Fatherly Advice

This Christmas I have been torn between wishing everyone a “Merry Christmas” or a “Happy Father’s Day”. My mind and heart have been stuck on a simple thought for many months- the great gift of Jesus revealing the true nature of the Father. 

How precious to know the nature of God – and to discover it is love without limit. 

In celebration of the birth of such a sweet revelation, I’m reposting a favorite Christmas devotional from my days on The Daily Fast Fuel. ‘Tis the season.

My Son,

You are my greatest gift. You are my highest honor. I have tried my best to memorize your life – all your expressions, your laugh, the wonderful things that come out of your mouth, the simple moments working together, building. It is a blessing for a Father to build with his child.

I confess, I did not know if I would be a good father – if I would be enough – if I would know what to do to protect and raise you. I have not been a perfect father, I know, but I was given a perfect son. And I love you – more each day as I discover more of who you are.

I wish perhaps I could give you some fatherly wisdom or advice, but what more could I offer that you do not know? So perhaps instead, I will share a simple thought – My bride found favor from the Lord, and I found favor when I found her. There is nothing that compares to finding your bride, and loving her well. My greatest decision was not leaving my bride, when though she was broken in the world’s eyes, she carried a great promise. Some day, son you will have a bride. She may not seem perfect, but you might be surprised by the promise she may be carrying. You will value her, I know – you’ll think her worthy of your very life, even. I believe, Son, the love you have for your bride, and the love she has for you could change the world. I trust mine did.

Yours for always,
Joseph

Life, Liberty, and the Pursuit of Rest

My recent blog series from The Daily Fast Fuel.

For years I have been on the hunt. Hebrews 4 alludes to its existence, so I trust it’s real. And yet, I often wonder why it hides away – or where it hides away. Striving I find easily. Rest, however, moves about my life with stealth and agility.

According to “etymological theory”, I should know a thing or two about rest. My last name means “rest”, after all. Well, technically it means “beside a place of rest, or beside an elm tree.” But in pre-colonial German, I can only assume this is what they meant – that place where little German travelers used to kick back while they adjusted their lederhosen and took solace in some shade. And yet, even my heritage has not gifted me with expertise in this area. On the unfortunate contrary, I am an award-winning striver. I wonder if you can identify.

This week we will be taking a spin through God’s word in pursuit of one of His most sought after and mysterious gifts: rest.

Matt 11:28 “Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest.”

The Land of Rest

Rest met me at his gate. I rolled down my driver’s side window as he tipped his cowboy hat.

“Howdy, there. Good to have you here.” He welcomed with a toothy grin. “Pull around to the cottage over there. I’ll meet you on the front porch.

I did as instructed and soon met Rest at the cottage. He held a tray with two glasses of ice-cold lemonade and motioned me to sit on the porch swing. Classic. This is the Rest I knew.

“So, I hear you have some questions for me?”

I nodded swallowing a delicious sip of lemonade. “I want to know who you really are – how you really work. “

Rest smiled. I think he was enjoying our visit already. He leaned back in his rocker putting his hands behind his head, “Who I am and how I work, hmm?” He looked out on his land. It appeared to extend endlessly to the left and right of the cottage.

“Is this what you do?” I asked watching him rock, sitting on his front porch sipping lemonade.

“Partly,” he leaned forward folding his hands in his lap. “These are the Sabbath lands, the outer limits of the land of rest. Here you find physical rest. For some it looks like sitting on a front porch sipping lemonade, for others it’s a meal with their family, a nap, sleeping in, a walk through the park… Your Father knows your body needs rest. A people who rest reveal the glory of God.”

“The outer lands?” I questioned looking over my shoulder to more and more land behind us.

“Welcome to the house at the front gate.” He handed me a hat, and motioned to two horses tied up in the field directly left of the house,”Shall we?”

“They must realize that the Sabbath is the Lord’s gift to you.” Exodus 16:29

“Tell the people of Israel: ‘Be careful to keep my Sabbath day, for the Sabbath is a sign of the covenant between me and you from generation to generation. It is given so you may know that I am the Lord, who makes you holy. Exodus 31:13

Ancient Paths

I adjusted my hat to shade my eyes while admiring the fields of rolling grass on either side of us. The land of rest was beautiful. So peaceful. So majestic. The horses came to a halt beside a dry riverbed.

“Here we are,” Rest announced.

“Where are we exactly?” I asked.

“We are drawing closer. We have come inland from the lands of Sabbath – where your body finds rest – to the place where you find rest for your soul.”

