At the last night of summer camp as a teenager, I felt conspicuous as I stood alone in a group of campers. When one of them mocked me, I felt hurt. I ran back to my tent, pretending to sleep when the group leader checked on me. The next morning I avoided her attempt to talk about it.
She later wrote to me, helping me understand that God truly cared for me. She quoted from the apostle Paul: we can be “confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus” (Philippians 1:6). I felt like the apostle’s words were directed right to me.
Paul wrote to the church at Philippi, which he’d planted over a decade earlier, to encourage them to root their love for God and each other “in knowledge and depth of insight” (v. 9). God would carry on His work in and through them as He filled them “with the fruit of righteousness that comes through Jesus Christ” (v. 11). At the time I didn’t understand the original context, but I started to comprehend that my identity as one loved by God came from knowing and accepting the love of Jesus.
God desires that we receive His love and that it would abound in us more and more. As He fills us with His joy and peace, we’ll grow in the knowledge not only of Him but of His good work in us.
London is a cosmopolitan city, with people from many nations living side by side. This coming together of people from around the world can bring much richness—including amazing food—but it also has its challenges. For instance, I was saddened to hear that our friends from one European country felt they were the least respected in London because their country had been admitted to the European Union more recently. They felt overlooked, blamed for problems, and resented for the jobs they secured.
Since God doesn’t show favoritism, neither should we. He desires to break down the barriers between people. We see His Spirit at work in Peter’s revelation while praying on the rooftop, and how Peter was called to minister to Cornelius, a God-fearing gentile. God helped Peter evaluate the Jewish regulations about not associating with gentiles. The apostle listened and went to Cornelius’ home to share the good news of Jesus. He said, “I now realize how true it is that God does not show favoritism but accepts from every nation the one who fears him and does what is right” (Acts 10:34–35).
Those who follow Jesus are called to love and serve all those who are made in the image of Christ. Part of that mission is to not to show favoritism for people from certain nations or with particular skin colors. May we learn to seek justice and to defend the oppressed as God guides us (Isaiah 1:17).
Many historians believe that the first-ever radio broadcast of music and speech was heard by radio operators on US Navy and other ships in the Atlantic on Christmas Eve, 1906. Instead of the usual beeps and pulses to transmit codes, they listened to Reginald Fessenden play a violin solo of the Christmas carol, “O, Holy Night.” Fessenden closed his broadcast by echoing the angels’ praise: “Glory to God in the highest heaven!” (Luke 2:14). The listeners must have been startled by the evocative music and statement of praise over the birth of Jesus.
The first people surprised by Jesus’ birth were the shepherds who’d been keeping to their usual business of watching their sheep at night. Then an angel appeared, shining with the glory of God and giving the shepherds a fright. The angel urged them not to be afraid and declared: “I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Savior has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord” (vv. 10–11). The shepherds left their sheep to investigate the angel’s words and found the baby lying in a manger, just as they had been told (vv. 16, 20).
The shepherds accepted this good news of great joy. May we too rejoice and share the wonders of Jesus’ birth and life.
For her daily devotions, Julie began singing the Scriptures. “As I sang, my heart and mind actually began to do and believe what I was singing about!” Through vocalizing God’s Word in song, Julie wanted His truth to shed light on the things she disliked about herself, such as her voice and her height.
She said: “I began to sing from Song of Solomon 1:5: ‘Dark I am, yet lovely.’ ” (In that agrarian culture, a woman tanned by the sun wasn’t seen as beautiful.) Singing this Scripture passage, God changed her thoughts. Suddenly she understood: “God loves me even though I am not perfect.”
Julie sang from a beautiful poem from the Old Testament’s Wisdom Literature. Some people interpret the Song of Songs as an allegory of God’s love for His people, but many view it as a celebration of marital love. In witnessing the beauty of the couple’s commitment to each other, we can echo the friends’ words: “We rejoice and delight in you; we will praise your love more than wine” (v. 4).
However we interpret these ancient words, we can affirm with Julie that God revels in His chosen people. As He says elsewhere in the Old Testament: “You are precious and honored in my sight, and . . . I love you” (Isaiah 43:4).
During the Blitz on London on December 29, 1940, a bomb destroyed a warehouse near St. Paul’s Cathedral and the resulting fire raged for two days. When Biddy Chambers received the news that all 40,000 copies of Oswald Chambers’ books stored there were lost—which she had compiled and edited but not insured—she set down her tea cup and remarked to her daughter, “Well, God has used the books for His glory, but now that is over. We’ll wait and see what God will do now.”
