Love You Still

     We know that we need to love God. We know that He is worthy of our praise. I can't help but wonder however, if we base our love for Him too heavily on what He has done for us and not as much on who He is? It's natural to focus on that aspect of our relationship, it's easier to praise someone for the things they have done than it is to praise their attributes. Also, I think we find it more personal somehow to look to what He has done in our lives specifically. God is more than what He does and has importance greater than the providence in our lives.

     I feel a little weird talking about this because, well, because the two sides of this particular coin are admittedly close. What God does is intrinsically tied to who He is and I would say that it is impossible to completely divorce the two. I also would not say that we should not praise and thank Him for His gifts and works; I just think we should be careful not to base our praise exclusively on the fact that He does nice things for us. We may be grateful for our ability to sing but God was artistic long before our voices were heard, we may be grateful for our lives but God was living long before us and is far more alive than we ever will be, and we may be grateful for our family but God has existed in perfect relationship for eternity.

     In the Psalms we see a blending of praise for God's works and for His holy name. David penned songs that thanked God for the many things He had done in his life and for the wonder and majesty of who God is. This combination of perspectives is important. If we focus solely on either one we will end up with a skewed view of God and our relationship with Him. Solely thanking God for what He does for us can lead to a Santa Clause view of God and leave us expecting more and more gifts and make us upset when things don't go the way we want. If we only praise Him for His attributes we may come to think of Him as disconnected and too far away from us to really matter. A proper blending of both reminds us that He is great and mighty and we are small and dependent but also keeps us aware of His work in our lives and His love for us.

“This feeble faith of mine, wants nothing more than this;

to love You, apart from what You give. So take from me

the things You give if purposed in Your will, and I will love you still.”

-”Love You Still," The Tree

©2008 Julianna Zobrist

Thankful

“Enter into His gates with thanksgiving, And into His courts with praise. Be thankful to Him, and bless His name.”

(Psalms 100:4)

     Its that time of year again, here in the US, where we take a day to spend time with family and friends and express our gratitude for what we have. Yeah I know I'm kidding. This is the time of year when we should be taking the time to show our gratitude but really we mostly shove a few mouth-fulls of turkey and stuffing down our impatient gullets and then run out to the store to express our overwhelming feelings of materialism and greed. Makes you feel all warm and fuzzy inside doesn't it? Honestly, we didn't always have this holiday and its not a biblical command; so why do so many of us get so irritated at how we treat Thanksgiving these days?

     We all know the story of the pilgrims and the Indians (Native Americans for you PC folks) and how they all got together and had a giant feast. The tale is mostly true and stands as the historical basis for the day we celebrate (or don't) to this day. The first actual proclamation of the holiday was given by President George Washington on October 3^rd 1789 declaring November 26 as “A day of public thanksgiving and prayer. Later the day was formalized by President Abraham Lincoln as the fourth Thursday of November in 1863. President Franklin D. Roosevelt tried changing the day to suit the Christmas shopping season but the general public didn't care for that at all and it was changed back. In President Washington's words:

“Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledge the providence of Almighty God, to obey His will, to be grateful for His benefits, and humbly to implore His protection and favor; and Whereas both Houses of Congress have, by their joint committee, requested me "to recommend to the people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer, to be observed by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many and signal favors of Almighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably to establish a form of government for their safety and happiness:"

Now, therefore, I do recommend and assign Thursday, the 26th day of November next, to be devoted by the people of these States to the service of that great and glorious Being who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, that is, or that will be; that we may then all unite in rendering unto Him our sincere and humble thanks for His kind care and protection of the people of this country previous to their becoming a nation; for the signal and manifold mercies and the favorable interpositions of His providence in the course and conclusion of the late war; for the great degree of tranquility, union, and plenty which we have since enjoyed; for the peaceable and rational manner in which we have been enable to establish constitutions of government for our safety and happiness, and particularly the national one now lately instituted' for the civil and religious liberty with which we are blessed, and the means we have of acquiring and diffusing useful knowledge; and, in general, for all the great and various favors which He has been pleased to confer upon us.

And also that we may then unite in most humbly offering our prayers and supplications to the great Lord and Ruler of Nations and beseech Him to pardon our national and other transgressions; to enable us all, whether in public or private stations, to perform our several and relative duties properly and punctually; to render our National Government a blessing to all the people by constantly being a Government of wise, just, and constitutional laws, discreetly and faithfully executed and obeyed; to protect and guide all sovereigns and nations (especially such as have show kindness to us), and to bless them with good governments, peace, and concord; to promote the knowledge and practice of true religion and virtue, and the increase of science among them and us; and, generally to grant unto all mankind such a degree of temporal prosperity as He alone knows to be best.

