Haritha

Created And Called

Jeremiah was a servant of God who lived six centuries before the time of Christ. Many call him “the weeping prophet” because of the intense, emotional nature of his prophecies of doom and judgment.

Jeremiah had served as a priest before God called him to be a prophet—a person who would tell the people what God was thinking.

And like Moses centuries earlier, Jeremiah initially resisted God’s call. “I do not know how to speak,” he said. “I am only a child” (Jer. 1:6).

God wasn’t moved by his protests. “You must go to everyone I send you to and say whatever I command you” (Jer. 1:7).

God also reassured Jeremiah that this new calling was no spur-of-the-moment thing. “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you,” he said. “Before you were born I set you apart.”

God calls each one of us to do things that no one else on earth can do. He calls few prophets, but he does command us to serve him in the ways we can with the years we have left.

For some, this means we will be involved in various forms of ministry such as preaching or teaching in a church, serving as a missionary, or working as an elder to guide the life of a church and its members.

Most of us, though, will probably serve God in our varied secular callings.

Whether you own a business, work for others, or labor at raising your children, you have plenty of chances to live out your faith in God.

Regardless of what we do for God, the important thing to remember is that he designed us the way we are. We didn’t make ourselves or create our own lives.

Therefore, it’s right for us to give our lives to God so that whatever we do, we live and act for his glory.

This passage from Jeremiah has been a powerful inspiration for members of the pro-life movement.

The passage makes clear that human life is something that begins before birth, and possibly even before conception.

But the message of this passage is relevant to all of us, not just prophets and pro-life activists.

God is trying to remind us that our lives are in his hands and that he has cared for us since before there was an “us” to care for.

Our lives are part of a vast, seamless web of love and creation that began long before we were born. If we remember this, our lives can be transformed.

Thank you, God, for making me. Now help me serve you in any way I can.

Chosen By Jesus

Peter and Andrew were two humble fishermen who left everything behind when Jesus called them to follow him.

The Bible doesn’t tell us the reaction of their families or friends to this strange behavior, but we can imagine that they found Peter and Andrew’s sudden departure from their livelihood a bit surprising.

What must have been even more shocking was Jesus’ ability to en-gender such wholehearted devotion. How amazing it must have been to be so drawn to Jesus that you dropped your life’s work and went with him.

And the term “fishers of men” must have seemed terribly odd to those first disciples.

But they went. And as he began to teach, others followed him, too. The disciples were ordinary people who heard him and believed his message. As fish gathered into a net, they came.

The disciples sat at his feet and learned how they, too, could tell others about him and communicate with power.

They must have wondered sometimes why Jesus chose them. They were the most ordinary of men.

In many ways, the disciples were just as we are today. We hear about Jesus, are drawn to him, accept him as our Savior, and then learn that we are to be fishers of men.

I remember the first time I was told that I could be a witness for Jesus. “Not me,” I said.

It isn’t that I was shy, but I was very afraid. I couldn’t imagine someone like me, with no formal training in the Bible, no scholarly background or seminary training, telling others about Jesus with enough skill to change their minds.

But I did learn to fish for men. And I did grow in understanding that what I learned was useless unless the Holy Spirit came into each encounter and touched the heart of the listener.

It is thrilling to grasp that God has chosen ordinary men and women, just like the first disciples, to be instruments of his mercy; to be tools in the saving of souls from the time of the disciples and on into eternity.

The Savior of the world who walked beside the Sea of Galilee and called his early followers walks with us today and calls us into a relationship with him.

He gives us the power to touch the hearts of others and experience the joy of seeing them accept him.

How humbling.

Father, thank you that you draw us, call us, and use us in Your service.

We know you could have chosen other ways to bring the message of salvation to the world, but we are grateful that sometimes you bless us with that privilege.

Raising A Ruckus

When Saturday Night Live comedian Dana Carvey decided to create a character who parodied uptight religiosity, he called her the Church Lady.

The Church Lady was a grumpy, dowdy-looking woman who excelled at being holier-than-thou and confronted some of the guests on her fictional Church Chat show with comments such as: “Who do you think made you do that, maybe S-A-T-A-N?”

In an interview, Carvey said he based the character on a real woman he remembered from the Lutheran church in San Mateo, California, he attended as a child.

“Even the most pious person, even the most straightforward Christian, has been a victim of hearsay and gossiping by condescending people,” he said. “They’re rampant everywhere, and not just in church.”

Carvey’s family attended church regularly, but not as often as some in the church thought they should. “I imagined people thinking, ‘Well, apparently some of us care a little more about Christ than others!’1,1

Even potluck dinners provided an opportunity for competition and judgmentalism.

Carvey’s memories inspired a Saturday Night Live episode in which the Church Lady, who had labored over an elaborate casserole, chided a fellow believer who brought lowly Jell-O.

