Beauty of the Ashes – BradRiley.Org

April 19, 2019

The Praise of Agony

Yet you are the Holy One, *
enthroned upon the praises of Israel.

Psalm 22:3

“Eli! Eli! Lama sabachthani”, the voice of Jesus cried out from the cross. Most scholars agree that those words were written as a Greek transliteration of the spoken Aramaic of Jesus’ day. They also are the opening words to Psalm 22, one of many scriptures often read on Good Friday.

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?
and are so far from my cry
and from the words of my distress?

O my God, I cry in the daytime, but you do not answer;
by night as well, but I find no rest.

Psalm 22:1-2

But what did those words mean? Scripture tells us that many who heard Jesus’ cry of despair from the cross, thought that He was crying out for the prophet Elijah to appear and save Him. However, the name ‘Eli’ in both Hebrew and Aramaic is not only a proper name, but a transliteration for the word ‘God’.

Jesus endured the agony of a Roman scourging without crying out. Isaiah 53 records this prophetic truth as it says, “He was oppressed and afflicted, yet he did not open his mouth; he was led like a lamb to the slaughter, and as a sheep before its shearers is silent, so he did not open his mouth.” It wasn’t the agony of His passion that caused him to cry out to God, it was the burden of sin – yours and mine.

Again, we hear the prophet Isaiah, “We all, like sheep, have gone astray, each of us has turned to our own way; and the LORD has laid on him the iniquity of us all.”(Isa. 53:6) It was the weight of our sin that caused Him to cry out as his Father looked away, that Christ would die… the one for the many. As the divine Son of God, Jesus couldn’t die, but in His humanity, he willingly gave up His life to the agony of death. In the moments before giving up his life, He cried out because he knew what it felt like to become as sin and to be separated from His Father.

Psalm 22 prophetically offers us the thoughts of Jesus as he hung on the cross. We hear the agony, pain and shame he felt in becoming the full and complete sin offering for the world…

But as for me, I am a worm and no man, *
scorned by all and despised by the people.

All who see me laugh me to scorn; *
they curl their lips and wag their heads, saying,

“He trusted in the Lord; let him deliver him; *
let him rescue him, if he delights in him.”

Psalm 22:6-8

“If he delights in him”? Yes, that is exactly what Jesus did on the cross. The scorners and mockers didn’t realize how prophetic they were. In the pain and agony of all agonies, Jesus still found the delight of His Father’s love to pray for those who crucified Him. When no one else would have strength to think or speak, He took the time to show love and mercy to a penitent thief, and assured him of paradise. He took the time to speak forgiveness to His executioners, and He took the time to care for His mother, and gave her into the care of His beloved disciple, John.

It wasn’t the agony of His passion that caused him to cry out to God, it was the burden of sin – yours and mine.

As you look upon the cross of our crucified Lord this Good Friday, consider Him who though in the agony of all agonies, took time to remember you and to praise His Father – the Holy One who is always enthroned upon the praises of the true Israel. Whatever trials and pain you may be enduring right now in your life, consider the faithfulness of the Father who didn’t forget His son in death, but raised Him to life in glory three days later.

Our God is the “Holy One”. He is the praise of all who are truly Israel. He is the one Who can take our ashes and turn them into beauty.

Shalom for a Blessed God Friday,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://www.christthesaviourhbg.org/icons.html

April 12, 2019

Wisdom, Let Us Attend!

Wisdom, Let Us Attend

“Let us test him with insult and torture,
so that we may find out how gentle he is,
and make trial of his forbearance.”

Wisdom 2:19

Wisdom Old Books

It’s only one more week till Good Friday, a day which no doubt is one of our high holy days as disciples of Jesus. We mark special days and times with special readings of scripture, so that we may ‘enter in’ with our spirits, to the very remembrance of what we celebrate. In our ‘entering in’, we hope to see anew our souls as they are before God. We seek to hear Jesus’ words to them then, as His words to us today. We want Him to search us and see if there is any wicked way in us (Psalm 139:23), that we may repent and be saved.

Holy Week, which begins on Palm Sunday, is one of those times we ‘enter in’ to such remembrances. Today we reflect on one of the readings of scripture for next week on Good Friday. However, the scripture is not one you may have heard before as it comes from what many Protestants call the ‘Apocrypha’ – The Book of Wisdom.

