Perfectly Imperfect Together

(Psalms 100, 103, 107, 110, 145, 150)We never really adore Jesus until we arrive at the moment when we worship Him for who He is in Himself, apart from any consideration of the impact of His Divine Selfhood on our desires and welfare. It’s then that we are loving Jesus for Himself alone. Then we adore Him regardless of whether there’s any personal benefit or not. We adore Him because He’s God and He is worthy of all adoration.

(Job 1-42)God is capable of being in charge. He’s really quite good at it. We need to lay ourselves down and let God have control of every area of our lives and let His will be done through us. Wait on the Lord and let Him be God. When we catch just a glimpse of the almighty, all-powerful glory of God, we cannot help but stand in fear and awe of His Majesty. We can choose to humbly rest in the Lord, seek the Lord, and follow Him - heart and soul, with all our guts - every single day - no matter what.

(Proverbs 1:1-7; 3:1-12; 4:10-19)When we are living in the will of God, the path gets brighter and brighter, not darker and darker. God is able to keep us from stumbling if we’ll keep ourselves humble before Him. If we look around instead of up, we’ll end up on a detour God didn’t intend for us. It’s up to us to look up and choose Jesus every single day. His way is always worth it. He has our very best in mind. It’s up to us to trust Him in every step of the way.

The sun sets for us in this temporary world, but Jesus brings us the sunrise into eternity with Him. He gives us life now and forever. The light of Jesus shoots into the darkness and guides us out of the path of darkness and into life. The very Spirit of God comes to live in us and He renews our hearts. The grave is not the end, it’s only the beginning. That’s the eternal living hope we have in Jesus.

Jesus is leading us to a glorious eternity if we are willing to trust Him and follow His lead, and His will. We don’t know all things, but God sent His Son so we can know the One who does know all things personally and intimately. It's up to us to surrender all and give Him every last "yes" under the sun.

If we are willing to surrender all to God's will, He will lead our steps. He will guide us to our next best step, and He will carry us through the difficult and unfair times and seasons life brings. He will comfort us, strengthen us, and pour out His peace and mercies for us. He is ever-present and with us in every step. It’s up to us to surrender all control and trust Him in the seasons we are in and the steps ahead.

The question Solomon leaves us with in this chapter is, will we listen? Will we quiet our lives, and unplug our ears from the loud noises the world offers us? Will we allow the hope of our Savior, Jesus Christ, to enter into our difficulties and speak into them? Will we entrust ourselves to His mighty hands?

If we only look at life under the sun, we are left with uncertainty, randomness, and limited knowledge. We are stuck. When you look beyond the sun and see Jesus, you can lean into the future knowing that the future is secure in His mighty hands. Through Jesus, we have true and living hope.

God took the worst day in human history and made it the means of our redemption because the one-in-a-quadrillion Man showed up. Jesus is the Ladder past the frustrations of a fallen world into union with God and His presence. Jesus is true Wisdom. He is our Hope. Jesus pushes us to reach to Him - the one and only true source of Life that lasts.

We may not know what is coming next, but God does. He has been in every tomorrow. He sees, He hears, He knows. God gives us enough information to encourage us right when we need it most, but He doesn’t cater to selfish or idle curiosity. Who we choose to serve and surrender to here will determine our eternity.

Oppression ceases in the Name of Jesus, competition is no longer needed with Jesus, and isolation doesn't exist in Jesus. In Jesus, we finally have a love that won't ever and could never hurt us. The love of Jesus heals and makes us whole in Him. Jesus invites each and every one of us to come to Him, come near to Him, and receive His offer of eternal glory.

To find value in life, we need to focus on what truly matters. We need to stay laser locked on Jesus and not get sucked into the "rat race" of life in this temporary world. We need to know our value and worth in Jesus and follow His lead and wisdom every step of the way.

We can choose to look up and give thanks to the Lord in the middle of the hard and mundane as much as we give thanks for the laughter and dancing. We can choose to focus on eternity with our Savior and run to the feet of the One who runs it all. We are called to live, breathe, and have our being under the sun according to God’s will with a “beyond the sun” perspective.

Our ultimate satisfaction in life comes in the ultimate One who is not far from us. He came for us. He will take our work and our love and our relationships and He will anchor them into eternity. Our lives are filled to the brim with meaning when they are anchored to the One who is beyond the sun - when we are anchored tightly to the Son.

