Then a thought occurred to me: I love my life! Because, if my life had taken a different course, I might not know the love of God, or the grace of God. If I didn’t know Jesus, if I couldn’t hear His Words directing my steps, things would be very messed up.

It was a reminder to me to stay thankful and never take the free gift of salvation for granted. Jesus paid a heavy price so that I could be forgiven, so that I could feel the love and mercy flow down from Heaven’s throne. The only appropriate response is eternal gratitude!

And so, Hallelujah Father God! Your Love Makes Me Sing!

(P.S. The followup post to the last one “Surfacing” is still on the way. )

Incredible post!

1. It really ticks me off when people bash Joel Osteen. I mean, few things push my buttons more than when people who seemingly have nothing better to do with their time trash talk a successful, happy dude who preaches a “feel-good” gospel. (Um, so we’re supposed to preach a “feel-bad” gospel? I think gospel is supposed to mean GOOD NEWS. Hello!) Now, granted, I haven’t read his books or listened to his sermons in-depth. All I know is that what I’ve read or heard from the critics hasn’t convinced me that he’s such a threat to orthodox Christian faith as they make out. My personal conviction is that every preacher needs to find his or her own “message” within the truth of Christ’s redemptive work, and Joel Osteen and his wife clearly base their ministry around the message of hope and a joyful, expectant attitude. Hmm, faith, hope, and love — didn’t some dude named Paul talk about that?

2. 22nd wedding anniversary! That’s pretty awesome. I think for people in their position and influence, and considering all the moral failures we’ve seen in ministry in recent times, that’s quite an achievement! Bless them O God for their faithfulness, and I mean it.

Now do I whole-heartedly agree with the Osteens’ theology? Would I receive spiritual meat attending their church? Do I want to base my own ministry on the teaching that they espouse? Probably not at all. See, that’s the thing — I don’t find the need to agree with someone’s doctrinal framework to appreciate their contribution to the Body of Christ. God is much bigger than any box we might try to shove Him in, and I believe we would do well to remember that.

Rant over.

I say this not to brag on myself, but to praise God for what He has brought me through. At the present time, I am filled with such joy and gratitude — most of my prayer time is spent at present with me saying THANK YOU over and over and over again!

I don’t know what you’re going through this holiday season. Maybe things are really hard for you right now. Maybe it seems like the year has gone from bad to worse. Maybe you are anticipating 2009 not with hopeful excitement but with mournful dread. All I can say is this: there is only one Deliverer who can rescue you from spiritual death and pour out life abundant upon you. His name is Jesus Christ, and it is He Who we celebrate during the blessed time of Christmas. Take your focus off your circumstances and fix your eye on the Messiah, the Anointed One — He came into the world as a tiny helpless baby but never wavered in obedience to His Heavenly Father, and through His sacrifice and the shedding of His blood upon the cross, we now have access to the power and glory of the Kingdom of Heaven, which one wise man said is a superior reality. Let the reality of Heaven flood your reality this Christmas season, and be blessed — in the name of Jesus!

God set apart a day of rest each week not so that we would be enslaved into some kind of forced devotion to a higher power, but so that we would be able to come before Him to be refreshed, renewed, recharged, and recommissioned to go back out into the world and do the work He has called us to do. We should look forward to these times of Sabbath, these times where we get to fall in love all over again with the Lord of creation.

I will be taking a real Sabbath day this coming Saturday, and with the one exception of helping my mom make a flyer, I intend on accomplishing absolutely nothing but hang around at home and putter and snooze and maybe take a walk and just enjoy BE-ing rather than DO-ing. Just me and God. That’s a good place to be.

Then he said unto them, Go your way, eat the fat, and drink the sweet, and send portions unto them for whom nothing is prepared: for this day is holy unto our Lord: neither be ye sorry; for the joy of the Lord is your strength.

Nehemiah 8:10

I had a thought just a moment ago while I was spending time with God on my flight down to Los Angeles (my brother and I are going to see the only U.S. appearance of Tangerine Dream for the first time since 1992!). I always had this idea that the joy of the Lord was some kind of gift He gave to us, like a substance wrapped in a box, that we could partake of to make our spirits strong. Or perhaps I thought of it as the joy that rises up within us as we delight ourselves in our God, and that’s the catalyst for strength. I think both are true at times, but here’s the thought that I had:

Father God is just bustin’ out all over with joy, happiness, laughter, merriment, and glee, and all we have to do is gaze upon Him in His glory and see Him rejoicing over us in Heaven to be filled with a holy and supernatural strength!

