Absolute Light






You, Lord, are Light: 





original 





essential light 





clear all the way through 





absolutely pure 





absolute 





with no dark edge 





no shading 





showing capriciousness





or shallow inconsistency





and yet — alive!





Vital from core to cosmos





filling space with Being





the One Who Is





and Was





and Is To Come





overarching time





yet entering it





thereby giving time





relevance





piercing the dark





of souls and worlds





slowing lightspeed





to a moment —





thirty-three years —





so we could see you.





Eyes unaccustomed





to glory





we gasped





at the brightness





snapped eyelids shut





against the glare





and so refused





healing





laser surgery





that remakes lenses





gifting us with Sight.





Myopic





we still prefer





our blurred world





(familiar)





to the terrifying





unknown universe





unveiled to reborn eyes.





The risk





of leaping into Light





and living there





is only taken





by the desperate





who know they have





nothing to lose





or occasionally





by the lucid





(seen as simple)





who plunge like children





into space





and find it





packed with Presence





dense with Light.





Let you in a crack





and darkness splits





wide open—





Light explodes





the shadows





and what is left





is forever . . .





When I grew up enough to realize what it mean to actually take that plunge with wholehearted commitment, I began to experience the difference it makes to walk in the Light:





But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus, his Son, purifies us from all sin. (1 Jn. 1:7 NIV)





We not only can see where we are going and who is with us, but we are freed from the weight of sin, guilt carried hidden within. Jesus’ blood makes us clean and makes it possible for us to live a life characterized by his love, which offers welcome space to others and substitutes peace for conflict. 





Someday we will actually see him as he is, in all his glorious absolute light!  For now, we have the privilege of belonging to him and absorbing the richness of his goodness. Or, as some do, we could choose to avoid the risk of the leap, and keep on trying to find our way in the dark. If you haven’t already done so, I urge you to take the leap. I am witness to the benefits and the joy of walking life with him, the one who is pure light.

	


	





	

		
Choose the Light of Life!
	


	
	

		






He made a world from love of life 
and beauty, work and rest.  
For rest he made the night. 
For work, the day, 
and governing them both 
he made the light: 
a sun to silt the day with gold, s
a moon to silver through the lovely dark.

His hands plunged deep into
moist earth, newly made  
and healthy, rich with promise.
With tender care and staggering intelligence
he blended atoms into cells, a body--
Adam, Earth-one, firstborn human. 
His Spirit, hovering, whispered love
and filled the body with a soul
from his own breath of life.

Then from that same flesh, 
kindly put to sleep, he levered out
a rib and gently, with delight,
he made the woman, counterpart.
And Adam knew he was a man
and she his mate, his love.

They ruled. They basked in light,
laughing in sunshine and moonbeam
alike. They talked with God.
They fingered stars. The earth
responded gladly to their touch,
grew green. They rested by clear water,
picked fruit from bush and tree . . .

until they reached too far.

They fell, and stumbled into death.
Now daylight heat grew out of bounds, 
the sun’s rays sucking beads of sweat
or hiding, letting in the cold.
And night became a flickering menace,
sometimes silken with slivered 
shafts of light, or sinister, 
sheltering snakes in the grass.

But, loathing the deceit 
that threw his humans into hell,
the Father crafted a way out.
It would take Light, real light, 
to cut through glitter and mirage, 
hallucination, solutions leading nowhere.
It needed Truth, to show up deceit
as sham.  The lie had birthed 
a wretched race that lived to die.
His Word of Truth would be
the Breath of Life and Love
sent to recreate creation. 

And so the Spirit blew,
winds shifted, a child was born.
This new Earth-one came to life
to live among the darkened ones, 
a flame they either loved, 
and huddled close to know, 
or hated for its piercing heat—
so snuffed it out, not knowing
this was Light, unchanging, 
source of every other light,
the very Glory. Snuffing backfired.
It burned anew, and flamed,
and Life and Light broke through
and there was nowhere left to hide.

Be shown up for what you are,
Adam, Eve! And either choose to see
this Truth or turn your backs! 
And then your shifting shadow
is the shape of all your instability, 
false starts and stumbling, 
and leaps that land on nothing.  
You embrace the Fall in all your falls,  
tumbling helpless as water, slave to gravity.
Down. Lost. To the grave.

But if you breathe in Word of Truth,
you breathe in Life and are restored—
to grow in health and wholeness,
to belong to a new humanity 
that walks in glowing sunlight daily
but is never burned. You see the Way. 
Through nights of patient waiting,
the path stays lit before you.
Snakes in the grass slip aside.

You watch in hope for your beloved
Earth-One, invisible, yet bright
in every sudden flash of insight,
whose quiet passing is marked
by the wind breathing Life.
He will return in person.  
And you will come to rest 
in a world of peace made new,
where Light and Truth are loved
and snakes no longer threaten.

Right now I live the story every day.
Tempted, choosing “just this once,”
I fall. Each fall births wretched death;
peace is perturbed, life sickens.
Turning to the Light, healed 
by flaming purifying rays,
I find fertility: life birthing life, 
growth to green the world, 
healing for me and for the nations.
This is the answer: choose Life!





Advent is a time of reflection for those who have chosen to live in the Light. Let’s set these weeks aside to express deep gratitude for that breakthrough moment in earth history when the Word, who was and is the Light, was born to rescue us from the dark!





