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So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand. - Isaiah 41:10

Last Monday I had the privilege of holding a brief (out in the wet snow) graveside service for a person who had passed away early in the month. I pondered what Scripture I should share, I zeroed in on Isaiah 41:10. I did so because it really spoke to me; as I contemplated it I took great comfort.  Isaiah writes, “So do not fear, for I am with you; do not be dismayed, for I am your God. I will strengthen you and help you; I will uphold you with my righteous right hand.”

I shared that so much of the time, we tend to feel, is up to us.  Including our salvation, we want…we insist, on being in charge. Yet early on in the Bible prophets like Isaiah already knew the score.  If it were up to us…seriously...then we all would fail.  So God through Isaiah basically says….don’t fret. I’ve got your back.  

Got fear? I am with you.  Dismayed? I am your God.  Weak and anxious?  I will strengthen you; I will help you; I will uphold you in my hand.

All the action here is on God’s part.  100%

Jesus embodied this concept all the way to the cross.  Sometimes we think we have work and earn our salvation.  Our salvation has already been accomplished by Jesus on the cross.  He did all the dirty work. Worried about it?  Jesus has our back. You still have to accept Jesus' work (visit Romans 10:9), ultimately you have trust that he did what he came to do.

So it is at times like this, when we stand at the grave, that we should take great comfort in what Scripture has to say.  Ultimately trust in Jesus.  And allow him to have our backs.

The work has been done….

And I, for one, am grateful. 

Hammer

Do not be deceived: God is not mocked, for whatever one sows, that will he also reap. For the one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.” Galatians 6:7-8

This is a hammer passage.  What I mean by that is that it can be and has been used to beat up on people. It is a hammer passage. It is easy to look at a passage like this and use it to point out other people’s behavior.  I suspect I have done so on occasion in my life.  But these words are nestled amidst other words from Paul that says things like, “bear one another's burdens” (visit Galatians 6:2) and “let us not grow weary of doing good.” (Galatians 6:9).  All of Paul’s exaltations here in these passages are inwardly focused towards the reader; in this case the reader is me.

Yes I am work at bearing other’s burdens, though I do so imperfectly. I try not to tire of doing good, but I do get weary. Paul here is talking  more about motivation; he makes it clear that if I am doing things for the purpose of gratifying my own flesh, I will reap “corruption,” and in doing so I attempt to mock God. 

This is a hammer verse.  Not for me or anyone else to use on another person. But one to use on ourselves. “The one who sows to his own flesh will from the flesh reap corruption, but the one who sows to the Spirit will from the Spirit reap eternal life.”  It is so easy to forget who it is we belong to and live only by the flesh.

Which means even as a truster and follower of Jesus Christ I have decisions to make. Every day. To what end am I going to sow?  To the flesh...or to the Spirit?  And so I ask for forgiveness; of the too many times I’ve have sown my own flesh, Lord use that hammer to continue to turn me to sowing to the Spirit.

So let us not be deceived, but Lord help us to focus on where our sowing is going.  And use that hammer on us occasionally.  But keep that hammer out of our hands.

2015

"Because of the LORD's great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness." - Lamentations 3:22-23

As we celebrate the coming of a new year, realize that every day holds the possibility of a new start...not just today. Yes, happy New Year, but maybe more important is the promise God makes for all our mornings, that "his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness."

Happy New Year, happy new day!

Listen to Sarah Groves' "He's Always Been Faithful to Me"