home home.

[5 minutes]

Headed home from the hospital after an 8-day stay. All praise to Jesus! So many miracles happened! As God does.

Now Hagar represents Mount Sinai in Arabia and corresponds to the present Jerusalem, for she is in slavery with her children. But the Jerusalem above is free, and she is our mother.
Galatians 4:25-26, CSB

If you visit Jerusalem today, you will see a people who are the spiritual offspring of Hagar — born of the flesh, after the flesh. The Lord loves them and longs for them to open their eyes (2 Cor 3:14-15), but for now, they choose to wander the spiritual wasteland of blindness and deafness.

BUT THERE IS A HEAVENLY JERUSALEM (v26). That City will one day supplant the present one. It is spiritual and heavenly, populated by people who know and are known by the Lord Jesus Christ — whose names are written in heaven (Heb 12:23). Saved Jews and Gentiles. Every tribe and tongue. Righteous people, made perfect by the sacrifice of the Lamb, worshipping their King in reverence and awe.

the jerusalem above

Followers of Jesus Christ are looking for that City (Heb 11:16), not at all satisfied with this one. We are ascending — up, up, up — climbing ever upward until the day we top that final hill and behold the City of God spread out before our eyes: shining and beautiful, surrounded by a myriad of angels, all dressed out for the festival of the ages.

It took valleys and deserts to cross to get here (Psa 84:6), but there she is — a multi-faceted jewel, the eternal dwelling place of God our Father and Jesus our Brother. The Holy Spirit is its everlasting Light.

When we fix our eyes and affections on this “Jerusalem” instead, we forget that we have been set free and saved for another Country altogether. We turn to graven images and works of the flesh, practicing an artificial religion that promises some attachment to the heavenly — but all it does is detach us from our True Country.

We soon realize that lifeless religion, empty rituals, and sad attempts at tower-building are futile. So we settle. We reach for shiny things on the ground — in the dirt, in the mud — and pretend we are happy. But the heart is deceitful and wicked, and no amount of playing in the dirt will appease our empty souls.

Weren’t we once “children of promise” (v28)? Why are we in the pig sty rooting around for corn cobs when my Father’s House has fatted calves and wide open spaces? Why am I wearing a yoke of slavery when I’m meant for a robe of righteousness (Gal 5:1)? Why am I severing myself from Christ (Gal 5:4) when I’m supposed to be dancing in the House of God (Gal 5:13)?

When did I stop ascending and start descending? I was making progress. Who bewitched me (Gal 3:1)?

There is good news. In the present Jerusalem is a holy spot where the Christ of Glory became the Lamb of sacrifice. He was slain upon a Jerusalem tree by a Jerusalem mob, but was raised to life inside a Jerusalem tomb. He then ascended to the Heavenly Jerusalem and told us He is preparing a place for us.

Don’t forget your true homeland. The present “Jerusalem” is not your home. You are commanded to come out of it (Rev 18:4) and set your sights on the City whose builder and maker is God. Look away to the heavens, Child of God — there is nothing for you here. Your help comes from heaven (Psa 121:1-2). Your birth certificate is in heaven. The census of heaven has your name on it.

C. S. Lewis wrote in The Weight of Glory: “We are half-hearted creatures, fooling about with drink and sex and ambition when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mud pies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased.”

He’s promised us a holiday at the sea. Pack your bags and get hoofing! The journey ahead won’t always be pleasant — at times it will be fraught with scaries and peril — but it is the only journey worth taking. Soon we’ll crest the last rise, and there She will be: the heavenly Jerusalem, spread out wide and wonderful, all dressed up for our arrival.

Just think of stepping on shore
and finding it heaven;
of touching a hand and finding it God’s;
of breathing new air and finding it celestial;
of waking up in Glory and finding it Home.
— “Finally Home,” Don Wyrtzen

taking it home

The hospital doctor came into my room this morning with good news: “I think I can confidently say that you are going home today.” It’s been a comedy of errors getting discharged, but as God does, He has a reason for everything. I’ve enjoyed my time with the doctors, nurses, and techs who have graciously cared for me. I’ve tried to shine Christ to each one — three asked for a copy of my book! — learning all their names and blessing each. For me, hospitalizations have become second business. First business is living Jesus in front of people who face death every day.

