Verse of the Week...

I'm Gonna Make A Change,

For Once In My Life

It's Gonna Feel Real Good,

Gonna Make A Difference

Gonna Make It Right . . .

--Michael Jackson, Man in the Mirror

Tell me if you can identify. You’re cruising through your day, through your life, and out of nowhere, all of a sudden, you come upon a people or a person in the midst of great need, intense suffering. It overwhelms you. If not them, you look their condition in the face and you pause. Emotions flood your heart. Maybe tears flood your eyes. At the least, questions flood your mind: 'What can I do? Could I help? I mean really help? In light of the situation, would my response even make a dent? After all, I’m just me—one person.'

I can’t count how many times these questions have gotten the best of me. Case in point: A few nights ago I’m watching a telethon, run by Hollywood celebs, raising funds for recovery efforts in Haiti. They’re asking for donations, and not for big, impressive gifts, not for thousands of dollars, but even $20, from anyone willing and able to spare it. Further, viewers can send a text message to a special number and give $10 to the cause. As much as I hate to admit it, the aforementioned questions began flowing: 'The devastation in that place is catastrophic; what is it going to matter if I give $10? I want to help these people, I do, but is my paltry offering even going begin to make a difference?' Again, it shames me to write this. It does. But it’s true.

A few weeks ago I wrote about how change is possible. I suggested that in order to make life better, to make the world a better place, all we need is love. And God is love, so all we need is God. That remains my suggestion, but I need to expand. That concept is the what, if you will; I want to talk about the how, because theories only hold weight to the extent to which they’re applicable.

This week’s ‘verse’ is actually the lyrics of the late-Michael Jackson’s Man in the Mirror. It’s far and away my favorite MJ song. Why? Because, when so often we’re encouraged to deflect or shift responsibility to someone or something else, it compels us to take a stand--to look in the mirror when we ask who should act, who should help, who should respond to need.


I'm Starting With The Man In The Mirror

I'm Asking Him To Change His Ways

And No Message Could Have Been Any Clearer

If You Wanna Make The World

A Better Place

Take A Look At Yourself, And

Then Make A Change


So true, right? Let me point something out though. The song insists we take a look at ourselves and make a change. And although it seems at first glace to imply we look in the mirror, assume responsibility, and then go out and make a difference, I don’t think that’s what it’s saying, at least not in full. See, I believe a change needs to occur within us first, far before it will occur in our world. What is it? We (certainly I) need a change in mentality, a shift in perspective. I need to experience a transformation in my thought process if I’m ever to be an agent of transformation in the world. Namely, I must see and value the difference I can make, regardless of how small or seemingly insignificant. If my mantra becomes, ‘A small difference made is still a difference made,’ my former paralysis is cured and I’m compelled to action. But I need God to make this change. Really, I need Him to do this work; if left up to me, I’ve proven, time and again, it won’t get done.

For a brief moment, think if everyone thought this way. Think of the possibilities. Now stop that thought. Stop it right now. And join me in taking a spot in front of the nearest mirror to see with whom it all begins. It starts with me. It starts with you. And ultimately, it doesn’t matter what anyone else does or doesn’t do.


A Willow Deeply Scarred,

Somebody's Broken Heart

And A Washed-Out Dream

They Follow The Pattern Of The Wind, Ya' See

Cause They Got No Place To Be

That's Why I'm Starting With

Me


How about you?

Grace to you, as you look in the mirror,

Voice of another

Verse of the Week...

Martin Luther King Jr.: Modern-Day Moses

Over 3,000 years ago, Moses, the Hebrew prophet called by I AM, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob, led the people of Israel out of Egypt’s grip, through the Red Sea and into the wilderness, and finally, after much testing and tribulation, right up to the perimeter of the Promise Land. But he did not enter. He could not. It was not God’s will for him to do so. Instead, in a speech reiterating the Law of God (the biblical book of Deuteronomy), Moses bid the people he’d given his life to lead farewell, parting them at the gate to paradise to ascend Mount Nebo, literally, to meet his Maker (Deuteronomy 34:1).

He was a great man, a man on whom God’s favor rested heavily. He was the epitome of a leader, not without fault of his own, yet ever the commanding presence and voice Israel desperately needed to help it endure, and ultimately break, the shackles of its slavery to the mighty Egyptians. He was a man full of wisdom, full of the very grace of God Himself.

Some 3,000 years later came another man, another leader, another on whom Divine favor rested. He, too, was called by this same God, but to lead a different people. And he too humbly yet powerfully led them, right up to the fringes of freedom, to their own promise land. Like Moses, he didn’t fully enter, for God did not ordain it so. This man, Martin Luther King Jr., gave his own stirring farewell speech, one which in hindsight proved eerily prophetic. As Dr. King knew full well his road would soon end, he embraced its harrowing halt, facing it head-on with the God-inspired courage of another King—Israel’s David.

