No Where Else to Run

We went to a memorial service a couple of Saturdays ago for a 37 year old man. He had a heart attack. All you can do is shake your head. I suppose you could shake your fist at God, too, especially if you were his parents, burying their firstborn. Many people have done that.

But not this man's parents. They are sad. Very sad. They will miss him so much. They have stood with him as he has made difficult job choices, needed to move back home, struggled with life, as we all do. They have invested so much into their son. And in the last year, he was moving forward, largely because of their encouragement and help. And now he is gone. Vanished. He will not be coming back home to visit or to live. Just gone.

That's how death is. You love them and then they are gone. To our minds that seems so unfair. Like "what is God thinkin'?" But death is a part of living here on earth as human beings. Or even as animals, our pets. Death has, or will, touch each one of us.

And it is a truth, not trivial truth, but real truth, that we do not have to grieve as those who have not hope (I Thessalonians 4:13), if we choose not to. When someone dies, if we know they had their hope in Jesus Christ, we know they are with Him. Even if we aren't better off without them. And we know we will see them again, if we have our hope in Jesus, too.

Life is good. Life is sometimes hard. Loss of a loved one is one of the hardest things. It's strange. It's unbearable sometimes. But that's when a person just has to cling to Jesus and all that He said about trusting Him. Where else would ya go? Grief can be easier where there is hope in Jesus.

Our 37 year old friend probably wasn't expecting his pending death. But if he had been, I think he would have had a sense of fear of the unknown, but also excitement at being in the arms of Jesus.

To Be WITH His People

I have long struggled with the notion that God loves ME. I know He does - in my head. But in my heart it seems like a distant concept. And that goes along with the interpersonal struggles I've had of feeling unlove-able and unlove-ing. And the way that translates into my relationship with my God and Savior, is a problem.

That's why the obvious theme throughout the Bible is so comforting - so loving. God says over and over - and over that He wants to be the God of His people. And to be WITH them. That theme is woven into the very heart of the Bible. He often spoke about the day when "He would be their God and they would be His people." I think that is all He has ever wanted.

It must be something like this: when I talk about my relatives in the hills of eastern Tennessee, I often refer to them as "my people." I feel a bit of pride when I say that and think of the manners of speech, the old ways that I remember from my childhood - of  the faces that make up my family. My people were resourceful, independent, strong.

That must be akin to how God feels about "His people." In the Old Testament alone I have a list of at least eleven times when he told Moses to tell the people or Jeremiah, Ezekiel or Zechariah to tell the people those very words. (And I've probably missed some.) Often times it was in a warning because they had turned their backs on Him. Still, He longed to dwell among His people, walk among them - to be their God and for them to be His people in their hearts (Levititcus 26:11-12). In Jeremiah 3:19-20, He said it this way as He grieved their rebellious hearts:
   
     "How gladly would I treat you like sons [and daughters]
     and give you a desirable land, the most beautiful
     inheritance of any nation. I thought you would call me
     'Father' and not turn away from following me. But like
     a woman unfaithful to her husband, so you have been
     unfaithful to me O house of Israel." NIV

You can hear the pain in His tender words. In Ezekiel 34:31 He says,

     "'And you, my sheep, the sheep of my pasture, are MY people, and
     I am your God,' declares the sovereign Lord." NET

But, as we know, Israel would fall into idolatry and rebellion over and over again. Still He longed to be their God. So He sent Jesus the Christ to atone for their sins and to make a way for them to be, at last, His people in their heart. And, as is so clear in the Bible, this plan for redeeming His people to Himself was extended to all people of every nation and ethnicity - any who would come to God by faith in Jesus' sacrifice. Jesus made that clear in John 10, where He says many times in that chapter that He is the Good Shepherd and that He knows his sheep and his sheep knows Him. In verse 16, He says,  

     "I have other sheep that are not of this sheep pen. I must bring them also.
     They too will listen to my voice, and there shall be one flock and one shepherd."

And don't we take comfort in John 14 where Jesus says that He is going to His Father's house to prepare a place for us and that He will come back to get us so that "you also may be where I am." He prayed in John 17:24 that He wants those who God has given Him to be where He is and to see His glory."  It is and always has been the heart of God and of His Son, to be the God of His people and to dwell among them.

