Prayer Circle

I'm not saying 
I will beg the Father 
on your behalf. 
He already loves you. 
When I intercede 
I will be lifting you 
into his lap for blessing, 
or, hearing from the Spirit, 
we will be conversing 
about how much you've grown 
and how to grow you next, 
or I will be offering, as always,
my purity as covering  
for your shame. 

When you have needs 
and come to him 
for answers in my name, 
I will corroborate 
your right to ask 
because you're mine, 
because you love me. 
And our one heart 
will hold you close 
within the circle 
of these prayers. 


This is amazing truth: Jesus prays for me!  Jesus prays for you, too! He intercedes for us, his followers! I am grateful, aware of my minute standing in this huge world. There are so many of us! Add to this the truth I contemplated last week, that the Spirit intercedes for us, and then think of God  himself, Yahweh, responding according to his purpose! I imagine it as a prayer circle as I work at unpacking the united conversation of the Trinity.

When I was a little girl growing up in the mountains of eastern Congo, breakfast with my missionary parents was a treasured moment. After breakfast they would be at work; we kids could run and play with friends, watched over by our Congolese nanny. It was at breakfast that we were together before the day began. They had a little box of Bible verses they wanted me and my younger brother Dwight to memorize. Reviewing them always highlighted one for me:

 Draw near to God and he will draw near to you.  (Jas. 4:8 RSV)

I clung to that as I grew up, wanting to know him the way my parents did. I was trying to “draw near,” often wondering if I was making progress. A.W. Tozer wrote about this in The Pursuit of God, a library book I read as a young teen at boarding school. It stirred me deeply. And then as an adult, this truth hit me:

Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:25 RSV)

My Lord Jesus is interceding for me! Because of my trust in Jesus, and his intercession showing his awareness of my struggles, I had been drawing near to God, learning increasingly how precious it is to know him better and better. And I knew that there are three persons in the Godhead. This revelation that Jesus would talk to the Father about me, standing up for me and explaining my needs, was a hard one to wrap my mind around. They talk to each other? How about the fact that our Advocate, the Spirit, is interceding for me too?

I began to relish this picture of the Trinity’s ongoing conversation about the believer who is attached to them. It is clear that the Spirit lives in that person to teach them how to live, to comfort them with his presence now that they are joined to God:

16 And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. 18 I will not leave you as orphans; I will come to you. 19 Before long, the world will not see me anymore, but you will see me. Because I live, you also will live. 20 On that day you will realize that I am in my Father, and you are in me, and I am in you . . .25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you.  (Jn. 14:16-10, 25-26 NIV)

Jesus was painting a spiritual picture for his disciples: he is in the Father; the disciple is in Jesus (so he’s in the Father too), and Jesus is in the disciple through his Spirit living them. The Spirit helps them and intercedes for them:

 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Rom. 8:26,27 NIV)

I was contemplating that precious work of the Spirit in me, in us, last week in this blog. And I thought: yes, I will go on working through the inter-communication within the Trinity that is revealed to us, with Jesus interceding for us too. What a delight it was to go to church on Sunday and hear my pastor—my brother Brent Slater—circle through his explanation of Hebrews 13:8 to include this very truth that Jesus is, forever, our intercessor! He always intercedes, and never changes:

Consequently he is able for all time to save those who draw near to God through him, since he always lives to make intercession for them. (Heb. 7:25 RSV)

8 Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever. (Heb. 13:8 NIV)

He made it clear that we future believers were also the focus of his prayer:

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, (Jn. 17:20 NIV)

He specified that the Holy Spirit is our Advocate, (John 14:26), and his disciple John underlined that Jesus is our advocate too:

My dear children, I write this to you so that you will not sin. But if anybody does sin, we have an advocate with the Father– Jesus Christ, the Righteous One. (1 Jn. 2:1 NIV)

This should not stun us—it just fleshes out the meaning of the unity of the three Persons who are one God. Jesus wanted his disciples to understand this, and I am deeply grateful that he used his disciple John to share with future believers those truths about their unity and its deep importance for us.  His own words, handed down to us by John in John 14-17, explain that Jesus and his Father are “one,” living in each other. Jesus’ words came with authority from the Father, and the Father was doing his work through Jesus:

Don’t you believe that I am in the Father, and that the Father is in me? The words I say to you I do not speak on my own authority. Rather, it is the Father, living in me, who is doing his work. 11 Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves. (Jn. 14:10 ,11 NIV)

A bit later he made it clear that he would be sending the Spirit to live in them, and all that he would communicate to them internally would also be coming through the Trinitarian line, from the Father and Jesus to the Spirit:

“I have much more to say to you, more than you can now bear. 13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.” (Jn. 16:12-15 NIV)

Jesus’ words of comfort and revelation to his loved ones were sealed for us in his prayer to his father, which closes that passage. A key theme is, again, this “oneness,” a unity of persons. He prayed:

 I will remain in the world no longer, but they are still in the world, and I am coming to you. Holy Father, protect them by the power of your name, the name you gave me, so that they may be one as we are one. (Jn. 17:11 NIV)

What a model of unity we are called to live up to: that constant unity that circles communication through the Spirit and Jesus and the Father! It is true that we can only do this through the power of God. His name represents the truth about him:  Yahweh means “the one who is.” He always has been and always will be. The way Pastor Brent put it in English, he is the “is-ing one”. And Jesus (whose name means “Yahweh saves”) is one with him, and the Spirit is their envoy to us, living in us.

Jesus replied, “Anyone who loves me will obey my teaching. My Father will love them, and we will come to them and make our home with them. (Jn. 14:23 NIV)

He said that he and the Father would come to his follower and make their home in that person. And how do they do that? They send their Spirit, the Spirit of truth:

And I will ask the Father, and he will give you another advocate to help you and be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth. The world cannot accept him, because it neither sees him nor knows him. But you know him, for he lives with you and will be in you. (Jn. 14:16 NIV)

What a wonder this is! When we turn to God and come to him through Jesus, cleansed from our wrong-doing, he wants us to develop right understanding of his truth, but also to grow in our fellowship with him. When you live with someone all the time, especially in a place as intimate as inside us (where nothing is hidden, and all our thoughts and emotions are communicated), you get to know each other and a deep friendship grows. Trust and companionship lead to living out what has been agreed on. The fellowship of the Trinity is like that, as in the prayer circle (described in the opening poem).

He gave us family as an image of what this could be like: a husband and wife who become one, unified, and children who grow up loved by their parents. Our problem is that we are broken and the image we pass on can send the wrong message. When it is union with God—with the Father, Son, and Spirit—we can grow constantly in our experience of this fellowship. And as we come closer and closer to him, he will keep on coming closer and closer to us. He longs for us to know him and be part of that wonder, that unity. In order for that to happen we need to dedicate ourselves to it:

And I set myself apart on their behalf, so that they too may be truly set apart. 20 “I am not praying only on their behalf, but also on behalf of those who believe in me through their testimony, 21 that they will all be one, just as you, Father, are in me and I am in you. I pray that they will be in us, so that the world will believe that you sent me. (Jn. 17:19-21 NET)

Most English translations of what Jesus said here say “I sanctify myself . . .so that they may sanctify themselves,” or else they use the word consecrate. All these words mean that God’s people must be “set apart” for God’s purpose, just as the priests were in order to serve and worship in the temple, where their furniture and tools were also “set apart” for that purpose. When we dedicate ourselves to follow Jesus, to draw near to the Father and to communicate with him through the Spirit by praying in Jesus’ name (John 14:13,14) and obeying his commands (John 14:23), then we can be “one” with God.

This then makes it possible for all those who are deeply attached to him this way to be one with each other, as well. May it be so!

I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one– (Jn. 17:22 NIV)

The Spirit Presents My Case

I know how you could work this out, Lord—

bringing some particular pressure to bear,

inserting in their mind this realization,

convicting them of sin and errors.

But you have not been taking my advice!

My hours in prayer, my carefully concocted plots,

have seemed to come to nothing, just so much

dust in light beams, dissipating, gone.

I’m growing a suspicion that you’ve smiled

at my smart strategies, my wishful webs,

seeing through them to the driving underlying

heartthrob in each one, the true main thing.

And, Spirit interceding for each need, each goal,

you’ve been about your business all along,

accomplishing your purposes your way,

working in each instance for my good!