In our ‘entering in’, we hope to see anew our souls as they are before God.

Such books were set aside for holy reading, but not viewed as inspired by the some of the Protestant Reformers, which was a departure from the historic view of those books by both, Western and Eastern Christians. Whatever your opinion may be on what should or should not be a part of the Canon of Scripture, one thing is certain; you can’t read the Book of Wisdom and not see its inspired prophetic tone.

Wisdom, chapter two, is voiced as the thoughts of the evil men who put Jesus to death. Their thoughts speak of how they detest Jesus for what they see Him as, a self-righteousness man who professes special knowledge and condemned their ways:

¹² ‘Let us lie in wait for the righteous man,
because he is inconvenient to us and opposes our actions;
he reproaches us for sins against the law,
and accuses us of sins against our training.
¹³ He professes to have knowledge of God,
and calls himself a child^* of the Lord.

Wisdom 2:12-13

In their evil thoughts, those who condemned Jesus to death, didn’t realize how prophetic they were. Jesus is ‘the righteous man’, ‘the Messiah’. They saw Jesus as, “…inconvenient”. I pray we never see Jesus and His ways as an ‘inconvenience’, but I’m afraid we often do. How many times do we put off His urgings to us and dismiss them as just our own contriving’s? Jesus’ words do bring conviction to our souls if our hearts are open. Sadly, we know many hearts are not open to the Spirit of God.

As you prepare for Holy Week, I invite you to read Wisdom chapter two. You can read the entire chapter here. Listen for the voices of evil and notice how contemporary they are to the thoughts of so many today. Jesus challenged their way of living and thinking then, as He still does ours today.

In the ancient liturgies of Eastern Christianity, before scripture is read, the Reader chants out, “Wisdom, let us attend!” Let us attend to the wisdom of the Word today. May Jesus search us today and see if there be any wicked way in us… and let us repent, that He may turn our ashes into beauty.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://www.ubiquityuniversity.org/wisdom-school/GreatBooks.htm

April 10, 2019

Strange Voices

Strange voices

‘They will not follow a stranger, but they will run from him because they do not know the voice of strangers.’

John 10:5

sound wave There are many voices in our world, each calling out for attention. Yet only one of them holds any hope for our lives. The plurality of voices in our modern culture is deafening at times. Confusion seems to reign as we listen to the news and hear such divergent opinions, such division. One must ask the question, ‘Where is truth?’

The answer to that question is really quite simple. The gospel of St. John tells us that Jesus, in His own words is the truth, and that His truth will, “set us free”(John 8:32). However, John doesn’t just say the ‘truth’ sets us free, but rather, the knowledge of the truth sets us free. We must know truth, to be delivered from the hands of lies.

Christ is God, and He is truth. John says in his first epistle, that, “God is light and that in Him, there is no darkness at all.” (1 John 1:5) If you’re finding yourself confused over the clamoring of voices in our world today who seem to be pulling us apart at the seams, then might I suggest an answer for you? Know the truth. Know Jesus so well that you cannot mistake his voice. Jesus says that His sheep will know His voice.

We must know truth, to be delivered from the hands of lies.

It’s a sad reality that in the church of our day there seems to be such a divergence of opinion on what truth is, and if there even is such a thing as truth. How hard is it to look at an apple tree and see that it has apples on it? Perhaps the problem in our world is not that the voices who compete against truth are cleverer and more deceptive, but that the sheep simply don’t know the Shepherd well enough to recognize His voice out of the cacophony of voices? We must learn to listen to the voices around us with discernment and recognize them for the fruit they produce.

How hard is it to look at an apple tree and see that it has apples on it?

Hopefully, through your Lenten times of fasting and prayer, you’ve heard the voice of the Shepherd more clearly. The only way to recognize His voice among the others is to be sure you know it – to be sure you know Him. Remember, Jesus said it’s in the ‘knowing’ that we are set free.

To St. Paul, to know Jesus was to know His power, the power of His resurrection. As we approach Holy Week and the high holy days leading us to the celebration of Jesus’ resurrection, let’s double down on our efforts to hear from Jesus. Let’s devote even more time to the contemplation of His way, His truth, His life. And, may our contemplation give way to implementation, as we let God turn the ashes of our lives and our world into the Beauty of life following the Good Shepherd.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: http://mentalfloss.com/article/62731/9-strange-sounds-no-one-can-explain

April 5, 2019

The Greatest Force In All the World

The Greatest Force In the World

Who will separate us from the love of Christ? Will hardship, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?