In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. 2 He was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created through Him, and apart from Him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 Life was in Him, and that life was the light of men. 5 That light shines in the darkness, yet the darkness did not overcome it. . . .10 He was in the world, and the world was created through Him, yet the world did not recognize Him. 11 He came to His own, and His own people did not receive Him. 12 But to all who did receive Him, He gave them the right to be children of God, to those who believe in His name, 13 who were born, not of blood, or of the will of the flesh, or of the will of man, but of God. 14 The Word became flesh and took up residence among us. We observed His glory, the glory as the One and Only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.  (John 1:1-4,10-14 CSB)






	


	





	

		
Just What We Need
	


	
	

		








When our hands are empty, 
fill them up, we pray— 
not too much, 
not too hearty a ration, 
or we may topple 
and then fall.

You set the table in desert lands
as well as on mountaintops.
We need you!
When poverty strips away
our access to food
it’s you we call!

And you come, Father, to your kids
and feed them with just
what they need.
You said you would! You do
provide in your time
what is good.

When your loved ones lose their way
you pursue with mercy.
You find us,
fill our cups to the brim
just like you said
you would.

We set our hope on your manna,
what you provide every day,
sustaining us.
We pray that our siblings
will have it too,
as they should.





Reading through Numbers lately has underlined again for me how prone we all are to complaining. What we get may be adequate, but just not what we really think we deserve. They had daily manna, which evidently had a sweet delicious taste, but they got tired of it. “Why don’t we have all the variety we used to have in Egypt?” they grumbled. Each time there were consequences to their ungrateful attitude. God was saving them from slavery, bringing them to the land he had promised them, but the journey was long and tiring. They let their yearnings overwhelm gratitude for this rescue.





When we have too much good stuff, we may stop realizing that all of it is a gracious gift from God. We may stop depending on him and think that our own efforts have brought us prosperity. When we have just barely what we need, or not what we think we need, we may get surly and complain. But if we are walking close to our Provider, we turn to God and beg for his help. It does remind us that we are dependent on him. And we learn to be grateful for all the “small” ways he is showing us that he is paying attention to our predicament. He knows and he cares. Like the sauce that is being poured onto rice in the photo from a church feast in Tiepogovogo, he knows what blessing to pour onto us and how much would be the right  amount at that moment.





One day in October as my sister-in-law and I walked along the gravel road surrounding Piatt Lake, in the forest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, suddenly a doe leaped out of a driveway on the left and kept loping into the woods on the right. She was out of sight, but what an unexpected gift she was for us! Her calm swift response and grace as she lifted her body into the air gave us joy. Then I wondered: what was she looking for down by that cabin? Was she hungry? desperate?





Autumn is indeed the season when the animals and birds prepare for winter. It is amazing how what they find now can sustain them. Squirrels are running all over the city here in Detroit, grabbing bits of this and that and scurrying away.





So it is with us, too, as we serve our Master wherever he has placed us. There are times when we can keep on keeping on, day by day, receiving just what is needed to maintain our productivity. But sometimes we see a winter coming as resources peter out and the scenery looks bleak.





It has been this way during the past few months for the Bible translation project that I’m involved in. Our Father has kept us forging ahead through thick and thin since 1998! We suffered several bleak seasons (war, cancer, back issues, fire) but each time the Lord pulled us through. The Nyarafolo people are a small ethnic group in Africa that few people in the United States have ever heard of, but the prayers and ongoing gifts of certain friends and churches who have never even met them provided the sustenance that allowed us to give the Nyarafolo two-thirds of the Word in their language: the Pentateuch, Psalms and New Testament iin 2021. The translation team did not want to leave it at that; they have a passion to complete the Old Testament too!





So we began pressing forward, applying for long-term support and extremely encouraged by the way so many donors kept on giving. Then we recently discovered that a source of major funding for this project, one that had brought us to that major finish line, was not going to be able to help us as planned.





Here we are, translating key books right now (Proverbs, Isaiah and Jeremiah), and hanging on a thread which is the hope that somehow the Lord will find a way to send us the sustenance needed for this critical season of searching. And we just heard that yes! He is sending what can take us through this “winter”—we will wait on him for ongoing provision after that! Even this much, all coming from individuals, is an amazing answer to prayer.





Are you needing some kind of sustenance right now? Maybe it is financial, maybe it is encouragement or healing . . . the list of needs we humans may face is long. We need to remember that our Father is our provider, the one who will accomplish his purposes. His love for us shows up in many ways we don’t even notice—rippling lake waters, bird calls, a doe’s graceful leap into the woods or a stunning sunset. Noticing them lifts our hearts and turns our eyes to the Creator and Sustainer of everything.





Practicing gratitude is also what should accompany our petitions (what we are begging God to do). So just as we are pleading with God to keep this translation project on the move, we are thanking God with all that is in us for his provision of just what is currently needed! Times may be hard, but each day is another gift that comes with his blessing. We really do need to focus on what truly matters, being grateful for our Lord’s gracious attention to his loved ones. Thanksgiving is tomorrow, a great reminder that comes every year. May every day also become a day of thanking God for everything!





15 Be very careful, then, how you live– not as unwise but as wise, 16 making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is. 18 Do not get drunk on wine, which leads to debauchery. Instead, be filled with the Spirit, 19 speaking to one another with psalms, hymns, and songs from the Spirit. Sing and make music from your heart to the Lord, 20 always giving thanks to God the Father for everything, in the name of our Lord Jesus Christ.  (Eph. 5:15-20 NIV)

	


	





	

		
Gentle in the Storm
	


	
	

		






In the middle of this whirlwind 
may gentleness become 
the strong, long root 
that fixes me to 
what is true, 
that calls to others
to come to you
to find that inner confidence,
that deep ironic peace,
that stands against the gale.