Once more I’ve had an inkling of  

your crisis management, the way you draw on

resources I can’t know about, can’t work into my plans.

Who has ever told you something new, unknown?

Who has clarified your thinking, made you wise?

My Father, once again I’m mesmerized  

by how you do your weaving, subtle but intense,

and in your timing wisely work things out—

not always how I thought you would,

but you do give me strength when I am weak.

I hear you urging me to watch and wait. Your Spirit

guides, consoles me, tells you what is at stake.

The interconnectedness of the Trinity is a truth that changes everything for those of us who are attached to our God. He made us and watches over us, he is with us always, he lives in us, and at the same time he rules the universe. He rescued us fallen humans by becoming human and dying for us, but lives forever, and never left his throne while accomplishing that plan. He then made a way for us to have constant comfort and guidance and also instant access to his throne: his Spirit lives in each of his children. He coaches us, and consoles us when we are hurting. But as part of the Trinity, he also communicates instantly with God the Father; they are always on the same wavelength, with nothing ever interrupting them.

We humans are made “in his image” (Genesis 1:27). We have a physical aspect and a spiritual one, and our mind and “heart” work together, each majoring on certain tasks. But we are each one person. The different parts of our person work together.

Imagine we could witness the intercommunication happening in our own person:

My eyes see a post or an action, my heart leaps in compassion or anxiety, my mind thinks: how on earth can I take care of this? what should I do? respond? intervene?, my spirit cries out to Yahweh: Abba, help! Then, I respond as I am guided: I speak words out loud or write them and send/post them, or else wait in silence as I’ve been told to do. Depending on what happened my arms may reach out to act.

Thinking this through helps me understand better the astonishing revelation that the Holy Spirit, living in us, is actually our Advocate. He presents our case, our petition, to the Judge and pleads on our behalf—but does it in a way aligned with that Ruler’s will. He knows the Lord’s ultimate purpose and how that applies in the moment. He also  knows the supplicant’s need and what is really at stake so is advocating for their good.

This is the Scripture that most clearly explains the process:

26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness. We do not know what we ought to pray for, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us through wordless groans. 27 And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. 28 And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose. 29 For those God foreknew he also predestined to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brothers and sisters. (Rom. 8:26-29 NIV)

There are moments when we turn to our Lord and cry out for him to intervene, but are at a loss when it comes to seeing how our prayer could actually be answered. We find ourselves pleading, babbling. What we are unaware of is that the Spirit living in us is reinterpreting our petition and passing it on to the Father in a way that we cannot hear (passionately, without words), but he communicates the true need of the pray-er as understood by the One who directs all things for the good of his children. And that person, Yahweh, is searching our hearts to connect with the Spirit and hear what’s up.

And he who searches our hearts knows the mind of the Spirit, because the Spirit intercedes for God’s people in accordance with the will of God. (Rom. 8:27 NIV)

And his ultimate purpose is that we become like Jesus. That is not usually our focus when we cry out in desperation. We want a certain outcome in this world. A mother praying for her wandering child wants to see them choose the Way, the Truth and the Life rather than the call of the culture or their wrong desires. When a man’s wife is severely injured in an accident he desperately wants to see her healed. When a conflict between factions erupts in war in a person’s country, they cry out for peaceful resolution and personal protection.

So what if the answer does not come right away, or the way they thought it would? That is one of our toughest struggles, waiting longer, or accepting a different outcome than what we longed to see. Our one solid comfort is knowing that we are loved by the Sovereign, and have direct communication with him at all times because of this union with him: his Spirit inhabiting us and advocating for us. We are never cut off from God. He is never unaware of our prayer, or of our weakness or need when we cannot even articulate a prayer.

He is for us, he is not against us. He is completely good, and he is love. He loves us with unending love that has no limits. Because of that, he wants us to grow beyond our current frailties into completely healthy strong sons and daughters like his Son, Jesus. Looking at it that way, our response must be to trust him. We don’t need to be afraid to let him know what we are dealing with and what we long to see happen—he wants us to tell him, at least to open ourselves to him when we cannot find words. The Spirit will interpret what is in our hearts and communicate it. We can run to him with gratitude because he always listens, his purposes for us are excellent, and he is our loving Abba. These truths allow us to be glad we have this close relationship with him, no matter what else we are dealing with:

Rejoice always, 17 pray continually, 18 give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus. (1 Thess. 5:16 NIV)

Prayer When Wiped Out

I admit it: I’m wiped out. 
Not enough sleep? Too much stress? 
Constant distractions? Deadlines? 
Whatever it is, you remind me: 
you restore my soul, my life, 
my being: me, who I am. 
Your Spirit breathes calm words 
into my consciousness, 
pumps gracious serum of truth 
into my arteries. I breathe. 
And you fill my inner being 
with the fact that you here. 
And where you are, there is health. 
there is health. And love.  
I let go and listen. 

Your essence of purity dissolves 
the clinging dirt accumulated 
by walking this narrow path 
surrounded by garbage. 
Your serenity speaks peace 
inside the swirling mist 
of multiple concerns, responsibilities. 
The reminders of who you are 
(most powerful of all, High King, 
my friend and my dear Abba) 
crumples my fears into a wad 
of inconsequential papers 
to throw away, knowing that 
if you keep track of each gray hair 
that leaves my head each morning, 
you also know about these things. 
And care. And you are good— 
all good. It is enough.

You’ve been there too—in those moments when a concatenation of tough stuff leaves you feeling wiped out. One of the best ways to deal with it is to remember that you are not alone! If you have entered God’s Family, you have become “united” with him, “one” with him. Yes, it’s hard to understand. But our Lord Jesus himself promised that he would not leave us alone. No! He would come to us, living in us through his Spirit:

Then I will ask the Father, and he will give you another Advocate to be with you forever– 17 the Spirit of truth, whom the world cannot accept, because it does not see him or know him. But you know him, because he resides with you and will be in you. 18 “I will not abandon you as orphans, I will come to you.  (Jn. 14:16-18 NET)

He is our eternal Advocate! There is a lot of discussion about how to translate this special name for the Spirit, “paraclete” in the Greek. English doesn’t have one word with all of the meaning wrapped in the Greek word, so we get “Comforter” or “Counselor” or “Helper” or “Advocate”. According to the Oxford Languages Dictionary, an advocate is “a person who publicly supports or recommends a particular cause or policy.” Similar words cited are champion, upholder, supporter, backer, promoter. I like understanding it that way, especially “upholder.”

The main thing to hold onto is that the Spirit does all that is connoted by these titles, comforting and counseling and helping us. And he lives in us. We don’t have to call him in his office and make an appointment. That makes all the difference.

Jesus also said that we “know him”!  How does that happen? Well, when someone lives with you and you are in the same family, you talk to each other—especially when you are in a love relationship. You share delights and concerns. If you don’t, you pass like shadows on a sidewalk. Your relationship is a legal one, but not at all personal or intimate. So to know the Spirit we need to pay attention to him and interact with him. He may be the one to address us about something, prompting us to take action or change an attitude. When we download our concerns, he hears; we need to listen to his response.

For me his answer is usually a reminder of promises or commandments in the Word. When I wrote my “wiped out” conversation above, I needed to take time away from the distractions that were wearing me out. I listened, and was restored, because I knew I was not alone; instead, deep inside I was being reminded that the King of the Universe, my Rescuer, was taking care of me. He has promised to be with me, and explained that his Spirit would be constantly living in me, at work in me.  I could feel the distresses being swept into a dustpan and thrown out. I knew that he had been there, aware, every stressful moment. Nothing I was saying was new to him, but he wanted me to confide in him. No detail escapes him, and I was reminded:

Even all the hairs on your head are numbered. (Matt. 10:30 NET)

I lose a bunch of hairs into my brush every  morning! What attention he pays to his own, knowing even how many there were! So, do I pay attention to him and all the comfort and counsel he gives? It has to be a two-way street to be a real relationship.