Romans 8:35 NRSV

Because-God-is-Love-We-can-Love-Blog-Header Go ahead. Let your imagination run wild. I guarantee you won’t be able to think of anything so powerful, or so horrific it can separate us from the love of God. St. Paul tried to think of something – but he couldn’t. It just doesn’t exist.

The love of God is the greatest force in all the world, because it is the very essence of His being. St. John tells us this in his first letter, “…God IS love,” (1 John 4:16 emphasis added). John goes on to say that to live in God is to live in love. The problem in our world is, too many people ‘believe’ in God, when not enough actually ‘live’ in Him.

When we who believe in God, actually begin to live in Him, we change the world. It took less than three hundred years to convert the Roman Empire to Christianity; and that was with no mass media whatsoever. What began as a small band of radical Jews in a far-off unimportant corner of the Empire spread like a wild fire out of control. The fuel of the fire was the love of God that was poured out through those who called themselves Christian, those who chose to live out the mystery of participating in the life of God in Jesus Christ.

The love of God is the greatest force in all the world, because it is the very essence of His being.

You and I have that same choice to make today. The choice isn’t to just believe in Jesus Christ as Messiah, but to realize that He is God and has given His life, His love, His all for and to us. And, a part of that ‘all’ is that we may partake of His divine life, empowering us to live a life of unparalleled love for everyone, even our enemies.

Today, on this Lenten Friday, as you look upon the cross of Jesus and view His tortured, bleeding body, think about His love. Think about His goodness. Why not meditate on these words from songwriter Don Moen:

Think about His love, think about His goodness
Think about His grace that’s brought us trough
For as high as the heavens above
So great is the measure of our father’s love
Great is the measure of our Father’s love
So great is the measure of our Father’s love

The cross of Christ… what love! Now that is turning ashes into beauty!

Listen to the full song here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KVo4otd9LGI

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://philadelphiabapt.org/tlof-because-god-is-love/

April 3, 2019

To Eat or Not to Eat?

To Eat or Not to Eat?

Do not work for the food that perishes, but for the food that endures for eternal life,

which the Son of Man will give you.

John 6:27

Gourmet meal with chef Have I mentioned how much I love to eat? And not only eat, but I enjoy the pursuit of cooking a deliciously tasting gourmet meal that not only tastes great but looks fabulous. But, today is Wednesday and I really shouldn’t be writing about food; it will only tempt me more!

Wednesdays have always been a traditional day of fasting according to the ancient ways of the Christian faith. The Jews fasted on Tuesdays and Thursdays. The early Christians, wanting to distinguish themselves from the Jews, chose Wednesdays and Fridays as fast days. Wednesdays are in remembrance of the betrayal of Jesus during the last week of His life before the cross, and Fridays are in honor of the day of His crucifixion.

The very fact that the Jews had two days of fasting each week should say something to us of what God expects from us. Jesus grew up fasting in a devout Jewish home. That means He fasted on Tuesdays and Thursdays and celebrated all the many rituals of the faith in which He was raised.

We should take note that in the gospels Jesus never says the words, ‘if you fast’. Rather, in Matthew chapter 6 we hear Jesus say, “When you fast”. Jesus expects his disciples to fast. However, in many modern Christian churches the discipline of fasting is rarely if ever practiced. We should also note that fasting, in biblical terms, is always the giving up of food for a given time, and for the purpose of learning to rely upon God for our sustenance.

We should take note that in the gospels Jesus never says the words, ‘if you fast’

It’s interesting to me that the early church didn’t just fast during a particular season of the year, like Lent; they fasted every week. The practice of fasting quickly reveals the things that control our appetites. When we tell ourselves, we will do without something Satan seems to bring the temptation of it right to the forefront of our minds.

The practice of fasting quickly reveals the things that control our appetites.

It is precisely in leaning on the power of God’s Spirit to help us overcome such temptations that we find the real value of fasting – we grow in the mighty power of God’s Spirit. We learn to do the hard work of relying upon God for spiritual food that fills and sustains us in ways earthly foods can’t. Several hours after eating our hunger pains soon return to haunt us. However, after feasting on God during our fasting, we will have a satisfaction no earthly food can give.

