Beloved pastor Andrew Murray (1828-1917) shared how in his native South Africa, various diseases affect the orange trees there. To the unpracticed eye all may seem fine, but an expert arborist can spot the rot that heralds the tree’s slow death. The only way to save the diseased tree is to remove the stem and branches from the root and graft them onto a new one. Then the tree can thrive, producing fruit.
Murray connected this illustration to the apostle Paul’s epistle to the Ephesians. From prison in Rome, Paul wrote a letter that wonderfully summarizes the gospel of Jesus Christ. His pastoral heart shines through when he prayed that the believers would be strengthened with power through Christ’s Spirit in their inner being so that He would dwell in their hearts by faith (Ephesians 3:16-17). Paul longed that they’d be “rooted and established in love” and would grasp the full measure of God’s abundant love (vv. 17-18).
As believers in Jesus, our roots sink deeply into the rich soil of God’s love, where the nutrients fortify us and help us grow. And as we’re grafted onto Jesus, His Spirit helps us to produce fruit. We may have to weather storms that bend us one way or another, but we can withstand them when we’re rooted in the Source of life and love.
Julie and her husband felt sadness and regret when they learned that their daughter had been shoplifting. But with God’s help, when she came to them weighed down with sorrow, they forgave her—and they helped her make restitution and receive counseling. Some months after the revelation, when their daughter made an offhand comment about how they might not trust her anymore, Julie wondered, What does she mean? She didn’t immediately think about her daughter’s offense because God had removed the sting of it from her mind. She had decided not to dwell in the past but had asked God to help her forgive.
In that moment God gave Julie a taste of His goodness and grace as she experienced the love He extends to His people. God told His people not to “dwell on the past” because He was doing a new thing (Isaiah 43:18-19). He also made the beautiful declaration, “I, even I, am he who blots out your transgressions, for my own sake, and remembers your sins no more” (v. 25). God could choose to hold our sins against us, but because of His love and mercy, He doesn’t. When we repent, He wipes our record clean.
Although our forgiven wrongdoing may have a negative impact on our lives and that of others, God will never hold that offense against us. He will enfold us in His mercy and grace.
Brock and Dennis were childhood friends, but as they grew up, Brock showed little interest in Dennis’ faith in Jesus. Dennis loved his friend and prayed for him because he knew the path he was going down was dark and depressing. In praying for Brock, Dennis adapted the words of the prophet Ezekiel: “Please God, remove from Brock a heart…
When theologian Todd Billings received a diagnosis of incurable blood cancer, he described his imminent mortality as like lights in distant rooms turning off or flickering. “As the father of a one- and three-year-old, I tended to think of the next few decades as an open expanse, assuming I would see Neti and Nathaniel grow and mature. . . . But in being diagnosed . . . there is a narrowing that takes place.”
In thinking about these limitations, Billings reflected on Psalm 31, how God set David in a “spacious place” (v. 8). Although David spoke of being afflicted by his enemies, he knew that God was his refuge and place of safety (v. 2). Through this song, David voiced his trust in God: “My times are in your hands” (v. 15).
Billings follows David in placing his hope in God. Although this theologian, husband, and father faces a narrowing in life, he agrees that he also lives in a spacious place. Why? Because God’s victory over death through Christ’s sacrifice means that we dwell in Christ, “the most spacious place imaginable.” As he explains, “What could be more broad and expansive than to share in His life by the Holy Spirit?”
We too may cry in lament, but we can take refuge in God, asking Him to lead us and guide us (vv. 1, 3). With David we can affirm that we live in a spacious place.
Jeremy writes, “I know quite a bit about the fear of dying. Seven years ago . . . I felt intense, sickening, dizzying, overwhelming fear when I was told I had incurable cancer.” But he learned to manage his fear by leaning on the presence of God and moving from his fear of death to embracing “the fear of the
The fear of the Lord—a deep respect and awe for our holy God—is a theme that runs throughout Scripture. King Solomon admonished his son to fear the Lord in his series of wise sayings, the Proverbs. He said that if his son would turn his “ear to wisdom” and “search for it as for hidden treasure,” then he’d “understand the fear of the
When we face challenges of many kinds and experience a sense of dread and fear, we’re reminded of our limitations. But as we turn to God, asking Him to help us humble ourselves before Him and worship Him in reverence, we’ll find He helps us to move from being fearful to embracing a healthy fear of Him.