When I was growing up as a missionary kid, I loved participating in the regular “singspirations” that the local mission team would have. A hymn that my mom always wanted us to sing became one that often melts into my “inner jukebox” when I’m walking in the early morning:

I come to the garden alone,
While the dew is still on the roses,
And the voice I hear falling on my ear
The Son of God discloses.
And He walks with me, and He talks with me,
And He tells me I am His own;
And the joy we share as we tarry there,
None other has ever known.[1]

When as a young teen at boarding school I began that early morning search for quiet outdoors, I would hum it. And I wondered what it meant to Mom, especially that shared joy that “none other has ever known.” Knowing Mom and her encouragement to us to spend time with the Lord, I think these words communicate that it was an intimate relationship, his with his Lord, so personal that others could not know it the way he did—yet they could be having their own personal relationship that was precious to them. Just private, interior, and treasured by each one.

Recently I was struck deeply by this farewell blessing that Paul wrote to the Corinthians:

May the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ, and the love of God, and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit be with you all. (2 Cor. 13:14 NIV)

Jesus’ grace, the way he gave me a gift I in no way deserve—salvation—is a precious truth. So is the love of God, shown in so many ways by the One whose very essence is love. But how about the “fellowship of the Holy Spirit”? I meditated on that as I walked outdoors one morning, and felt a strong reference to the deep relationship I have with this person who lives in me, listens to me, and prompts me to move in ways that matter. So do you, each one of you who knows him.

But when I looked up the verse in commentaries I found lots of discussion about the meaning of that last phrase about the fellowship of the Spirit. It could refer to this intimate relationship that a true believer has with the Spirit of God, the Spirit of Jesus,  the Holy Spirit who lives in them. It could also refer to the fellowship that believers have with each other because they are each inhabited by the Spriti. I appreciate the voices that approve both meanings, and explain the order of the names of the Trinity with their attributes in that verse in 2 Corinthians 13:14 like this commentary does:

The closing call for God’s blessing is especially significant because it is the only place in the NT where God the Father, Son and Holy Spirit are explicitly mentioned together in such a blessing. Paul highlights the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ (cf. 8:9), the love of God (supremely demonstrated in reconciling the world to himself in Christ; cf. 5:18–21) and the fellowship of the Holy Spirit (i.e. participation in the Holy Spirit through being his temple and participation in the fellowship of believers created by him).[2]

Yes, both kinds of fellowshiip are key facets of believers being the home residence of the Spirit! Again, the Oxford Languages Dictionary gives a definition of “fellowship” that can strengthen how we understand it: “friendly association, especially with people who share one’s interests.”

The Spirit is in us to unite us with our Father and Savior, and keep us guided according to his purposes, as well as comforted when we need it. We need to interact, to take advantage of this relationship. When we are together with another true believer, we are bonded together by our faith and commitment to our Lord. We’ve got to remember this and work towards more mutual acceptance and understanding—our differences should not divide us:

Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and dearly loved, clothe yourselves with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness and patience. 13 Bear with each other and forgive one another if any of you has a grievance against someone. Forgive as the Lord forgave you. (Col. 3:12 NIV)

Sometimes this may seem impossible—way too idealistic. But it depends on whether we try to live up to the Family standards that we’ve been given. When we put up with each other like this, with forgiveness and gentleness, we can maintain a harmonious and mutually respectful relationship. We have fellowship through the Spirit who lives in each of us. At the same time, we have this very personal interaction with God’s Spirit, with the benediction that comes from his ongoing work in us. It does take humility, compassionate patience and receptivity to what the Spirit communicates.

What a gift! We are never alone, and always have access to the Throne. Our Advocate is intimately connected to us, living in us, counseling us. Pentecost was the beginning of the fulfillment of Jesus’ promise to never abandon us. That means that even our “normal” days are spent with him—not only crises when we cry out for help.

This is our daily, moment by moment, source of peace, restoration, and guidance. Thank you, Lord Jesus, Father and Holy Spirit!

[1] Charles A. Miles

[2] Colin G. Kruse, “2 Corinthians,” in New Bible Commentary: 21st Century Edition, ed. D. A. Carson et al., 4th ed. (Leicester, England; Downers Grove, IL: Inter-Varsity Press, 1994), 1205.

What Started at Pentecost

Filled! Not once, but forever! 
He came to me to live in me, 
to stay, always. 

He is the one who gives me power 
to do the work God planned for me— 
each day, his way. 

It started out at Pentecost, 
a day that changed the world, when he 
filled the disciples 

so that they could explain his truth 
to everyone, from anywhere, 
his Word understood! 

And now I know that he will show 
where I should go, who needs to know 
essential truth. 

I may not speak their language yet, 
but he empowers his messenger 
to learn, to grow. 

And he will make a way. He is 
always seeking the lost, his love 
always reaching.

If you know me, you can hear my testimony in those words. The Lord sent me to the Nyarafolo people, whose language was not yet written down. The prospect of learning it, figuring it out, was truly daunting. In fact most of our advisors told us not to try—the people were resistant to the Good News, they said, and there were other jobs we could do. But the Master had made the calling clear, and we persisted. Looking back, I am amazed that we held on to this goal. It had to be a particular plan of the Lord, one he empowered us to do. My husband was given one year to learn it, then was needed at the hospital. I was able to continue.Through the years he sent the helpers I needed, and opportunities for more linguistic training. When a few Nyarafolos expressed their interest in knowing Jesus, it became clear that we needed access to God’s Word in their language in order to teach them. So many of the concepts that are key to the Good News were absolutely new to them. Yet the Lord had prepared the way, and now they have two-thirds of the Bible, the rest is in process, and churches are growing!

That was all his plan, not one any of us foresaw. That was his Spirit continuing what began at Pentecost: filling believers so that people of every language group in the world could someday know about him and his love for them!

This purpose is not just for “missionaries.” Maybe you have not been one he chose to send to another country, to another language group. But he does want each one of his loved ones to be ready to share the truth across cultural and ethnic boundaries. Who has he put in your path who is an immigrant, or from a different racial group or social strata than you? Each one of us needs to be awake, ready to reach out, because our Lord himself made this a priority.

Today Moise, my Nyarafolo coworker and I, just finished translating the book of Isaiah into Nyarafolo! (We are working long-distance, via the internet!) And in that last chapter I have noticed something that escaped my attention before. Lord Yahweh has explained that he is is aware that people are worshiping false gods. Nevertheless, he has a plan:

This is the LORD’s declaration. 18 “Knowing their works and their thoughts, I have come to gather all nations and languages; they will come and see My glory.  (Isa. 66:17b CSB)

At Pentecost, this plan was made clear when suddenly 3,000 people from many nations, who were visiting Jerusalem for the celebration of the Feast of Weeks, suddenly could understand each in their own language the truth being shared with them. Now it was being underlined for the disciples that God’s plan for the nations was taking off. Jesus had told them in his final words:

7 He said to them: “It is not for you to know the times or dates the Father has set by his own authority. 8 But you will receive power when the Holy Spirit comes on you; and you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” 9 After he said this, he was taken up before their very eyes, and a cloud hid him from their sight. 1 (Acts 1:7-9 NIV)

I am learning rich insights from a book I just ran across:  Unlocking the Secrets of the Feasts: The Prophecies in the Feasts of Leviticus, by Michael Norten. He explains the history and meaning of the feasts from Scripture and from his interviews with messianic rabbis as well as rabbis in Israel. Since we just finished the season during which the Jews celebrate the four spring feasts, let me just share his summary of some key connections between them and the way God was fulfilling their purposes.

The Feast of Passover was a time to remember the slaying of the Passover lamb as the Israelites were being freed from slavery in Egypt. The prophetic message that it held was fulfilled by the Son of God, Jesus, who gave his life to ransom anyone who would accept his gift of freedom (pp. 37,40). His death even occurred at the time of day that Passover lambs were being sacrificed at the Temple (p. 22).

