The Deep End

“Above all, be strong and very courageous to carefully observe the whole instruction…Do not turn from it to the right or the left, so that you will have success wherever you go.” Joshua 1:7.

When my niece was a small child my sister was introducing her to the pool teaching her to respect water. She gradually got my niece to the point where she was going to catch her as she jumped in the water which was over her head. Over and over Benay, with outstretched arms encouraged Kylie to jump into the deep end by counting to three. I can still see Kylie on the side of pool biting her fingernails wanting to jump but fearful to jump into the deep end. One of the cutest things she ever said was when Benay had counted out ‘One...two…’ and Kylie screamed, ‘No three Mommy! No three!’

There have been some ‘deep ends’ in my own life where I pleaded with God, ‘No three Lord! Please no three!’ Deep ends are scary, and we will all face them at some point in our lives. One day we are wading through the normalcy of our lives, only to suddenly feel the drop below our feet. We lack control over many of the things that affect us, so we had better focus on the Words of God who with outstretched arms will catch us when we jump. His words will cover us with encouragement and splash us with refreshing comfort. Our verse today tells us that our success is not through our own courage, but courage obtained through the word of God. Many times when we find ourselves in the deep end we take short cuts to get out instead of trusting God. ‘True courage has little to do with earthly bravery and everything to do with heavenly focus. Instead of keeping our gaze on the deep end before us or the shallow end behind us, let’s keep our gaze steady on our heavenly Father who is always with us. He will never leave you or let you down.’ Ready – Having Courage When Facing the Unknown, Heather M Dixon, p. 34.

This past week our pastor made a statement that was very powerful for me when considering our deep ends. He said, ‘We may be powerless to prevent but we are empowered to prevail.’

Ready Our Heart

"Now therefore, arise, go...to the land which I am giving...For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success.  Have I not commanded you?  Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the LORD your God is with you wherever you go." Joshua 1:2, 8b-9.

It is easy to rush past this emotional scene.  Joshua had known and loved Moses for the biggest part of his life since Scripture tells us that Joshua’s grandfather Elishama was previously chosen to lead alongside Moses. (Numbers 7:48-53).  Through the years Joshua was elevated to the role of assistant to Moses.  Our morning passage is a beautiful string of encouraging words from God to Joshua as he was grieving the loss of his beloved friend, mentor and leader.  What Moses began Joshua was being called to finish.  Going to the new land would take grit… courage…obedience…acceptance.  Not only was Joshua being called to accept the loss of Moses, but he was being called to ‘arise…go…lead.’  It is no coincidence that the passage only promises the blessing once Joshua take that first step.

So many of us are being asked to do things that we feel may not be the right timing or the right place.  Some of us may not feel strong enough…good enough…stable enough to accomplish the things that God has put before us to prosper our lives.  Just like with Joshua, God can see the end results and the blessings in the plan that He has designed for us.  God was already up ahead and had gone before Joshua.  But he faced a big decision at the worst time offered…while he was grieving.  I love how God called him to a new way promising prosperity and success, but more than that promising Joshua His presence.  I believe that God prompted him to get up and get ready because it would have been easy for Joshua to miss God’s opportunity and blessing.  ‘When we allow God to ready our hearts for the unknown, we welcome the blessings of the Promised Land living…When God calls you…He equips you with everything you need to sustain it.  But the first thing He will ask you to do is rise.’ Ready – Finding the Courage to Face the Unknown, Heather M Dixon, p. 33.

It takes courage and strength to continue to keep moving in our grief.  It takes embracing God’s plan over our plan to see the new way that He is making.  It takes prayer…plenty of prayer…to discern how God is leading us for the next season in our lives.  If we have a listening ear and a willing heart, God will reveal the new land that is up ahead...but first...we must get up and move.

First Fruits

“See, I have called by name… And I have filled him with the Spirit of God, in wisdom, in understanding, in knowledge, and in all manner of workmanship.” Ex 31:2-3.

We like to think that things are so different than centuries ago, but God’s calendar rarely boasts new dealings with mankind. He is true to Himself, never changing but revealing His heart to us and His plan for us. Before Feb of 2006 I never had any interest or talents in writing. It was never on my radar and gave the Bible little thought as I awoke each morning. I had been raised in the church and was shown daily spiritual principles by my parents and grandparents. But those faithful saints who exemplified faith to us can’t know God for us. At 45 God filled me with a desire to draw closer to Him and to the Bible. It was only through my new pursuit of meditation on His word did God step right out of the pages of the Bible and into my mind and heart. It was only through that newly directed intimate fellowship that I discovered the workmanship He placed in my life…His workmanship…His call that He had predetermined before I even existed. It is the same call on your life no matter how you fill your days. ‘For we are His workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works, which God prepared beforehand that we should walk in them.’ Ephesians 2:10.