In 1939, with the recent outbreak of war for Britain, King George VI sought in his Christmas Day radio broadcast to encourage citizens of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth to put their trust in God. Quoting a poem that his mother found precious, he said: “Go out into the darkness, and put your hand into the Hand of God. / That shall be to you better than light, and safer than a known way.” He didn’t know what the new year would bring, but he trusted God to “guide and uphold” them in the anxious days ahead.
The image of God’s hand appears in many places in the Bible, including in the book of Isaiah. Through this prophet, God called His people to trust that He as their Creator, “the first and . . . the last” (Isaiah 48:12), remains involved with them. As he says, “My own hand laid the foundations of the earth, and my right hand spread out the heavens” (v. 13). They should put their trust in Him and not look to those less powerful. After all, He’s their “Redeemer, the Holy One of Israel” (v. 17).
Whatever we face as we look toward the new year,* we can follow the encouragement of King George and the prophet Isaiah and place our hope and trust in God. Then, for us too, our peace will be like the river, our “well-being like the waves of the sea” (v. 18).
As I sat next to my friend Margaret, who was lying in her hospital bed, I took in the bustle and activity of the other patients, medical staff, and visitors. A young woman sitting nearby with her ailing mother asked Margaret, “Who are all the people who keep visiting you?” She responded, “They’re members of my church family!” The young woman remarked that she’d never seen anything like it; she felt as if so many visitors were “like tangible love poured out.” Margaret replied, smiling, “It all comes down to our love of God through His Son Jesus Christ!”
In her response, Margaret echoed the disciple John, who in his final years wrote three letters brimming with love. In his first letter, he said, “God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in them” (1 John 4:16). That is, those who acknowledge “that Jesus is the Son of God” have God living in them through “his Spirit” (vv. 13, 15). How can we show love to others? “We love because he first loved us” (v. 19).
Because of the gift of God’s love, visiting Margaret hadn’t felt like a hardship to me or others in our church. I received more than I gave, not only from Margaret, but through observing her gentle witness about her Savior, Jesus. How might God love others through you today?
Growing up together in Central Asia, Baheer and Medet were the best of friends. But when Baheer became a believer in Jesus, everything changed. After Medet reported him to government authorities, Baheer endured excruciating torture. The guard growled, “This mouth will never speak the name of Jesus again.” Though badly bloodied, Baheer managed to say that they might stop him speaking of Christ but they’d never “change what He has done in my heart.”
Those words remained with Medet. Some months later, having suffered illness and loss, he traveled to find Baheer, who had been released from prison. Turning from his pride, he asked his friend to introduce him to his Jesus.
Medet acted on the conviction of the Holy Spirit in the same way that those who gathered around Peter on the feast of Pentecost were “cut to the heart” when they witnessed God’s outpouring of grace and heard Peter’s testimony about Jesus (Acts 2:37). Peter called the people to repent and be baptized in the name of Jesus, and some three thousand did. Just as they left their old ways of life behind, so too did Medet repent and follow Jesus.
The gift of new life in Jesus is available to everyone who believes in Him. Whatever we’ve done, we can enjoy the forgiveness of our sins when we trust in Him.
In J. R. R. Tolkien’s book The Fellowship of the Rings, Bilbo Baggins starts showing the effects of carrying, for six decades, a magical ring with dark powers. Weighed down by its slowly corrosive nature, he says to the wizard Gandalf, “Why, I feel all thin, sort of stretched, if you know what I mean: like butter that has been scraped over too much bread.” He decides to leave his home in search of rest, somewhere “in peace and quiet, without a lot of relatives prying around.”
This aspect of Tolkien’s story reminds me of an Old Testament prophet’s experience. On the run from Jezebel and wrung out after his battle with false prophets, Elijah badly needed some rest. Feeling depleted, he asked God to let him die, saying, “I have had enough,
When we feel scraped thin, we too can look to God for true refreshment. We might need to care for our bodies while we also ask Him to fill us with His hope, peace, and rest. Even as the angel tended to Elijah, we can trust that God will impart His refreshing presence on us (see Matthew 11:28).