The Feast of Unleavened Bread follows the Passover; the first day is a remembrance of the giving of the Law at Mt. Sinai, laws that were given to make it clear that all of us break God’s laws—we are sinful. Leaven stood for sin. Therefore this feast teaches “the concept of being in fellowship with the Lord” (p.17), being purified. As Paul wrote to believers:

Get rid of the old yeast, so that you may be a new unleavened batch– as you really are. For Christ, our Passover lamb, has been sacrificed. 8 Therefore let us keep the Festival, not with the old bread leavened with malice and wickedness, but with the unleavened bread of sincerity and truth. (1 Cor. 5:7 NIV)

Then there is the Feast of Firstfruits, tied to the harvest of barley. It occurred during the week of the Feast of Unleavened Bread, on the day after the weekly Sabbath, and that is when the Father raised Jesus Christ from the dead (cf. Luke 24:1-3)! His resurrection is tied to the “firstfruits” (p. 28)in ways that I did not previously understand. This is how Paul explained it:

But Christ has indeed been raised from the dead, the firstfruits of those who have fallen asleep. 21 For since death came through a man, the resurrection of the dead comes also through a man. 22 For as in Adam all die, so in Christ all will be made alive. 23 But each in turn: Christ, the firstfruits; then, when he comes, those who belong to him. (1 Cor. 15:20–23 NIV)

Then there is the Feast of Weeks, that we know as Pentecost (fifty days after the Feast of Firstfruits). This time the Jews were to bring to the Lord two loaves of bread, baked with leaven! Messianic rabbis told Norten that this bread now refers “to God’s people who receive the law and the Spirit,” (p. 36), both Gentiles and Jews. The Spirit purifies us, and we are now acceptable offerings to God. He descended visibly, with signs and wonders, at that Pentecost recounted in Acts 2, fifty days after Jesus rose from the dead at the Feast of Firstfruits! (pp. 40,41).

I love these connections that make clear God’s purpose to us as Gentile and Jewish believers today, in those historic feasts. We are now filled with the Spirit and empowered by him to do what God has planned for us, and to know his love that is so wide and deep that it reaches out to all people:

I pray that out of his glorious riches he may strengthen you with power through his Spirit in your inner being, 17 so that Christ may dwell in your hearts through faith. And I pray that you, being rooted and established in love, 18 may have power, together with all the Lord’s holy people, to grasp how wide and long and high and deep is the love of Christ, 19 and to know this love that surpasses knowledge– that you may be filled to the measure of all the fullness of God. 20 Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. (Eph. 3:16-21 NIV)

Yes, he can do more than all we ask or imagine! He has empowered me to participate in reaching the Nyarafolo, learning a language that is incredibly complex and challenging, working with his people there to bring the Word to them in their mother tongue. This is the God who is love, who loves all people, who gives us his Spirit to live in us and work through us. This gift is for each one of us who belongs to him. Amazing love! Amazing grace!

So, guided and empowered by the Spirit, let’s each do what he gives us to do!

Like Windsocks

Breath of God, 
caressing my soul 
with silk much  
lighter than air, fluid, 
warm from your mouth... 

Breeze of God, 
animating, 
stimulating growth 
and action, whipping 
up joy in the morning... 

Wind of God, 
blowing strongly 
out of Eden! 
Trees and humans bow 
before you, praising you... 

Gale-force winds, 
hurricanes, tornadoes, 
wrath of God?? 
His cleansing breath?? 
(Not for trifling with!) 

We study you, 
know reasons, 
consequences, but 
we cannot tell when, 
how you will come next... 

Like windsocks, 
we wait, are lifted 
by your Spirit, showing 
who you are to watchers, 
and where you are at work. 


“We are like windsocks”! We can only reveal the truth about who God is, who our Rescuer and Lord Jesus is, by being filled with his breath: his true Spirit. That breath pours life into bodies and brings empowerment to those who believe in Jesus.  Then, like windsocks, our lives can show how he is at work—the windsock cannot hang limp when the wind is blowing into it! It is easy to write these words, but they require much digging into.

In many churches all over the world, this past Sunday was celebrated as Pentecost, the day that the Holy Spirit was given to Christ-followers in a powerful new way that could not be missed. He had been present before, showing up in the Old Testament to work through various prophets and chosen servants., as well as active in the whole implementation of the incarnation and Jesus’ ministry. But now he was filling these believers with the ability to speak in other languages so that the Good News could be understood by all the people who had come to Jerusalem to celebrate the Feast of Weeks, also called Pentecost (from the Greek name, “fifty” weeks after Passover). The disciples that were gathered together received this awesome gift, all at the same time. The group included the eleven disciples, the women who had followed Jesus, Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers, and other believers—about 120 in all! Then a crowd gathered to try to figure out what was going on; it was made up both of Jews and of converts to Judaism, and no matter what their native language was, they understood the Message. Peter explained it in detail and about 3,000 believed and were baptized (see Acts 1:12-2:41)! They all received the gift of the Spirit as well.

From that time on, being filled with the Spirit accompanied each new conversion and baptism that was done in the name of the Father, Son and Spirit. It was definitely a key moment in the building of Jesus’ Church, his Family. They obeyed Jesus’ command and took the Good News to Gentiles who did not yet know about him. He had said:

therefore go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, (Matt. 28:19 NIV)

So why does this historic event get ignored in some of our Bible-preaching, truly solid churches? I think one reason is a lack of appreciation for its importance. It was a key moment when the Spirit’s indwelling of true believers was made visible as well as God’s desire to reach across all language barriers. Another thing that seems to hold some back is a reaction to “Pentecostal” believers who have gone to extremes, preaching that a person only has the Spirit if they have spoken in tongues.

I wondered about this myself when I was a teenager, truly devoted to Jesus and longing to grow deeper spiritually. I was a missionary kid at a boarding school attended by kids from other missions as well, some of which were more charismatic than our Baptist one. My questioning reached a critical point when a guest speaker at our mission’s annual field conference was a pastor from one of those missions, filling in for the one originally invited who had had to cancel. One day he offered to pray specifically with anyone who came forward for prayer for healing, empowerment, whatever. I watched the line grow long. Then when it was finishing I turned to Dad, sitting beside me, and told him I wanted to go ask for prayer to be filled with the Spirit. He nodded and accompanied me. I knelt before the pastor and told him my desire. He laid his hands on my head and prayed aloud.

I waited, then felt a new kind of peace filling my heart, and there was an almost audible Voice that spoke to me: “Hon, you already have me!”  I knew it was true! I stood up, thanked the pastor, and went away happy.

What Jesus had said about the Father’s gift of his Spirit resonates:

Which of you fathers, if your son asks for a fish, will give him a snake instead? 12 Or if he asks for an egg, will give him a scorpion? 13 If you then, though you are evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father in heaven give the Holy Spirit to those who ask him!” (Lk. 11:11 NIV)

I had been asking, begging my Lord to help me to know him better. He had heard and had been at work. I just had not had that name for it: being “Spirit-filled”!

About 8 years later I was with a woman friend very dear to me, a sister in Christ whose faith was dynamic. She asked me if I had ever really experienced being filled with the Holy Spirit—I knew that she spoke in tongues, and suspected that she wanted to be sure I had as well. When I told her about that prayer event when I was fifteen, she just smiled and became silent.

It has been through study of the Word that I’ve learned that the Spirit comes to dwell in us when we truly believe, but we need to let him do his work in us—producing fruit that comes through his Presence:

But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace, forbearance, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, 23 gentleness and self-control.  (Gal. 5:22 NIV)

And there are other gifts that equip us to do the ministry our Lord has chosen for us. We form a body, with different parts having different responsibilities and capabilities. He makes sure that the body can be healthy, fully equipped:

But God has put the body together, giving greater honor to the parts that lacked it, 25 so that there should be no division in the body, but that its parts should have equal concern for each other. 26 If one part suffers, every part suffers with it; if one part is honored, every part rejoices with it. 27 Now you are the body of Christ, and each one of you is a part of it. 28 And God has placed in the church first of all apostles, second prophets, third teachers, then miracles, then gifts of healing, of helping, of guidance, and of different kinds of tongues. 29 Are all apostles? Are all prophets? Are all teachers? Do all work miracles? 30 Do all have gifts of healing? Do all speak in tongues? Do all interpret?  (1 Cor. 12:1 24-30 NIV)

Not every believer speaks in tongues! It is up to the Spirit to determine the way gifts are distributed:

 3 how shall we escape if we ignore so great a salvation? This salvation, which was first announced by the Lord, was confirmed to us by those who heard him. 4 God also testified to it by signs, wonders and various miracles, and by gifts of the Holy Spirit distributed according to his will. (Heb. 2:1 NIV)

However, we are truly wrong to ignore or minimize the essential truth that God sends his Spirit to dwell in us. We need him!  That is why Jesus told his disciples that he would not be leaving them alone, ever—he would be sending them the Counselor or Advocate:

25 “All this I have spoken while still with you. 26 But the Advocate, the Holy Spirit, whom the Father will send in my name, will teach you all things and will remind you of everything I have said to you. (Jn. 14:25-26 NIV)

And then later, he underlined the unity of God the Father, the Son and the Spirit.

