Unconditional Love

Delilah, happily on the run, circa 2001.

It’s been well-said that a dog is man’s best friend, and that a dog is God’s tangible expression of unconditional love. I have found that to be true during the most difficult season of my life, and though I am content in this season of life to be a "doggie grampa," Delilah, our late-great family Boxer, has never been far from my mind.

Dreams can be a mish-mash of the past and present, of things being processed or unresolved, and just plain unexplainable and random weirdness. But when you put yourself to sleep at night asking for God to speak even in the midst of rest, the mish-mash can be eye-opening the next morning…

…It was a familiar scene of happy chaos. The clock had been turned back 20 years to a typical weekend night of teens descending upon our house, unannounced but welcome, to hang out with my daughter and son. And as she often was, Delilah was in the midst of it all, wagging her knob of a tail and barking up a happy storm, following people around. But when the barking didn’t stop and she started jumping on people in excitement, I remember turning to her with upraised voice and finger, “No!”

Delilah immediately sat in obedience (I could tell this was a dream), but what came next totally surprised me. I remember feeling great compassion and love for this dear friend. It was overpowering. All the other noise of the dream was on mute. And as I was patting her, a bit more weirdness—I clearly heard an off-camera voice speaking “Psalm 103, Psalm 104!” But Psalm 103 was what I seemed to be paying attention to…

When I got up the next morning, I was thinking of that crazy dream and decided, “oh, what the heck” and turned to Psalm 103 to see if maybe Delilah was there. What stopped me in my tracks was not “seeing” Delilah there, but her Master:

“The Lord is merciful, compassionate and loving, slow to become angry and full of constant love…As high as the sky is above the earth, so great is His love for those who honor (obey) Him. As far as the east is from the west, so far does He remove our sins from us. As a father is kind to his children, so the Lord is kind to those who honor Him. He knows what we are made of; He remembers that we are dust.”—Psalm 103:8, 11-14

Some things you never outgrow, like wondering if God reaches a patience limit with our repeated screw ups of attitude and action in spite of wanting to always walk the narrow road. And just maybe, that crazy mish-mash of a dream was a reassuring message that God’s ways are not our ways and that though dogs are wonderful, He doesn’t need one to remind us of what unconditional Love really looks like.

We just need to remember to be like Delilah and “sit” when we hear or sense “No!” and feel the Love, and get up and keep going (tail-wagging optional).

“Do you believe that the God of Jesus loves you beyond worthiness and unworthiness, beyond fidelity and infidelity? That He loves you in the morning sun and in the evening rain? That He loves you when your intellect denies it, your emotions refuse it, your whole being rejects it? Do you believe that God loves without condition or reservation and loves you this moment as you are and not as you should be?... 

He has a single relentless stance toward us:

He loves us.”—Brennan Manning

A Better Way

“The woods are lovely, dark and deep…”  

Robert Frost penned these words about the woods at night, but this is also what the woods look like just as the day’s first beams of sunlight reach over the horizon. It’s a peaceful picture of hope and possibilities and wonder for a new day… and then the rest of those verses begin to sink in: 

“But I have promises to keep,   

And miles to go before I sleep,   

And miles to go before I sleep.”

And with mug of hot beverage in hand and eyelids barely open, as thoughts of the new day’s responsibilities and cares invade the view, it can be easy to let hope be tempered by “How am I going to get it all done?,” or possibilities by the prospect of a to-do list that seems overwhelming, or wonder to be elbowed by endless “what ifs?”

But there is a more excellent way!…Keep staring at the woods lovely, dark and deep but head in a different direction:

 

Thank You that “I lay down and slept safely; I awakened, for You sustained me.” (Psalm 3:5)

Thank You that no matter what the headlines say, “This is the day that You have made, so I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

Thank You that You alone “give life and breath to everything, and satisfy every need.” (Acts 17:25)

Thank You that no matter what others think of me or I think of myself, that in Your eyes, “I am fearfully and wonderfully made” (Psalm 139:14)

“Thanksgiving is worry’s kryptonite. You can’t worry if you’re giving thanks." — Matt Chandler

Thank You for the “incredible quality of love You have shown to us, that we would be permitted to be named and called and counted the children of God! And so we are!” (1 John 3:1)

Thank You that even when I feel alone — even in a crowd — I’m not because Your name is “God with us” and You have promised “never will I leave you, never will I abandon you.” (Hebrews 13:5)

Thank You that no matter what I feel, I know I can trust You because “it is impossible for God to lie.” (Hebrews 6:18)

Thank You that You are “not a human who changes his mind. Whatever You promise, You do; You speak, and it is done.” (Numbers 23:19)

Thank You that no matter what it may look like, “The earth belongs to You, and everything in it — the world and all its people.” (Psalm 24:1)

Thank You for the reminder that being thankful “strengthens my faith.” (Colossians 2:6-7)

And thank You especially that no matter what, You never quit on anything, that “You are good and Your love endures forever.” (Psalm 136:1)

“O God, my heart is quiet and confident. No wonder I can sing Your praises! Rouse yourself, my soul! Arise, O harp and lyre! Let us greet the dawn with song! I will thank You publicly throughout the land. I will sing Your praises among the nations. Your kindness and love are as vast as the heavens. Your faithfulness is higher than the skies!” (Psalm 57:7-10)

Loving Life

(photo:stocksy.com)

“…let us not love merely in theory with word or with tongue, giving lip service to compassion, but in action and in truth—in practice and in sincerity, because practical acts of love are more than words.”—1 John 3:18, Amplified

Timely words from the journal…

The other day, I ran into an old friend who owns a restaurant. He said it was time for us to get together and catch up because he thought we might have more in common that we realized. I suggested meeting at his restaurant but then quickly cut off the idea, “Oh right, you’ll be too busy.” But my friend’s response was as from Heaven itself. “I only want to serve. And I’m not talking about waiting on tables.”