For far too long has the notion of our Father in Heaven as a grumpy old mean-spirited man ready to beat you over the head because of your miserable mistakes and failures held sway in popular culture. I want to proclaim the message the God is the most excited, passionate, creative, wonderful, dazzling, effervescent and delighted fellow you will ever have the pleasure to meet! Some people make fun of the phenomenon of “holy laughter” that arises in moves of the Holy Spirit, but I think it’s fantastic! Isn’t there enough doom and gloom in the world as it is? We NEED more joy!!! More Lord, more!

Shout for joy and be glad
and say evermore,
Great is the Lord,
who delights in the welfare of his servant!

Psalm 35:27b

To you be all honor, glory, and praise now and forever. Amen.

In the first chapter of the book of Hebrews, the author quotes the following passage from Psalm 45:6-7 as a Messianic prophecy concerning the Son of God:

Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness; you have loved righteousness and hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness beyond your companions.

As is made plain here, the oil of gladness is an anointing that flows from the very throne room of God onto…whom? Christ! What is contained within this anointing? The Hebrew word used here, sasown, refers to a welcoming state of cheerfulness, mirth, rejoicing. I could imagine waking up in the morning full of excitement and happy anticipation to go spend a wonderful day of merrymaking with close friends — sasown!

But what about Jesus being a man of sorrows, acquainted with grief, stricken, afflicted? That was the essence of Jesus’ sacrificial mission to bear our sins and suffering on the cross, but that was not the final purpose of his ministry. It’s helpful to consider Paul’s reference to the “ministry of reconciliation” in II Corinthians 5:18 that God gave to us through Christ. Reconciliation is where two parties come together and set aside past differences to come to a common accord, an agreement, harmony. The parable of the prodigal son that Jesus so beautifully illustrates is a great example of this reconciliation ministry. And what do we find happening when the father is reconciled to his wayward son? A celebration of joy! Gladness! Mirth! Rejoicing!

The ministry of Jesus is the ministry of reconciliation — between us as former sinners now saved and sanctified by Jesus’ blood and God the Father. We are no longer separated by a gulf of iniquity, chaos, and death. The chasm has been crossed, by the power of the cross, and that is truly something to be glad about!

The other passage in the Bible that talks about the oil of gladness is in the book of Isaiah, and interestingly enough, it’s also within the context of a Messianic prophesy. We’ll delve more into that on the next post in this series. Until then, may God fill you with sasown!

One of the things I’m glad about is that I’m still alive! I know that may sound silly, but bear with me. There is a sort of depression, whether extreme or subtle, that can creep up on us and rob us of the joy of living. That nagging sense that my life is all out of whack, that nothing really matters, that everything is just a little bleak around the edges. Certainly it’s possible to find moments of pleasure in the midst of all that, and I’m not necessarily talking about a suicidal mood — although certainly prolonged periods of gripping depression can edge dangerously towards that.

The question is one of quality. As a Christian, I’m called to a higher state of being than simply “going through the motions” and seeing one dreary day of drudgery pass by after another. If being in a love relationship with the Creator of the universe and the Savior of my soul is not enough to stave off weariness and frustration, than something’s seriously amiss. Frankly, I don’t buy the oft-spoken axiom that happiness is a fleeting emotion and we shouldn’t bother chasing after it. Balderdash! I absolutely want to be happy, and I believe that Jesus wants me to be happy. But perhaps happiness isn’t what we think it is.

I’ll define happiness this way: I know who I am, I know Who loves me and I love Him back, I know what I’m supposed to be doing, and I’m doing it. Following after that God-given sense of purpose and direction, no matter the odds, no matter the cost, no matter the hardships that might come along with the territory, that’s what brings true happiness. That’s what makes you glad to be alive!

God wants to anoint each of us with the oil of gladness. We were never meant to live in a world of dull gray. We were meant to live in a world of radiant technicolor, full of excitement, danger, adventure, romance, and creativity. Chase after this mighty, awesome God, and let Him fill you with His joy, His pleasure, and His gladness today and every day!