Only you, living in me, can take
my frail impotency and
empower it to heal
when all around
injustice rules 
and wipes out hope
in every innocent.
Lord Jesus, keep me rooted
in you, inside the storm!





I was praying, feeling desperate. Once again I was truly in the middle of a storm in Côte d’Ivoire, back eleven years ago! The country was in political and social disarray, and we were tying to continue the work our Lord had given us in the community when, inside, our hearts were fractured.





Been there? Does this resonate now?





When fierce winds whip through the land, only the trees with roots stretched deep into firm soil stay standing. We, too, only find stability when our hearts are firmly  rooted in Jesus, our Rescuer, Rock, Refuge, and source of peace. He is still the Prince of Peace!





To be firmly “rooted” we need to live our lives in a way completely devoted to him:





 6 Therefore, just as you received Christ Jesus as Lord, continue to live your lives in him, 7 rooted and built up in him and firm in your faith just as you were taught, and overflowing with thankfulness. (Col. 2:6-7 NET)





Gratitude comes from experiencing his reliability and goodness. We are serving the One in charge of our lives and the world. But in addition to living our lives for him, we experience his work in us, changing us so that our faith is constantly strengthened. We know he is really right with us. We know he is reliable in every situation. Being rooted, we are drinking in his sustaining grace and power, that “living water” that never runs dry. Gale-force winds cannot uproot us. And being “built up in him,” we are being formed into the structure he desires. Like a house on firm foundations, we cannot be swept away like a house that is built on sand. As Jesus said:





“Everyone who comes to me and listens to my words and puts them into practice– I will show you what he is like: 48 He is like a man building a house, who dug down deep, and laid the foundation on bedrock. When a flood came, the river burst against that house but could not shake it, because it had been well built. (Lk. 6:47 NET)





There is key information there: we need to be solidly built up in Christ, our firm foundation. Firm in our faith, we must listen to his words and actually do what they say: “put them into practice.” The more we digest his teachings, and listen to his daily messages and promptings, we are collecting the building blocks we need to become strong. When chaos hits, we won’t just tumble.





Yes, he is our safe place, our place of rest. I am sustained by the imagery of him directing our lives in such a way that we find release from carrying our loads of worry, or of resentment and anger, when we take them to him:





 28 Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. 29 Take my yoke on you and learn from me, because I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls. 30 For my yoke is easy to bear, and my load is not hard to carry.” (Matt. 11:28-30 NET)





We should not come to him with trepidation: he is gentle, completely approachable, inviting us into his company. His “yoke” refers to his instructions—a yoke directs the animal wearing it. Christ promises to guide us, and his guidance is not a whip but gentle pressure that shows us how to live. He is also humble, not vaunting himself like the religious rulers of his day but inviting his followers to join him in being submissive.





If we are walking with him, letting him guide us with his instruction, then we are to be like him!  Paul was learning this and shared it with churches he was teaching:





I, therefore, the prisoner for the Lord, urge you to live worthily of the calling with which you have been called, 2 with all humility and gentleness, with patience, bearing with one another in love, 3 making every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit in the bond of peace. (Eph. 4:1-3 NET)





Our “calling” is to do what we are instructed to do with humility and gentleness—not by domineering or using harsh words. That does not keep unity or peace. When are practicing gentleness we not only spread peace but experience it:





 Let everyone see your gentleness. The Lord is near! 6 Do not be anxious about anything. Instead, in every situation, through prayer and petition with thanksgiving, tell your requests to God. 7 And the peace of God that surpasses all understanding will guard your hearts and minds in Christ Jesus. (Phil. 4:5 NET)





Gentleness is not what comes to mind as a first reaction when we find ourselves in the middle of some kind of storm. Anxiety or aggressive push-back are two natural responses. Instead we are to live our lives in prayer in every single situation! Thanksgiving accompanies prayer for protection and peace, because God answers. He gives us that inner shield from the chaos in a way that cannot be explained. It only comes from deep attachment to him, living life in his “yoke,” living out our calling “with all humility and gentleness.”





So let’s not let the chaos rule our lives, our thinking! Let’s make sure our heart roots are firmly embedded in the rich and strengthening sustenance that comes from walking life in submission to the Prince of Peace, responding with gentleness and humility to the harsh stabs that may come through words or actions. This is a lesson Christ has been impressing on me recently, constantly reminding me to respond gently because that is being like him, and actually can calm anger that is aimed at me.  This does not say one must not respond at all, just that we are to respond with humility, gently. Jesus did that over and over while being attacked by the religious leaders. The Old Testament underlined this too:





A gentle response turns away anger, but a harsh word stirs up wrath. (Prov. 15:1 NET)





Do not let yourself be quickly provoked, for anger resides in the lap of fools. (Eccl. 7:9 NET) 





So this is my prayer:





In the middle of this whirlwind
may gentleness become
the strong, long root
that fixes me to
what is true,
that calls to others
to come to you
to find that inner confidence,
that deep ironic peace,
that stands against the gale.

	


	





	

		
Prayer Like Waves
	


	
	

		






I’ve been crying out to you, 
my Lord, my Father and my King, 
over and over and over again 
like ocean waves rolling in to crash 
and humbly recede into the mass 
of other currents, like other prayers.