Religious people sometimes confuse their own ideas with God’s commands, and when they do, they place needless emphasis on external behavior and judging others.

David wasn’t that kind of person, as anyone can tell you who has read his heartfelt prayers found in the Book of Psalms.

In the passage from 2 Samuel, David was so overcome with love for God that he praised him with an impromptu dance.

Churches didn’t exist in those days, but apparently, his wife disliked David’s exhibition and “despised” him for it.

David didn’t let the episode bother him. In later passages, he remained a deeply emotional person, both in his relationships with other people and his worship of God.

Worship is a highly individualistic activity. But the single most important thing about worship isn’t the particular form you follow, it is the attitude of your heart and soul.

David praised God as his heart deemed appropriate. If people around him judged him for his devotion, he wasn’t worried.

He knew God would honor his worship and understand the feelings that kindled his expression.

God, help me love you with all my heart and not worry about what people think.

The Wonderful Wisdom Of God

When I think back to my high school and college days in the 1960s, I marvel at how much things have changed.

I had an electric typewriter, which was a luxury, and a set of World Book Encyclopedias. We had no home computers, no laptops, no Internet.

Writing research projects required many hours in the library and in correspondence with other institutions that might provide material pertinent to a subject.

Today, the availability of information is almost limitless.

The Internet has revolutionized the time needed and the material accessible for the completion of projects or the satisfaction of curiosity.

I think the recent advent of technology has caused many of us to be uncomfortable with words and ideas like “unsearchable.”

How can anything be intellectually out of reach when the world of information lies beneath our fingertips?

Of course, the intellect alone does not reveal the knowledge of God, and this is another uncomfortable thought for many twenty-first-century people.

Even those of us who believe in him may find ourselves a little irritated with a verse like Romans 11:33.

Our irritation can turn into wonder if we recognize the amazing power that is available to us through faith and the working of the Holy Spirit.

A God who is so wise and rich in knowledge loves us, died for us, and has given us his Spirit. We can rest in his care and trust that what we don’t know won’t hurt us.

I have become comfortable knowing that God is even bigger than I can imagine, something I couldn’t do if I didn’t trust him.

It’s like how I feel when I get on an airplane. I prefer not to see the pilot. I have enough trust to get on board, but I feel more confident if I imagine the pilot to be superhuman and flawless.

I want him to be so perfectly competent that I’m comfortable with trusting him with my life.

This kind of thinking is just mental gymnastics to relieve fear, but the power of the Holy Spirit infuses my confidence that God is bigger than life.

Planes do crash occasionally, but the “depth of the riches / of the wisdom and knowledge of God” remains an attribute that merits my trust in him.

I can grow to know him more and more as I mature in my faith, but I can also stand amazed that all the knowledge in this world doesn’t come close to explaining how awesome he is.

Father, I thank you that you are bigger than we can ever imagine and that you still stoop down and love us unconditionally.

Cathedrals Of The Heart

Anyone who has ever traveled to Europe has seen beautiful, majestic cathedrals that Christians living in earlier centuries built to honor God.

In such countries as Italy, France, and England, gigantic structures of stone, wood, and glass rise into the sky. Their construction required decades of work and dedication.

When completed, their graceful spires towered over towns and could be seen miles away.

Today, skyscrapers and apartment complexes tower over many modern cities, but cathedrals still have a special power and grace.

Catholic scholar Robert Barron has written a beautiful little book called Heaven in Stone and Glass, which explores the marriage of theology and architecture that led to the creation of the York and Lincoln Cathedrals in England and three French cathedrals: Notre Dame, Chartres, and Le Mans.

“These cathedrals are powerful repositories of the Christian spirit,” he wrote. “In their windows, towers, vaults, naves, roses, labyrinths, altars and facades, these Gothic churches bring the transformative energy of Jesus Christ to bear on our world.”1

Visiting old cathedrals today can be a powerful religious experience. Many were built in the shape of a cross.

Walking down their aisles toward their massive altars, one finds his eyes drawn heavenward by the towering stone columns and the stained glass windows that portray scenes from the Bible and the life of Christ.

But you don’t have to travel to a European cathedral to worship God. Wherever you are right now as you are reading these words can be your own personal cathedral.

A brief walk in a park or even a stroll down a sidewalk can expose you to some of the wonders of God’s handiwork.

But the most important thing isn’t your surroundings. It’s the state of your heart.

As Isaiah told us, the characteristics God esteems in those who would worship him are humility and contriteness of spirit, and a respectful awe for his revealed Word.

Whether you’re in a beautiful cathedral or your messy living room, God wants you to honor and acknowledge him as God.

God, I worship you. You are the Lord of the cosmos. Help me to understand and honor your majesty.