For the Christ follower, life is an open door - not a closed circle. There are daily experiences of new blessings from the Lord. We can't explain everything under the sun, but life isn't meant to be built on explanations. Life is built on God's promises. If we open God's Word - God's love letters sent to us straight from heaven - we will see thousands of promises from God that He wants us to trust and apply in our lives while we are here under the sun.

(1 Kings 3)Jesus is pleased when we want more of Him, and He will answer. He wants to bless us generously with His wisdom, His presence, and His love. He loves us. He is for us. He wants to be near us. And He wants good things for us. He created us for His victory. The victory Jesus died for us to receive. It’s up to us to surrender all, and trust Him in every step every single day. It’s up to us to keep falling more and more in love with Jesus in every exhale He gives us. 

(2 Samuel 11&12; Psalm 51)Like David, we need to choose to stop trying to hide and name the “thing” we are struggling with before the Lord. He loves us and wants to help us. God’s grace gives us the power to run from sin and the restoration we need when we blow it. We need to bring whatever it is we are struggling with from darkness to light before the Lord, confess it before Him, and let Him take the sin. He already has, but it’s up to us to choose to release it to Him.

(2 Samuel 7) God sees the future, He’s been in every tomorrow. His ways are higher than ours, and when we plan, God directs and re-directs. If we are questioning a plan or a change of plans, ask the Lord for confirmation. He will give His direction when we pause long enough to ask, and wait for His reply and direction.

(1 Samuel 16 & 17) The Lord wants to use our lives to magnify His great Name to all the nations of the earth. The Lord is with us and the victory belongs to the Lord. When you choose to repent and surrender your heart and life to Jesus as Lord of all, you are anointed with the power of His Holy Spirit. Through His power, we are able to overcome the giants we face. We need to shut off the worldly noise and the taunts of the enemy and listen to what God says. The battle belongs to the Lord and we can trust Him for every victory - always and forever.

(1 Samuel 8-10)The Lord left the perfect heavens and came in human form to our broken sinful world for us. He died a crushing, torturous death for us, offering us His life instead. We can trust that He not only wants good things for us, but that He will go all out for us if we are simply willing to trust Him, trust His timing, and trust His eternal goodness.

(1 Samuel 1-3)We are created in the image of God and are created to bear His glory to the world around us. We benefit greatly and eternally from God’s glory and His redemption plan for us, but we are not the focus or meant to be. We fall short of His glory and we desperately need Jesus and His glory. The spotlight belongs on God, not us. 

(Ruth 1-4) Our assurance is not in our feelings or circumstances or anything of this upside down world that is bent against God. Our assurance is in our Redeemer, our Savior, and His Word. Only the grace of our loving Father can save us. It’s only through Jesus we are saved and we all need Jesus desperately.

(Judges 13-16) God can handle our humanity and our messes. It’s never too late to cry out to God. God never stopped loving Samson and He will never stop loving any of us. He just wants us to faithfully trust Him, and keep running forward pursuing Him and His holiness in radical faith while pointing all those around us to Him too.

(Judges 6-8)Courage comes from faith. Courage is fear saturated in prayer as we move forward wholeheartedly trusting the Lord with all our guts. The way we grow in faith and courage is to hear God's Word, believe His promises, and obey what He tells us to do.

(Judges 4 & 5) We are called and commissioned to share Jesus with His authority and victorious power to give people the opportunity to be free from the bondages of sin and hell. The world around us may try to tell us we shouldn't, couldn't, or wouldn't. We need to hear and listen to God's voice and hush all the other noise. God wants every soul on earth to have the opportunity to hear and claim the victory of Jesus for their lives. Nothing on the face of this earth matters more.

(John 8:1-11)Jesus has us through everything if we are willing to trust Him with everything. He will lead if we are willing to listen and follow. Jesus wants a real and true and personal relationship with us. He wants to be close to us and wants us to draw close to Him. We don't have to try to do all the things or get everything right all the time. We just need to be desperate for Jesus every day, trust Him with everything, and draw close to Him.