Rest dismounted. I followed suit. He walked into the riverbed, hooking his thumbs in his belt loops. “Thus says the LORD,” He began, “Stand by the roads, and look and ask for the ancient paths, where the good way is; and walk in it, and find rest for your souls. Jeremiah 6:16.”

I was clueless. What in the world was he talking about?

He looked at me again and instructed, ”Stand by the roads,” he motioned me towards the banks of the old river. “Ask for the ancient paths,” he continued, “where the good way is.”

I shrugged my shoulders, “So, I ask for the ancient path?”

He nodded, “Good, now walk in it.” He pointed to where he stood in the riverbed.

I walked out to meet him. “So, this is the ancient path, then? This riverbed? This is the good way?” I had many questions, though asking them ceased when I felt water begin to flow around my feet. Moments later, Rest and I stood knee deep in a river.

“Out of your mouth will flow rivers of living water,” He explained, “The soul finds its rest in reminding itself of where the water has flowed before- the ancient path – the promises of God and the testimonies of his faithfulness. Here, who He was meets who He is, and reveals who He will always be. The soul, prone to wander and prone to worry, finds rest in standing in and speaking of the tried and true flow of the goodness of God. “

It was still a bit much to get my head around. Rest could see that written on my face.

“Why don’t we follow the river, and see what it reveals?” He invited.

I nodded.

Trading Yokes

I didn’t mind getting wet. It was refreshing under the hot sun. Sloshing through the river with Rest was kind of enchanting really. I mean, how often do you get to do such a thing?

“Rest?” I bid him pause.

“Yes?” He turned.

I reached into my back pocket and pulled out a folded piece of lined paper. “There’s something I need to ask you.”

“Anything.” He smiled.

“Well, there’s this verse.” I unfolded my paper.

He nodded as if he already knew what was coming.

“Come to me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you, and learn from me, for I am gentle and lovely in heart, and you will find rest for you souls. For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light. (Matt. 11:28)” I studied the verse on my paper again wondering if the answer might leap out at me under the circumstances, “How is it that His yoke is easy, again?” I shook my head in confusion, “I recall His life and that even the government rests on His shoulders? Just sounds like a little more than I could carry.”

“Who has the easier yoke – the slave or the freeman?” Rest responded.

I could only stare at him in want of an explanation.

“The slave will never find rest. The freeman will have it in abundance, though it comes with great responsibility. Christ came to break the yoke of slavery and invite you to take His yoke – one that simultaneously gives you access to rest and great impact. Following Christ invites rest and peace into your very soul. Slavery invites restlessness. I suppose the question is – which is easier for you to live under?”

I sighed.

Rest gently took my hand and led me on down the river. “There is more to see. We must go deeper.”

The Epicenter

The river flowed into a great lake as if it had done so for ages. Odd, of course, since it only began flowing two (blog) posts ago.

Rest and I made our way toward the bank of the river, finding dry ground to view the scene. Blue skies and gentle breezes soaked my soul with thankfulness for life and breath and good company.

Rest sighed. I grinned.

“This is some land you have here.” I whispered.

“The deeper you go, the better it gets.” He raised his hand and motioned to a large sailboat in the middle of the lake. “The epicenter.”

What was he talking about? I just stared at the boat, watching it careen over the waves in the lake. Though its size was large, its movement in the water was nimble. The large white sails danced with the wind.

“God spoke to Moses, ‘My presence will go with you, and I will give you rest.’ (Exodus 33:14). Rest, you see, flows from His presence.”

“He is the epicenter.” I acknowledged.

“Rest for your body, rest for you soul, all of it flows from Him. When you operate from His presence, you are like the boat, posturing yourself to be moved by the unseen power of the Spirit. You must learn how to partner with Him, you must learn how to be with Him through the ebb and flow of life, because He is your source of rest.”

Rest walked towards the lake, “This is where we enter.”

Are we swimming to the boat? I watched Rest continue his pace towards the water. I was filled with so many thoughts and questions I didn’t realize five steps into the water, Rest was actually standing on top of it. My eyes widened.

He turned and held his hand out towards me, “ You can not enter without faith.”

When Strivings Cease

It didn’t take very long to walk to the boat and Rest was kind enough to hold my hand the whole way. Getting into the boat might have been the hardest part, in fact. A leg up and some strained upper body strength then I was on the deck of the boat. Rest spryly made his way up the side and joined me. I looked around curiously. Where is He?

“What are you looking for?” Rest asked.

“Him,” I said plainly, “this is the epicenter, yes?”

Rest nodded and then pointed to a small table by a pair of deck chairs. Atop the table unassumingly sat my Bible, full of random pieces of paper, notes, and old church bulletins like it always is. Interesting. I approached the table and reached for my Bible.

