Tuesday Refocus: April 25

“May the Lord direct your hearts to the love of God and the steadfastness of Christ.” - 2 Thessalonians 3:5

Our hearts do indeed need direction. Because every heart is deceitful, desperately sick, and misunderstood (Jer 17:9). We chase vanity and strive after the wind (Ecc 1:14). What could be more essential to our aimless, wandering hearts than the steadying, sobering, truest truth that God is love, and Christ is steadfast?

Like sheep that go astray, how easily we are distracted and prone to wander. We combat our wandering with being anchored in the person and work of Christ as revealed in God’s Word. We must continually, constantly, and repeated preach and press the truths of Scripture deeply into our hearts. As we read, meditate, apply, pray, rehearse, hear, and sing these truths - the Holy Spirit who inspired these words to be written - uses them to lead us in all truth, directing us to God Himself (John 16:13).

“We have this as a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul, a hope that enters into the inner place behind the curtain, where Jesus has gone as a forerunner on our behalf, having become a high priest forever after the order of Melchizedek.” - Hebrews 6:19-20

Lord, in this moment, may our hearts be directed toward your unchanging character more than our ever changing circumstances. In the name of Christ, amen.

Steadied,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: April 18

“Like the manna of old that fell in the wilderness, He has come where you are. You do not need to go on a weary search to find Him.” - Lilias Trotter

God with us. God among us. God for us. God who indwells us. This is Emmanuel. The one who did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped, but emptied himself and took on the form of a servant (Phil 2:6-7). He has moved close to those who were dwelling in the land of deep darkness (Is 9:2). He came to seek and to save the lost - because there is no one that searches for God, no, not one (Luke 19:10, Rom 3:11).

“Jesus said to them, “I am the bread of life; whoever comes to me shall not hunger, and whoever believes in me shall never thirst. But I said to you that you have seen me and yet do not believe. All that the Father gives me will come to me, and whoever comes to me I will never cast out. For I have come down from heaven, not to do my own will but the will of him who sent me. And this is the will of him who sent me, that I should lose nothing of all that he has given me, but raise it up on the last day. For this is the will of my Father, that everyone who looks on the Son and believes in him should have eternal life, and I will raise him up on the last day.” - John 6:35-40

Lord, may we taste and see that you are good. Amen.

Amen,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: April 11

“The resurrection of Jesus is the 'Amen!' of the Father placed upon the 'It is finished!’ of the Son.” - Herman Bavnick

“Therefore, since we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ. Through Him we have also obtained access by faith into this grace in which we stand, and we rejoice in the hope of the glory of God.” Romans 5:1-2

“But when Christ had offered for all time a single sacrifice for sins, he sat down at the right hand of God, waiting from that time until his enemies should be made a footstool for his feet. For by a single offering he has perfected for all time those who are being sanctified.” Hebrews 10:12-14

Finally, fully, completely forgiven. 

There is no work left to be done.

Rejoice!

Lord, we echo the amen! Amen and amen.

Rejoicing,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: February 21

"The blood of Jesus is the death of despair." - Charles Spurgeon

There is much over which to despair in our world. Creation itself groans in pains of childbirth (Romans 8:22). Ours is a world passing away (1 John 2:17). And for those brave enough to examine their own heart, we can affirm what the prophet Jeremiah says, “The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately sick; who can understand it?’ (Jeremiah 17:9).

The season of Lent gives us the ability to enact in a small way the life of a believer: a tunnel of despair along the path to hope. This life is a hallway, but Christ is the door where we find pleasures forevermore (John 10:9, Psalm 16:11). Our days here are toil and trouble, but the Lord has been and will be our dwelling place for all generations (Psalm 90:10,1).

In Lent we despair over our sin, and rejoice in the hope of the glory of God (Romans 5:2). We don’t ignore, avoid, or wallow in our sin, we consider, confess, and repent of our sin. And we celebrate and receive the forgiveness of God through the finished work of Christ.