(Judges 3:7-31)We are called to speak forth the Life of Jesus and the hope found in and through Him to a hopeless, defeated world. We are called to live out His Word and reveal to the world around us the reality of who Jesus is. The world is looking for better methods, but God is looking for men and women who understand the basics: the power of the Holy Spirit, wise strategy, and steadfast and radically faithful courage.

(Joshua 23 & 24) God doesn’t want us to just know His word in our heads. He wants us to let His Word sink deep into our hearts. The more we know God’s Word, the more we will know the God of the Word. God doesn’t want us to have big heads full of Biblical history, He wants us to have full hearts filled with His love and an understanding of His incredible grace.

(Numbers 22)God opened the donkey's eyes and vocal chords, and then He opened Balaam’s eyes. Even though he was living his life against the Lord, he bowed and fell on his face before Jesus. This is exactly what will happen when Jesus returns. EVERY knee will bow, because Jesus is King. No matter if you accept that truth or refuse it, the truth of Jesus and who He is remains.

(Joshua 2-4; 6) It was by faith and patience and trusting God at His Word that they were able to conquer Jericho. They marched in silent self-control trusting God day after day. God fought the battle as they trusted Him. God’s timing is always perfect. He knows what He’s doing. The key to the victory at Jericho was trusting God and faithfully obeying His direction - His Word.

(Numbers 20; Numbers 21:1-9)God sent us Jesus. He is the antidote for sin and death. He cleanses, restores, and redeems us if we choose to look to Him and trust Him. If we refuse the offer Jesus died for us to receive, the offer of life and eternity, we will suffer burning instead. We were all headed for fire, but God said - “No” - and sent us Jesus. He sent us His Rescue, but it’s up to us to choose to receive His rescue - now and for all eternity.

(Numbers 13 & 14) Caleb and Joshua stood firm in faith while everyone else sat down and whined and complained. Caleb and Joshua kept their eyes laser focused on God and His promises, His power, and His character. They stood in faith on who God is and what He does. They glanced at the giants in the land and gazed at God. That’s what we need to do every day as well.

(Deuteronomy 4) God isn't supposed to be the background noise in our lives. He is the very present and powerful source of life and the empowerment of our lives. We need to ask God every day for His direction in the day ahead. We need to ask God every day how this life He gave us is meant to be used for His glory.

(Deuteronomy 1; 3; 4) Every battle truly belongs to the Lord. The challenge of faith is for us to live like we actually live like that is true. Jesus fought with the devil personally and won. He has every spiritual weapon available because He is God. The weapon Jesus chose to use against the devil was Himself. Jesus Himself was His own weapon of choice. We all need Jesus desperately every day. Jesus is the Lord of Heavens Armies. He fights for us, and He is undefeated. 

(Leviticus 1-27; Hebrews 12:1-3; Matthew 6:1-18)God sent Jesus, His only Son, to die for the sins of the world and meet the just demands of His own nature and His own holy law. He is gracious and lets us choose. He doesn’t force salvation on us but freely gives us the offer to choose Him and choose life in Him now and for eternity.

(Exodus 20)God sets us free from sin and death through Jesus. Out of our love and gratitude for God and His offer of eternal life through Jesus, we should want to follow His will and do what pleases Him. Living according to God’s way isn’t a burden, it’s a delight because there is joy found in pleasing God. We want to please God because we love God. It is a privilege to use the gift of life God has given us for His glory and the good of others.

(Colossians 1:15-23)A relationship with Jesus is a daily lifestyle. It's a daily surrender to the will of God. It's a daily intentional choice to trust Jesus and who He is, knowing He is faithful and true - always. God wants us to experience Him fully like never before. He wants us to experience His peace and His presence like never before. He wants us to keep falling more and more in love with Him every single day.

The things of this world will pass, but Jesus is forever and if we choose to entrust our hearts and lives in full surrender to Him, we will be close with Him forever. That’s what Christmas is truly about. That’s what we need to focus on - not just in the Christmas season, but every single day that passes. Jesus was born, He died, He rose from that grave defeating sin and death completely, and He is returning for a Bride who is head over heels in love with Him.

(1 John 1:1-4; Genesis 1; Luke 2; Isaiah 12:6)Joy is not a feeling. Happiness is a feeling. Feelings are fleeting and temporary. Joy is eternal. It's a gift we receive, recognize and honor - a gift from God Himself. Joy is knowing in spite of this evil, twisted world we temporarily live in, our salvation - our eternity, is safe and secure in the hands of our almighty and powerful God.