The moment my fingertips touched the cover – the parable vanished.

At once, I was sitting in the brown chair of our sunroom with a Bible open on my lap. The sound of water and sails were gone; the river and lemonade just imprints on my mind. And I sat, as I had begun, staring at Hebrews 4.

“Let us therefore strive to enter that rest… (Hebrews 4:11).”

The great oxymoron. There is a striving in entering into rest. It requires focus and faith – and a renewed mind. Sometimes life is a raging sea and you have to walk on water to find it. Rest, I was finding, was more than kicking my feet up. Rest was being with Him.

Rest was when real striving ceased – the striving to please man or perform or make everyone around me happy. Rest was moving with God and knowing He had already made a way for me to be completely accepted and loved and cared for without my need to achieve anything. Ironically, rest could look every bit as active as striving – moving “great ships in the water”, but operated from a completely different motivation of the heart.

Rest was a welcome companion and a knowledgeable guide. I had enjoyed our journey together. But I was most thankful that pursuing Rest had led me right where I needed to be –to the presence of the King.

The Hidden Life of Joy

This devotional series was originally posted on Daily Fast Fuel. Thought I would give it a second run here. Enjoy!

Then he said to them, “Go your way, eat the fat, drink the sweet, and send portions to those for whom nothing is prepared; for this day is holy to our Lord. Do not sorrow, for the joy of the LORD is your strength.” –Nehemiah 8:10 (NKJV)

I imagine if heaven had a cheering squad, this would be one of their staples:

The joy of the Lord is your strength!
Rah! Rah! Rah!
Give me a J-O-Y!
JOY! JOY! JOY!
JOY IS YOUR STRENGTH!

It’s so peppy, right? And quite catchy, I mean, how many times have you heard the phrase repeated in moments of encouragement?

But what does it really mean?
Does strength come from slapping a smile on my face and clapping a little bit?

What is this “joy” He speaks of?

As I meandered through the Word this past week, seeking to understand the true meaning of joy, I began to stumble upon verses that challenged my preconceptions of it. Joy had always been such a simple thing, I thought. And yet God’s Word was painting a far richer and deeper picture than I had known.

Join me this week, friends, as I once again meander through scripture to uncover – the hidden life of joy.

Joy – you’re not from around here, are you?

On my journey of tailing Joy, I followed her to and fro, picking up what clues I could about her identity. Though trying my best to act aloof and blend in to my surroundings, I had a feeling Joy knew I was on her tail, and more than that, welcomed my pursuit.

I imagine it was intentional, then, her dropping her date book. I thought it common courtesy, of course, to pick it up with intentions of returning it at some point. I confess, I couldn’t help but look inside – after all I am a detective and I owe it to my craft, at least this week.

Her schedule was full of appointments – at reunions, and births, and betimes with Dad, wedding days, Bible studies, walks around the block… Joy seemed to get around. I tried my best to stay on her trail through the day’s adventures, but rarely caught a good sight of her. Then I spotted it – at the bottom of today’s schedule- “head home”. This should be good, I thought. I’ll get to see where she lives.

And so I journeyed on, trying my best to keep her in focus and in my sight. As we got closer to her home, the clearer her appearance became – until I could see her clear as day, beautiful as could be imagined, standing at the foot of Father’s throne.

So this is where she lives.

“You make known to me the path of life; in your presence there is fullness of joy; at your right hand are pleasures forevermore.” Psa 16:11

Taking out my journal, I noted, “If I need to get a hold of Joy, try the throne room.”

Father, today I ask you would draw us into your presence, that we might find JOY in all her fullness.

Joy’s Assignment

Curiously, as I turned the page in the date book to see what Joy was up to today, I saw she had scheduled me for coffee around 4 p.m. This was all beginning to feel like a set up. As the hour approached, I filtered through the multitudes of questions I wanted to ask her.

The bells above the door jingled as I nervously entered the shop and scanned the tables. There she was, reading the paper at a round table by the window. Still beautiful, but rather unassuming. Joy was quiet, and apparently focused on whatever article she was reading.

I ordered and approached her with my vanilla iced chai in hand.
She smiled cordially and invited me to join her. I played with my straw unsure what to say.

“I’m glad for your company, you know?” She finally broke the ice.

I tried to apologize for stalking her and thanked her profusely for meeting with me. She laughed.

“I expected,” I paused, looking down to gather my words, “you to be, well, more joyful.”

She nodded understandingly, “I seem demure to you. I know. Most expect me to be full of endless giggles or jumping up and down.”