Taking Up Your Cross

Here’s how German pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer summarized the main point of the Christian life: “When Christ calls a man, he bids him to come and die.”1

Bonhoeffer knew exactly what he was talking about. He lived in Germany during the troubled time when Hitler was growing more and more powerful and the dreaded Third Reich was recreating German society in its evil image.

Many pastors supported Hitler, in part because it was easier to be part of the officially approved church. But Bonhoeffer could see what many others didn’t: that Hitler was evil, and that collaboration with the Third Reich would spell doom.

Bonhoeffer was one of the leaders in the Confessing Church Movement, an underground network of churches and seminaries that tried to stay true to the message of the gospel at a time of intense pressure to cave in and compromise.

As time passed and the world came ever closer to the brink of World War II, Bonhoeffer was invited to stay in America instead of returning to the chaos and turmoil of Hitler’s Germany.

But he decided to return and suffer alongside his fellow countrymen.

Finally, Bonhoeffer joined a plot to assassinate Hitler. The plot was uncovered, and Bonhoeffer was imprisoned in 1943.

Nazis hanged him on April 9, 1945, three days before Allied troops liberated the prison camp where he was killed.

Even before he faced death, Bonhoeffer wrote about taking up the cross in his most famous book, The Cost of Discipleship: “Cheap grace is the deadly enemy of our church,” he wrote. “We are fighting today for costly grace.”

Bonhoeffer went on to give a more detailed description of what he meant by cheap grace: “Cheap grace means grace sold on the market like cheapjacks’ wares.

The sacraments, the forgiveness of sin, and the consolation of religion are thrown away at cut prices.

Grace is presented as the Church’s inexhaustible treasury, from which she showers blessings with generous hands, without asking questions or fixing limits. Grace without price; grace without cost!”

Today, one can find cheap grace in Christians who turn to Jesus seeking what he can do for them, not what they can do for him.

Cheap grace can also be found in sermons that emphasize “God has a wonderful plan for your life” but downplay the costs that come from true commitment.

Cheap grace can also be found when we ask Christ to grant us the power of his resurrection without enduring the pain of his crucifixion. As Bonhoeffer reminded us, “he bids [us] to come and die.”

Jesus, you went to the cross for me. Help me take up my cross and serve you with my life.

Who Are Grumble To God?

Grumbling to God is one of the world’s most popular pastimes.

People grumble to God when the temperature is too hot or too cold, and when it rains or snows too much or too little.

People grumble when the stock market goes down, or even when the “wrong” stocks go up at the “wrong” time.

And imagine how complex things get in the cases of competitions or wars in which one side wins and the other loses.

Whether it’s the Green Bay Packers v. the Pittsburgh Steelers, the Lakers v. the Nets, or the North v. the South in the Civil War, God often hears from roughly equal numbers of people on either side who are disappointed with how things turned out.

The Book of Job is full of grumbling. And who wouldn’t complain if subjected to the kinds of trials and tribulations Job faced?

Job was a godly and prosperous man. But what happened when his prosperity disappeared and unimaginable suffering set in? Did he remain godly, or did he get angry and turn his back on God?

Readers can see for themselves. Job continued to honor God, often in spite of the misguided assistance his friends offered.

They spent most of their time trying to persuade Job that his own sin brought on the many problems he was facing.

Finally, after thirty-seven chapters of humans’ grumbling and blaming, God stepped in and let readers know what he thought about Job’s predicament.

God made his case by asking a series of probing questions:

Where were you when I laid the earth’s foundation?

Who shut up the sea behind doors?

Have you ever given orders to the morning or shown the dawn its place?

Have the gates of death been shown to you?

What is the way to the abode of light?

Who cuts a channel for the torrents of rain and a path for the thunderstorms?

Do you send the lightning bolts on their way? (Job 38: 4, 8, 12, 17, 19, 25, 35)

In other words, God had a simple message for Job or anyone who would question divine wisdom: “Look, you don’t know what I know.

In fact, you don’t know even half of it. So settle down. Quit your grumbling, and trust me.”

Pain and suffering are powerful feelings. When our bodies are ailing, our minds are troubled, or our loved ones are hurt or killed, it’s difficult to continue trusting God.

God doesn’t tell us to ignore our sufferings or to pretend they don’t exist. He just wants us to remember that he’s God—we aren’t— and grumbling isn’t necessary.

And he wants us to remember that he’s still in charge of the whole wide universe, including the little portion of it where we live.

Forgive me, Father, when I doubt your wisdom and sovereignty. Help me submit my stubborn will to your hands.

If God’s In It, Stand Back!

The person speaking these words in Acts 5 was Gamaliel, an honored Pharisee and one of the most famous teachers of the Law. Saul was one of his students (Acts 22:3).