So, how’s your Lenten fast going? It’s never too late to begin, or should I say, ‘begin again’. Why not try it today? Offer some time of fasting and self-denial to the Lord today and spend the time you would normally be eating in prayer and reading of the Word. If you do, I promise you’ll find more than enough to satisfy your desires. To not eat may make you feel wilted at first, like turning to ash, but remember, God can turn ashes into Beauty.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

Image credit: https://www.thespruceeats.com/gourmet-defined-1665527

March 29, 2019

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

Follow the Yellow Brick Road

“Lord, where are you going?” Jesus replied, “Where I am going, you cannot follow now,

but you will follow later.”

John 13:36 NRSV

I know it’s a weak metaphor, but I love the Wizard of Oz. When Dorothy is told that to get home she needs to find the Wizard in Emerald City, and that the only way to find him is to follow the yellow brick road – I see a modern parallel to Jesus and his disciples.

In John 8:21 Jesus tells those who are questioning him, “Where I am going, you cannot follow”. However, in speaking to his disciples in John 13, on the last night before the cross, Jesus tells them that while they can’t follow him then, they will follow later. Then in chapter 14, Jesus tells them they know they way:

“Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you. And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also. And where I go you know, and the way you know.” (emphasis added)

John 14:1-4 NKJV

Thomas then says in verse five what they were all thinking when he asked Jesus, “How can we know the way?” That’s a great question for each of us to ask this Lenten season. The Lenten spiritual practices of prayer, fasting and almsgiving are all guides to help us find the way of Jesus.

‘And where I go you know, and the way you know.’

The way of Jesus is the way to eternal life. To use my earlier metaphor, it’s the yellow brick road that leads to all the answers we need to get home. After all, that is where Jesus was going – home to Heaven, and that’s where we want to go too.

Jesus is the way, the truth and the life (vs. 6). The cross is the way home. No one gets home, literally or spiritually without dying. For those who will follow Jesus, there awaits a cross at the end of our yellow brick road. Or, perhaps, we should say the cross it at the start of our yellow brick road. We must die to ourselves before we can even begin the journey home.

‘For those who will follow Jesus, there awaits a cross at the end of our yellow brick road.’

I like to contemplate the cross of Christ on each Friday of Lent. Jesus said His disciples could follow him – later, after He conquered death for them in His resurrection. So too, He conquers death for all who will believe and follow. What the cross turned to ash Jesus made beautiful. Are you following?

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

March 27, 2019

Beauty of the Ashes: Get Back In the Ring

Get Back in the Ring

And not only that, but we^* also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance,

Romans 5:3

Muhammad Ali soaks up George Foreman's punches on the ropes in Zaire in the Rumble in the Jungle I have an autographed picture of Muhammed Ali in my office at home. No, I never actually met him, but my nephew Jason did. He lived near the legendary boxer in Michigan and saw him in a restaurant one night. Jason knew I was a huge fan when I was growing up, so he got it and surprised me.

A lot of my uncles couldn’t understand why I was so crazy about Ali. They couldn’t stand him. There was a lot of hype about boxing in those days. Ali’s personality drove the hype, for sure. They called him a bragger and a loud mouth, and they were right. He was both of those things. However, I would always respond to them in my youthful wisdom, “It’s not bragging if you can back it up”, and he always did. He was the most amazing boxer ever in my, and in many others’ opinions.

One of the things I remember Ali bragging about most was his ability to not get hit. In his inimitable way, he made up limericks about it to taunt his opponents before a fight. “I’m gonna float like a butterfly, sting like a bee. Your hands can’t hit, what your eyes can’t see. Ali!”

Of course, we know Ali did get hit and he got hit a lot. In fact, his Parkinson’s disease was attributed in part to his many hits to the head. As a fighter, he fought longer than many others and in his later years he took some pretty hard beatings, but he never quit, no matter how tough the beatings got. In fact, he boasted in his beatings. Like when he took the beatings from George Foreman and called them his ‘Rope-a-Dope’ tactic in their ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ fight.

