Only One Name, Only One Verse

In my walk with the Lord, I’ve discovered that one verse can sustain me in times of crisis or challenge. Most of us have chosen what we call “life verses.” Mine is Philippians 4:13: “I can do all things through Christ Who strengthens me.” This verse has repeatedly exhorted and encouraged me when times were tough. And every verse in my favorite, Psalm 23, is a stand-alone verse. I’ve also learned that speaking out only the name of Jesus is enough to fill me with peace and assurance.

     The most vivid moment for me happened years ago in Romania when doors opened for adoptions. We were among many couples from the west searching to adopt a child. We prayed for months prior to our trip to Romania drawing her name from scripture. The Lord assured us that we would discover our baby daughter with His help and the help of our faithful Romanian translator. In Romania, following many leads, inquiries, and dead ends, we almost gave up hope in despair and frustration. Finally, in the late morning on the last week day before our scheduled departure via car and plane, we met-in the arms of her birth mother-a tiny infant wrapped like a papoose in a cigarette-smoke filled Romania courthouse. 

     I looked into her doll-like face asking myself, “Is this her Lord? What should we do?” We learned that her birth mother lived in a small house with 13 people on $25 a month. She knew her baby daughter would not thrive and wanted a better life for her. 

     My husband Paul fell instantly in love with her. Yet, my cautious nature swept in filling my mind with fear. My husband wisely suggested that I walk down the hall and pray because the decision was almost immediate to set a court date to move forward with adoption procedures. I found myself staring out of a tall second-story courthouse window with my life flashing in front of my eyes. Is this our daughter? What should we do? I couldn’t even pray or repeat a bible verse. All I could muster was saying “Jesus” over and over and over. My husband came to my side a few minutes later. “Arlene, what’s your decision? I don’t want to pressure you but time’s run out.” Looking at him, I asked, “Paul, are you convinced that this is our daughter?” 
     

The Lord assured me that my answer rested in Paul's joyous reminder. “Arlene, for months we’ve prayed and prepared for a newborn daughter. We chose a name from scripture. We’ve run across other children, but they weren’t newborns. And here she is on our last day to search before we have to take our return flight home.”

     We walked back to the brave, sacrificial birth mother. Through our translator, she agreed to sign the legal papers and appear before the Romanian court in a few days. She began unwrapping our precious baby’s white blanket, white clothing, and took off her tiny white crocheted cap. She only weighed four pounds, four ounces at 28 days old. Our translator explained that the clothes were borrowed! Fortunately, our almost three-year-old son was with us and we covered his baby sister in his small rain jacket. Later, we excitedly dressed her in the tiny clothes we brought from the states.

     Yes, be encouraged. God’s words in His scripture are life-giving. And sometimes only saying the name of Jesus is more than enough.
#PickAVerse

The Torn Curtain

     In a physical feat only the mighty Hands of God could achieve, He tore the purple, scarlet, and blue veil/curtain in The Temple in two. It happened at the moment Jesus exhaled His last breath of agony on the cross.  Matthew 27:51 verifies it. “At that moment the curtain of the temple was torn in two from top to bottom. The earth shook, the rocks split.”  

Luke 23:44 wrote it this way, “It was now about the sixth hour, and darkness came over the whole land until the ninth hour, for the sun stopped shining. And the curtain of the temple was torn in two.”

Imagine for a moment the chaos and fright of an earthquake, the sun turning off like a lamp, and darkness covering the land. Imagine the Priests’ stark terror and screams when they saw the curtain rent in two. It was incomprehensible.

     
For us in today’s world, curtains are coverings for our windows, available in many styles, sizes, colors, and patterns. Keep in mind though, the Temple curtain was not a window dressing. It served as a heavy barrier; 60 feet high, 30 feet wide and four inches thick. The curtain hung between the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. For generations, from the exodus from Egypt until Jesus’ time and until 70A.D. the Jews viewed the Holy of Holies as the place of God’s Shekinah glory. Only the High Priest could enter the Holy of Holies and only once a year on the Day of Atonement-Yom Kippur.

On that day, the High Priest wore bells on the hem of his garment. If the bells stopped tinkling, the other priests assumed he had fallen or died. It is said that a rope tied around his ankle provided a  way for them to pull the High Priest out.  