Given under my hand, at the city of New York, the 3rd day of October, A.D. 1789.”

(signed) G. Washington

     Wow. Let's all just take a moment to think about how this was said by the President while he was in office! This day was from its infancy, designed that we may show our gratitude to God for His many blessings. Not only that but to repent of our misdeeds and pledge ourselves to future righteousness. This goes way beyond simply being content with what we have or taking the time to ruminate on how blessed we are; this about humility and submission and gratitude to God. What we see in our modern days is less rampant ungratefulness and more the continued rejection of God in our lives and a refusal to admit that He is the one responsible for every great and good thing.

“...although they knew God, they did not glorify Him as God, nor were thankful, but became futile in their thoughts, and their foolish hearts were darkened.”

(Romans 1:21)

     What are you thankful for? How has God blessed you? I don't have much, I wouldn't say that I'm rich or “well off.” I don't have much but I have far, far more than I deserve. We have food on our tables, a roof over our heads, family and friends, jobs to make money, money to pay for what we need, cars to get us where we need to go, a church family to strengthen and support us, clothes on our backs, toys and games and entertainments, the beauty of the world, the wonder of worship, the very Word of God for us to read, we have His grace and His forgiveness, we have God Himself! We have everything we could possibly need and so much more besides! What right to do we have to want more? What a crime it is that we can't even take one single day out of a whole year of them to be thankful?

“Oh, that men would give thanks to the LORD for His goodness, And for His wonderful works to the children of men! For He satisfies the longing soul, And fills the hungry soul with goodness.”

(Psalms 107:8-9)

     I have to work on Thanksgiving. I won't be able to spend my time with my family around a table. I won't see my niece get jellied cranberry sauce all over her face or my parents telling old embarrassing stories from the past. I'll be a few blocks away -just a few blocks- dealing with hundreds of people pushing past each other to get a DVD player that's ten dollars cheaper than it was yesterday. Do me a favor wont you? Take a few minutes and thank God for me, for your quiet table and your lovely meal. We'll be fine, those of us who have to work, there will be other Thanksgivings and other holidays. I'm just sad that as a people so blessed and bountiful, we can't even let one day of gratitude remain. We can't even allow one day in the year when we thank God for all we have.

“Oh, give thanks to the LORD, for He is good! For His mercy endures forever.”

(1 Chronicles 16:34)

“Thanks be to God for His indescribable gift!”

(2 Corinthians 9:15)

For Him

I cannot sing the loudest

Nor can I sing the best.

I cannot sing as sweetly,

As a bird does from her nest.

But when I make a joyful sound,

I sing unto the King.

I sing to thank Him for His love,

And the blessings that He brings.

I am not a famous artist,

My works are not well known.

I'm in no uptown galleries,

Or art collector's homes.

My work is far from popular,

But ask me if I care,

My purpose is to praise my God,

His glory to declare.

My words don't always leave my pen

With fervent, eager glee.

I don't always make a perfect point,

Or paint fitting imagery.

My writing tells of stories,

That are hundreds of years old,

Yet still the truth contained therein

Is fierce and live and bold.

We may never find great riches,

We may never have grand homes,

But with every work that glorifies,
We lay an alter stone.

Our lives will be the sacrifice,

A gift to One on high.

We know the only way to live,

Is every day to die.

by. Jonathan E. Schaefer

11/16/2014

The Two Reasons

     I was listening to Alistair Begg the other day, and he made an excellent point. There are ultimately only two reasons why anyone rejects the cross of Christ: either they consider themselves too good and have no need of a savior or they think themselves so horrid that God can do nothing with them. All the atheistic showboating aside, that's really what it boils down to. The amazing thing about Christianity is that unlike every other religion, Christ counters both perspectives. All the world religions foster one of two things; either pride in the works you have done toward 'heaven' or despair at your inability to do what you perceive must be done. Again, Christianity confronts and defeats both of these ideas.

     Lets look at pride and self fulfillment. Many of the world's beliefs will tell you that you have to work your way to heaven, that eternity is for those who earn it or that you are the author of the better you. All you need to do, they say, is follow these rules or fulfill these requirements or do this list of actions and -BAM- you're in heaven. The side effect of this mentality is pride, and why not? If I'm doing all this great stuff that makes me such a great or at least spiritually successful person why not think highly of myself? Well Christianity asks this question: what is the entry requirement for heaven? What's the answer? Complete and total perfection! All your works, all your efforts, all that stuff you hold up and think so highly of...pointless. Nothing you do and nothing you say will ever -EVER- be enough. Kind of kills any hope of personal pride doesn't it? This thought spits right in the face of self-fulfillment, you aren't good enough and you can't possibly be good enough.