13 But when he, the Spirit of truth, comes, he will guide you into all the truth. He will not speak on his own; he will speak only what he hears, and he will tell you what is yet to come. 14 He will glorify me because it is from me that he will receive what he will make known to you. 15 All that belongs to the Father is mine. That is why I said the Spirit will receive from me what he will make known to you.”  (Jn. 16:1 NIV)

So to know the truth more and more deeply, we must be receiving instruction from the Spirit. And all three Persons of the Godhead are One, a perfect unity that we are all invited to portray. Jesus’ prayer tells us more than we can fully understand, but we need to believe it and open ourselves to it. He made sure that what he was saying was not just for those disciples present with him:

20 “My prayer is not for them alone. I pray also for those who will believe in me through their message, 21 that all of them may be one, Father, just as you are in me and I am in you. May they also be in us so that the world may believe that you have sent me. 22 I have given them the glory that you gave me, that they may be one as we are one– 23 I in them and you in me— so that they may be brought to complete unity.  (Jn. 17:1 NIV)

He lives in us through his Spirit. And the unity of Father, Son and Spirit makes it possible for us to also “live in” them! I appreciate the NIV Study Bible’s explanation of how we can “live in” God: It is that organic connection that Jesus had just laid out for them, the image of the Vine and it fruitful branches. When we believers are firmly attached to God, we are strengthened to produce the fruit that he desires. A key part of that is demonstrating unity, attachment to each other through love.—we are all branches attached to the same Vine. And the Spirit produces love in us, an essential element (1 Corinthians 13).

We’ve dug up a lot of rich soil here! There is more to think through. But this week, let’s take Jesus’ instruction seriously and let his Spirit infuse us with what we need to accomplish his purposes, in unity with him. With the Breath of God in us, we can actually be like windsocks, blowing in the direction that he wills, revealing his work to others.

As Jesus said to Nicodemus, talking about a person who is born again:

The wind blows wherever it pleases. You hear its sound, but you cannot tell where it comes from or where it is going. So it is with everyone born of the Spirit.”  (Jn. 3:8 NIV)

Pentecost reminds us that this is for all who truly believe. As he breathes in us, bringing health and guidance, our lives should be indications of his indwelling work in us!

Shout the Joy!

I love you, Lord, my joy, 
not for all you give 
but who you are-- 
and yet your gifts 
drench me in kindness. 
Each one speaks 
the soundless words 
of a true lover 
delighting in the search 
for ways 
to slip his message to me. 
Joy wraps my moments, 
weaves into my days. 

Lights:   
candle flickers, lamp glow, 
liquid moonlight, firefly stars, 
sunbeams shafting into gold, 
fires in my husband's eyes 

Music:  my child's new song, 
mesmerizing balophones, 
rippling jazz, endless possibilities 
of tones and rhythms, harmonies 

Laughter: slapdash wordplays, 
comic kittens, shared delight, 
incredible good news 
spilling over into shouts 

Shouts of joy, indeed, 
the psalmist said, would be  
our true response to wonder. 
We mostly miss our cues, 
I know. 
The days grind on, 
our senses thickly cushioned 
against pain 
but also joy, 
for fear 
that it will prove 
capricious, 
all too transient, 
seducing suckers 
into silly passion. 
The world stays 
dressed in gray 
this safer way. 

But I am sight-starved 
for Reality. Wash 
the windows clean, Lord! 
Laser the lenses 
of my soul 
until I see truly 
all the love notes 
left for me 
in hidden places 
and right under 
my nose. 

May I hope in you, 
not in the sense 
of "maybe" 
but "I know," 
and freely gather joy 
until, heaping,  
these extravagant 
provisions overflow 
and bathe the hurts 
around me 
with healing balm. 

And so, Lord, may 
the inevitable gray 
be streaked with light 
in radiant jewel colors, 
swirled with melodies 
and pulsing rhythms, 
and always punctuated 
by clear laughter 
turning gladly into 
shouts of joy! 

Do you sometimes wake up to a new day but find joy elusive? That happens to me. Sometimes I know what is heavy on my heart. Other times it is just a kind of overwhelming fatigue. Whatever it is, how can I obey this command:

Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! (Phil. 4:4 NIV)

A few days ago I realized that I needed to shift my focus from my worries to my Lord and his blessings. Finding this poem that I wrote 23 years ago reminded me of how that practice changed things for me during a very tough time. I needed to shift my thinking to what he had given me to enjoy, to notice his creative handiwork and the loving essence of his character.

So today I began that same process while on my morning walk. What did I see? Green grass. Flowering bushes. Sunlight gilding the artistically crafted gray clouds covering it until it found a crack to break through. Young squirrels chasing each other up a tree. A pheasant calling from a rooftop. Dark violet irises blossoming in my yard and down the street.

And indoors, a hot shower and my favorite breakfast of homemade granola, nuts, fruit and yogurt. Glenn busy at work on the first-floor extension, preparing to put in the insulation. My computer working well, waiting for me to come work on Nyarafolo Bible translation with my coworker over there in Ferkessédougou, the Internet making it possible. Digging into Isaiah’s rich poetry with him.

When I count my blessings like this, joy rises. The joy of the Lord is always available; he has given us his Spirit who gives joy even when times are hard:, when we listen to his message, first the Good News of rescue, then also the blessings of knowing him: 

You became imitators of us and of the Lord, for you welcomed the message in the midst of severe suffering with the joy given by the Holy Spirit. (1 Thess. 1:6 NIV)

Even Jesus was filled with joy by the Holy Spirit during his ministry when he took note of how God was at work:

At that time Jesus, full of joy through the Holy Spirit, said, "I praise you, Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because you have hidden these things from the wise and learned, and revealed them to little children. Yes, Father, for this is what you were pleased to do. (Lk. 10:21 NIV)

So let’s remember to wake up to his Presence, his goodness, his creativity, and find joy. I am constantly challenged by the many times in the Word it is mentioned that there are “shouts of joy.” Most of us don’t do that in our culture—some of us are learning! Why should we shout out our joy? 

The first reason that comes to mind is the focus of Psalm 65 on praise to the God who answers prayer, who fills his people with the good things of his house—this is the joy of connecting with him in worship. Then he also details wonders in creation like the mountains, dawn and sunset, rain, produce for food, water in streams and the glory of grasslands. Even the meadows “shout for joy” and sing (v.13). So shouldn’t we?

And there is that hidden treasure in Psalm 23:

You prepare a table before me in the presence of my enemies. You anoint my head with oil; my cup overflows. (Ps. 23:5 NIV)

My cup overflows with his blessings! Included in those blessings is his provision of joy. We just need to be open to it and let the Spirit pour it in. When it overflows, that joy can bless others too. You can notice the gilded clouds of sunrise and share the wonder with a friend. You delight in the abundance of fruit from your tree and share it with a neighbor. You find out your hibiscus bush is blooming and shout out in wonder. You see the cross-stitched cross your daughter made for you, now a precious encouragement by your desk, and feel gratitude. Joy! Even if it is not “shouted” vocally, your heart can leap and express the message.

And when the news headlines make your spirits drop, these reminders can lift them up:

Shout joyfully to the LORD, all the earth; Break forth and sing for joy and sing praises. Sing praises to the LORD with the lyre, with the lyre and the sound of melody. With trumpets and the sound of the horn shout joyfully before the King, the LORD. Let the sea roar and all it contains, the world and those who dwell in it. Let the rivers clap their hands, let the mountains sing together for joy before the LORD, for He is coming to judge the earth; He will judge the world with righteousness And the peoples with equity. (Ps. 98:4-9 NAU)

This also reminds me of songs that have strengthened me on my journey, like this one by Richard Blanchard:

Like the woman at the well, I was seeking
for things that could not satisfy.
And then I heard my Savior speaking—
“Draw from my well that never shall run dry!”
Fill my cup, Lord,
I lift it up Lord;
Come and quench this thirsting of my soul.
Bread of Heaven, feed me till I want no more.
Fill my cup, fill it up and make me whole.   

