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Dust.
Dry ground. The absence of sound.
Heat all around, and thirst of those desperate to drown.

The seed was cracking and parched.  But onward God’s covenant marched.
The faithfulness was His, in the midst of a people content with what is.

He poured forth discontent. Like a tidal wave that was sent,
That was meant to prepare where He went.

Drenching that which was dry, all of creation letting out a collective “sigh”
Relief and rescue was coming, and the voice of Jerusalem lifted high.

From “what is”, to “what will”, God was moving, IS moving still.
The world may seek to break and destroy, but they cannot kill.

And so this morning, we the sheep remember our Shepherd above
We are thankful and quenched by the gift of His love.

Isaiah 40:3-11

“A voice cries out:
‘In the wilderness prepare the way of the Lord,
make straight in the desert a highway for our God.
Every valley shall be lifted up,
and every mountain and hill be made low;
the uneven ground shall become level,
and the rough places a plain.
Then the glory of the Lord shall be revealed,
and all people shall see it together,
for the mouth of the Lord has spoken.’

A voice says, ‘Cry out!’
And I said, ‘What shall I cry?’
All people are grass,
their constancy is like the flower of the field.
The grass withers, the flower fades,
when the breath of the Lord blows upon it;
surely the people are grass.
The grass withers, the flower fades;
but the word of our God will stand for ever.
Get you up to a high mountain,
O Zion, herald of good tidings;
lift up your voice with strength,
O Jerusalem, herald of good tidings,
lift it up, do not fear;
say to the cities of Judah,
‘Here is your God!’
See, the Lord God comes with might,
and his arm rules for him;
his reward is with him,
and his recompense before him.
He will feed his flock like a shepherd;
he will gather the lambs in his arms,
and carry them in his bosom,
and gently lead the mother sheep.”

“..And there were so many fewer questions when stars were still just the holes to heaven.”

Jack Johnson is pretty good at expressing a common sentiment among parents, and even adults. Thinking of this statement biblically, it seems life was easier when all we thought about was “Asking Jesus into my heart.”. “Seems” being a key word here. Imagine all the richness of our faith, and experiences of God’s New Life we would miss out on, if we’d simply left it at praying a prayer when we were 5.

And yet, there is some truth here as well. In the past 10 years, my faith has changed and deepened. I’ve been freed from many of the dispensationalist, and Zionist elements I never realized had influenced my faith, and been given a new Hope for all the Christ is doing – both now and for eternity. I no longer believe we’ll be “raptured” to a distant city where we float on golden streets; but that scriptures point to a “New Creation”, and coming together of both Heaven and Earth in a physical existence like never before. This earth, and what we’re doing in it, will not simply be “thrown away”, but are intimately connected to what God is bringing about.

Even my wife has said it, “How can so many people ‘interpret’ the Bible in so many ways? Why can’t it just be simple?” Amen. Unfortunately, because of the fallen nature of humanity, there will always be men and women who bend God’s word to say what they would like it to say. Even in my excitement over what I believe to be coming, I am at the same risk.

Now, more than ever, we need a reminder of what God says about what He is up to. Deuteronomy 30:11-14 says,

“Now what I am commanding you today is not too difficult for you or beyond your reach. It is not up in heaven, so that you have to ask, “Who will ascend into heaven to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” Nor is it beyond the sea, so that you have to ask, “Who will cross the sea to get it and proclaim it to us so we may obey it?” No, the word is very near you; it is in your mouth and in your heart so you may obey it.“

The Truth of what God is doing is accessible, and already a part of who we are. We can search the scriptures as a family, and with our children, and trust that we are receiving Him. Christianity is not a gnostic treasure hunt. It is Love coming, fully and forever…

ps. “X” is the Greek letter “chi”, which traditionally stands for “Christ”, allowing the title of this post and words like “X-mas”. Also, for more on a renewed understanding of what it means to be a follower of Christ, check out “Simply Christian” by NT Wright.

Today I lit a new candle for the first time.  “Nag Champa” was the scent.  I can finally enjoy it again, because it’s in candle form.  It’s the same scent as an incense that I burned back in college.  The problem was, the smell of incense always stayed in my clothes.  When I wanted to go out on a date that night, Sarah would shrink back from me, NOT a fan of the smell.  So at some point, I stopped burning the incense.  Because my love for my (now wife) was stronger than my appreciation of “Nag Champa”.

The Bible tells us that we are “the aroma of Christ among those who are being saved and those who are perishing.” (2 Corinthians 2:15)  Similar to the story above, it is by spending time in the presence of God and Christ Jesus, that we are able to naturally carry with us the “aroma”.  It’s interesting also, that the verse does not simply say “to those who are perishing.”  We are reminded that even people who we rub shoulders with at church (including ourselves) need reminders from time to time of what Jesus “smells like”.

How are your prayer times lately?  Is it a time of quickly passing from one thing to the next, so that no one who comes close to you later even knows you were in the room with Jesus?  Or do you set aside time and space to “be” in the presence of God…allowing his very “smell” to saturate you so richly, so that as you walk through the rest of your day, people are caught off guard, thinking to themselves – “Whoa, what was that smell?”

As you spend time in prayer this week, may you receive God’s presence so much, that his aroma is carried with you throughout your day.  After all, none of us smells as good as we think we do on our own. 🙂

ps.  Reminder to parents – we bathe our children, because they don’t realize they begin to stink. 🙂