(Exodus 32) Jesus is our eternal, perfect, and all-powerful Mediator. He paid the price in full for our sins on the cross and intercedes for us at the Throne of God. When we trust in Jesus, our sins are forgiven, which means we are to live forgiven - fully forgiven lives, in surrender to God and His glory. Jesus is always the best choice - way better than the glittery temptations of this world.

(Exodus 15-17:7; 19; 32; 34:1-9) Each challenging experience we face helps us mature and glorify God. The will of God will never lead us to where the grace of God can't keep us. Life can and will be hard at times, but everything happens for a reason and there's always a greater purpose behind it. God knows what He's doing. Our job is to trust and obey God and let Him run His world.

(Exodus 5-14)In 1 act at the Red Sea, God saved His people and punished sin. In 1 act at the cross, Jesus saved us and took our punishment for sin for us. He went under the waves and weight of punishment for us. God will deliver those who choose Jesus, He will rescue, and He will redeem. If we repent from sin, put our faith and trust in Jesus, and surrender our lives to His faithful hands - Jesus has delivered us. He has rescued us. He has redeemed us. It’s a promise and His promises are eternal and never fail. It’s up to us to choose Jesus every single day.

(Genesis 37; 39-41)Joseph didn't dwell on his misery or his circumstances. He got up and got to work. He trusted the Lord and did what he could do right where he was. Attitude is everything. What we do with what God has give us right where He has placed us makes all the difference in life.

(Genesis 32 & 33) Fear of others will paralyze us, but fear of God - knowing He is God and standing before Him in reverence and awe - will propel us. No matter what circumstances we face or what kind of fears grip our hearts in this world, we can always trust God to be faithful to His character and His Word.

(Genesis 25:19-26; 28:10-22)There is a constant battle between the flesh and the Spirit. The good news is that if you choose to surrender to the Spirit of God, the battle has already been won and He will give us the power and strength we need to overcome temptations. Jesus is the Bridge we all need to get from earth to heaven. We can only access heaven through Jesus. We can only be saved by turning to Jesus and surrendering our hearts and lives to Him.

(Genesis 22:1-19)Obedience doesn't withhold even what is most precious to us. Obedience trusts God fully with the future. Obedience is not holding on to anything and trusting God with everything. It's one thing to say you believe God, it's another thing to have the faith to walk it out.

(Genesis 12:1-3; 15; 17:1-9)We are not saved by making promises to God. We are saved by believing and trusting the promises God has made to us. We learn His promises by reading His Word. When you trust in Jesus, no difficulty we face is impossible and no failure is permanent.

(John 8:12; Ephesians 5:8; Ephesians 4:24-32; 1 John 1:5)We are all made in the image of God, and we are loved beyond comprehension. He made us for this very time and has a purpose for each of our lives. However, we are also all very desperately broken by sin, so the truth is, we are all sinners who need to be even more desperate for Jesus. Honest confession before the Lord leads to deeper communication with the Lord. In communion with Jesus, He is able to cleanse us.

(Genesis 11:1-9)God is at work in His world and He is accomplishing His purposes in spite of the choices of the sinful world. We can trust God and His goodness. God is never shocked by what people do on earth. By confusing languages and scattering the people, God graciously spared their lives and gave them another chance to repent and surrender to the Lord. God gives us opportunities to repent and choose Him. He gives us the choice to be gathered by His Grace.

In Revelation 22, John is shown the inside of the New Jerusalem and the completion of the Lord's redemption plan to come. It will be more beautiful, more glorious, and more amazing than we can humanly imagine. The most incredible part of the New Jerusalem is that we will reside with God and His presence - always. Jesus is the completion of all and He is the only chart that truly matters. He is returning in a flash, sooner today than yesterday. We need to live ready and prepared by keeping His Word and remaining in continual communication with Jesus. God wants us to know Him, experience Him, and keep falling more and more in love with Him. Two words summarize the entire Book of Revelation: Worship God. Worship God alone and. Nothing will ever satisfy like the love of Jesus is enough. Come Lord Jesus, Come!