January 7: Tuesday Refocus

Circle me Lord, keep protection near and danger afar.

Circle me Lord, keep light near and darkness afar.

Circle me Lord, keep peace within, keep evil out.

In the name of the Father, and the Son and the Holy Spirit.

Amen. - Celtic Prayer

Whatever is left behind in 2019, whatever awaits in 2020, we can be assured in all things: ’The LORD is your keeper, the LORD is your shade on your right hand.’ Ps 121:5

The One who has defeated Satan, sin and death will ‘keep you from all evil; He will keep your life.’ This does not mean we will never experience sorrow or suffering. Jesus said, ‘In the world you will have tribulation. But take heart; I have overcome the world.’ And when we are led through the valley of the shadow of death, we are strengthened, helped, upheld with the righteous right hand of our God (Ps 121:7, Jn 16:33, Ps 23:4, Is 41:10).

Our days, years and lives rest firmly in the reality: ‘The LORD will keep your going out and your coming in from this time forth and forevermore.’ Ps 121:8

Let it be so, Lord, amen.

Resting,

AB

December 31: Tuesday Refocus

Father, let me dedicate all this year to You

In whate’er my earthly state, in whate’er I do

Not from sorrow, pain, or care, freedom dare I claim

This alone shall be my prayer: glorify Your name.

Whether anticipation or indifference, we have all looked to a new year and planned our way. But the God who stands outside of time and space holds the vapor of our life in His hand and is establishing our steps. (Pr 16:9, Jm 4:14, Acts 17:25)

Can a child presume to choose where or how to live?

Can a father’s love refuse all the best to give?

More You give me ev’ry day, than the best can claim

Help me trust You that I may, glorify Your name

We have a Father who delights to give good gifts to His children. A Father who knows our need before we ask Him. A Father who has blessed us in Christ with every spiritual blessing, chose us in Him before the foundation of the world, predestined us in love for adoption, to the praise of His glorious grace. (Matt 7:11, Matt 6:8, Eph 1:3-6)

If in mercy You prolong joys that now are mine

If on life serene and fear brighter rays may shine,

Let my glad heart, while it sings, You in all proclaim

And, whate’er the future brings, glorify Your name

Whether cast down, in turmoil, rejected or mourning, I will go to God - to God my exceeding joy. I will Hope in God; for I shall again praise Him, my salvation and my God. (Ps 43:5,2,4)

If You have for me a cross and its shadow come

Turning all my gain to loss, shrouding heart and home

Let me think how Your dear Son, to His glory came

And in deepest woe pray on: glorify Your name

Shall we accept only good from God? The One who did not spare His own Son, but gave Him up for us all, how will He not also with Him graciously give us all things? The shadow of the cross compares nothing to the eternal weight of glory - future joy. All things may be counted as loss because of the surpassing worth of knowing Christ Jesus our Lord. (Job 2:10, Rom 8:32, 2 For 4:17, Heb 12:2, Phil 3:8)

‘Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation or distress, or persecution or famine, or nakedness, or danger or sword? No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us. For I am sure that neither death, nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.’ Rom 8:35,37-39

In this year, as in the last, and all the ages to come, Lord, glorify Your name. In the name of Christ, amen.

For His glory,

AB

‘Father, Here We Dedicate’ Laurence Tuttiett, 1864

December 24: Tuesday Refocus

‘Long ago, at many times and in many ways, God spoke to our fathers by the prophets, 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.’ Hebrews 1:1-2

He is the God who speaks, who has always been speaking.  With His Word He spoke the world into being, and by its power the universe is upheld (Gen 1:3, Heb 1:3).  Jesus is the Word made flesh (Jn 1:14).

He tore the veil of time.  

He tore the temple veil.

He does not dwell behind temple veils, 

or in houses made by human hands, 

because His dwelling place is with man.  

He is Emmanuel, God with us.

(Matt 27:51, Acts 17:24-25, Rev 21:3, Is 7:14)

God with us is the Word who took on flesh and blood, and His blood speaks a better word (Heb 12:24).  This Word is good news to the poor, binding to the brokenhearted, and liberty to the captives (Is 61:1).

