"1 Have mercy on me, O God, according to your steadfast love; according to your abundant mercy blot out my transgressions. 2 Wash me thoroughly from my iniquity, and cleanse me from my sin! 3 For I know my transgressions, and my sin is ever before me. 4 Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you may be justified in your words and blameless in your judgment. 5 Behold, I was brought forth in iniquity, and in sin did my mother conceive me. 6 Behold, you delight in truth in the inward being, and you teach me wisdom in the secret heart. 7 Purge me with hyssop, and I shall be clean; wash me, and I shall be whiter than snow. 8 Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones that you have broken rejoice. 9 Hide your face from my sins, and blot out all my iniquities. 10 Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me. 11 Cast me not away from your presence, and take not your Holy Spirit from me. 12 Restore to me the joy of your salvation, and uphold me with a willing spirit. 13 Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will return to you. 14 Deliver me from bloodguiltiness, O God, O God of my salvation, and my tongue will sing aloud of your righteousness. 15 O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise. 16 For you will not delight in sacrifice, or I would give it; you will not be pleased with a burnt offering. 17 The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise."
Friday, April 4, 2014
Wednesday, April 2, 2014
An Incredible Love
"It wasn’t so long ago that you were mired in that old stagnant life of sin. You let the world, which doesn’t know the first thing about living, tell you how to live. You filled your lungs with polluted unbelief, and then exhaled disobedience. We all did it, all of us doing what we felt like doing, when we felt like doing it, all of us in the same boat. It’s a wonder God didn’t lose his temper and do away with the whole lot of us. Instead, immense in mercy and with an incredible love, he embraced us. He took our sin-dead lives and made us alive in Christ. He did all this on his own, with no help from us! Then he picked us up and set us down in highest heaven in company with Jesus, our Messiah."
(Ephesians 2:1-6 MSG)
Tuesday, April 1, 2014
Yeah, but...
"Yeah, but she really hasn't worked that hard here. Plus, she's rude."
She saw her own son die on the news.
"Yeah, but he had to be doing something bad and she knows it, too.
I have been overwhelmed this week by 'yeah-but-statements.'
These compassion-less comments are truly heartbreaking, both for the people these remarks are directed towards as well as those saying them.
Compassion fatigue is real, which only proves that it's not in our human nature to be close to the brokenhearted. When we tend to the hurting for long periods of time, something happens in us. A jadedness takes over and skews our perspective. Things get dark.
But it is in God's nature.
He is close to the brokenhearted.
And saves the crushed in spirit.
And yet He, Himself, is never broken.
God calls us to be compassionate, to love on those who are hurting, but He also calls us to rely on Him. We can do all things in Him, even things that are against our nature, but when we attempt to work alone, things like these 'yeah-but-statements' begin to happen. We reach a point where we just can't continue on and be effective.
It's a major problem in the helping profession, and in life in general: people trying to fix other people all on their own accord, when really it's God's work.
God is good.
He is good to us.
He is good to others.
And He's always near when we seek Him.
No "yeah-but" about it.
So the next time you think you're going to do something good for someone, do yourself and them a favor.
Seek God first.
Compassion fatigue is real, which only proves that it's not in our human nature to be close to the brokenhearted. When we tend to the hurting for long periods of time, something happens in us. A jadedness takes over and skews our perspective. Things get dark.
But it is in God's nature.
He is close to the brokenhearted.
And saves the crushed in spirit.
And yet He, Himself, is never broken.
God calls us to be compassionate, to love on those who are hurting, but He also calls us to rely on Him. We can do all things in Him, even things that are against our nature, but when we attempt to work alone, things like these 'yeah-but-statements' begin to happen. We reach a point where we just can't continue on and be effective.
It's a major problem in the helping profession, and in life in general: people trying to fix other people all on their own accord, when really it's God's work.
God is good.
He is good to us.
He is good to others.
And He's always near when we seek Him.
No "yeah-but" about it.
So the next time you think you're going to do something good for someone, do yourself and them a favor.
Seek God first.
the lens of gratitude
Scratch that. I've been feeling really sorry for myself.
Although my competency exam was not a complete disaster, it didn't go quite like I had hoped. Meanwhile, some sudden scheduling complications threaten to postpone my program completion and graduation another semester beyond what I've been expecting. Sprinkle in a few other unremarkable problems that would lengthen this post past the two-hundred-word-limit I've given myself, and you've got a snapshot of my pity party.
But man, I'm blessed.
With a lot of support from a lot of great people and some tough love from my wife, I've (mostly) shaken the blues.
These problems are small compared to many others', and God is big. When I focus on just how big God is, when I concentrate on who He is and how He blesses me, my outlook changes.
I see smiles and laughter, valleys and mountains, encouragement and community, the beauty of creation, and the thrill of hope. And somehow, looking back, the past three days seem a whole lot different...
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