St. Paul said he boasted in his sufferings too. I know, it’s a stretch to compare Muhammed Ali and the Apostle Paul in the same analogy, but I wanted to get your attention. Boasting isn’t a good thing; it’s arrogant. However, scripture says it’s okay to boast in the Lord about what He is accomplishing in your life – especially in your sufferings. In fact, it really isn’t boasting at all, if you’re giving God the glory…it’s a testimony.

In his hymn, ‘When I Survey the Wondrous Cross’ hymn writer Isaac Watts said, “Forbid it Lord that I should boast, save in the death of Christ my God.” No matter what our sufferings, Paul wants us to know that they will produce endurance in our lives, if we sacrifice them all to the God’s glory. He alone can sustain us through any amount of suffering. And what’s more, God builds our character through our sufferings ultimately leading us to recognize our hope for deliverance is in Him alone.

And not only that, but we also boast in our sufferings, knowing that suffering produces endurance, and endurance produces character, and character produces hope, and hope does not disappoint us, because God’s love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit that has been given to us.

Romans 5:3-5

As you reach the midway point in your Lenten journey, stop and think about the fasting and self-denial you’ve offered to the Lord to this point. Hopefully, you’ve felt tempted but are staying strong in your resolve. Granted these are small things in the big sufferings of life, but we learn in small ways how to let God lead in big ways.

“…it really isn’t boasting at all, if you’re giving God the glory.”

The real purpose of Lent isn’t to punish ourselves and find new ways to suffer, but to grow closer to God in our dependence for everything, even the little things. Jesus said that real sustenance for life depends not on bread but on everything that comes from the mouth of God (Matt. 4:4).

“…but we learn in small ways how to let God lead in big ways”

If you feel like you’ve failed in your fast don’t beat yourself up, give it to God. Sacrifice it to his cross and ask him for strength to do better. Get back in the ring and take a few more punches. Your suffering won’t be in vain. Remember, our God turns ashes into beauty.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

March 22, 2019

The Beauty of the Ashes: Search Me O God

Search Me O God

O God, you know my foolishness,
and my faults are not hidden from you.

Psalm 69:6

abraham-lincoln-quotes There are many wise sayings attributed to Abraham Lincoln. One of the most common is this:

“You can fool some of the people all of the time, and all of the people some of the time, but you cannot fool all of the people all of the time.”

That’s true, but there’s one person you can’t fool, any of the time – Jesus Christ. By the very definition of being God, knows everything we’ve ever done, said or thought. Yet sometimes we act as if we can fool Jesus by not admitting our sinfulness to him. How foolish we are.

God knew everything we would ever do, say or think before the world was created, so why do we act like we can hide anything from Him? When we realize that Jesus Christ, our Creator God, loves us in spite of all our foolishness and sins, we can finally become who He created us to be.

Real joy comes from being who God made us to be. Yes, even with all our faults and failures. The Father doesn’t want us to pretend we’re perfect. He doesn’t want us to try and please Him in our own power, trying to be someone we can’t be on our own. He wants us to give Him all of ourselves; all our sins, all our foolishness, all our hurts, hang ups and bad habits, and then let Him remake us into the beauty of His image; the image He bestowed within humanity in creation. When we realize this, confession becomes something, we long for, not something from which we run and hide.

‘Real joy comes from being who God made us to be.’

One of the reasons I love the season of Lent is that it offers us time to concentrate on becoming who we were made to be. Through increased times of prayer and fasting we place ourselves under the light of God’s loving microscope. We ask him to search our hearts as it says in the Psalms…

Search me, O God, and know my heart!
Try me and know my thoughts!
And see if there be any grievous way in me,
and lead me in the way everlasting!

Psalm 139:23-24

On this second Friday of Lent, why not spend some time in confession. Ask the Lord to search you out, to show you all your foolish ways. Stop trying to fool the One who knows you better than you know yourself. Prayerfully read and meditate on Psalms 139 and 51. Allow the Holy Spirit to check your spirit, to lead you in confessing everything He shows you. Ask Him to burn away all the sin and shame He reveals to you, then watch as He brings beauty out of your ashes.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

March 16, 2019

The Beauty of the Ashes: A Change of Position

Come, let us bow down, and bend the knee,

and kneel before the Lord our Maker.

