Month: March 2013

Your Love O Lord, Reaches to the Heavens

As Christ set his face toward Calvary, he steps forward in faithfulness to the will of the Father. Unwilling to allow himself to flinch as the moment of sacrifice stands but a week away, the Lord’s love pervades every interaction in which He will engage. Love for the Father. Love for His people. Love for those not-yet His people. The psalmist reflected on the expanse of this love and faithfulness:

Your love, O Lord, reaches to the heaven, your faithfulness to the skies.

Your righteousness is like the mighty mountains, you justice like the great deep.

O Lord, you preserve both man and beast.

How priceless is your unfailing love!

Both high and low among men find refuge in the shadow of your wings.

Psalm 36:5-7

As God had delivered Israel from their bondage, Jesus would faithfully deliver the world from its bondage to sin. Would there be limitations to this salvation? Would Jesus falter in his steps toward The Cross. Impossible! The height and breadth of love, the depth of righteousness and faithfulness cannot be measured any more than we can calculate the ends of the universe.

Does your faith reflect even a fraction of these unfathomable heights and widths? As we walk with the Lord toward His death, we have a pointed opportunity this week to allow previously reserved parts of self to die as well. Hang them on the cross. Send them to the tomb and know a greater sense of new life that is yours in belief. Know it in full.

Dwelling Forever in the house of god

The Great House of God
Max Lucado

“…I want to come home”, who hasn’t voiced that desire at least once in their life? One of Maslow’s fundamental human needs and a terminal thought, the longing for the security, warmth and familiarity of some place called home is sensed in times good and difficult. For not-yet-God’s-people, the destination called home may be an ill-defined concept but for God’s people, the great promise of being safe and secure in the house of God is a promise that brings calm to discord, raises ones vision from the mire of life and powers the endurance of the soul. Pastor Max Lucado writes longingly of the promise of this abode in his exposition of the Lord ’s Prayer, “The Great House of God”.

Lucado brings his pastoral gifts to the five great verses from Matthew’s gospel, bringing each thought of the praise and petition into full bloom as a chapter of its own. Though brief, the chapters give the reader enough to savor for a week of prayer time. His subtle shifting of emphasis in the opening verse for example-our FATHER and OUR father-can leave you to meditate upon the importance of these words corporately and by themselves. Room by room Pastor Lucado continues the tour until you cannot wait to enter the gates of heaven and settle into the place promised just for you, ‘safe and secure from all alarm’.

If you are not a fan of Lucado’s work, give this book an opportunity. It is not a deep theological tome but that is not his genre. Filled with his trademark folksy charm, it is meant to lift your eyes and heart to the promise of the prayer rather than dwelling on the technical aspects of the verses. I found myself enjoying the chapters and the subsequent reflection so much that it too much longer to read this book than the 160 pages would lead me to expect. Perhaps it is just this that makes the book so good, the slow release of the spiritual nourishment, the savoring of joy and the increased longing for the promise of the great house of God.