‘a gracious God and merciful, slow to anger and abounding in steadfast love.’ This phrase describing God’s character was the very same way in which God revealed Himself to the Jewish people at Sinai. In Exodus 34 we’re told,
5 The Lord descended in the cloud and stood with him there, and proclaimed the name of the Lord. 6 The Lord passed before him and proclaimed, “The Lord, the Lord, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, 7 keeping steadfast love for thousands…
These words are the very same description Jonah gives of God, when saying that he’d rather be killed than to love. This is why I said that Jonah looked God in the face and said, ‘I’d rather be dead than live in a world in which You are You.’ Imagine this! Would it not have been perfectly fair and reasonable for God to give Jonah his wish, and strike him dead on the spot? But instead, He patiently and tenderly says, ‘Do you do well to be angry?’ When confronted with Jonah’s obstinate hatred of His beautiful character, rather than destroy him in wrath, God lovingly tries to reason with Jonah to show him that he is just as dependent on God’s mercy as the Ninevites were.
I have spoken with people who have said things awfully similar to what Jonah said here. They have said to me, ‘You believe in a God so intolerant that He sends people to hell for believing the wrong thing. I’d rather go to hell than worship such an intolerant, unloving God.’ Or they have said, ‘Your God allows tsunamis and hurricanes and cancer. I’d rather go to hell than worship a God who would allow such horrible things.’
It amazes me that with such people, I can hold out hope to them that even though they are essentially spitting in the face of the Almighty, He is as patient with them as He was with Jonah. The God whom they despise gives them the very breath which they use to curse His name.
What obstinate, hard-hearted people are in your life? May God remind us of our own sinfulness, so that we can extend the same patience to them that God has given them, and us.
Larry
Loving Affliction in the Life of Jonah
June 9, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
Agreed that we need to get back on track this week. Last week was a tough one for me as I was expending a great deal of time preparing a sermon that I preached yesterday on the life of Jonah.
One of the things I drew out of Jonah’s experience in chapter 4 is that the love of God is painful. In other words, in order to wake us from our spiritual sluggishness, God will often bring some form of pain or hardship to restore us. In Jonah’s story, God appointed, and then destroyed, a plant that gave Jonah comfortable shade from the hot Middle-Eastern sun.
In my study I came across a hymn written by John Newton about that plant in Jonah 4 (in the KJV called a gourd). I did not have the time to read it during my sermon, but I think the hymn is a great resource in grasping the lesson of God’s painful love. It’s called I Asked the Lord that I Might Grow:
I asked the Lord that I might grow
In faith, and love, and every grace;
Might more of His salvation know,
And seek, more earnestly, His face.
’Twas He who taught me thus to pray,
And He, I trust, has answered prayer!
But it has been in such a way,
As almost drove me to despair.
I hoped that in some favored hour,
At once He’d answer my request;
And by His love’s constraining pow’r,
Subdue my sins, and give me rest.
Instead of this, He made me feel
The hidden evils of my heart;
And let the angry pow’rs of hell
Assault my soul in every part.
Yea more, with His own hand He seemed
Intent to aggravate my woe;
Crossed all the fair designs I schemed,
Blasted my gourds, and laid me low.
Lord, why is this, I trembling cried,
Wilt thou pursue thy worm to death?
“’Tis in this way, the Lord replied,
I answer prayer for grace and faith.
These inward trials I employ,
From self, and pride, to set thee free;
And break thy schemes of earthly joy,
That thou may’st find thy all in Me.”
The Pursuit of Wisdom
May 28, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Lar,
I’m thinking you will be MIA for most of the week, seeing that you are away and all. I will try to keep things going. Anyhow, during my time with the Lord this morning, I read Proverbs 2. The first eight verses read,
2:1 My son, if you receive my words
and treasure up my commandments with you,
2 making your ear attentive to wisdom
and inclining your heart to understanding;
3 yes, if you call out for insight
and raise your voice for understanding,
4 if you seek it like silver
and search for it as for hidden treasures,
5 then you will understand the fear of the Lord
and find the knowledge of God.
6 For the Lord gives wisdom;
from his mouth come knowledge and understanding;
7 he stores up sound wisdom for the upright;
he is a shield to those who walk in integrity,
8 guarding the paths of justice
and watching over the way of his saints.
I just love those verses. For you will notice that verses 1-5 more or less say that the pursuit of wisdom should involve every aspect of our being. It requires a diligent pursuit. Indeed, it speaks as if the pursuit of wisdom is entirely concerned with our own efforts. If we want wisdom, we need to pay the price to get it.
But then verse six makes plain that it is the Lord who gives wisdom. It’s a gracious gift of God, one we know that we are commanded to pray for (James 1:5).