Living water, Spirit-inspired joy: this leads to shouts of joy in my heart and sometimes out loud, an overflow that can bless others!






































































































































































He Holds My Right Hand!

You hold my hand, Lord, always: 
King of this whole world, you lead me, 
making my right hand your chosen tool 
so that each act becomes 
a holy service 
in your master plan. 

You hold my hand, you love me: 
Lover of my soul, you treasure me 
and nurture every gifting given 
and make each weakness 
a new way 
to intervene with strength. 

You hold my hand, you hold me: 
Father-love that cares for me 
that clears the rubbish from the path 
that grasps me tight 
when gale-force winds 
would sweep me off my feet. 

You hold my hand, you fill me: 
Spirit-love that fills me up 
and squeezes out the selfishness 
so that instead your love and joy 
reach out with grace 
to spread your peace.

Have you ever been in such a tough spot that you were in despair? Were you ever totally discouraged by corruption and violence that was hurting people you cared about? Maybe it wasn’t even that serious, but you were caught between some choices and needed clear guidance about what you should do.

I felt that way when war broke out in Côte d’Ivoire back in 2002, and during the long years following that when rebels held control of the northern region where we lived. They were desperate to maintain power, and there was no rule of law. On the other hand, the government in the south had not been meeting the needs of those in the north for years. The people around us were in a desperate state.

On the other hand, we were seeing our Lord work in us and in his people, challenging us to keep on reaching out in love to each other and to the oppressed around us. I know I could not have managed that hard path unless my Master had given me confidence in his constant Presence, along with guidance every day. That is when it became truly meaningful to me that “he holds me by my right hand:”

Yet I still belong to you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me with your counsel, leading me to a glorious destiny. 25 Whom have I in heaven but you? I desire you more than anything on earth. 26 My health may fail, and my spirit may grow weak, but God remains the strength of my heart; he is mine forever. (Psalm 73:23-26 NLT)

I was translating the Pentateuch with my Nyarafolo coworker; when we finished those we moved on to the Psalms. All through those parts of the Old Testament the “right hand” kept coming up, which struck me with new meaning because in the Nyarafolo culture they completely understood its importance. For them, like the Israelites, the right hand is the “good” hand, the one you use for action and for courtesty; the left hand is your dirty hand, used for wiping your nose and other body parts. You only eat with your right hand, the clean hand, not your left hand. This was a challenge for my husband Glenn, who is left-handed, but he learned to comply!

So looking at the occurrences of “right hand” in the Scriptures, I was learning that this was the hand of blessing (Gen. 48:13-18). When it is God’s “right hand,” it is also his hand of power and action (Ex. 15:12,20; Deut. 33:2). Then came the Psalms!  These verses are particularly comforting and meaningful to me:

I constantly trust in the LORD; because he is at my right hand, I will not be upended. (Ps. 16:8 NET)

You give me your protective shield; your right hand supports me; your willingness to help enables me to prevail. (Ps. 18:35 NET)

My soul pursues you; your right hand upholds me. (Ps. 63:8 NET)

. . .because he stands at the right hand of the needy, to deliver him from those who threaten his life. (Ps. 109:31 NET)

The LORD is your protector; the LORD is the shade at your right hand. (Ps. 121:5 NET)

Even when I must walk in the midst of danger, you revive me. You oppose my angry enemies, and your right hand delivers me. (Ps. 138:7 NET)

If I were to fly away on the wings of the dawn, and settle down on the other side of the sea, 10 even there your hand would guide me, your right hand would grab hold of me. (Ps. 139:9-10 NET)

And then there is this verse in Psalm 73, that inspired the poem above:

But I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. (Ps. 73:23 NET)

I began contemplating what difference it means, that he constantly holds my right hand. That is my hand of action, the one I can use to bless others, meeting needs or giving encouragement. It is the hand symbolizing right action that corresponds with his commands. Of course if I do not follow my Master’s directions, I could use it to hurt others, to do what is wrong. But if I let him hold my right hand and I pay attention to the way he moves it, that will not happen.

I remember the days my dad used to walk with me, holding my hand and keeping me from stumbling, showing me the beauty of nature or cities wherever we were. I remember holding my kids’ hands, keeping them safe so that they would not run out into a street or stumble. That is what God does for us when we are securely attached to him, and therefore we let his love fill us and give us guidance and strength.

That is what Paul was reminding his “son” Timothy about when he wrote to him, urging him to hold tightly to his faith and to courageously share the Good News with others:

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline. (2 Tim. 1:7 NIV)

When we remain attached to God, letting his Spirit fill us and direct us, we then have the power and strength that we need to accomplish whatever he wants us to do. It may be learning a brand new skill, like installing electricity (as in the photo above). It may be passing on what we’ve learned to others through words or by example. And Paul underlines that the Spirit fills us with his love, love that “reaches out with grace” to spread his peace to others. When we are filled with that divine brand of love it does not stay cooped up inside us. It promotes action and overflows for the benefit of others. We are no longer timid, but can push away fear or pride, exercising self-discipline to follow his directions and do just what he wants! The self-discipline part often means that we resolve to follow his lead, not just our own desires.

Thinking back through the truths brought out in the Psalms the imagery of the right hand, when we let God’s right hand take the lead, he keeps us from being upended, he empowers us to “prevail” when faced with challenges beyond our normal strength to deal with. When situations heat up, he is our “shade,” our protection, our safe place. Because he loves his own people, he actually grabs hold of us, wherever we are.

In Psalm 73, the psalmist admits that he was so overwhelmed by the evil around him that he forgot that God was his protection. It wasn’t until he spent time with the Lord that he remembered the truth:

“. . .at the time he was deeply troubled by the prosperity of the wicked and the struggles of the innocent. But a turnaround came when he entered the sanctuary. The sanctuary of God could refer to the tabernacle or the temple, where God made his holy presence known among his people. In other words, the psalmist’s experience of the presence of God recalibrated his perspective. He now realized that present realities are not ultimate realities.”[1]

So then the psalmist wrote:

21Yes, my spirit was bitter, and my insides felt sharp pain. 22 I was ignorant and lacked insight; I was as senseless as an animal before you. 23 But I am continually with you; you hold my right hand. 24 You guide me by your wise advice, and then you will lead me to a position of honor. 25 Whom do I have in heaven but you? I desire no one but you on earth. 26 My flesh and my heart may grow weak, but God always protects my heart and gives me stability. (Ps. 73:21-26 NET)

We each need to remember: he is always with us. He holds us! He directs our actions! He fills us with strength and with his love so that we can fulfill his purposes!

[1] Tremper Longman III, Psalms: An Introduction and Commentary, ed. David G. Firth, vol. 15–16, Tyndale Old Testament Commentaries (Nottingham, England: Inter-Varsity Press, 2014), 276.

Yearning to be Filled

Yearning to be filled, 
filled up to capacity 
to the full measure 
of God's own fullness— 
possible? 
--to be filled like the ocean, 
deep, with its waters 
reaching always heavenward, 
splashing to the shore— 
possible? 
--to be filled like the skies, 
air and clouds all rising higher 
with the glory of the sunlight 
reflecting everywhere— 
possible? 
It's more than what I pictured, 
thinking of a cup 
filled up to the brim. 
For he fills everything— 
so is it possible 
for me to be filled 
to the full measure of God, 
the Creator, Maintainer,  
the King of Everything, 
him filling it all, totally? 
I'm yearning. Fill me! 
(cf. Ephesians 1.23)

When I woke up this morning and sat in my quiet space, looking east out the window of our “skyhouse” (repurposed attic), I was stunned by the colors in the predawn sky. Instantly I thought of the verse that captured my attention last week and has become a theme:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days (Ps. 90:14 NIV)

In Nyarafolo the translation says: “fill us up in the morning with your unending love. . .” The Hebrew word rendered “satisfy” or “fill us” in English translations actually means to “be satiated, have had enough.”[1]

In Psalm 90, Moses begins with meditation on how brief life is, like grass that springs up green then withers by evening—the heat has taken its life. He then thinks about all the sufferings he and his people have been through, and how time is passing. “How long will this last?” he begs Yahweh. And then he asks for the one thing that can refresh them, God’s compassionate love:

[Satiate] us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days (Ps. 90:14 NIV)

We cannot know how many days we will have on the earth, but as time passes we can either wither in soul as well as body, or be so nourished by Yahweh’s endless love that we are “full,” needing no other food in our souls.