     Now a look at sorrow and despair (which you may very well find yourself at given the previous paragraph). There are quit a few people that would say, “God can't possibly save me or want me, look at all that I've done!” First of all let me just say that although I'm sure many people actually think this way, I'm also certain that many others are simply masking pride with false humility. Their 'humility' is a way of being unique, “I'm so bad, not even God can help me,” and a way of deflecting having to actually think about things. Back to the point though, The Bible tells us that humanity is utterly depraved, sinful from its birth and incapable of saving itself; but it doesn't leave us there. We see that God uses that fact, the very idea that we are all totally sinful, as a means for hope! It's not just you. Everyone is impossibly far from God, there is no one who is closer and no one who is further away! God can do all things and you're sin makes you no less capable of receiving His grace than anyone else! When we understand that God's grace is meant for the hopeless we can see our sorrow turn to joy and our despair to gratitude.

     We see here one of the many wonderful and unique things about our faith, that God has answers for every perspective. That He has a plan for everyone and everything. He did not slack in His revelation nor did He forget what we would need. We cannot be prideful, it is all too apparent that we are far from perfect and in desperate need of a savior; but we need not despair, God is the hope for the hopeless and the shelter for the lost.   

Dual Citizenship

     I love my country. I thank God that He has so blessed me that I live in a place that -at least officially- recognizes personal liberty. Where I can openly practice my beliefs and share them with those around me. A nation where I need not fear violence should I speak out against the common beliefs of society. I am blessed that I may seek my future as I see fit, where I may read what I want, say what I want, and think what I want. I am blessed to be so free. I am free to worship my God how I so chose. I am free to gather with my brothers and sisters in the Lord every Sunday. I am free to choose the path of my life and the path of my soul. I am free.

     My country is not perfect. Like every earthly institution it involves people, and people are never perfect. Those in charge of our governance have made mistakes and many of them quite public and quite tragic. Those who did the best they could are intermixed with those who simply did what they wanted. We have held up the noble as heroes and cast down the innocent as villains. My country is not perfect, but it has such great potential. At its heart is the Constitution, a document that outlines a government protected -as much as possible- from strife and greed and power-mad fools. Our laws were drafted with God in mind, for a nation of people who knew that God ruled His creation and that leaders were at best delegated ministers. We have made mistakes, we have made poor choices, but we try. We try our best to do our best, and as a whole we have done rather well.

     I love my country, but my country is not my home. These green fields and busy streets, these blue skies and lofty buildings, these empty plains and busy cities are not my destiny. This beautiful land where nature takes the stage and man's ingenuity raises lofty structures high into the clouds is not enough for me. This land, that I love, is not my final home.

     I am a Christian. This life you see is an illusion, for I died long ago. My heart may keep on beating but I laid myself down on the alter of heaven and died along with Christ that I may live with Him as well. This life, this soul, this existence has been bought and paid for by the sacrifice of one far greater than I. His blood, the blood of Jesus, has paid my way out of darkness and into light. My name has been written down in the records of a higher citizenship. My home is with the Lord. When the grand display of this present world is faded, when Christ returns to claim His own or when my time has run its course and I am left an old and failing form, when every one of our grand designs has crumbled into dust, then I will find the pathway to eternity open and the doors to heaven waiting for me at last. I will walk the streets of gold and follow the pathways of the stream that flows from the throne of God. I will know peace, for heaven is my home.

     I love my countries. This nation that God has blessed me to be a part of is a wonderful earthly place, imperfect and flawed but granted such grace. My heavenly home will be the fulfillment of our every dream. I love my country, but I know this place is not my home. I will fight for its honor, I will support its good and I will decry its evils, but most of all I will hold to it with a loose hand. Every rolling hill and vast city, every reaching mountain and endless suburb will fade and come to its end in due time. My God has blessed me with this nation and I thank Him for it, but I will not cling to it nor let it distract me from the forever that awaits. This whole wonderful terrible world we live in has a deadline, an expiration date, an end; I will keep my eye on the endless.

“For our citizenship is in heaven, from which we also eagerly wait for the Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ...”

(Philippians 3:20)

Just a Little Something

     I need to apologize, yesterday was kind of a down day.  I wasn't feeling very creative and I also felt just a touch under the weather so I made excuses till the day was gone and I hadn't really written anything.  I don't wan to leave a day blank though so I have an older poem of mine for you all.  Not sure If I've posted it here before, let me know if I did and I'll replace it!  Thanks for reading!