Psalm 95:6

Repentance is a major theme of the season of Lent. One of the best ways for me to show Praying-on-Knees my repentance before God is to change my position. Yes, I mean literally change my position before Him. As we come to the first Friday of week one, the Psalmist reminds us of our proper place before the Lord – on our knees. It seems there are very few times in our modern world that we actually kneel down before the Lord God. Oh, for sure we have neat phrases like, “we’re never stronger than when we’re on our knees,” and “the only way to really rise up is to bow down,” but do we really believe it?

Lent offers us a chance to reset the position of our hearts before God, to remind ourselves that life really isn’t all about us and what happens to us. On Fridays, in remembrance of the day Jesus died, I like to spend some time on my knees contemplating the greatest act of love the world ever knew – the self-sacrifice of our God for love of His creation.

Lent offers us a chance to reset the position of our hearts before God

How can we possibly say thank you to our Father for such an incredible act of love? Well, the truth is we can’t ever fully thank God for his great sacrifice, but we can try. In fact, trying to thank God for His sending Christ to reconcile us to himself is really the heart of Lent. All our prayers, fasting, and works of mercy should be offered up as a sacrifice of praise and thanksgiving to the one who died for us.

I want to encourage you to spend some time on your knees physically this first weekend of Lent, if you can. I find that the more I involve my whole body in an act of worship and devotion, it becomes a more humbling experience and I hear my Father’s voice even better. My heart is drawn even more into the Father’s heart… “for He is our God, and we are the people of His pasture” …and as the psalmist continues, “Oh, that today we would hearken to His voice!” (Ps. 95:7-8)

“God had brought me to my knees and made me acknowledge my own nothingness, and out of that knowledge I had been reborn. I was no longer the centre of my life and therefore I could see God in everything.”

Bede Griffiths

This weekend, try listening for the Father’s voice from a new position, like on your knees. You might be surprised how much better you can hear.

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad

March 13, 2019

The Beauty of the Ashes: Rainy Days and Mondays

Remember your word to your servant, because you have given me hope.

This is my comfort in my trouble, that your promise gives me life.

Psalm 119:49-50

“Hangin around, nothin to do but frown, rainy days and Mondays always get me down.” Back in 1971, Karen Carpenter sang these words to the top of the Pop Music charts. While I don’t know what she was feeling when she wrote those words, they sure connected with a lot of people, including me. In the lyrics to the song, she alludes to the fact that the feeling has come and gone before, and there’s no need to talk it out. Actually, I think we need to talk it out if we’re feeling the blues, and the first person we need to start talking it out with is God.

I guess everyone sings the Blues sometimes, but there’s a quality of life found in the Christian faith that transcends those rainy day blues. As I write this it’s raining outside. I have to confess, I love rainy days. Kinda crazy, I know, but I just like the way the rain smells fresh and the watered ground seems to come to life. That’s what God’s Word does for our souls; it’s like fresh rain on dry and thirsty land.

“That’s what God’s Word does for our souls;

it’s like fresh rain on dry and thirsty land.”

The Psalmist prays for God to remember his word to his servant. He knows that God speaks words of life and promise that bring hope and comfort. In fact, he says God’s words are life itself. Pretty cool isn’t it? The God who spoke creation into existence with His words of life, spoke words long ago in the scriptures that still bring life today as we read and remember them.

I always think of the season of Lent as a time of refreshing Spring showers from God, watering the garden of my soul. Gardens tend to get weeds in them after the long winter of neglect and so do our souls if we don’t tend them properly.

The beauty of the Christian life is that the Living God invites us into communion with the Himself. We don’t have to let our souls and spirits get dry and thirsty – we don’t have to get the blues, but if we do, we have the promises of God’s word to bring us hope and comfort.

Karen Carpenter also wrote in those lyrics that, “Funny, but it seems that it’s the only thing to do, run and find the one who loves me”. I hope she meant that the “one” was God, although she may have meant some one she was in love with or her brother Richard. However, like the psalmist, we can know that when rainy days or Mondays or anything starts to get us down we can run to God, the God who made us, who loves us, and who promises to bring beauty from ashes…

“…to proclaim the year of the Lord’s favor, and the day of vengeance of our God; to comfort all who mourn; to grant to those who mourn in Zion— to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.”

Isaiah 61:3

Shalom for a Holy Lent,

Pastor Brad