Perhaps Biddy was remembering what Oswald had written at the start of the First World War before his death. He noted how Jesus spoke to His disciples about “the inevitability of peril” so that when horrible things happened, they would “not be scared” because He was with them.
Indeed, Jesus told His friends of the trials they would face: “In this world you will have trouble. But,” He continued, “take heart! I have overcome the world” (John 16:33). He wanted them to remain strong in their faith in His Father so they could withstand the trials and challenges they would endure.
Biddy’s quiet confidence in God carried her through, and eventually the books were reprinted and became classics for generations. We too can find encouragement and hope in Jesus’ promises that He has overcome the world. We know that He won’t leave us (14:18) and will give us peace (v. 27), no matter what we face.
In the Holy Land, we loved walking where Jesus walked. Now I can more easily imagine the sights and sounds from His earthly life. But climbing up and down the uneven stones of the churches and countryside left its mark, and I arrived home with sore knees. Yet my ailments were minor compared with those journeying centuries ago, who not only experienced aching joints but suffered greatly—and even died. But God was with them.
God called His people to follow Him and invited them to live in a flourishing “land flowing with milk and honey” (Exodus 3:8). He knew that as they entered the promised land, they would face danger from opposing armies and obstacles such as walled cities. God had been with them for forty years in their desert wanderings and wouldn’t abandon them now. He promised Joshua, the new leader, His presence with them: “I will be with you; I will never leave you nor forsake you” (Joshua 1:5). Joshua would face challenges and hardships, needing to be strong and courageous, but God would help him to do so.
We who believe in Jesus, whether we’re called to stay or to go, will face dangers, challenges, and suffering in this life. But we can hold on to the promises of our God who will never leave us. Because of Him, we too can be strong and courageous.
I viewed the opening displays of the 9/11 Memorial & Museum in New York City with curiosity but kept my emotions in check. That changed when we entered the inner exhibit, which the curators have wisely closed off from children and those wanting to shield themselves from the more heartrending images. As I encountered story after story of heartbreak and loss, waves of lament rose within me.
When we witness or remember such destruction and pain, we can join the cries of those who have voiced their distress to God. This includes the words of anguish found in Lamentations, which many scholars believe the prophet Jeremiah wrote after the destruction of Jerusalem. In the tightly formed structure of this poem, he releases his sorrow and grief over the pain of God’s people: “See,
This kind of honest crying out to God can help us to grapple with painful atrocities such as what happened on September 11, 2001, or other current-day evil deeds. We look to God for help, hope, comfort, and justice.
Josephine Butler, a prominent minister’s wife, found herself campaigning for the rights of women accused (often unjustly) of being “ladies of the night,” those seen in society as the “least desirables.” Spurred on by her deep faith in God, she fought for years against the British Contagious Diseases Acts of the 1860s, which subjected women to cruel and invasive “medical” exams.
In 1883, during the parliamentary debate over a bill to repeal the Acts, she joined women in Westminster to pray. She was moved by the sight of the “most ragged and miserable women from the slums” alongside “ladies of high rank,” all weeping and asking God for protection of the vulnerable. To their joy, the bill passed.
Josephine’s call to act justly echoes the words of the prophet Jeremiah, who delivered God’s message to evil kings. Jeremiah said, “Do what is just and right. Rescue from the hand of the oppressor the one who has been robbed.” And do “no wrong or violence to the foreigner, the fatherless or the widow” (Jeremiah 22:3). God wanted to shield those who couldn’t defend themselves against the powerful.
God can spur us to action too, helping us to discern inequalities and to speak and take measures against them. He who hates abuse empowers us to uphold justice and defend the weak.
Some years ago, after exchanging heated words, Carolyn and I resolved our conflict through compassion and love for each other. I confessed my wrongdoing, and she prayed for me, referencing Ezekiel 36:26: “I will give you a new heart and put a new spirit in you; I will remove from you your heart of stone and give you a heart of flesh.” I sensed that God was conducting a form of spiritual heart surgery on me, taking away my fears and bitterness as He enfolded me in His love.
God delights for us to engage with the Scriptures as I did back then, but it’s important to note the passage’s original context. Ezekiel spoke on God’s behalf to His people with the promise that He would cleanse them. Why? “It is not for your sake . . . I am going to do these things, but for the sake of my holy name” (v. 22). God would do His purifying work among His people so that all the nations would revere Him and know that He is God.
God works His purposes in our lives not only to help us flourish and grow, but so we would bring Him honor. Even as He gave the Israelites the promise of a new heart and a new spirit, so through the inward work of the Holy Spirit, God replaces our cold and hardened hearts with those that receive and share His love and life.