Once again I think of the imagery of the Vine and its branches, and what it means to be fully attached to the main trunk of the Vine: our Lord and Savior. It makes me grin to think about being one of those “sappy” branches, constantly drenched with sap from the trunk. But that is exactly the nourishment I need for daily strength to run to the finish line, and the love I need in order to be fruitful. This brings the whole picture back to what it means to be “filled with the Spirit.” Jesus promised us that through his Spirit living in those who love him, he and his Father would come to them and make their home in them—live there! (John 14:23). He will teach us what we need to know, and give us peace (John 14:26,27). Next he went on to the imagery of our need to be attached to him: the Vine and branches.

Then comes an explicit application: if we stay attached to him, doing what he says, then we actually live in his love—as though it is our home. That is what the word “remain” means in this English translation of the Greek word μένω (meno): to stay (in a given place, state, relation or expectancy):—abide, continue, dwell, endure, be present, remain, stand.[2]

If you keep my commands, you will remain in my love, just as I have kept my Father’s commands and remain in his love. 11 I have told you this so that my joy may be in you and that your joy may be complete. 12 My command is this: Love each other as I have loved you. (Jn. 15:10 NIV)

There is a prerequisite here: to constantly live in Jesus’ love, firmly attached with no breaking off, we have to do what he says! And his first command is to love the others in our community. We all know how hard that is. Some are easy to love; others require a kind of love we don’t normally have available. They may just annoy us; they may be truly opposed to us. How can we do what Jesus says, then, and love them?

The answer is to be filled with his love! Then we can live it out, letting it overflow to others. Like the lovely colors of sunrise that promise light that will soon be filling our world, like my teapot filled with my favorite hot drink that I can also share with someone near me (filling their cup too!), being filled with God’s love is our source of strength to do what he says and pass it on.

This is what Paul wrote to his beloved Timothy:

For the Spirit God gave us does not make us timid, but gives us power, love and self-discipline.  (2 Tim. 1:7 NIV)

That is how we can do what he has commanded us to do: he gives us the power and self-discipline, as well as the love.

Back to Psalm 90: First of all, we have God as our dwelling place, just as his chosen people did:

Lord, you have been our dwelling place throughout all generations. (Ps. 90:1 NIV)

This is permanent, ongoing. We live in him—firmly attached. When he fills us with his love in the morning (present moment) of our lives, it goes on all our days:

Satisfy us in the morning with your unfailing love, that we may sing for joy and be glad all our days.  (Ps. 90:14 NIV)

His love fills us and lasts into the evening of our lives—“all our days.” Not only that, it gives us joy and gladness!

I count the blessings of remaining firmly attached to this God who is love, and I am filled with gratitude. The incredible truth is that the God who made the universe, filled the oceans with water and the sky with light and space with so much that discovery is ongoing forever, this same God loves you and me and wants to live in us!  He gives us his Spirit, who supplies all that we need (he fills us up) to actually do what he says and to love doing it!

Now this hymn is humming in my heart:

Verse 1

There is joy in serving Jesus

As I journey on my way

Joy that fills my heart with praises

Every hour and every day

Chorus

There is joy, joy

Joy in serving Jesus

Joy that throbs within my heart

Every moment every hour

As I draw upon His power

There is Joy, joy

Joy that never shall depart

(Oswald J. Smith)

[1] Holladay, Hebrew and Aramaic Lexicon of the OT, in BibleWorks, שָׂבַע

[2] James Strong, A Concise Dictionary of the Words in the Greek Testament and The Hebrew Bible (Bellingham, WA: Logos Bible Software, 2009), 47.

Firmly Attached

8687429 © Schakal79 | Dreamstime.com

What do people think they see 
when they take a look at me? 
A pious, clean exterior 
or a holy, pure interior? 

Am I set aside for God 
or content to merely plod 
along at my own pace, 
even stumbling in the race 

to confirm my own high call? 
No! I’ve given him my all! 
Attached to him, I grow 
more like this Lord I know!

His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. (2 Pet. 1:3 NIV)

I had never realized the treasure of teaching that Peter put in his letters until I was faced with the challenge of translating them into Nyarafolo. As often happened in that work, it was hard to find easy equivalents for some of the vocabulary. Here, it was “godly” that stumped us for a bit. What does that word mean, anyway? I realized that I had always pictured “godly” to refer to someone pious, perhaps an older person who was a devoted church attendee, known as a strong Christian, who always dressed appropriately and did not indulge in bad habits.

It turns out that this is a common American English understanding of the term! Here is the definition given in Collins Dictionary: “A godly person is someone who is deeply religious and shows obedience to the rules of their religion. Synonyms: devout, religious, holy, righteous.”[1] And “godliness” is “a word which has sadly disappeared from the vocabulary of many Christians.”[2]

The common understanding does not adequately match the meanings of the Hebrew and Greek words that are usually translated as “godly” in our Bible versions. So there are translations that are trying other solutions, for example:

Love the LORD, all you faithful followers44 of his! The LORD protects those who have integrity, but he pays back in full the one who acts arrogantly. (Psalm 31.23   NET)

Here is the translation note for “faithful followers” in the New English Translation (“godly” or “saints” in other versions):44 tn A “faithful follower” חָסִיד), khasid( is one who does what is right in God’s eyes and remains faithful to God.

Yes, a faithful follower is someone who stays committed to Jesus. That does apply! In the New Testament, the word translated “godly” (εὐσεβής ) is explained this way in the Gingrich Greek New Testament Lexicon:  devout, godly, pious, reverent. These words round out the meaning, but they did not help us find an equivalent in Nyarafolo!

Then, when we got to 2 Peter 2:9, we ran across another way to express it. In the Bible en Français Courant, there is a rendition that made sense in Nyarafolo and also to my seeking heart! If you know French, you will understand how they did it:

Ainsi, le Seigneur sait comment délivrer de l’épreuve ceux qui lui sont attachés, (2 Pet. 2:9 BFC)

. . .  then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from their trials, (2 Pet. 2:9 NET)

The “godly” are those “attached to the Lord”! It made so much sense to us! Think of what Jesus said:

“I am the vine; you are the branches. The one who remainsin me – and I in him – bears  much fruit,  because apart from me you can accomplishnothing. (Jn. 15:5 NET)

When a branch is actually living in (remaining or abiding in) the vine, it must stay firmly attached to the trunk. Otherwise it sags, breaks off, withers and dies.

So if I am attached to Jesus, I am fed by him (like sap to a branch) and am able to become increasingly like him! Peter really digs into this as he continues his introduction. He himself had experienced huge transformation in his faith-walk, changing from a fearful denier to a truly faithful follower and emissary of his Lord. In the following Scripture passage I have substituted “to live firmly attached to him” in place of “for godliness”:

To those who through the righteousness of our God and Savior Jesus Christ have received a faith as precious as ours: 2 Grace and peace be yours in abundance through the knowledge of God and of Jesus our Lord. 3 His divine power has given us everything we need [to live firmly attached to him] through our knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4 Through these he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through [these promises] you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.  (2 Pet. 1:1b-4 NIV)

What could that mean, to “participate in the divine nature”? The NIV Study Bible has a good explanation: “Share God’s holy character, especially qualities that help Christians resist sin.”[3]

He has promised to listen to his faithful ones, to protect them, and in the Old Testament he also tells them not to sin by being unfaithful to their spouse or by straying off the right path:

But know that the LORD has set apart  the godly for himself; the LORD hears when I call to him. (Ps. 4:3 ESV)

Therefore let everyone who is godly offer prayer to you at a time when you  may be found; surely in the rush of  great waters, they shall not reach him. (Ps. 32:6 ESV)

Did he not make them one, with a portion of the Spirit in their union?  And what was the one God  seeking?Godly offspring. So guard yourselves  in your spirit, and let none of you be  faithless to the wife of your youth. (Mal. 2:15 ESV)

You shall be careful therefore to do as the LORD your God has commanded you. You shall not turn aside to the right hand or to the left. (Deut. 5:32 ESV)

When I contemplate what it means to stay firmly attached to Jesus, I realize that I am dependent on his nourishment, like sap flowing from the vine’s trunk into the branches which then can produce fruit. And it is clear from Peter’s words that this growth comes from knowing him, repeated three times in 2 Peter 1:2,3, and 5. This does not mean just knowing about him, but truly becoming intimate with him—firmly attached, living in him. Then we get what is needed to become like him. We develop the qualities increasingly, joining in the process by “making every effort” to focus our maturing process on what matters to him:

5 For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to goodness, knowledge; 6 and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control, perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7 and to godliness, mutual affection; and to mutual affection, love. 8 For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord Jesus Christ. 9 But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind, forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins. (2 Pet. 1:5-9 NIV)

So becoming “godly” is not just a matter of appearance and outwardly devout church attendance or legalistic rule-keeping. It is knowing Jesus, walking with him constantly, making every effort to know what matters to him and then to pursue that. It is like the process of getting to know a spouse: you learn who they are, day in and day out, what truly touches them, what they care about, and you build unity in purpose. Without that a marriage gets weak and dissipates.