Be gracious to me, O God, for man tramples on me;
 all day long an attacker oppresses me;
 2 my enemies trample on me all day long,
 for many attack me proudly.
 3 When I am afraid,
 I put my trust in you. 
4 In God, whose word I praise, 
in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
 What can flesh do to me? 5 All day long they injure my cause; all their thoughts are against me for evil.
 6 They stir up strife, they lurk;
they watch my steps, 
as they have waited for my life.
 7 For their crime will they escape?
 In wrath cast down the peoples, O God! 8 You have kept count of my tossings; put my tears in your bottle. 
Are they not in your book?
 9 Then my enemies will turn back 
in the day when I call.
 This I know, that God is for me.
 10 In God, whose word I praise,
 in the Lord, whose word I praise,
 11 in God I trust; I shall not be afraid.
 What can man do to me?

(Psalm 56: 1-11, italics mine)

Take note of this man--his fervor, his focus, his passionate pursuit to fulfill the unique purpose for which God uniquely created him. If the day off from work didn’t serve to conjure these thoughts, to elicit reminiscence and heartfelt homage, allow the YouTube clip below to do just that. Let it enrapture you for a moment, encouraging you as it did me, to get a grip on God, on His grace, and on the feebleness of man to even come close to touching our soul. He cannot, for God wills it not—to the praise of His Name. Watch closely King’s brazenness towards bodily harm, that you might adopt, like him, such a godly perspective on life. Really, if God is for you, who can be against you?

Grace,

Voice of another

Verse of the Week...

‘…God is love.’ --1 John 4:8b



At this point, if you watch any TV at all, you’ve probably seen the Blackberry advertisement above or at least some form of it (if you haven’t, click the link!). I don’t know about you, but I love it. I love the hopeful and heartwarming message it conveys, that nothing is impossible, that anyone is capable of greatness, of overcoming odds, of fulfilling their purpose—all we need is love. And I couldn’t agree more.

I believe we’re capable of much. I believe we can offer much. And I believe we can change much. But not because of us really, more because of love. Check out 1 John 4:8b. ‘…God is love.’ I used to think this merely meant God was a loving God, full of love, One characterized by that crazy little thing. But the best way to look at this verse is at face value: God is love, in the most literal sense. So wherever true love (there is counterfeit love) is found, God is there, because He is love. Applying this truth to the John Lennon-penned song, then, would make it sing: ‘All you need is God. All you need is God. All you need is God, God. God is all you need.’

It all comes together, does it not? ‘There’s nothing you can do that can’t be done.’ And that’s because of the underlying premise: simply, all you need is God. With Him, nothing is beyond achievement, nothing is outside our reach. The converse, however, is also true. Without Him, we’ll struggle to do just about anything. Jesus, in the Gospel of John, puts it a bit more bluntly:

5I am the vine; you are the branches. If a man remains in me and I in him, he will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. --John 15:5

 It’s straight and to the point. There is opportunity for change—change for the better. Better relationships. A better life. A better world.

All we need is love.

All we need is God.


Grace to you,

Voice of another

Verse of the Week...

3 Therefore tell the people: This is what the LORD Almighty says: 'Return to me,' declares the LORD Almighty, 'and I will return to you.'   -Zechariah 1:3

Lately God has been putting the concept of repentance at the forefront of my mind. Uh-oh, right? Well, nevertheless He has, so verses like the one above have been jumping off the page. And as I’ve been pondering what it truly means to repent of sin, to turn from it and to God, I’ve realized this is an act not directly spurred by Him. Unlike the Spirit’s proactive pursuit of the hearts of men for their renewal and resulting salvation, repentance is largely left up to us, to our will.

Time after time, the Bible refers to drawing near to God, seeking Him out (‘Come near to God and He will come near to you,’ James 4:8; ‘Ask and it will be given to you, seek and you will find, knock and the door will be opened to you…’ Matthew 7:7), but I’m beginning to believe this has much more to do with repentance, post-acceptance of Jesus, than it does with the believer’s initial regeneration. Now, I’m not stating this as undeniable fact, but it does make theological sense. If man is dead in his sin, without the breath of spiritual life within, he’s probably not going to be knocking down God’s door, right? And he’s not going to be inclined to draw near to the Holy of holies, especially given his shameful state. So this is where repentance comes in. The man within whom the Spirit of God dwells, on the other hand, comes to grips with his waywardness, with his affections gone awry, with his valuing of the worldly at the expense of the Godly (the root of all sin), and he feels compelled to turn, change, and reengage with a God that’s been waiting patiently for him the entire time. Think The Return of the Prodigal (painted by Rembrandt, above). The father didn’t pick up his tents and take off when his son chose revelry over righteousness; he stayed in the familiar place, waiting there to be found, longing for his lost one to, you got it, repent and return to him, and to the son’s promised, imperishable inheritance.

Okay, but why? Why does God let His children wander, at times, outside the fold altogether? And when we do so, why does He wait for us to come back to Him? No shock, I believe it has much to do with His glory. While God gets the credit for reviving our spiritually lifeless hearts in the first place, He also receives praise when His children choose to repent and return to Him of their own volition. So, very simply, He’ll wait. He’ll let you and I take the initiative to do an about-face. And He’ll get the glory as He wins out as most desirable, over and above that which we'd been flirting with.

Repentance, then, is a unique opportunity to worship the God whose kindness brings us back for more of Himself, whose loving arms once again break our fall, whose gracious grip never truly lets us go.

Join me, if you will, in reverencing the King of kings. Join me in repentance.

Grace to you,

Voice of another