Throughout the centuries from the movable Tabernacle in the desert, then Shiloh, and the First and Second Temples, the Jewish people revered the Holy of Holies with a profound sense of awe and fear. Three walls plated with gold comprised the Holy Place with one wall covered with a richly  embroidered veil. A beautiful aroma of incense filled the Holy Place which contained candlelight and fresh bread; a feast for the senses. The Holy Place symbolized bread for sustenance, the incense of prayers rising to God and candlelight for God’s singular light of life.

Yet when God tore the veil in two, He changed the course of human history in our approach to Him. Priests were no longer needed as an intermediary to ask God for forgiveness of sins. They were no longer needed once a year to sprinkle the blood of sacrificial animals and to light incense. Rending the massive curtain in two, God welcomed us into the Holy of Holies- the resting place for the Ark of the Covenant containing the Ten Commandment tablets and its lid, a Mercy Seat of gold.  

God’s beloved Son, His Perfect Lamb, became THE High Priest forever, pouring out His sacrificial blood making a path to approach God the Father directly. Hebrews 10:20 states, “Just as the veil was torn in two so Jesus’ body was torn to give us access to the Holy of Holies .” 

When we invite  Jesus into our hearts, we come under His tallit, His prayer shawl, under His blood covering. A song I wrote with the inspiration of the Holy Spirit, describes it this way: 
Yeshua, you are the one who tore the veil in two. I stepped inside, you welcomed me to share this place with you…both Gentile and Jew. Under Your tallit, I dwell safe and secure. Under Your tallit, my hiding place is sure. Though life if full of struggle, your joy is fuller still. Under Your tallit I’m in your sovereign will. (C) Under Your Tallit 1999

While the physical rending of the curtain was spectacular, Jesus, our sacrificial Substitute bridged the cavernous, impassable gap between Holy God the Father and us.  Jesus is now our great High Priest making a forever path to a living, relationship with Him guaranteeing our eternal destination. The Lamb took His place as the only and forever High Priest.

"The cross shows us the seriousness of our sin-but it also shows us
the immeasurable love of God." -Billy Graham 

Sunrises with Jesus-Look Beyond!

 

“Evil and pain will not have the last word. The valley of the shadow

of death is not our final destination.”  Rev. Dr. Michael Jinkins

LOOK BEYOND! 

 

World history is replete with evil doings. Evidence abounds today that we face toxic problems that infect our world and our personal lives in some way. It is easy to slip into pessimism and even despair. What are the solutions? 

First, set our sights on our eternal destination. Embrace the fact that this world is not our permanent address. Secondly, while setting our sights on heaven, we must count on the Holy Spirit to glow through us with the Lord’s love to offer meaning to the lives of our families, friends, and others here and abroad. Many nations and peoples desperately need our prayers and actions expressed in the Lord’s love and mercy. 

Lastly, this verse is helpful when I am distracted with worry and pain, when optimism is on vacation. Philippians 4:8: “Finally whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable-if anything is excellent or praiseworthy-think about such things.” 

 

Yes, we live in a paradox. Heaven stretches out before us. And earth needs our loving attention and action. We have two hands. Hold heaven in one and earth in the other. Be encouraged.

Does God Swear?

You may be surprised by the answer but it’s true. God swears. 

In Genesis 22: 16-18 God speaks, “By Myself I have sworn,” declares the LORD, that because you have done this and have not withheld your only son,  I will surely bless you, and I will multiply your descendants like the stars in the sky and the sand on the seashore…And through your offspring all nations of the earth will be blessed, because you have obeyed My voice.”  

        

     God’s swearing  is not like our popular conception of ugly swearing. The word “swear” includes synonyms like solemn oath, vow, and promise.  In a court of law, we are familiar with taking an oath to tell the truth by placing a hand on the bible. And in the pages of the bible itself,  God makes it clear that He is a promise-keeping God. One of the best illustrations is God’s promises to Abraham through a series of events and interactions. God’s ancient vow to Abraham is profoundly filled in the modern Jewish state of Israel. Despite all odds. 

     An oath is considered weightier than a promise. It is solemn. God’s promise to Abraham transitioned into an oath, a vow, because God wanted to put an exclamation point on the unchangeable character of His purposes. He made a solemn declaration to keep His covenants with the Jewish people. It is amazing to then understand His pursuit and inclusion of us non-Jews who have been adopted into the promises. That the God of the universe would pursue us with His love, promises, and goodness is next to incomprehensible. 