Father, may our days be marked with celebration and freedom, even as we consider our own sins. Thank you for Jesus, in His name, amen.

Rejoicing,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: February 14

“If reconciliation is God’s chief business, it is ours.” - E. Stanley Jones

It is easy to confuse love with a feeling. Certainly, love causes our hearts to feel in extremes - affection and affliction. But love is too large to be contained in our emotions - it moves out in our actions. Could there be a greater representation of love in action than reconciliation?

Webster defines reconciliation as ‘the action of reconciling: the state of being reconciled.’

This is what God has done for us in Christ: “All this is from God, who through Christ reconciled us to himself and gave us the ministry of reconciliation.” 2 Corinthians 5:18

The love of God moves toward us in the reconciling work of Christ. And we respond by becoming people who are given the ministry of reconciliation. We love because He first loved us (1 John 4:19). We are to be reconcilers because we have first been reconciled to God.

Perhaps the most loving thing this Valentine’s Day is not romantic gestures, but acts of reconciliation. Terminating a debt. Choosing again in this moment to forgive a wrong. Repairing what has been broken.

God, we confess that all sin is first against You. Thank You for Your great forgiveness. Help us to be people of forgiveness and reconciliation in our world. Amen.

Reconciling,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: February 7

"Without the death of Jesus, nothing remains for us but death." — Charles Spurgeon

The enemy of our souls, the accuser of the brethren came to steal, kill and destroy. Christ came so that we may have life - abundant life (John 10:10). But it is only in the death of Christ that we can experience the life of Christ. It is only in dying to ourselves that we can truly live. We can be truly free only by carrying the cross (Matthew 16:24-26).

Today we sit somewhere between winter and spring. 

Somewhere between celebrating the birth of Christ and the cross of Christ. 

Somewhere between the first advent and the final advent. 

And so we fix our eyes on the death that brings life.

We fix our eyes upon the One who died the death that we deserve so that we can enjoy the life that He deserves.

Father, we have nothing in which to boast apart from the cross of Christ. We have nothing on which to cling apart from the cross of Christ. We have no life apart from the life of Christ given to us in the completed work of Christ. Make us grateful and humble, in Jesus name, amen.

Amen,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: January 31

“To fold one’s hands in prayer is the beginning of an uprising against the disorder of the world.” - Karl Barth

Scripture tells us to pray without ceasing (1 Thessalonians 5:17). Can there be any other response when we recognize that we are engaged in a battle that is not against flesh and blood but against the rulers, authorities, cosmic powers over this present darkness, against spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places (Ephesians 6:12)? We are people who live in humble dependence for our very breath (Acts 17:25).

If our very breath is a need we cannot supply in our own strength, how much more do we need to be people to are anxious for nothing but pray about everything (Philippians 4:6-7)?

When I pray, I acknowledge my dependence on God both to God and to myself. When I fail to pray I acknowledge my attempts at self-sufficiency both to God and to myself.

Lord, may prayer be the language of my dependence upon you. May it be the beginning of an uprising in the disorder of my own heart, and life, and in the world. Let it be so, amen.

Dependent,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: January 24

“The day is coming when there shall be a congregation that shall never break up, and a Sabbath that shall never end, a song of praise that shall never cease, and an assembly that shall never be dispersed.” - J.C. Ryle

On this side of eternity, we see everything in part. Everything is as though looking through a dim glass (1 Corinthians 13:9-12). This is the place where familiarity and ache collide as we recognize our citizenship is another kingdom (Philippians 3:20). 

This is the place where we say ‘Come quickly, Lord Jesus.’ 

This is the place where we cry ’Save us!’

Here all things are fractured and yet still reflect a sense of glory - a sense of what has been and what will be.