I came in with the onset of sepsis and infection spreading through my body. Multiple blood clots in my lower legs were also discovered — hello, Eliquis — contributing to my issues. The bottom line: I have been unwell since October. But I feel I’ve been gone over with a fine-tooth comb, and wherever problems surfaced, they have been addressed, one by one. I am so thankful for the hope of better health. And now I get to go home. Not home home. But home.

Home home is the one on my radar. This lower Jerusalem, for all its hardships and unpleasantries, has also afforded me quick gulps of Glory and glimpses of the land of our inheritance — if you squint hard enough.

On earth as it is in heaven…

Soon, Shahd will be here for my bed bath. Sandy will arrive and get me dressed and ready for the short trip home. Not home home. But for now, just home is good enough.

Selah, beloved.

elon

[4 minutes, 674 words]

No, not that Elon. Today’s meditation is about an Elon of the tribe of Zebulon, who was listed as one of Israel’s judges. All we know about him is that he judged for ten years and where he was buried.

Elon, who was from Zebulun, judged Israel after Ibzan. He judged Israel ten years. And when he died, he was buried in Aijalon in the land of Zebulun.
Judges 12:11-12

Two verses. That’s it.

No dramatic battles. No miraculous exploits. No lengthy narrative. We may surmise that, being buried in a Levite town, Elon was also a priest. Other than that, his life didn’t move any needles that we can see. Nothing heroic is mentioned and yet Elon served a vital role in the history of Israel. And because there is no mention of scandal, we can assume he did his job with integrity.

The church is filled with these kind of leaders. They are everywhere. We don’t really know much about them because their testimonies don’t show up in books, nor are their names dropped in conversations. They never see the big stage, don’t pastor big churches, and their sermons never go viral. They are, for all intents and purposes, unknown in their respective fields.

But not to God. He knows their names, and what they do, and how hard they struggle.

My February read is Pastor, Jesus Is Enough by Jeremy Writebol. The author takes the reader through the seven letters of Revelation, reminding us that they are, first and foremost, addressed to the pastors of those churches. Most of the letters do not flatter the pastors or their congregations.

Sandwiched between the dead church (Sardis) and the lukewarm church (Laodicea) was the only church whose pastor received Jesus’s glowing commendation.¹ He served the church in Philadelphia admirably, even bravely, standing strong in the face of overwhelming opposition.²

Jesus told him, I know you only have a little bit of power in the place where you are ministering. It feels like you’re all alone. You feel inadequate and useless. I assure you, you are not. I picked you. I put you where you are because I want to do God-things through you.

“Jesus doesn’t love the pastor of the big church more than the one who has a smaller, less-well-known ministry. He doesn’t delight more in the international traveler and evangelist who speaks to millions than he does the guy who speaks to the same fifty people every Sunday. His affections aren’t attuned more to the brightest young stars in evangelicalism than they are to the unknown and forgotten pastors who labor faithfully in insignificant places.”
—Jeremy Writebol, Pastor, Jesus Is Enough

Hey you. Yes, you. This post is for you even if you’re not a pastor. God sees you. He sees you in that lonely place where you are faithfully serving the King in spite of your weakness, opposition from others, anonymity, thanklessness, and lack of reward. Nobody else may see what you’re doing and what you’re up against, but your Heavenly Father does.

Most of us will live “Elon lives.” We won’t make headlines. We won’t move any needles. Our follower count will look tame by any metric. But we matter by God’s. So we’ll keep calm and carry on. We’ll simply show up — day after day, year after year — faithfully doing the work God has placed before us. We’ll raise children, serve our neighbors, love our families, and quietly point others to God. And that matters.

God doesn’t measure significance the way the world does. He doesn’t need your life to be spectacular to call it meaningful. He’s calling us to be faithful.

Elon judged Israel for ten years. That was enough. Your quiet faithfulness is enough too.

Prayer: Lord, help me to be faithful even when no one notices. Remind me that significance in Your kingdom isn’t measured by applause but by obedience. Give me the grace to serve You well in the ordinary, everyday moments of my life. Amen.

Selah, beloved.

Revelation 3:8 ↩︎
Revelation 3:9 ↩︎

are you the one?

[5 minutes]

I heard someone say the imprisoned John who wondered if he was trusting the right person to be the Messiah is a lot like us during Advent.

Can I trust you to fix what’s wrong with my world?

You’re a baby. You seem powerless. I envisioned a king and a kingdom, not a child in a manger. Are you big enough to take on the enemy and put everything right?