When reading through the gospels, if you had to give a description of how Jesus walked in love, then humility, honor and servanthood would surely be near the top of the list. And He would say, right on: “the Son of Man came not to be waited on but to serve, and to give His life as a ransom for many—the price paid to set them free.” (Matthew 20:28) Paul in his letter to the church at Philippi puts an exclamation point on it: “Jesus has always been as God is. But He did not hold to His rights as God. He put aside everything that belonged to Him and made Himself the same as a servant who is owned by someone.” (Philippians 2:6-7)

Foot washing, for example. In Jesus’ day, washing someone’s feet was such a low, dirty task, it was left to a servant or a slave to do it—a respectable person would never stoop so low. But on the night of the Last Supper, out came the basin, water and towels as Jesus flipped the tables on His disciples (then and now) once more:

“I am your example; keep doing what I do...

...I tell you the truth: a servant is not greater than the master.

Those who are sent are not greater than the one who sends them.”—John 13:15-16

Opportunities to love and serve—big ones, but especially the small ones no one really wants to do or notices—await us every day. And each time, it will be easy to say to ourselves, “too busy” or “don’t have the time” or “let someone else do it who seems better qualified.”

It is better to be like my friend. It is even better to remember that I am not my own but I am “owned by Someone,” to  step into every day thinking not “What’s in it for me?” but “What’s in it for Thee?”

“You have not lived today until you have done something for someone who can never repay you.”—John Bunyan

Football, Mom and the 'It'

(Photo: Charismanews.com)

"I was glad when they said to me, 'Let us go to the house of the Lord!' And now, here we are, standing inside your gates, O Jerusalem." (Psalm 122:1, New Living Translation)

Among the many things the pandemic has revealed is something God has been trying to get through to us believers for centuries: worship of the living God is not confined to a sometimes closed or quasi-opened building. We are all mobile temples who carry His presence in us and with us wherever we go. We were meant to worship God at any time, anywhere. But at the same time, God also designed the purposeful gathering of His family in a particular location to be something akin to a stick of dynamite. It's "where the tribes go up"— different people from different neighborhoods, backgrounds, and interests with one common purpose, to...

...Worship the Lord who alone gives us life and breath and everything else we need.

Whether spaced apart and with masks on now or shoulder to shoulder once more when the pandemic passes, sparks of goodness and encouragement and faith-building occur when iron sharpens iron, elbows rub elbows, and completely different people who may never hang out with one another on a regular basis are of one mind about the incredible, daily reality of the living God working in their lives. It’s what happens when the dynamite Spirit of the living God swoops in and galvanizes it all, refreshing and re-energizing a bunch of imperfect people to go out the door and be the Church again for another week, wherever that may be.

If we’re not careful, though, doing all of that every Sunday can become routine and begin to feel like you’re going through the motions. Good. Not bad. But mostly feeling like you’re doing your Christian thing. Life gets messy and can preoccupy.  And then, “Oh look, here comes another Monday… “And sometimes, you’re reminded that it also means dealing with, well, people, and the idea of avoiding that can sound really appealing.

And so God invented football! And Super Bowl Sunday is a good day to be awakened and even humbled a bit….

Because millions of people really love football. They can't wait for Sunday. They think about "it" all week long, even in the midst of their daily stresses and routine. "It" keeps them going until that hour on Sunday afternoon when they can either enter the building with thousands of others or enter it vicariously through a 48-inch flat screen. The "it" of the game may mean one thing to one fan and another thing to someone else, but whatever "it" is, "it" has captivated their collective attention, stirred their expectancy and anticipation, and they cannot wait.

Whenever the whole idea of gathering in a building or joining the tribe online on any given Sunday feels a bit routine, it is good to think of the expectancy of the football fan. Better than that, unlike football, it is good to know that there is one very definable and powerful "it" that believers can always cling to and that should jolt alive any ho-hum Sunday into a day of worship expectancy and anticipation:

The cross and the empty tomb.

Even though none of us may ever fully understand the mystery of it all in this lifetime, when worship/church routine tries to creep in, all we have to do is look to the cross once more. That's “it!" Because through that cross, and Jesus' final gasping words on behalf of all who would believe — “It is finished! — something more amazing than the best football game ever played took place: the veil of separation between us and God was ripped open once and for all. Not only that, we are no longer destined for an eternity of death because the Savior of the world didn’t stay in the tomb but rose to life again and went back Home to be with His Father. And to this very day, He continues to intercede for us as we go on our daily journey.

This grandest of all “it” means we can regularly and always be in God's presence in every situation, and can approach Him with boldness and confidence. Every single minute of every single day... the God who always says "Yes" to His own promises, the God who has and still does the impossible, for Whom nothing is too difficult, and Who is the God of all comfort and wisdom.

I am reminded of my mom in her golden years, when walking and standing too long were painful and slow. It would take her forever to get from the car to her seat in church each Sunday, but nothing was going to stop her. And when the songs of praise and worship began, she wanted to be helped to her feet so she could grab the chair in front of her with one hand and have the other free for expressing her love for Jesus…

"Jesus paid it all, all to Him I owe”…it’s more than a great song to sing, it’s a battle cry to follow the lead of the endlessly passionate football fan (and my mom)  and always be eager to worship with our very lives, both together and one-on-one, every single Sunday and especially all the Mondays-through-Saturdays to come. 

"Salvation is not mainly the forgiveness of sins, but mainly the fellowship of Jesus. Forgiveness gets everything out of the way so this can happen. If this fellowship is not all-satisfying, there is no great salvation. If Christ is gloomy, or evenly calmly stoical, eternity will be a long, long sigh." —John Piper