This one overwhelming longing
will not let them stop. I beg:
Please bring my loved ones home
into your arms, into your Family!
I am distressed, seeing their confusion,
their blind eyes fixed on faulty paths!

And you keep on reminding me:
I hear you! I’m the Shepherd,
loving my faithful ones, all ninety-nine,
but always seeking the stubborn one
that wandered off. I know where they are.

So trust my goodness, my infinite wisdom!
I could grab lost Paul and turn him around;
I can grab your loved ones and cut right through
the tangled conceptions trapping them.
I am full of love; I will hunt them down!





Every time I’m at a beach I am entranced by the rise and fall of waves, their incessant pounding and the foam that crowns them then gets left behind as the wave bows and retreats. And another wave is already on its way!





Heartfelt prayer is like that. It doesn’t stop. It doesn’t give up. Love for others pushes intercession, whether they are suffering physically or emotionally, but especially if they are struggling spiritually and have wandered off of the One Way Home.





Is it okay to keep begging the Father to intervene? When you are longing for good for someone, yes! Paul underlined it clearly this way:





14 And we urge you, brothers and sisters, admonish the undisciplined, comfort the discouraged, help the weak, be patient toward all. 15 See that no one pays back evil for evil to anyone, but always pursue what is good for one another and for all. 16 Always rejoice, 17 constantly pray, 18 in everything give thanks. For this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.  19 Do not extinguish the Spirit. 20 Do not treat prophecies with contempt. (1 Thess. 5:14-20 NET)





When you live like this, always concerned for those around you, and doing what you can to kindly help them (even if that includes pointing out wrong behavior), you are also to “constantly pray.” You ask for God to work in their lives for their good, and that turns your heart to him and his guidance. What should be done next? How should you reach out to them? You are his servant.  What is he telling you is your part in all this? His Spirit is in you to guide you, so that even if you are at a loss about how to pray he will take care of that for you:





26 In the same way, the Spirit helps us in our weakness, for we do not know how we should pray, but the Spirit himself intercedes for us with inexpressible groaning. (Romans 8:26 NET)





And you are not to ignore what the Spirit says. He will give you direction, because there is “a time to rip, and a time to sew; a time to keep silent, and a time to speak.” (Eccl. 3:7 NET) Only our Lord knows which of those ways we should act, moment by moment.





Just do not quit praying! Our Father is not irked by our ongoing requests! Instead, he wants us to keep our hearts focused on him, knowing that only he can accomplish what we are yearning to see happen. He does direct us:





Trust in the LORD with all your heart, and do not rely on your own understanding. 6 Acknowledge him in all your ways, and he will make your paths straight. (Prov. 3:5-6 NET)





Acknowledging him means to know him and what his directives are. It means paying attention to him all the time, every step. This strengthens our faith, and brings joy. That is why in I Thessalonians 5:16-18 it says:  Always rejoice, constantly pray, in everything give thanks. “Rejoice” and “give thanks” are bookends to faithful prayer! Our trust in God increases, eyes on him. We come to him with our concerns and thank him for listening, for caring, for being the Good Sheperd who will leave his huge flock in good pasture and go out chasing down the wandering sheep. Jesus himself said:





“Which one of you, if he has a hundred sheep and loses one of them, would not leave the ninety-nine in the open pasture and go look for the one that is lost until he finds it? 5 Then when he has found it, he places it on his shoulders, rejoicing. (Lk. 15:4-5 NET)





Amen! May it be so!  This is the loving Shepherd that we count on. Let’s trust him and his wisdom! As our waves of prayer roll in, one after another, they leap high and drop fervently on their destination, producing a lovely froth of foam: joy and gratitude.

	


	





	

		
I Am Yours
	


	
	

		








Because you love me, forgave me,





               chose me and then sent me,





               want to use me,





I bring the only offering I can:





               my self, my soul, my life.





You set aside the Levites for yourself,





               a wave offering to you,





               committed to serve,





a living sacrifice for ongoing worship.





Me too, Yahweh: I am yours!





Every single part of me is yours.





               I hand each one over,





               presenting it





as priests of long ago did, every day,





               when they set out the bread.





My face and all its faculties are yours:





               a mouth to share your words,





               bring peace, speak life;





eyes devoted to noticing your acts





               handwritten in nature.





My ears are listening, open to





               what you are saying to me:





               promptings or love!





My nose yearns to differentiate





               true incense and pollution.





My brain delights in learning





               all about you, Lord, and





               your Word to us.





My thoughts bow down to you,





               ready to be transformed.





My chest is yours, and all it holds:





               my heartbeat, blood pump,





               life-giving air,





plus loving comfort for the little ones





               who need a resting place.





My arms are ready to reach out,





               to grasp, to work for you,





               to hug, to give.





My fingers want to be your tools





               to write, create, caress.





I give you all the organs in my trunk:





               womb of compassion





               and new births,





all that nourishes, and the parts





               that sort out junk to throw away.





My legs are yours, to follow you,





               to run or dance with joy,





               to walk or leap,





to take my feet wherever you may send





               these Good News messengers.





I give you all that makes me counterpart





               to my precious Adam,





               what brings release





yet ties us firmly, makes us one:





               faithful companions serving you.





When I’m asleep, may all my dreams





               accomplish your desire





               to give me rest.





              When I’m awake, I’m in your hands.                





            Use me, infuse me with yourself!










