Morning Meditation, September 21, 2015
“Because of the Lord’s great love we are not consumed, for his compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lamentations 3:22-23
I turn a year older this week. What is it about birthdays, especially the adulthood ones that make you reflect on God’s faithfulness? Cherish it, actually. Realize you wouldn’t be here without it. Last night I sat on a friend’s porch over dinner with two of my closest, longest-time friends. We were working on putting the final pieces together for Justice and Mercy International’s Benefit Gala (an organization I partner with in the Amazon), and it suddenly hit me—that we’re the adults in the room. We plan stuff. People occasionally want our opinion. I don’t know exactly how or when I got old enough for this to happen.
The marker of another year causes me to look back on the path from whence I’ve come, aware that all my choices for obedience don’t add up to having gotten me to where God has brought me. In other words, grace fueled any obedience I can claim and made up for everything else. All of us have glimpsed around the room of our lives—be it a job we never dreamed would be ours, a child so unique we couldn’t have imagined him or her up, the ministry calling so beyond us—and realized we just couldn’t haven woven all this together, not to mention redeeming the bad stuff for good. When it comes down to it, there’s really just one word to describe God’s hand on our lives: Faithfulness.
The prophet Jeremiah points to three facets of God’s faithfulness:
We Are Not Consumed
We have not been snuffed out by our guilt and shame and selfishness. I admit the idea of, awesome, I haven’t been consumed today is not the first grace I think of when I consider God’s love. Still, Jeremiah’s words are both sobering and relieving. My sin could have taken me out a few different times—or as my friend likes to say in Old Testament terms, I could have gotten smote. So just the reality that I am writing these words, and you dear sister are reading them, says we do this because we have not been consumed. Because we are alive. Because of His great love for us.
His Compassions Never Fail
There’s just no telling who or where I’d be right now, or what my community would look like, if the Lord’s compassions were to have failed me at any point. They would have had only fail for a moment, at the wrong time, for things to look so very different. You may feel the same. I think in my younger years I presumed upon the Lord’s compassions, as if they were there for me like oxygen—paradoxically too plentiful to be seen as a treasure. But now I realize God’s never failing compassions are why I have anything at all. As I become more aware of the fragility of life, I am keener to the reality of His mercies. The fact that Almighty God bows His head toward us with compassions is deeply meaningful, but the fact that these compassions never fail is what keeps us alive.
His Mercies Are New Every Morning
It’s the daily dose of His morning mercies piled up from thousands of daily servings that have, one by one, carried me to today. Carried us all here. If the Lord had dolled out His mercies in one lump sum I may have used them all up, clean gone. If there were a limit to His tenderness, I may have outrun it. But every morning brings a fresh batch out of the oven. They are new. They are here today. They will rise on the wings of the dawn tomorrow.
So this week I will turn another year older. I’m looking forward to being with family and friends and perhaps strawberry cake. And I will breathe deeply these surroundings because I have not been consumed, because God’s compassions are present and they do not fail, and because His mercies will be new that morning, and every morning for as many days as God gives me.
Great is His faithfulness.
Bloom Book Club
I’m so excited to be part of the Bloom Book Club this summer with Angie Smith and Jessica Turner. They have chosen The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ as their summer book. You can find out all the details by clicking here.
I had the best time taping several video segment where we discussed each chapter and brought our real-life thoughts and experiences to the table, always up against the incredible revelation of what the Bible has to say about living out the virtues. If you’d like to join us this summer, we’d be more than thrilled to have you! Please come along for the ride…
The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ
Just wanted to let you know that I just got my copy of The Fitting Room: Putting on the Character of Christ. It’s available for pre-order today, and will ship April 1st. These projects require so much labor-intensive work and a huge chunk of your heart, so I’m always really excited when I can hold a final copy in my hands; The kind of copy where you can’t ask the editor if he or she can just change one more thing?
I based this book on Colossians 3:12 where Paul talks about clothing ourselves with the virtues. Of course this is easier said than done; Taking off one outfit for another is way easier than, say, taking off anger for patience, or bitterness for forgiveness. But there are many helpful truths along the way that aid us in the process, not the least of which is that we are chosen, set apart and dearly loved by God. So… I hope you will enjoy reading it as much as I enjoyed studying the classic Christian virtues, and writing about them in the most honest and at times humorous ways I knew how.
Deeper Still – Birmingham, AL
Hi Everyone, Just wanted to post a video recapping The Deeper Still weekend I was so honored to be a small part of. If you were there you know how amazing it was to hear from teachers like Kay Arthur, Priscilla Shirer and Beth Moore. If you weren’t able to come, there’s one more in Louisville, KY in the summer.
Grief of a Different Kind
I flew in from California last Sunday night just in time to attend a memorial service for a newborn baby. He was the son of two of my friends, whole and perfect. For reasons unknown, except to Elohim (The God who creates), this little baby went to be with Jesus on his third day here on earth. My friends attend a new church that currently meets in a bar, which works well for Sunday morning worship services but not as great for other functions. Since my friends were without a church building to celebrate their son, they chose one of their favorite and frequented spots – Ugly Mugs coffee shop.
Homemade Chicken Stock
Okay gang. It’s fall and if your region of the country is cooperating there should be burnt colored leaves sailing to the ground on the wings of a chilly breeze. You should have had your first pumpkin spice latte. A bite of something orange. Hopefully you’ve pulled out recipes with award-winning appearances from some of autumn’s all-stars like nutmeg and cinnamon. And if you’re anything like me, despite the unseasonably warm weather, you’ve started making soup. In my opinion, at the pinnacle of pumpkin patches, hayrides, and brisk morning walks perches soup in all its glory.