The beauty of it is that those two realities by no means conflict. We must act as if it depends entirely on us, but we must do so with a heart of humility, a heart that recognizes that wisdom, no matter how hard we work, is a gracious gift of God. In the end, two people could do the same external actions in order to obtain wisdom, but one might dishonor the Lord while the other honors the Lord. For the one will work in dependence upon himself, while the other (the one honoring the Lord in his pursuit), will work in humble dependence upon the Giver of every good gift. “Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain.”
Seeking to embrace both realities to the full,
Joe
Gospel Incarnation
May 21, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
Many church leaders today speak of something called Gospel incarnation. What they mean is that in order to be Christ’s ambassadors in this world, in addition to proclaiming the verbal message of Christ crucified and risen for sinners, we also need to live out in our daily lives the love, compassion and servanthood of Jesus. As Jesus is God-incarnate, God in flesh, displaying the eternal glory of the invisible God, so also Christians are called to put Christ’s glory on display not only with our words, but with our lives. When our attitudes and conduct are consistent with the character of Jesus revealed in the gospel, then we are ‘incarnating’ the gospel to those around us.
This past Sunday we heard a sermon from Acts 9 on the conversion of the Apostle Paul. One thing that our pastor did not call much attention to (since it was a sermon on Paul) was the gospel-incarnating activity of Ananias. As we discussed the text last night in our life group, the Lord impressed upon me the staggering nature of Ananias’ gospel incarnation.
For me it’s all summed up in the two words, ‘Brother Saul’. The Lord had appeared to Ananias, telling him to go and find Saul, and lay his hands on this persecutor of Christians so that he could receive back his sight.
Ananias was incredulous: ‘Lord, I have heard the reports of this man, and how he has been seeking to destroy Your Church, and how he has come on this journey to arrest those who call upon You. How can I go and serve him?’
But the Lord persisted, “Go Ananias, for I have big plans for this hater of My glory’.
So Ananias went. And in going, I see an awesome display of gospel incarnation. He comes to the place where Saul was staying and says, ‘Brother Saul…’
Brother Saul! He calls this enemy of Christ, this man who had sought to arrest and persecute the believers in Jesus, a brother. In calling Saul ‘brother’, he incarnates a radical kind of love to Paul, a love that demonstrated the unmerited, astonishing love of Jesus for sinners. I can’t help but think that Ananias was empowered to do this because his own heart had been melted by the grace of God, so that he knew that Paul was no worse a sinner than he was.
Who are the people in your life who are hard to love? May God remind us all of richness of His undeserved love for you and me, that we might incarnate that love to those who we deem ‘unlovable’. For in reality, they are no more difficult to love than we are!
Larry
What Makes your Life Worth Living?
May 12, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
I was challenged by this question today in my daily reading. I’ve been reading through Acts, and today came to these words from Paul:
“But I do not account my life of any value nor as precious to myself, if only I may…” (20:24)
And I just had to stop there. I cannot think of a more important thing in life than to determine how you would finish this sentence.
I know, and you probably know, what the right answer is. But what is your real, functional answer?
This is the question I was left pondering this morning, and praying that God would confirm in me the answer that Paul gave: the task of testifying to the gospel of the grace of God.
‘I do not account my life of any value, if only I may…’
To all our readers I would ask you to prayerfully consider: how would you finish this sentence?
Larry
Jesus
May 2, 2008 | 2 Comments
Jesus is the true and better Adam who passed the test in the garden and whose obedience is imputed to us.
Jesus is the true and better Abel who, though innocently slain, has blood now that cries out, not for our condemnation, but for acquittal.
Jesus is the true and better Abraham who answered the call of God to leave all the comfortable and familiar and go out into the void not knowing wither he went to create a new people of God.
Jesus is the true and better Isaac who was not just offered up by his father on the mount but was truly sacrificed for us. And when God said to Abraham, “Now I know you love me because you did not withhold your son, your only son whom you love from me,” now we can look at God taking his son up the mountain and sacrificing him and say, “Now we know that you love us because you did not withhold your son, your only son, whom you love from us.”
Jesus is the true and better Jacob who wrestled and took the blow of justice we deserved, so we, like Jacob, only receive the wounds of grace to wake us up and discipline us.
Jesus is the true and better Joseph who, at the right hand of the king, forgives those who betrayed and sold him and uses his new power to save them.
Jesus is the true and better Moses who stands in the gap between the people and the Lord and who mediates a new covenant.
Jesus is the true and better Rock of Moses who, struck with the rod of God’s justice, now gives us water in the desert.
Jesus is the true and better Job, the truly innocent sufferer, who then intercedes for and saves his stupid friends.
Jesus is the true and better David whose victory becomes his people’s victory, though they never lifted a stone to accomplish it themselves.
Jesus is the true and better Esther who didn’t just risk losing an earthly palace but lost the ultimate and heavenly one, who didn’t just risk his life, but gave his life to save his people.