Have you ever wondered how there could be a “living sacrifice” –the offering of a person who is alive, but sacrificed? Contemplating this led me to personalize it in this poem written many years ago. You might phrase each poetic verse a bit differently, but we who are “in Christ” are indeed called to be a living sacrifice!





It is an interesting conundrum with deep meaning that Paul dug into several times:





Therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God’s mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God– this is your true and proper worship.  (Rom. 12:1 NIV)





Here is another translation of this verse, which underlines that “worship” also has the meaning of serving God:





Therefore I exhort you, brothers and sisters, by the mercies of God, to present your bodies as a sacrifice– alive, holy, and pleasing to God– which is your reasonable service. (Rom. 12:1 NET)





When we were translating the book of Numbers I was learning all sorts of new things about the sacrificial system. The one that struck me personally was the consecration of the Levites to serve in all the duties that supported the priestly work in the tabernacle. They were not priests, but workers devoted to serve Yahweh:





. . .and Aaron is to offer the Levites before the LORD as a wave offering from the Israelites, that they may do the work of the LORD. (Num. 8:11 NET)





Here is the NET note that explains how a wave offering made the Levites a living sacrifice:





15 tn “The Hebrew text actually has “wave the Levites as a wave offering.” The wave offering was part of the ritual of the peace offering and indicated the priest’s portion being presented to God in a lifted, waving motion for all to see. The Levites were going to be in the sanctuary to serve the LORD and assist the priests. It is unclear how Moses would have presented them as wave offerings, but the intent is that they would be living sacrifices, as Paul would later say in Rom 12:1 for all Christians.”





This now makes so much sense! Yes, we cannot know how a person can be “waved,” but the imagery definitely relates to the way that a person can be presented to God as a sacrifice, devoted to serve him as a living being. The Levites had to be willing to be offered this way. So do we. The verses that follow “present your bodies as a living sacrifice” in Romans 12 plunge into detail about how we are all a part of the church of Christ, “one body” in which the members have different ways to serve their Lord:





 6 According to the grace given to us, we have different gifts: If prophecy, use it according to the standard of one’s faith; 7 if service, in service; if teaching, in teaching; 8 if exhorting, in exhortation; giving, with generosity; leading, with diligence; showing mercy, with cheerfulness. (Rom. 12:1 CSB)





So, like the Levites who were offered as a wave offering that consecrated them for service to God, we must also be consecrated to serve him. We are not just “set apart” to take care of ourselves, although that matters. We are not just to take comfort in church attendance. We are not just to bear the name “Christian.” We are to serve our God whole-heartedly, doing whatever he tells us to do.





This requires being completely devoted to him. Paul has already taken the image of being a “sacrifice” in a different direction earlier in Romans. We do die! We die to our old sinful nature and are raised to new life in Christ, life that includes being his “instruments to be used for righteousness”—service that is done for his totally just and right purposes:





 8 Now if we died with Christ, we believe that we will also live with him. 9 We know that since Christ has been raised from the dead, he is never going to die again; death no longer has mastery over him. 10 For the death he died, he died to sin once for all, but the life he lives, he lives to God. 11 So you too consider yourselves dead to sin, but alive to God in Christ Jesus. 12 Therefore do not let sin reign in your mortal body so that you obey its desires, 13 and do not present your members to sin as instruments to be used for unrighteousness, but present yourselves to God as those who are alive from the dead and your members to God as instruments to be used for righteousness.  (Rom. 6:8-13 NET)





We do have choices in all this, even after presenting ourselves as a “living sacrifice” to our Lord, “alive, holy and pleasing to him”. Although we know that we have left behind the old life of allowing sin be our master, we are prone to give in to temptation. The NET note for Romans 12:1 ends with this sad observation: “As has often been quipped about this text, ‘The problem with living sacrifices is that they keep crawling off the altar.’ “





Our will has to be actively engaged, which is why Paul begins Romans 12:1 with “I urge you.” If we want to be “all for Jesus,” we must choose to give ourselves over to him and then consistently remember that we are consecrated servants, every part of who we are now lifted to God. How would you write out your understanding of what this means to you personally? We are each different, made in God’s image and reflecting different aspects of him with all our different giftings. This is what pleases him, and it is a life worth living!





I wanted be a “living sacrifice” and pondered what that meant, years ago, several times. It keeps hitting me more deeply—I hope it does you, too!






	


	





	

		
Wait and See
	


	
	

		






Wait, he said. 
When it is the right time 
we will see with our eyes 
what he has planned, 
wonders in answer to prayer. 

Ask, he said. 
Always be faithful in prayer,
aching hearts pleading for mercy,
allowing him to do his good work.
Amazed, we will yet see his wisdom.

Intercede, he said.
Invite him to intervene
in the hearts of his sheep.
Inertia, distress, wandering are not
invincible to the Shepherd, the King.

Testify, he said.
Tell of the answers we've seen,
take time to remember his mercies.
To the end of all time he stays tuned
to the hearts of his dear ones.





I’ll bet you’ve been in one of those spaces where you have no idea what is going to happen next in your life plan. I have. It is easy to fall into that sense of inertia or distress. It can also be a time of learning that what God has told us about himself is true: he will show us the way we are to go. We need to focus our trust on him.





Why, my soul, are you downcast? Why so disturbed within me? Put your hope in God, for I will yet praise him, my Savior and my God. (Ps. 42:5 NIV)





Let the morning bring me word of your unfailing love, for I have put my trust in you. Show me the way I should go, for to you I entrust my life. (Ps. 143:8 NIV)





When he comes through, in his way and his timing, we are blown away.