The Puzzle Complete

I think that I was missing something

Though I had much to say

I think I somehow missed the point

With so much in the way

With fear and doubt I closed my eyes

And sank into despair

I sat and cried

And didn't try

To see that you still cared

But now something has changed in me

The darkness starts to fade

The love of God has pulled me from

The hole that I had made

I've spent so long so focused on

The missing, broken parts

That I forgot that you fulfill

The longings of our hearts

So let me walk in daylight, Lord

Let my heart be freed

And let me not forget again,

That you are all I need.

by. Jonathan Schaefer

06/21/06

Don't Give Up

Dear Christian,

     I know where you are right now. Alone and angry and frustrated. You're sitting in the dark as you rail against yourself. “Again.” You ask yourself. “Why have I done this again?” For the hundredth time you find yourself in the aftermath of sin, of sin you chose to do for reasons that have now evaporated. I know this because I've been there, we all have. The life of a Christian is not one of perfection and sadly we often find ourselves repeating the same bad choices we swore never to make again.

     The first thing I'll say is this: Use it. Sin won't stop at merely getting you to choose the 'flesh'. It will use your grief to drive you further from God.  Grief and guilt are unusual. When used properly they can keep us humble, drive us to do better, and cause us to draw closer to God. Often though, our guilt makes us unwilling to approach the perfect God and can actually push us to further sin. It's important to remember that we are undeserving of His grace and deserving of His punishment, but we can't focus on that. We have to keep that fact in mind so that it informs the wonder and awe we experience from the knowledge of what He has done for us. That the Holy God of the universe would deign to save such as us shouldn't make us cower into the dirt, it should have us shouting for joy and praise! On the flip side, we must examine our sins and our behaviors and our history to be sure that the overall pattern is growth not simply a lack of freedom from sin. God has given us freedom, we don't -have- to sin, but we will. Not until glory will we be totally free. Use it, don't let your guilt simply sit there. Go to God and repent, ask for His help and He will be there with you.

     Furthermore, remember that you never deserved your salvation in the first place. I know that when I sin, when I have to repent of my actions, one of the first things that comes to my mind is the question “why on earth would God have saved me?” It's helpful to remember that God didn't save you because of anything within 'you'. To put it bluntly, He saved you because He chose to. That's it and we may never understand the reasons. We were utterly unworthy of salvation in the first place so we can't become less worthy than that. God saw all of your sin, all of it, from the time that He made time itself. He knew exactly what He was getting into when He saved you. There are no surprises, there are no regrets, and there is nothing that will cause Him to revoke that which He has given. If you're saved, if you really are, then know that you will never fall fully away. You will always return, God will always be calling you back or even dragging you back.

     So don't give up. Use your guilt and your mistakes. Take what the enemy want's to use to destroy you and give it to God so that He can build you up instead. Repent and move on from that dark room you find yourself in. Keep your eyes on the bright horizon and keep walking, keep fighting for every step and when you fall, get back up. 

 I'll be praying for you.

Fallen Beauty

      I love nature. My wife and I both love to explore hiking trails and wander through forests.  We took our honeymoon in New Hampshire mainly for the mountains and the woods. This world we live in abounds with beauty and nearly everywhere you look there is a lovely view. I see all of this and I see the handiwork of an artist. I see the art of God.

     No human work has ever compared to the wonder of the world around us. We see lines and shapes and colors that seem to just erupt and exist and yet they are far more pleasing than the most exacting work of human art. A painting or statue, though lovely just doesn't command the same awe as a wondrous view. How can we even compare our own creations to the mountains and fields and streams?

     This brings up an interesting point though. You see, the world we live in isn't perfect -not by far. It's a broken world, a corrupt world, a sinful world. When Adam sinned it wasn't just the human race that fell under the curse but sin entered the world through them and poisoned everything! Then on top of that the earth was cursed against us so that our lives would be full of toil and danger. This beauty, this amazing world is really a horrible place. Yet it -is- beautiful. The power and artistry of God is so great that even in a world tainted by horrid evil and cursed so as to be a place of struggle is still breathtaking! How great is our God that His handiwork still shines though it's been thrown in the mud!  How great is His grace that the world we live in doesn't look like what we deserve or the curse we are under!

     This world shines as a testament to His Glory. Every rough stone and swaying tree, every butterfly and bird, every low valley or high mountain, every atom of creation screams of it's Creator! We do everything in our power to push aside the evidence, to try and make the amazing mundane, but I will not allow this world that hates God to rob me of my wonder at His hands. I will remain in awe of His work and I will call it what it is -art- from the hands of a master.