So we give ourselves to the Bride knowing that the Groom will soon return. We rest knowing that one day our labor will be joy and fulfillment. We sing today knowing that one day there will be a new song, an everlasting song of praise to our God. We stand shoulder to shoulder week after week with those against whom we sin, and who have sinned against us knowing that one day our lives will no longer bear the marks of pain we have experienced or inflicted.

God, for that day we live with expectation and hope. May we practice now what will give us a glimpse, and a taste of what will one day be. Hallelujah, amen.

With expectation,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: January 17

“In all acts of worship let us summon our whole nature to the work; let our intellects know God, our wills choose him, our hearts go out after him, our confidence lean on him, our love delight in him, our tongues praise him, and our hands clap for joy of him.” - William S. Plumer

In more than our songs.

In more than our words.

In more than our Sunday services.

In more than our Bible study.

In more than our times of prayer.

In more than our deeds.

In all of life, worship is the right response of our whole lives to God’s revelation of Himself.

“I appeal to you therefore, brothers, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God, which is your spiritual worship. Do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewal of your mind, that by testing you may discern what is the will of God, what is good and acceptable and perfect.” - Romans 12:1-2

Lord, may every corner of our lives be lived in response to You. Responding to Your heart, Your character, and Your completed work on our behalf. In Christ’s name, amen.

From worship,

AB

Tuesday Refocus: January 10

“If we do adoration right, then confession becomes the reflex of our souls.” - John Onwuchekwa

The new year tempts us to turn inward - what are the things I hope to accomplish? Who would I like to become? Certainly, there is nothing wrong, or sinful about having dreams, goals, and desires - some of these things are God-given. But followers of Jesus know that our lives are not our own, we have been given a new heart and new desires.

What if this year began not with a list of our desires, but by stilling our hearts toward adoration? Adoration turns us outward, away from created things and to the Creator of everything (Romans 1:25). In adoration my longs and affections are focused on Someone other than myself. My desires are uncovered and refined. My hope is aimed eternal rather than the temporal.

In adoration, I am forced to face up to the glory of God, and in so doing, see how I have fallen short (Romans 3:23). And in this glory gap, I am invited not toward self-loathing, not toward trying harder, but to confession. To draw near to the One who has first drawn near to me. To have my lips and life purified by the sacrifice of the One reveals the glory of God (Isaiah 6:5-6, 2 Corinthians 3:18).

Lord, may our hearts be steadfast in adoration, and quick in confession, for You are beautiful, good, and kind. In Christ’s name, amen.

Adoring,

AB

November 22: Tuesday Refocus

“Jesus transforms our hearts by service, not by power.” - Tim Keller

The weeks of Thanksgiving into the season of Advent are an opportunity for followers of Jesus to remember once more, “What do you have that you did not receive?” (1 Corinthians 4:7). All is gift. All is grace.

The arrival of Christ into our world was not marked by power.

It was marked by service. Because, “Even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many (Matthew 20:28).” 

Christ transforms our hearts because He has first served us by emptying himself, taking the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men, humbling himself, and becoming obedient to the point of death (Philippians 2:7-8). Christ transforms our hearts once more when we seek to serve others as Christ has first served us.

Lord, may this upcoming Advent season be a time of heart transformation as we see how You have first loved and served us. Amen.

In service,

AB

November 15: Tuesday Refocus

“Without You, what am I to myself but a guide to my own destruction?” - Augustine

I hacked a trail I thought was right, but it only led to death (Proverbs 14:12).

My heart had planned my way, but it was the LORD who established my steps (Proverbs 16:9).

I thought my foot was slipping, but the steadfast love of the LORD held me up (Psalm 94:18).

I had to learn that it is God who makes my path straight (Proverbs 3:6).

It was God’s word that was a lamp to my feet and a light to my path (Psalm 119:105).

I wanted to go my own way, but I saw again and again, “All the paths of the LORD are steadfast love and faithfulness, for those who keep his covenant and his testimonies.” Psalm 25:10

Lord, our lives, our days, and our paths are marked out by You. In Christ’s name, amen.

Walking,

AB