Now the Baby is all grown up, but Herod’s House is still up to its old shenanigans. Rome’s flags are still planted in sacred soil. All Jerusalem isn’t going out to see John anymore; he’s a has-been. Yesterday’s news. So last year.

Are you the One?

Charles Wesley intoned the groaning plea of the soul-heavy burden of advential waiting in the lyrics of his resurgent Christmas hymn:

Come Thou Long Expected Jesus

Come, thou long expected Jesus,
born to set thy people free;
from our fears and sins release us,
let us find our rest in thee.
Israel’s strength and consolation,
hope of all the earth thou art;
dear desire of every nation,
joy of every longing heart.

Born thy people to deliver,
born a child and yet a King,
born to reign in us forever,
now thy gracious kingdom bring.
By thine own eternal spirit
rule in all our hearts alone;
by thine all sufficient merit,
raise us to thy glorious throne.

▫️Charles Wesley▫️

Keith Getty remarked,

In the third and fourth lines of this first verse, the words fear and rest are juxtaposed reminding us that Christmas is often a time when our fears are amplified…There is often an unspoken pressure that Christmas must be perfect and harmonious, a time when we can stop and rest and have a break from all the usual stresses of life. And yet the reality is that the Christmas holidays don’t always give us the reprieve that we long for — many of us continue to carry huge burdens and difficulties.

A middle school teacher prayed these words in the aftermath of a deadly shooting at her Christian school this week: “In the depths of our spirits we know you are good, but our hearts are so confused. Our hearts waffle between being angry and afraid and being filled with memories and trauma. God, we don’t know how to manage all of that. We’re just coming to you and saying we need you.”

Since Jesus came, the storylines of human history include crucifixion, persecution, attrition, sedition, addiction, affliction, and a host of other maladies and catastrophes. We longed for a new world, but we’ve been given a world of woe.

There’s no way around the fact that incarnation means coming to a filthy and fetid world…Jesus came into a world where some babies are beloved and nurtured, while some babies are left on street corners or next to dumpsters…He came into a world where young girls and boys are sold into prostitution and refugees spend their lives waiting in squalid camps. It’s a world where white picket fences hold together falling-apart marriages.
It’s a world with disease and mental illness. A fallen creation groans with earthquakes, floods, and fires. We’ve made a mess of our lives and our families and this world. And we live with the fallout of other people’s messes too. Drugs. Death. Destruction. Sorrow, unending sorrow. Flies and vultures buzz over little ones with swollen bellies. Sludge freezes solid and becomes a playground for barefoot children. It is all too dirty, and yet he came near.
– Carrie McKean, Filthy Night, Fetid Night, CT Magazine, December 19, 2023

Are you the One?

Let’s hear Jesus in His own words: “Go tell John…”

Tell John what?

Tell him there are things happening he can’t see right now. There are miracles he’s not aware of. Right under your nose, John, all around you, my Kingdom is advancing, and droves of weary, heavy-laden folks are pressing into it.

Remind John that he leapt in his momma’s womb because of days like this.

Thank you, Heavenly Father, that the little children get it. The bent reeds get it. The smoldering wicks get it. Thank you that the least of these will not be left out.

Thank you for a world of woe that makes us heartsick and homesick for Another World. Thank you for the Incarnate Son of God who knew our grief when he wept at his friend’s tomb. Who expended necessary energy for a humiliated woman who couldn’t stop bleeding. Who tore down a blockade of bazaar kiosks to make space for weary pilgrims to pray. Who noticed a widow drop her last coins in the coffer because her God was bigger than her need. Who cast aside protocol and touched lepers.

You can hardly blame John. One doesn’t get a lot of good news down in Herod’s dungeons. Perspective is challenged when your days are numbered. It’s hard to see anything good when all you know is bad. Does Jesus even know about me down here?

I love that Jesus not only has pity for John, but praise. He’s still my guy. Nobody can hold a candle to John . He did everything that was asked of him and he finished well.

Next time you feel forsaken, consider the man down in Herod’s dungeon. Greater things were happening above ground because he played his part. Even though John’s part landed him in prison, facing execution, he would be gloriously resurrected at the Second Advent.

You are playing your part also, beloved. God’s favor rests on you because you have the Son’s Life in you. Sometimes we play a flute, sometimes we sing a dirge but we do it all because the Baby who came is the Sun of Righteousness who will return with healing in his wings. And we will go out of here leaping like calves released from the stall!

Yes, John, he is the One.

Selah, beloved.