And finally it will happen, just as He wants. In Revelation 21, John was seeing the vision of the new heaven and the new earth and he says, "I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, 'Now the dwelling of God is with men, and he will live with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God." That is all God has ever wanted!

God loves His people, so much that He sent Jesus to buy them back. And I am included in His people by faith in my Redeemer. I am loved. He desires to be with me. And with you.

Oh, happy day! Happy forever!



(For reference, if you want to look up verses, the list I mentioned is:
Exodus 6:7, Leviticus 26:11-12, Jeremiah 7:23, 11:4, 24:7, 30:22, 32:33, 32:38, Ezekiel 34:30-31, 36:28, 37:26-27, Zechariah 13:9, John 14:2-3, 17:24, II Corinthians 6:16 and finally Revelation 21:3-4)

Oh, What a Day It Will Be

It's interesting. I grew up spending a fair amount of time around my grandparents in Tennessee. My maternal grandfather loved his grandchildren. I remember him taking me, or my sister, or one of my cousins - and later his great grand children (including my firstborn), and saying how much he loved us - as much as his own children, he'd say. He was very loving and also a rascal - he loved to tease my grandmother by scaring or startling her. Then he'd laugh and laugh and retell the story over and over. He got a lot of mileage from those incidents.

Here is Grandpa when my mother was about 10, ~1945

This is around the same time
when he was a security guard
at the Oak Ridge Research Center.

This is how he loved to sit and relax after
retirement - whittling cedar sticks.

 (I posted these pictures of him because I had them. And because they bring a smile to my face.)

He loved the Bible and he loved the Lord. And he was very interested in warning his loved ones about the "end of the world" and about judgement. It was bothersome to some of the family but, for some reason, I absorbed it all like a sponge. I believe that is one of the reasons I had a deep down longing for the Lord from a young age.

However, I don't recall him really ever explaining how we, how I, could know the Lord and know that I was going to heaven to be with Him. The result of that was I grew up with an unhealthy fear of the world ending, of my world ending, and of doom & judgement. Maybe sometime I'll post about my testimony of coming to Jesus. But during all the years after I asked Jesus to live in me, and I was learning more of Him, I continued to fear "the end of the world." I think it was just so ingrained in me that I didn't really recognize it as being unnecessary, even unhealthy.

But as I grew to love Jesus more and more one day I realized that I was no longer afraid. It happened like this, I was driving in the car by myself and there before my eyes, the cloudy, stormy sky had streaks of light shining through the clouds in such a way that I thought, "Is this Jesus coming." And instead of fear, I was so excited to think I might finally see my Lord, face-to-face. And I whispered, "Jesus." And then I was excited to realize I did not fear the coming of the Lord but looked forward to it.

Obviously, that didn't happen that day but it will someday - and I won't be afraid. And you don't have to be, either.

Sometimes, as I've gotten older, I find myself longing to be with Him. I used to think people were slightly "touched" when they expressed that. And I don't have a death wish. I choose life and I think God wants us to live in that mindset, to appreciate the fact that He has blessed us with life and the opportunity to live that life in His presence. But, "what a day it will be when my Jesus I will see!" He has redeemed me, protected me, guided me, taught me, embraced me - through the Spirit. But then, it will be a physical reality. Oh my! There are no words, just tears of love and anticipation. And gratefulness.

♫ What a day that will be when my Jesus I shall see,
And I look upon his face,
The One who saved me by his grace;
When he takes me by the hand,
And leads me through the Promised Land,
What a day, glorious day that will be.
There'll be no sorrow there, no more burdens to bear,
No more sickness, no more pain, no more parting over there,
But forever I will be with the one who died for me,
What a day, glorious day that will be.♪ ♪

Lyrics by W & M: James Hill (1955) © Ben Speer
and can be found at the Blackwood Brothers website.

And it still happens from time-to-time. I see some unique, bright sunshine through clouds and wonder, "Is this the moment I will get to see Jesus? Let it be so."

Jesus, the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world. John 1:29

Image used by permission from
Mad-City Fine Arts.