A few days ago I visited a nearby coffee shop with my friend Chrysanthea (to the right in the photo above). She said the owner had grown up with her brother, and she wanted me to get to know his venue. We were enjoying a special “healthy” drink when Tye walked in and came over to talk. He told us the story of the way God had provided this spot for them just when they needed it most, and how it had become a blessing to many. I was deeply touched!





Tye and Keyona Barnes (at the Café counter in the photo) had a consulting firm going strong until the day in April 2021 that Tye slipped while playing outdoors with his kids, and ended up with a broken tibia and two blood clots. Then COVID hit and he caught it. He was incapacitated for a while, their firm shut down. Keyona set up a tent on their front lawn and sold cupcakes. Things seemed bleak.





But they heard about a small business at 12041 Dexter Avenue that was closing. The price for the building was way beyond what they could pay, so they offered a much smaller amount—and the owner agreed to let them have it! Even getting those funds required a work of God, and he came through. They rehabbed the building, decorating it to fit their theme: In Harmony Café: Sweets & More. They had no staff but themselves the day they opened, but others walked in to work with them, saying the Lord had moved them to come and help. Tye had thought they were unprepared for a Grand Opening that the Detroit mayor had offered them, but suddenly they had personnel and were ready. The mayor held the Grand Opening and a crowd came to celebrate with them.





While Tye was giving me details, Keyona came over and sat with us. Her smiles communicated her heart. And Tye said something I just had to write down: “I see a move of God in this place!”





Yes, we could feel it: peace. They had had no training in how to run a coffee shop; one contact actually brought them a book with instructions on how to do it. Another piece of wonder came with the news that the previous owner (before the business that shut down and sold to them) had been running a Christian coffee shop too—there is an item on the menu named after them. That sense of a blessing covering them has continued to encourage them.





If you would like to see a short video that tells their story, here is a link:  https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gEwxE8rUyCI





I could relate to this sense of God moving with purpose in a place he has chosen for his loved ones, opening it up as a unique answer to prayer, one that even comes with his blessing handed on from those who used to be there





In 2002 we were evacuated from the country of Côte d’Ivoire after civil war broke out, with the rebels taking over the northern region where we were serving in mission. Once in the States we kept waiting for word that the unrest was over and we could plan our return. That wasn’t happening. Some singles and a couple had gone back and were finding ways to continue ministry there, but we still had a teen-aged son with us, a minor, so were not allowed to do that.





While in the waiting game, where could we live? We had not prepared for this dilemma. The family who had taken us in eventually needed their basement apartment, our temporary home, for some of their family. That was when friends in Detroit offered to show us some old houses being rehabbed by Central Detroit Christian, a non-profit supported by our church. The first two were disappointing, neither one calling to us. Then we walked into this house on Burlingame Street that still contained some rubbish left by street people who had made use of it. The inner walls were being torn down and replaced. My husband Glenn and I were astonished at the wave of peace that swept over each of us. Yes! This was the right place! We had no funds saved for such an investment, couldn’t even muster the down payment for the mortgage of $70,000 we needed. The Lord provided that unexpectedly from two different couples!





We moved in in August 2004, as soon as it was habitable. A few weeks later a woman living across the street walked over and asked if she could see what renovations had been done—she was excited, because she had grown up in this house! She told us that she’d been one of 10 kids, their father a pastor who was nicknamed “Pied Piper” because whenever he was walking down the street all the kids would run out to follow him. (We found out later that the pastor owned an ice cream shop down the street and gave free cones to kids!)





We felt again that this was a miraculous provision for us: a house that had been blessed in the past by some of our Lord’s servants lives, had been “lost” for years, and now was redeemed (bought back!) for his purposes. And we have seen that come true. We had to wait for him to show us next steps. We had to ask for provision and guidance. He came through, and the years have revealed many reasons why he chose this location that would be home for our son and still be waiting for us in these our “retirement” years.





What a great reminder this has been: our Lord Yahweh is love, a loyal and kind love (hesed) that takes care of his people like a good shepherd cares for his sheep. Yes, he takes us through the rough dark valley and into the green pastures where he provides all the rest and nourishment we need (Psalm 23). He actually loves doing this for us! Wait for it!





The LORD takes delight in his faithful followers, and in those who wait for his loyal love. (Ps. 147:11 NET)






	


	





	

		
Light Reveals
	


	
	

		






It is only when shafts of light 
sent from the rising sun 
strike the long lean leaf of grass 
that you see how finely striped it is: 
perfectly paralleled veins tracing 
from stem to bowed leaf tips. 
Life stripes! 

You shine on us, Son, Light
that brings life to your waiting world.
You shine on us and suddenly
we are revealed for who we are:
lithe life-drinking light, soaking foliage
or dried-up worn-out fallen leaves.





Autumn colors are stunning and are made strikingly more glorious when the sunlight hits them. Color tours in Michigan this month have blown me away! But in every season, light “brings to light” what is otherwise hidden, exposing the veins in leaves or a mushroom hidden in fallen leaves. What is in the shadows is less likely to be noticed.