Lord, You are the Word made flesh, given to us in love, absolutely true. You have come, You are coming again, and we wait for You. In Jesus name, amen.

 Merry Christmas, 

AB

December 17: Tuesday Refocus

‘God hides His most precious treasures in our most difficult and painful experiences.’ - Jon Bloom

Over the last several years I have more closely followed the rhythms and seasons of the Church calendar.  As a worship leader, it has been helpful in my planning and preparation, as a Christ-follower it has helped me experience the connection to a diverse, global, eternal body of believers. (1 Pet 2:9, Rev 7:9, Is 9:7)

The older I get the more I see and experience the pain of living in a broken, fallen world.  And that is why I love Advent - because I have often asked God, ‘Do You know how hard it is down here?  Do You see how painful it is?’  And Advent reminds me that not only does He see the pain and difficulty, He answers it with Himself. ‘But when the fullness of time had come, God sent forth His Son, born of woman, born under the law, to redeem those who were under the law, so that we might receive adoption as sons.’ (Gal 4:4-5)

Sin and brokenness do not just affect humanity - it is as offensive as it is painful for God.

He pursued relationship, we chose death (Gen 1:26, 2:17, 3:6-7).

We hid, He covered us (Gen 3:8, 3:21).

He came to His own, we did not receive Him (Jn 1:11).

We deserve death, He gives us His life (Rom 6:23).

The One who knit Mary together in the womb of her mother became humanity knit together in Mary’s womb (Ps 139:13, Lk 1:30-33).  The One who saw the sorrow we experience did not stand far off but became the Man of Sorrows - acquainted with all our grief (Is 53:3).  The One who saw us in our sin became sin so that we might become His righteousness (2 Cor 5:21).

Advent is the continuing story of a God who has never had a ‘plan B,’ but has always sought His Son’s greatest glory, and His children’s good.  ‘For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son…’ this is the joy and pain of God Himself experienced (Jn 3:16, Is 53:10, Heb 12:2).

This is the joy and pain of Advent.

’Everything sad is going to come untrue and it will somehow be greater for having once been broken and lost.’ - Tim Keller

Lord, thank You that You do know our sorrow and pain.  From the groans of ‘it’s not supposed to be this way,’ to pain that is soul-piercing, You know and You have experienced it all.  Allow us to approach this Advent season with gratitude, wonder, and worship.  In Your name, amen.

Waiting,

AB

December 10: Tuesday Refocus

‘It costs something to be a true Christian.  Let that never be forgotten.  To be a mere nominal Christian, and go to church, is cheap and easy work.  But to hear Christ’s voice, follow Christ, believe Christ, confess Christ, requires much self-denial.’ - J.C. Ryle

I want obedience to equal ease.

I want sanctification without the experience that brings it about.

I want to be a true Christian with nominal level commitment.

But my faith has been Authored by One ‘who, though He was in the form of God, did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied Himself, by taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men.’  He came with ‘…no form or majesty that we should look at Him, and no beauty that we should desire Him.’  He came to poor earthly parents, in a rural community (Phil 2:6-7, Is 53:2, Lk 2:22-24, Jn 1:46).

In the middle of this Advent season I am reminded that Emmanuel - God with us - was costly to God Himself.  Not only His entrance into time and place, but the ultimate purpose for which He came: the cross.

‘For if we have been united with Him in a death like His, we shall certainly be united with Him in a resurrection like His. We know that our old self was crucified with Him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. Now if we have died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with Him.  We know that Christ, being raised from the dead, will never die again; death no longer has dominion over Him. For the death He died He died to sin, once for all, but the life He lives He lives to God.  So you also must consider yourselves dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus.’ Rom 6:5-11

He died that I might die, and He lives that I might live.

This is not an easy faith - it is of eternal significance, and immeasurable cost.

Spirit, enable us to hear the voice of Christ, to follow Christ, to believe Christ, confess Christ, and daily die to ourselves.  In Christ’s name, amen.