     The author of Hebrews says that God's oath is a sure and steadfast anchor of the soul allowing us into the holy of holies. It is quite amazing to think that God swears an oath to us, His children.  In a court of law, we take an oath and swear on the Bible yet God in His own divine self swears by Himself. When God made his promise to Abraham, since there was no one greater for Him to swear by, He swore by Himself, saying, “I will surely bless you and give you many descendants.” 

     And after waiting patiently, Abraham received what was promised. God the Father goes out of His way to assure us of fulfilling His promises to those who trust and believe in Him. Repeatedly in scripture we read about His pursuit of His chosen people,  the Jews. Surely this is a hope and an anchor for the soul in the midst of the storms of life. With so much uncertainty in the world it's more important than ever. We don't know how suddenly any life can change in the twinkling of an eye, so we surely need a strong, unchangeable anchor for our souls. 

     Hebrews 6:17-20 "Because God wanted to make the unchanging nature of his purpose very clear to the heirs of what was promised, He confirmed it with an oath. God did this so that, by two unchangeable things in which it is impossible for God to lie, we who have fled to take hold of the hope set before us may be greatly encouraged. We have this hope as an anchor for the soul, firm and secure. It enters the inner sanctuary behind the curtain, where our forerunner, Jesus, has entered on our behalf." 

“God’s promises are like the stars; the darker the night the brighter they shine.” Author David Nicholas-Professor of History, Clemson University

TRANSFORMATION-Singing While Shackled

If we want to glean encouragement from a transformative moment, Acts 16: 23-37 is the place to go. Paul and Silas are highlighted as examples of hope during deprivation for counting on Jesus in terrible circumstances. The Roman prisons were notorious for their dark, windowless cells, their heavy chains, and scant food if any. Dungeons are usually underground. 

On this occasion, Paul and Silas suffered with beatings after prison guards stripped them. The guards threw them into the innermost cells and bound their feet in chains. Try to imagine the surprises among prisoners and guards to hear them singing while shackled and sitting in the middle of a darkness beyond dark. Frankly, I cannot imagine doing the same.

I’m guessing Paul and Silas sang the Psalms, until suddenly an earthquake hit throwing every prison bar open. The prisoners’ chains literally fell off, with no keys, and no guards unlocking them. The shock and amazement fell on the prisoners and the jailer awakening from his sleep.
When the jailer realized that all the prison bars opened, he unsheathed his sword to commit suicide since he anticipated that all the prisoners had escaped. Why would this guard attempt suicide? The Romans likely killed their jailers when prisoners escaped. 

However, Paul called out, “We’re all here. Don’t kill yourself.” The jailer asked a guard to bring a torch to verify what Paul shouted. When he saw the truth, he fell down in front of Paul and Silas and asked, “What must I do to be saved?”

The scripture passage does not tell us about all the previous interactions between Paul, Silas and their jailer. My guess; he was shocked first that they took their punishment in a brave, non-abusive way and then later heard them singing as he fell asleep. I’m sure that the jailer never met any prisoners like this duo! 

The story goes on to relate that Paul and Silas shared the good news of Jesus and how to enter a relationship with Him. His acceptance of Jesus is obvious when we read that the jailer washed Paul and Silas’ wounds. I wish the jailer’s name was known but we read that he took them to his family home, fed them, and the jailer’s family was baptized. Scripture relates that he and his family experienced joy. Later, the jailer was told by the authorities that they were to be released. 

The jailer experienced true transformation. Paul and Silas lived out their faith in a setting that was beyond awful. Their witness was transformative. The earthquake’s occurrence is interesting too. The iron doors of the cells sprang open, prisoners were released from chains, but the prison walls didn’t crumble around them. God enacted very specific results during the quake. The impact on the jailer led to his salvation and the salvation of his family.

While none of us might face earthquakes or imprisonment, are we living our lives as believers who bring hope to others even during problems that beset us? Recall some of your most precious moments of transformation. I pray that I-and every believer- will draw added ability with Jesus’ help to stand strong in adversity. Transformation is available to all of us with the help of His precious Holy Spirit.

“Out of suffering have emerged the strongest souls; the most massive characters are seared with scars.”  – Khalil Gibran