It’s true, that’s exactly what I expected. The Old Testament recounts the joy of God’s people – shouting, singing, dancing in joy before the Lord. But she was so – laid back. She wasn’t even bubbly, really.

She explained, “I have that effect, you know – the laughter, the dancing, the songs. But that’s not who I am. I am not a giggle.” She grinned. “I’m both a promise remembered and a promise fulfilled.” She continued, “I work in tandem with Hope quite a bit. But Hope has a different assignment; Hope begins in your heart and journeys to the throne room. I begin in the throne room, and end in your heart. Sometimes I spill out into the giggling you speak of, but sometimes I spill out in tears, and sometimes I just quietly abide in hearts.”

My mind was spinning.

“My purpose is to fill you up, as it was in the beginning. That is what the Son has requested – that your joy would be complete. That your heart would be filled with recollection of the promises of the Father, and that as you remember what He has promised and abide in His love, you would overcome.”

And the joy of the Lord shall be your strength, I thought to myself.
She nodded knowingly.

“I have told you this [to abide in love*] so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete” John 15:11

*my addition describing what the “this” was Jesus was talking about from the previous verse.

Joy on Trials

It was a quiet morning on the park bench, Bible on my lap, a bag of grapes by my side. I kept thinking of what Joy had said the day before – that she was a promise remembered, a promise fulfilled. I remembered the verse – “…let us run with endurance the race that is set before us, looking unto Jesus, the author and finisher of our faith, who for the joy that was set before Him endured the cross, despising the shame, and has sat down at the right hand of the throne of God (Hebrews 12:2).” I considered what must have been on Jesus’ mind as He approached His last days. It was the promise of the Father that carried Him through, I imagined. I suppose I didn’t realize Joy was so strong. I hadn’t noticed her quiet arrival until I turned and saw her sitting peacefully on the bench beside me.

“It’s time,” she said pointing down at my Bible.

She was right. I was just afraid to ask.

She smiled affirming, and gently took my Bible out of my lap. She held it before her and read, “Consider it pure joy, my brothers and sisters, whenever you face trials of many kinds…James 1:2.” She touched the page with affection, as if these words were of particular significance to her. I held my breath waiting for an explanation.

“I am not the only joy,” she finally offered, turning towards me, “but I am the only pure joy.”

I looked at her quizzically, asking for more.

“There are other joys roaming around. Some are twisted and evil, and I will not speak of those now. Others are simply earthly. They aren’t bad, necessarily, but they are weak. When trials come, they scatter. Only pure joy remains. I’ve observed the only real desire of earthly joys is to make people happy, but my purpose is to make them strong and to connect them to the Father. This is one of the ways He uses trials for good. He doesn’t wish them on you. He has great compassion towards you, and because of this, He will use them to scatter the things that cannot sustain you, and highlight what brings you strength.”
I nodded.

“In the end, it’s all about Him. I am who I am and do what I do to reveal the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit. I am here to bring Him glory.”

Joy’s Great Joy

Joy was on the far end of the farmer’s market patting watermelons and smelling baskets of berries. When I approached her, she was already biting into a large strawberry, from the basket she purchased. She offered one to me.

“Don’t you just love fresh fruit?” she asked delightfully, wrinkling her nose.

I nodded, mouth full of strawberry.

“So sweet, so delicious,” she continued, “and all packed in a little seed.” She marveled at the fruit in the stands as we walked by. She twirled at least three times as we passed the peaches and nectarines.
She directed me to walk with her to the middle of the market. “You see, don’t you?”

“I think I do.”

“Of course, you do.” She grinned, then lifted her arms in abandoned and cried out, “I AM A FRUIT!”

I froze with the rest of the market goers, as Joy sheepishly looked around and then at me, until neither of us could hold back the laughter brewing within.

As the crowds continued on their way, making little of her outburst, she gathered herself together, “But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, longsuffering, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control. Against such there is no law.”

“I remember.”

“I am a seed, planted in your heart by the Spirit – to grow and bear fruit.” She handed me another strawberry, “so others might taste the Kingdom through you.”

I smiled at the thought, and the sweetness of the strawberry.

“He’s always had a thing for gardens, you see. And now you are one. He took you out of the garden to protect you, he dealt with your sin to free you, and now he plants the garden inside you, hidden and protected. I am fruit born in your life as you abide in Christ, that you and those around you might taste and see that the Lord is good.”

I stood there amazed at Joy. It was apparent that she loved to be shared, and that she loved revealing the Gardner.

Jesus, help us understand and appreciate the riches that you have planted in us by the Spirit – how to feast on your presence, on your JOY, and invite others to enjoy you too!