To remember and live,

AB

December 3: Tuesday Refocus

‘The people who walked in darkness have seen a great light; those who dwelt in a land of deep darkness, on them has light shone.’ - Isaiah 9:2

From darkness to light is a theme we see throughout Scripture.  We were those dwelling in deep darkness, darkened in our understanding, ignorant and hard-hearted (Eph 4:18).  We loved the dark, hid ourselves and our actions in its covering (Jn 3:19, Lk 8:17).

This would still be our reality if not for Christ… ‘In Him was the life, and the life was the light of men.  The light shines in the darkness, and the darkness has not overcome it.’ (Jn 1:4-5)  Now ‘…if we walk in the light as He is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus His Son cleanses us from all sin.’ (1 Jn 1:7).

Out of darkness and isolation, and into union and communion with God and one another.  In a small reflective way, this is what happens every week as we gather with the people of God.  We step into the light of the gathered Church to be reminded that we are people who carry Light into a dark world.  That we are the light of the world (Matt 5:14).

‘O house of Jacob, come, let us walk in the light of the LORD.’ Isaiah 2:5

Jesus, You are God with us - thank You!  Help us walk with You as You walk with us.  Bring us out of darkness into the Light of Your holiness.  We desire to be people who have fellowship with You and one another more than the darkness.  In Your name, amen.

Walking,

AB

November 26: Tuesday Refocus

‘Woe to the reckless soul who departs from God hoping to find something better than Him in the very things He has created.’ - Augustine

There is a rich young ruler in us all. Walking away sorrowful when God does not answer how we expect (Lk 18:18-30).  

We walk away from the Creator, hoping to find the answers we seek in creation.  We scour the earth only to realize we have exchanged the glory of the immortal God for images of created things (Rom 1:23).

But nothing created can bear the weight of our worship.

And there can only be two responses to this reality: we turn back and no longer walk with Him, or we say ‘Lord, to whom shall we go?’ (Jn 6:66-68)

Lord, You have the words of eternal life, forgive us when we seek life apart from You.  We love You, in Your name, amen.

Walking together,

AB

November 19: Tuesday Refocus

‘For a people shall dwell in Zion, in Jerusalem; you shall weep no more.  He will surely be gracious to you at the sound of your cry.  As soon as He hears it, He answers you.  And though the Lord give you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction, yet your Teacher will not hide Himself anymore, but your eyes shall see your Teacher.  And your ears shall hear a word behind you, saying “This is the way, walk in it,” when you turn to the right or to the left.’  – Isaiah 30:19-20

There is a day when every tear bottled and wept will be wiped (Ps 56:8, Rev 21:4).

He has come, and He is coming again.

But in this paradoxical life of faith, God is no less gracious in the wilderness than in Zion.

It is the Lord Himself who has entrusted to us the bread of adversity, to form our appetites for Him, the Bread of Life.  He has given the water of affliction, but also invites us to drink deeply of Him, the Living Water.

For those consuming this meal of adversity and affliction, He does not hide Himself.  He is gracious, He answers, our eyes see and our ears hear.  He has come, and He is coming again.

‘How precious is Your steadfast love, O God!  The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of Your wings.  They feast on the abundance of Your house, and you give them drink from the river of Your delights.’  [Ps 36:7-8]

Lord, let us drink deeply from whatever cup You give.  You who drank the cup the Father gave to You down to the dregs.  We drink knowing that You go with us, You go before us, and You go behind us.  Thank you, Jesus.  In Your name, amen.

He has come, He is coming again,

AB

November 12: Tuesday Refocus

‘If I obey Christ in the seemingly random circumstances of life, they become pinholes through which I see the face of God.’ – Oswald Chambers

To be honest, I prefer a life full of big gestures.  Visible and obvious.  A life that is not so much concerned about the inside as the outside.  God on the other hand, prefers the opposite.  The quiet and humble.  Subtle and stable, because ‘…to obey is better than sacrifice.’ (1 Sam 15:22)

But it is not in my over-the-top and inconsistent displays, but in the walk of daily-death, being yoked to Christ that I see Him clearly (Matt 10:28, 11:29).  These are pinholes of glory.