I used to try to be like other people before God showed me that the only person for whom we should emulate is Jesus Christ. Jesus didn’t do one activity until He had spent time in fellowship with God through prayer. The work of His hands was the overflow of His heart for God and we are no different. We all have calendars bursting with obligations, invitations and commitments. But not one of these entries will be filled with its best version without giving God the ‘first fruits’ of our day. Just like in our verse above, our wisdom, understanding and knowledge comes from God and not from any other source. Why wouldn’t we seek all these things before we begin our activities for the day?

God has prepared special and purposeful things for each of us in our work. We can only know the path He has laid out before us when we give Him our time to receive the guidance. If we are not careful we will load our day down with things of little purpose and things that lack satisfaction. ‘With God’s guidance, we must chart out our own course. We must be solely and exactly who God designed us to be, and not someone else. God has designed and equipped you to do a very specific job at a very specific time in a very specific place.’ Ready – Finding the Courage to Face the Unknown, Heather M Dixon, p. 28.

Walking in Courage

“Then Moses went and spoke…to all Israel. ‘I am one hundred and twenty years old today…the LORD has said to me, ‘You shall not cross over this Jordan.’ The LORD your God Himself crosses over before you.’ De 31:1, 3. ‘Then the LORD spoke to Moses… ‘Go up this mountain…you shall see the land before you, though you shall not go there.’” De 32:48-52.

Joshua had grown up watching the leadership of Moses and had served him well as friend, student and servant. Moses had dealt with the children of Israel for 40 years. At one point he got so angry at them he disobeyed God and his pride cost him entry into the Promised Land. Even back then, some of God’s most devoted servants didn’t get the desire of their heart. God had used Moses miraculously and Moses had served God relentlessly. But on this day…his birthday…he not only accepted God’s will for his life but embraced who God chose to carry the people into the land He was giving them. In one of the most beautiful acts of surrender and most eloquent speeches in the Bible Moses presented his blessing to the next leader who God raised up. But God in His rich love for Moses encouraged him to go up the mountain and get a glimpse of the land that Moses led the nation to. He was able to see the end results of 40 years of service, sacrifice and obedience. Very soon after that the Lord gathered Moses into His arms and carried Him to heaven…the real Promised Land. No doubt Joshua felt unworthy, unprepared, unequipped and most certainly fearful to carry out God's plan. But Moses left Joshua with the same promise that the Bible leaves us with… ‘Be strong and of good courage, do not fear or be afraid…for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you.’ De 31:6.

Who needs to hear that verse this morning? Is it the person who is grieving for the loved one who God whisked home? Is it the woman who is waiting on the desire of her heart to be fulfilled with no evidence in sight? Is it the man who has been called to another job and doesn’t feel equipped? Is it the person who must lay down their dream and pick up God’s will? Whether we are walking in Moses’ sandals realizing that the outcome is not what we wanted, or like Joshua who faced a new challenge… a new land…a new calling, we all possess the beautiful promises of Deuteronomy. God is the only One who truly goes with us, beside us and in front of us. Through His power we can walk in strength and courage no matter what we face. Through His confidence we can denounce our fears and anxieties. Through His promise we can trust that we will never walk alone or be abandoned.

He is our portion and our anchor…always enough and always secure. That is our Savior and our God.

Same Day Promise

“And the LORD God formed man…and breathed into his nostrils the breath of life.” Ge 2:7.

“And when Jesus cried out with a loud voice…He breathed His last breath.” Luke 23:46b.

The cycle of life…the first breath from God celebrated with our loved ones while the last breath from God we dedicate them back to Him.   The cycle of life hurts when both ends of the circle meet on earth.  Jesus fully understood this as He knew His life was coming to an end at only 33 years old.  Think about how young that is and how much living usually happens on the other side of it.  But Jesus knew that only so many breaths were assigned to Him on earth before His purpose was fulfilled.  And what a purpose that was…one that every believer on this earth can claim as their reality with their final breath.  But the relic that is our comfort is a little verse tucked the moment before Christ inhaled earth for the last time.  As Jesus was barely alive laboring to breathe no doubt, the criminal who deserved the cross whispered to Jesus, ‘Lord, remember me when You come into Your kingdom.’ Luke 23:43. And hanging beside the King of Kings the guilty criminal doomed to die heard the words of life instead.  “And Jesus said to him, ‘Assuredly, I say to you, today you will be with me in Paradise.’” Those were the very words that allowed the criminal to bid farewell in peace, and the same words that comfort us to accept death on earth… the certainty of the ‘same day Promise.’

‘It is God’s breath that fills and sustains us.  We cannot run from it, nor do we have to work for it.  We simply have to receive it.  God fills us with life and love with every breath we take.’ Determined, Heather M Dixon, p. 191.    While we must wait on the majority of promises that God gives us, this beautiful promise is given the same day we breathe our last breath on earth.  The same day Promise is what allows us to picture wholeness for our loved ones the afternoon that sickness took them that morning.  The same day Promise is what allows us to embrace that where captivity held a family member on earth, they now are running free in Heaven.  It is the promise that a day left on earth is a blessing we have been assigned.  There is a beautiful statement attributed to Alice Morse Earle: ‘Yesterday is history.  Tomorrow is a mystery.  Today is a gift.  That’s why it is called the present.’ 