Jesus is the true and better Jonah who was cast out into the storm so that we could be brought in.
Jesus is the real Rock of Moses, the real Passover Lamb, innocent, perfect, helpless, slain so the angel of death will pass over us. He’s the true temple, the true prophet, the true priest, the true king, the true sacrifice, the true lamb, the true light, the true bread.
The Bible’s really not about you — it’s about Him.
Cultivating Meditation
May 2, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Joe,
The other day I bought a booklet written by Tim Keller called Studies in Prayer: Developing a Strong Prayer Life. As you would expect, he cannot talk long about a growing prayer life without also talking about meditating on God’s Word. In one of the chapters he lays out a way to meditate that helps to move toward prayer.
I have been feeling a bit stagnant in my devotions over the past few weeks, so I applied Keller’s advice to my time this morning. He suggests that you ask yourself five things as you contemplate a passage of Scripture that you are looking at:
1. What does the passage tell you about God/Christ?
2. What does the passage tell you about yourself (ie. examples to follow/avoid, commands to obey, promises to claim)?
3. What is the most compelling truth you learned from this reading (There is a bit of overlap here with the first two)?
4. How would you be different if this truth was explosively alive in your innermost being?
5. Why is God showing you these things today?
He suggests (and I heartily agree) that you write down the answers to these questions, and not just keep it in your head. I would add that it is helpful to write everything out in the form of prayer to God.
I had a great time this morning using these questions to guide me in the four readings that I do daily. This afternoon I hope to give an example from my reading about how this practice worked itself out in my studies this morning.
It is not wise to approach devotions with a ‘formula’, because that can tend to make the time mechanical. But I found these five questions to be very helpful in taking the truths of God’s Word from my head to my heart. I hope they are useful to others as well.
Larry
Lacking in Nothing
March 24, 2008 | Leave a Comment
Lar,
I have had a fuller day than anticipated, so I figured I would share something I wrote for ‘Joe’s Notes’ the other day. I am currently working my way through the book of James at a very slow pace. What follows is Part 3 of my thoughts on James 1:2-4. It was especially good for my own soul to think through these verses.
“And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.”
Who among us does not want to become mature and complete, lacking in nothing? And yet, as usual, while we desire the end, we are inclined to despise the means. But I ask you to simply imagine for a moment what it would be like to be mature and complete lacking in nothing. What would it be like to be free from your selfishness and self-pity and pride and laziness and impatience and lack of discipline and whatever other sin you can think of? What would it be like to be free from the things that hinder your fellowship with God and other people? What would it be like to overflow consistently with the fruit of the Holy Spirit? Can you imagine it just for a moment? Can you think of the joy?!
I ask these questions, because vision is needed. Clarity of vision is necessary. For James knows full well that we as human beings can endure and rejoice in any difficulty if we see clearly what that difficulty is designed to bring us. That is, if the end goal is precious enough to us, we can endure and rejoice in whatever the means. Human history and personal experience makes this psychological reality very plain.
Therefore, James wants us to lift up our eyes to who we can become, so that we might face the trials of today with utmost rejoicing. A basketball player cannot rejoice in pushing his body to the max day after day without a clear vision of his goal. A woman cannot rejoice in the pains of labor if she loses sight of the joy of a baby soon to come. Do you then, have a clear vision of maturity and completeness? And if you possess such a vision, do you think more about the goal or about the trials? Do you think more about the end, or about the means?
Much of our trouble in life flows from our lack of vision. We become so mired in the day to day difficulties of life that we lose sight of who God wants to make us and the place He has prepared for us. We despise the means because we lose sight of the end. We do not want to train because we have forgotten about the big game. We forget about maturity and completeness and therefore, grumble in the face of difficulty.
And yet God calls us to look beyond the means to the greater end, to look to things unseen.
“For this slight momentary affliction is preparing for us an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison, as we look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. For the things that are seen are transient, but the things that re unseen are eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:17-18).
The thinking is the same right? Clarify your vision. Clarify your goal. And look to that goal day after day so that you might embrace the various kinds of trials that will inevitably come. Do you want to become mature and complete, lacking in nothing? Do you want an eternal weight of glory beyond all comparison? Then look not to the things that are seen, but to the things that are unseen. Keep the eternal weight of glory in view. Think consistently of maturity and completeness. For then, and only then, will you be able to look your trials in the eye, so to speak, and say, “You are well worth it.” Then and only then will you have the strength to count your various trials all joy.
O Lord, make us a people of vision! Help us, O God, to focus on the end, so that we might embrace the means to that end. Clarify our vision of maturity and completeness. Capture our hearts with a vision of that eternal weight of glory that you long to give us, so that we might look to the things that are unseen and embrace every sort of trial as all joy. O God, grant us such grace in the name of your Son. For it is in His name that we pray. Amen and Amen.
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