Writing to the Ephesian believers, Paul applied this to the way that God’s light shining in us results in character and actions that demonstrate to those around us that we are his children, “children of the light.”  He is light, and when he is living in us his light is also in us and produces the “fruit of the light”:





. . . for you were at one time darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Walk as children of the light– 9 for the fruit of the light consists in all goodness, righteousness, and truth– 10 trying to learn what is pleasing to the Lord. 11 Do not participate in the unfruitful deeds of darkness, but rather expose them. 12 For the things they do in secret are shameful even to mention. 13 But all things being exposed by the light are made evident. 14 For everything made evident is light, and for this reason it says: “Awake, O sleeper! Rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you!” 15 Therefore be very careful how you live– not as unwise but as wise, 16 taking advantage of every opportunity, because the days are evil. 17 For this reason do not be foolish, but be wise by understanding what the Lord’s will is. (Eph. 5:8-17 NET)





Those who do not belong to God, however, do not want their wicked actions to be revealed. So they do all that they can to hide them. We see this when leaders resist letting files be released that could implicate them, or when a spouse does all they can to keep their partner from discovering what they have been up to in secret. None of this is new:





For everyone who does evil deeds hates the light and does not come to the light, so that their deeds will not be exposed. (Jn. 3:20 NET)





When what we do is in line with God’s truth and goodness, it represents him to the world. This is a high calling! It requires learning what matters to him rather than what comes naturally to us, and results not only in a good testimony to others, but also empowers us to live in loving relationships with others walking in the light:





Now this is the gospel message we have heard from him and announce to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all. 6 If we say we have fellowship with him and yet keep on walking in the darkness, we are lying and not practicing the truth. 7 But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin.  (1 Jn. 1:5-7 NET)





We still stumble and sin, but we have the assurance that we can be forgiven as we trust in Jesus. If we do not fight the temptations of darkness then we just remain in the dark shadows, “lying and not practicing the truth.” When the light shines on such a person all is revealed—the Lord knows what’s going on, and fake “fellowship with him” is not tolerated. But when he washes us clean, then what the light reveals is his own goodness shining through us as we do what he says and values.





Let’s make every effort to live in the light with him and in harmony with others walking in his light too!

	


	





	

		
To Shine with Power!
	


	
	

		






This gargantuan ball we call Earth 
twirls on its axis, never stopping. 
I’m glued to my point on its surface, 
watching as we leave the dark outer universe 
and swing slowly, gently into sunlight. 
Granulated gray cloud masses 
suddenly have rose underbellies—
no! Now they’ve turned to neon gold!

There was a star riding tangent
to the crescent moon; it’s gone,
overwhelmed by greater light.
Gold fades slowly to cream and white
as the last bats fly home,
flecks speckled across the canvas.
The sky turns blue and luminous.

He said that those who walk his path
will shine like the rising sun!
We chase away darkness as we advance,
outshine artificial lights, and gild
reality so that it pumps to life.
We bring growth to plants, winged things.
Space opens up for play and work,
and those who hide in darkness
need to run for cover, sins discovered.

But to shine with power like that
we must have spent time face to face
with Light, the One who lights the world
and makes us radiant, in turn.
We have no light of our own, only
his bright essence of Divine Truth
and Love and Character, completely other.
I sit here in the Presence, begging
to be made absorbent, pleading to become
like that gold orb coming into view,
so full of fire its rays take over
the space between the silhouettes
of tree and walls. Only he can make
a mere mortal shine like that!






Walking around Piatt Lake in the morning brings startling discoveries of beauty, scenes never to be repeated exactly the same way. That’s because the world is turning, wind is blowing, the sky is hosting the rising sun then noonday then eventually evening dusk and night. Each moment is a capture.





Yet the same sun rises each morning! And the same Son is the Light of the world! This is how the disciple John introduced Jesus to his readers:





In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was fully God. 2 The Word was with God in the beginning. 3 All things were created by him, and apart from him not one thing was created that has been created. 4 In him was life, and the life was the light of mankind. 5 And the light shines on in the darkness, but the darkness has not mastered it. (Jn. 1:1-5 NET)





We are living in a dark world. But as Isaiah said, alluding to Messiah’s coming:





The people walking in darkness see a bright light; light shines on those who live in a land of deep darkness. (Isa. 9:2 NET)





Light is a powerful image throughout Scripture. Darkness is linked to war, distress, and sin. So after two women, Deborah and Jael, were essential in bringing about victory against Sisera, Israel’s enemy, this line was in the song Deborah and the army’s leader Barak sang:





 May all your enemies perish like this, O LORD! But may those who love you shine like the rising sun at its brightest!”  (Jdg. 5:31 NET)





This comparison is striking: can those who love the Lord God, Yahweh, shine like the rising sun? There is actually only one way to do that. It is expressed in their song: we must love God! To love him, we must know him. And to know him is to walk with him and follow his lead, to hear his commands and obey them. What he has told us matters and doing what he says is actually living life with him:





Your word is a lamp to walk by, and a light to illumine my path. (Ps. 119:105 NET)





And the person who keeps his commandments resides in God, and God in him. Now by this we know that God resides in us: by the Spirit he has given us. (1 Jn. 3:24 NET)





From the Old Testament to the New Testament it is made clear that God’s word is to be our illumination, showing us how to live and stay on the right path. Then in the New Testament we find that God himself will live in us! We have his light in us, and it can shine through us.