I am humbled that Jesus used His last few breaths to give us a promise so assuring and so comforting.  If we or our loved ones have closed their eyes to earth, the same day the opened their eyes to Jesus.  The number of our breaths were assigned at the beginning of our lives.  ‘Each breath holds a rare moment of blessing that repeats itself every time we are willing to acknowledge its divine benefactor.’ Determined, p. 192.

“You saw me before I was born.  Every day of my life was recorded in your book.  Every moment was laid out before a single day had passed.” Psalm 139:16.

Reversal of Fortune

“What is this you have done?” Ge 3:13

Creation barely got going before perfection was spoiled.  This was God’s question to Adam and Eve after they had touched and eaten the forbidden fruit. What a short-lived reality, one that would put Plan B into motion.  Humanity’s decision to grab the fruit of the forbidden tree set up a showdown of what began in the garden as a blessing to what would end in the Garden of Gethsemane.  Adam and Eve, dressed only in their new-found awareness of shame hid themselves ‘from the presence of God.’ They heard Him approaching and quietly crouching, hoped He would walk on by…they certainly didn’t cry out to Him...they didn’t want to be found.  As they silently separated themselves from God Jesus on bent knees cried out to God in another garden.  The guilt of sin drove them into the garden’s seclusion while Jesus in desperation prayed for God’s presence.  Jesus would pour out the cup of sacrifice through His death that mankind had filled up with sin.  ‘What began in the garden ended in the garden.’ Determined, Heather Dixon, p. 183. “And while He was still speaking…Having arrested Him…Jesus cried out with a loud voice, He said, ‘Father, into your hands I commit My spirit.’ Having said this, He breathed His last.” Luke 22:54, 23:46.  Because mankind stole from a forbidden tree, Christ was sacrificed on one. 

‘What is this you have done?’  Each of us has felt the sting of conviction from this question in our lives.  We have all reached up to that fruit knowing it wasn’t good for us. We have moved away from God at some point in our lives.  We have felt the shame of sin and the guilt of our choices.  But this morning as I sit thinking about what Jesus did for you and for me, I find myself both humbled and grateful for the sacrifice He made for us.  Oh Jesus, what is this you have done?  You have loved us when we didn’t love ourselves.  You have found us when we were lost in our sin.  You have saved us when we were dead in our spirit.  You have done for us what we could have never done for ourselves.

The two gardens represent perfection that turned to the imperfect and the restoration of perfection through Christ.  He reversed the consequences.  Through the determined obedience and sacrifice of Jesus, He absorbed the full weight of our sin so that one day we might once again walk in paradise. ‘Oh Jesus, thank you for what you have done!’

Our White-Knuckled Walk

“‘See, your king comes to you, righteous and victorious, lowly and riding on a donkey…’” Zechariah 9:9 “Now as He drew near, He saw the city and wept over it, saying, ‘If you had known, even you…the things that make for your peace!’” Luke 19:41.

The wonderful thing about a Bible Study is the way scholars can string together a complicated message into one we can understand. Our two verses this morning is the New Testament fulfillment of an Old Testament prophesy of the entry of Jesus riding towards His death. However, Jesus was the only one in the crowd who fully understood what lay before Him. The disciples and followers were celebrating His royal entry, bowing and spreading their garments upon the path. They had come to celebrate Him…support Him…praise Him. But the throne upon which He would be seated would be in a City not seen to man. He would first have to be exposed to suffering…to rejection…to a brokenhearted reality. As He marched towards pain and suffering, His heart was still on God’s people. He didn’t weep for His own experience, rather for the condition of the hearts of God’s children. He knew then what we need to know now…even in our most heartbreaking seasons we can have the possible peace of God in our impossible pain.

When we have been rejected, we can take peace in God’s approval…When we have been devalued by those around us, we can find our value in Jesus. When we find our circumstances in chaotic disarray, we can find order in the presence of God. When our march towards the throne of Heaven must pass through the pain of the cross we can walk in determination and trust in God. Our mission is the same as Jesus’ mission thousands of years ago. ‘As determined living takes us into situations that seem hopeless, we can find courage in a God who does the impossible…The road ahead might be excruciating and challenging – it might even demand our very lives – but we can move forward anyway. Why? Because we are born again into a divine family that refuses to give up, and the power of Christ is our inheritance.’ Determined, Heather Dixon, pp 176-177.

We all approach cities of fear…cities of grief…cities of hopelessness. But we don’t experience these city battles empty-handed. We walk towards our circumstances tightfisted in faith…white knuckled holding on to His promises…worn out knees and tear stained faces because we know what Jesus knew…that our Father alone is our answer and our destiny in Heaven is our guarantee.