     I look forward to eternity, for many reasons. I long to be with my God, to be with Him in perfect communion. I long to be free from the temptation of sin, to no longer fail Him or choose to rebel. And I long for the new earth, for the glory and beauty of a world not yoked by the burden of sin. How glorious will the mountains be? How breathtaking the plains? How blessed are we to not only live in such a beautiful world but to know that those of us who know Him will transition to one of infinitely greater splendor? May God be praised for His mercy and grace, and for the marvelous work of His hands.

"It is as hard to explain how this sunlit land was different from the old Narnia as it would be to tell you how the fruits of that country taste. Perhaps you will get some idea of it if you think like this. You may have been in a room in which there was a window that looked out on a lovely bay of the sea or a green valley that wound away among mountains. And in the wall of that room opposite to the window there may have been a looking-glass. And as you turned away from the window you suddenly caught sight of that sea or that valley, all over again, in the looking-glass. And the sea in the mirror, or the valley in the mirror, were in one sense just the same as the real ones: yet at the same time they were somehow different—deeper, more wonderful, more like places in a story: in a story you have never heard but very much want to know. The difference between the old Narnia and the new Narnia was like that. The new one was a deeper country: every rock and flower and blade of grass looked as if it meant more. I can’t describe it any better than that: if you ever get there you will know what I mean."

C. S. Lewis. Last Battle (Kindle Locations 1813-1819). San Val, Incorporated. 

The Power and Purpose of Prayer

     Why do we pray? Much doubt is being cast on the importance and usefulness of prayer these days, leaving many to wonder why pray at all? It can be a hard thing to pray continually. You'll find that a million different distractions will creep up on you and you may even fall asleep as you kneel on the floor with your eyes closed tight. So why do it? Why fight against the current of popular opinion? Because to do so and reject prayer would be disastrous to our spiritual lives.

     I've heard it said that praying is pointless because God already knows everything anyway and He already has His plan and since God already knows everything about us we can't build that relationship. Of course this is all true but it's missing a crucial point. We are commanded to pray and God has told us that prayer is effective.

“Confess your trespasses to one another, and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The effective, fervent prayer of a righteous man avails much.”

(James 5:16)

Furthermore, God does know us perfectly already but we barely know Him! The relationship we are building is not based on mutual lack of understanding but on the fact that we are woefully ignorant of our creator. Prayer is not merely time spent mumbling in the dark but time spent conversing with our heavenly Father. We're talking to Dad. 

     Similarly we don't have to keep our prayers constantly wordy and fancy, we don't have to use flowing speech and grandiose words. We can simply seek Him and talk to Him, tell Him about your day and what is bothering you. He is listening. Especially helpful is the knowledge that we don't need to perfectly articulate what we need for two reasons: God does already know our needs, and the Holy Spirit speaks on our behalf.

“Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered.”

(Romans 8:26)

     As you pray, as you make it a habit of your life, you will see it's benefits. Prayer not only works in this world -though we may not see or understand how- it draws us closer to God and to each other. We need to keep God in our thoughts, keeping a “constant state of prayer”, carrying Him with us always and going to Him specifically whenever we can. Prayer defines a Christian in a way, unlike other religions of the world we are not simply repeating verses or chanting lines or paying homage, we are talking directly to God. After all, this faith we have is more than simply a duty or responsibility or a requirement, it is a relationship with our creator and savior. So don't give up on prayer, don't let it slip aside because you don't have time or don't know what to say. God is waiting to hear from you, don't make Him wait too long.

Thankful

Have I thanked You for the sunset?

Have I thanked You for the stars?

Have I expressed my gratitude

for all we count as ours?

Do I show how much emotion

I feel or sense in me?

Do I truly understand how much

Your Grace has affected me?

God I thank you for this world I see

I thank you for the land

I thank for the beauty

For the artwork of Your hand.

I thank You for my journey

For the life I lead each day

I thank You that You're always there

Even when I've lost my way.

How can I fully say,

How can I justly show?

How much You are appreciated?

Do I even know?

Can I comprehend Your riches?

Can I understand Your Grace?

Will I realize it someday?

Or will it be a constant chase?

I know that I can't fully grasp

The wonders You bestow.

I know I'll never say enough.

My gratitude to show.

I have so little I can give

So few words I can say.

What I have is nearly worthless

In this world of pain and strife

But it's all I have to give you

So to my Father,

Here's my life.