Think about the sequence of characteristics that matter to our Lord Jesus, starting with goodness and knowing him, moving through perseverance to that secure attachment (“godliness”), and ending with those two kinds of love. Wouldn’t the community of brothers and sisters in Christ be truly delightful if we each would determine to put our all into this transformation? It is up to each and every branch to be firmly attached, producing fruit through that relationship with the source of strength, the trunk!

[1] https://www.collinsdictionary.com/us/dictionary/english/godly

[2][2][2][2] Prior, Kenneth. The Way of Holiness: A Study in Christian Growth. (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity Press, 1982), 16.

[3] Douglas J. Moo, “The Letters and Revelation,” in NIV Biblical Theology Study Bible, ed. D. A. Carson (Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2018), 2250.

One Sure Thing

In this slippery tilting world 
your heart is one sure thing. 
You love me always, whether 
I am striding in the right direction 
or fallen in a patch of thorns, 
listening raptly to your voice 
or indulging my addictions, 
desperately trying to feel good. 

Unfailing love:  hesed, the Hebrews said. 
This is what we long for all our lives, 
and this is Who you are! 

We cannot shatter, disillusion, 
wear away your tenderness. 
You are true love with no beginning 
and no ending, always potent, 
always steady, always ready to receive 
the bullheaded son or daughter 
who returns to you, and finds at last 
where the source of meaning is. 

Your heartbeat never falters, 
never skips a beat, won’t race 
or turn erratic.  You are love, 
and I can crawl into your lap 
or batter you with angry fists 
or crucify you, tearing at your heart. 
I've done it all, and more, 
unfaithful to the core. 

Yet you keep right on loving, 
though I know you’re disappointed 
with this inner instability 
and all the hurt it means for me;  
though you would be sad 
if I would turn away from all that's good 
and choose instead what turns to rot 
and spreads infection through my soul. 

The perfect Parent, you forgive your child 
when I run to you for pardon, 
acknowledging my fault. 
And finally I am ready to accept 
your loving smile when I succeed, 
your loving hand-up when I fail, 
your totally consistent love. 
I cannot make you love me more. 

Your love just IS, and I will dive into 
the wonder of it all and live inside 
unfailing love.

During my last year in seminary my husband and I took out a loan to buy tickets and joined the group of students traveling to Israel to fulfill a course requirement. I learned a lot as we visited sites where key biblical events took place long ago.

One afternoon we were sitting at an outdoor table when a craftsman came around to see who might want to order a silver ring with a name or name abbreviation carved into it, whatever you might choose. He was speaking English, obviously used to working with tourists. When he came to me I told him that yes, I would order a ring. On it, would he please carve this: חֶסֶד !

“Hesed!” he exclaimed. “How do you know that word?”

“Well, we are seminary students,” I answered. “We study Hebrew!”

He was startled but obviously delighted. And so was I. That ring is still on my hand, 19 years later. It is a constant reminder of a precious truth that comforts me.

When our Hebrew professor had introduced that word hesed to us, I had been stunned. It was the word used for God’s love, a word so full of meaning in Hebrew that no one word by itself in English could match it. Suddenly many biblical texts had new meaning for me.

Of course the context of a word matters. Think about this:  do you love coffee? Do you love going to concerts? Do you love your spouse? Do you love that best friend who is your safe place? Do you love the difficult neighbor next door?

That key Hebrew word hesed can have a slightly different connotation depending on the context, too. But even in the same context our great English translations have chosen different ways to communicate its meaning. Compare these:

ESV Psalm 36:7 How precious is your steadfast love, O God! The children of mankind take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

NAS Psalm 36:7 How precious is Thy lovingkindness, O God! And the children of men take refuge in the shadow of Thy wings.

NET Psalm 36:7 How preciousis your loyal love, O God! The human race finds shelter under your wings.

NIV Psalm 36:7 How priceless is your unfailing love, O God! People take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

NJB Psalm 36:7 how precious, God, is your faithful love. So the children of Adam take refuge in the shadow of your wings.

We struggled to find a way to translate this into Nyarafolo! The one that worked best was  bànguɔ dɛnigɛ,  “love without end”. The word for love, dɛnigɛ, had been created by new Nyarafolo believers, adding a noun suffix to the verb that means “to please or delight, to like”. This concept of a love that never ends, never changes when its object does wrong—is always ready to forgive when repentance is there—was astonishing to them. And working through this made it deeply astounding to me.

I realized that I had not grappled with the depth and breadth of God’s love. Just referencing the various translations noted above, it is steadfast, lovingly kind, loyal, unfailing and faithful. When you look up hesed in the Holladay lexicon, this is a summary of what you get as a definition: a) obligation to the community—loyalty, faithfulness, b) kindness, grace. The word “love” does not even appear! Others add these qualities to their definition: goodness, mercies, fidelity, lovingkindness.

You can see the challenge that it is for us to try to understand and express the incredible goodness and multiple facets of God’s love. Human love (between husband and wife, family members, friends) is expressed by a different word, even when it refers to loving God—there, it is אהב  (ahab/ahav) which can mean: like, love, feel affection for (depending on the context). It is the one that tells us, humans, to love God:

You must love the LORD your God and do what he requires . . . (NET Deuteronomy 11:1a)

As the ISBE Bible Dictionary says of these terms for love:

“Love, whether used of God or man, is an earnest and anxious desire for and an active and beneficent interest in the well-being of the one loved.  Different degrees and manifestations of this affection are recognized in the Scriptures according to the circumstances and relations of life.”

Now let’s think about the boundless mercy and grace that is included in hesed, the love that God has for us humans. Why should we trust it? Because it is the reason why he pays attention to us, earnestly desiring our well-being—even to the point of becoming human to rescue us by paying the penalty for our wrong-doing. And his love is trustworthy, with no end or beginning, completely good, and loyal to those who belong him to him.

So how are we to “love” God? As I said in the poem above, one way is to respond to him by living inside his love. We open ourselves up to all that he wants to pour into us. We do what he wants us to do, as Deuteronomy 11:1 and many other verses remind us. Living that way shows that we appreciate his goodness and love, that we trust his infinite wisdom. It shows that we care about him and his plans for us. We do not want to disappoint him.

It’s like when, as children, we looked up to someone who truly showed love for us and then did what we could to make them know that they were appreciated. My dad was delighted in my avid reading when I was only seven, and gave me a notebook; I was supposed to make a list in it of every book I read. I knew that I was missing putting quite a few into the notebook, just racing to the next story I could find. The list didn’t matter much to me personally, but I wanted to make him happy. So when we evacuated from Congo a year later, sneaking out of our area at night, and I was only allowed to take a small backpack stuffed with a change of clothing and one precious object I wouldn’t want to lose, I chose that notebook! Why? Because I loved Dad and wanted him to know it, to be pleased.  When we love Abba God, we obey him like that—not just to escape punishment but to delight him.

God’s unending lovingkindness, his firm concern shown in loving attention, this is a treasure beyond words. So we show it by our commitment to him and our respect for his wishes that we love him in return. We live in a way so attached to him that it impacts everything we do and say. And we rest inside that constant goodness, like a child that crawls onto his parent’s lap, knowing he is welcome there—in fact, invited to be close to them always. That is what it means to belong to our Heavenly Father and live inside his love.

So turn to him now, thank him for his hesed, and rest in the best peace ever!