For God, who said “Let light shine out of darkness,” is the one who shined in our hearts to give us the light of the glorious knowledge of God in the face of Christ. (2 Cor. 4:6 NET)





His light fills us with what we need: a life lived knowing God through knowing Jesus Christ. We have his light shining in us, and it can actually shine through us. Consider what Isaiah the prophet said would happen when we actually live out what God the LORD, Yahweh, has been telling us is the essence of becoming a powerful light in the darkness:





  “Is not this the kind of fasting I have chosen: to loose the chains of injustice and untie the cords of the yoke, to set the oppressed free and break every yoke? 7 Is it not to share your food with the hungry and to provide the poor wanderer with shelter– when you see the naked, to clothe them, and not to turn away from your own flesh and blood? 8 Then your light will break forth like the dawn, and your healing will quickly appear; then your righteousness will go before you, and the glory of the LORD will be your rear guard. 9 Then you will call, and the LORD will answer; you will cry for help, and he will say: Here am I. “If you do away with the yoke of oppression, with the pointing finger and malicious talk, 10 and if you spend yourselves in behalf of the hungry and satisfy the needs of the oppressed, then your light will rise in the darkness, and your night will become like the noonday. (Isa. 58:6-10 NIV)





Becoming sunrise in this dark world is not a simple step! It requires walking in the light, as our God is in the light, with complete reversal of normal human reactions to the poor and needy, the hungry and the oppressed—ignoring them, letting them suffer. It changes how we interact in the community of other Jesus followers too:





But if we walk in the light as he himself is in the light, we have fellowship with one another and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. (1 Jn. 1:7 NET)





So think about what happens if we do not walk in the light of Jesus Christ. The poor and vulnerable, the oppressed are neglected. In our churches we ignore each other without intimate communication, or we quarrel. The light does not shine.





May the Savior’s light shine powerfully into each of us and change every dark corner into light! Then we, too, will shine like the rising sun!

	


	





	

		
The Gift of this Gray Day
	


	
	

		






Rain slips through the forest 
while birch leaves whisper 
and earth drinks in sustenance. 
God made this day too! 
Gray skies absorb the sunshine 
to share mild light 
with the calm white lake. 

The rusty leaf carpet
on the forest floor
sips blessing as it dies
and younger leaves yellow
then swirl gracefully down
like silent charms
to nest and rest in peace.

The Father plans release:
preparation for hibernation
as winter looms ahead.
I am a sponge, too, 
soaking in his benediction
as he washes me clean,
made ready for what’s next.





Every year we try to reserve part of October for rest in Michigan’s Upper Peninsula, in the “Chalet Shalom” that my parents built as their retirement home. It is now the legacy they left their descendants. Here we are, now. I sit at an ancient wooden desk in the Pine Room, looking out on forest and Piatt Lake. We just had two days of glorious sunshine. But this morning has instead been drenched with light rain.





The flat gray sky reminds me of the day one of my son’s best buddies, Abou Coulibaly, was visiting me at the translation office in Ferkessédougou, Côte d’Ivoire. I walked him to the door and he fixed his eyes on the sky. “Ce jour est béni ! Le ciel est tout gris !” In English I would say: “It’s a beautiful day! The sky is all gray!”





Would we be likely to say that in American culture? No! We tend to prefer sunshine. Remember that chorus we used to sing:





 “There is sunshine in my soul today,
More glorious and bright
Than glows in any earthly sky,
For Jesus is my light. . .  (E. E. Hewitt, 1887)





While doing Bible translation among the Nyarafolo people, I found out that a literal translation of that song would communicate something totally different. There in the tropics, the sun beats you up!





I was checking a draft of Mat 5. 45, which says in English: , “so that you may be like your Father in heaven, since he causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good, and sends rain on the righteous and the unrighteous.” (Matt. 5:45 NET) The mother-tongue translator had used a phrase that said: “He causes the sun to shine on the evil and the good.” Those listening to the verse were startled, because to them that wordinig meant he causes punishment to fall on the evil and the good, indiscriminately. He beats them up! We had to change the wording to what was literally in the text: “He causes the sun to rise on the evil and the good.” That was understandable: we all want light to break through!





A few months later at a workshop that brought together multiple translation teams, I was asked to share some of the key issues our team had been addressing. So I brought up this one and threw out an introductory question:  “If I were to tell you that I had sunshine in my soul today, what would that mean to you?”





There was confused silence for a moment. Then a man from a neighboring country raised his hand and said: “You’ve got problems, Madame!”





Well, sunshine indicates hardship there, whereas Michiganders get tired of their gray days and long for sunshine!





But here I sit in the cool Michigan autumn, drinking in the peace of quiet rainfall and a haze of gray. I contemplate the way my Lord Yahweh brings the earth its changing seasons and how he has equiped different climates with just the right vegetation—like palm trees and baobabs in West Africa, birches and pines here in northern Michigan. And when the rains come at the right time for each variety of vegetation, they are indeed a blessing.





Let us know, let us strive to know Yahweh; that he will come is as certain as the dawn. He will come to us like a shower, like the rain of springtime to the earth. (Hos. 6:3 NJB)





I love this comparison! When we seek to know Yahweh we can count on him showing up in our lives to shower us with the blessing of nurture. Just as dawn brings sunlight in some form every day, he is right on time, right when we open up to him. And just as the seasonal rains prepare the earth for what comes next, whether it is time for the crop to grow or the dying leaves to fertilized the soil, we can count on him. He comes with what we need, preparing us.





In this space, I need the dissipation of stress and the sense of His presence, renewing me. I am being made ready for whatever is ahead—probably November, which looks like it will be excruciatingly busy. So I rest in this gift. May you also find renewal in the next gray day God sends your way!