In the moments of daily obedience, I see that He is completely trustworthy.  That there is joy ahead in this eternal weight of glory and I am steadied from sprinting into this long walk of obedience in the same direction (Heb 12:2, 2 Cor 4:17).

‘He has told you, O man, what is good; and what does the LORD require of you but to do justice, and to love kindness, and to walk humbly with your God?’ – Micah 6:8

God, thank You that You faithfully walk with us, even when we wander off, run ahead, and attempt blaze our own trail.  Forgive us, help us to walk humbly with You.  In Christ’s name, amen.

To walk humbly,

AB

November 5: Tuesday Refocus

‘No one ever comes very close to God and remains proud.’ – Alan Nelson

‘Draw near,’ is the invitation James tells us is always met with God, in turn, drawing near (4:8).  As followers of Christ we can draw near with confidence (Heb 4:16).  But make no mistake this confidence is not in our own righteousness, but in the righteousness of Christ (2 Cor 5:21).

As we draw near we find grace and mercy, yet still fall down as though dead (Heb 4:16, Rev 1:17).  Because no one ever draws near to God and remains proud.  But do not be afraid – His nearness is your good (Ps 73:28). 

‘When I saw Him, I fell at His feet as though dead.  But He laid His right hand on me, saying, ‘Fear not, I am the First and the Last, and the Living One.  I died, and behold I am alive forevermore, and I have the keys of Death and Hades.’ – Revelation 1:17

Lord, You know the proud from afar, but regard the lowly.  Help us draw near with full confidence in the completed work of Christ.  Thank you for being Emmanuel, the God who is with us.  We are humbled and grateful, in Christ name, amen.

Draw near,

AB

October 29: Tuesday Refocus

‘Strengthen me that I may cling to Thee.’ – The Valley of Vision

In fear I reach for talent, experience, career, or others to be a firm foundation, only to find all things created collapse under the weight of my need.

It is only through faith that I do not cling to myself, but am led to the Rock that is higher than I (Ps 61:2).

By faith I know I am not an orphan but an heir (Rom 8:17).

By faith I know I am never forsaken, for He is always with me (Heb 13:5).

By faith I know I am not forgotten, but the beloved of God (Eph 5:1).

By faith I know I am saved (Rom 10:9).

Faith is a gift from God (Eph 2:8-9). 

And in it’s strengthening I loosen my grip on the created, and cling to the Uncreated One.

Lord, thank You that our faith in You is never put to shame.  Help us hold fast, and walk closely by faith in You this week. In Christ name, amen.

In faith,

AB

October 22: Tuesday Refocus

‘Jesus is the mercy seat, the place where sinful men may meet with the Holy God.’ – Lesslie Newbigin

From all of the postures, positions or locations – where does God always meet His people?  The place of mercy.

In wrath, He still remembers mercy (Hab 3:2).  In the morning, His mercies are new and never ending (Lam 3:22-23).  According to His steadfast love, He blots out transgression with abundant mercy (Ps 51:1).

We may find ourselves begging as Bartimaues for Christ to ‘have mercy on me…’ And in mercy, the invitation of Christ is to draw near, and receive the mercy we so desperately desire (Mark 10:46-52).  The invitation of Christ is to God Himself, the One who says of Himself:

‘The LORD, the LORD, a God merciful and gracious, slow to anger, and abounding in steadfast love and faithfulness, keeping steadfast love for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, but who will by no means clear the guilty, visiting the iniquity of the fathers on the children and the children’s children, to the third and fourth generation.”’ Exodus 34:6-7

If You, O LORD, should mark iniquities, O Lord, who could stand?  But with You there is forgiveness, that You may be feared. …hope in the LORD!  For with the LORD there is steadfast love, and with Him is plentiful redemption.  And He will redeem Israel from all his iniquities.  Thank You Lord, for meeting us at the place of mercy –  person of Jesus, in His name, amen. (Ps 130:3-4,7-8).

From mercy,

AB