The occasion was the apostles’ (Peter and those with him, Acts 5:29) appearance before the Sanhedrin so the high priest could question them.

In the previous days, the apostles had been healing many people, and their fame was spreading throughout the land.

The number of believers in Jesus multiplied as the apostles preached the gospel.

The Sadducees, priests who controlled the temple, were jealous of the apostles and had them arrested and put in jail.

Imagine the high priest’s and his colleagues’ surprise when they called for the apostles to be brought to them—but the apostles were nowhere in sight.

The doors of the jail remained securely locked and guards were still on watch. But amazingly, the cells were empty.

While the Sanhedrin puzzled over this development, another person came running into the room and told them that the apostles were in the temple courts teaching the people. Guards brought the apostles back to appear before the high priest.

An angel of the Lord had miraculously released the apostles from the jail the night before.

Of course, the Sanhedrin didn’t know about the angel and remained perplexed as to how the apostles escaped, only to speak as publicly as they ever had about Jesus.

The Sanhedrin were furious when the apostles spoke boldly about their activities.

Jesus’ followers were open about their continuing plans to tell the people about the Savior and were unafraid of the consequences.

They told the high priest that they must obey God rather than man (Acts 5:29).

The Sanhedrin wanted to put the apostles to death, but Gamaliel warned against such action.

Gamaliel reasoned, “For if their purpose or activity is of human origin, it will fail.

But if it is from God, you will not be able to stop these men; you will only find yourselves fighting against God” (Acts 5:38-39).

This famous Pharisee acknowledged God’s power, even though the apostles were teaching a doctrine that the leaders of the Jewish community had forbidden.

The Sanhedrin released the apostles after having them beaten and telling them, once more, not to speak in the name of Jesus.

Of course, the apostles ignored the command and joyfully continued to tell the people about Jesus.

Gamaliel was right: God was with these men, and no one could stop them.

Father, help us to be bold in our own witness of your truth.

Music To Our Ears

Every fall, choirs and orchestras around the world start rehearsing Handel’s Messiah, one of the most celebrated musical compositions the world has ever heard.

To show their respect for this exceptional work, audiences typically stand for the singing of the “Hallelujah Chorus,” a tradition that began with British royalty.

For many people, the Christmas season would seem empty without a performance of the Messiah. But Handel, a devout Christian, always intended the work to be sung at Easter time.

If you haven’t heard it, the Messiah is a beautiful retelling of the biblical story of Christ, beginning with the ancient prophecies about him and continuing through his death, resurrection, and ascension to heaven.

Handel took the lyrics straight from the Bible, and many of them came from the Book of Isaiah, which contains some of the more interesting prophecies about Jesus.

Even though Isaiah lived some seven centuries before the time of Christ, he accurately predicted much about Jesus’ life and work.

The passage above is taken from Isaiah, and it describes the mission of John the Baptist.

John had a unique assignment. He would baptize Jesus and then announce his arrival to the world.

We get a complete description of John in the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew, where he is described as a wild-eyed Jewish man who lived in the desert, surviving on a diet of honey and wild locusts.

John and his small group of followers were trying to serve God as best they could, and when Jesus arrived on the scene, they could see that he was the promised fulfillment of centuries worth of pent-up longings and desires.

Over the centuries, Jewish prophets made numerous predictions about the coming Messiah.

He would help people worship God with greater sincerity. He would forgive their sins.

And he would help bridge the gap that had grown between God and the human race.

Jesus did all of these things, and Handel’s Messiah tells the whole story in a beautiful oratorio that takes nearly three hours to perform.

The good news about Jesus has been changing lives for nearly two thousand years. And even the Messiah itself has had a powerful impact on many people.

According to Roger Bullard’s Messiah: The Gospel Handel’s Oratorio, Handel conducted the work at its debut performance in Dublin, Ireland, in April 1742.

The concert was a benefit for people confined to a debtors’ prison. The money that the first performance raised enabled 142 men to leave the prison as free men.

Handel also set up a trust fund that benefits from the annual performances of the Messiah. The fund still supports a hospital for abandoned children in London.

The next time you hear a choir sing the “Hallelujah Chorus,” I hope the beautiful music will help you think about the profound message of Christ’s incarnation.

Meanwhile, think about the many ways Christ’s life and teaching have had a powerful, transforming impact on so many people for so long. This is truly music to our ears.

Father, thank you for coming to earth to reach people like me. And thanks for inspiring artists like Handel to retell your wonderful story.

A Miracle And A Meal

Some biblical miracles almost seem like they were created to light up the screens in movie theaters. Cecil B. DeMille’s

The Ten Commandments won an Academy Award for the special effects it employed to show the parting of the Red Sea and the writing of the Ten Commandments.

Other biblical epics portray some of the more dramatic moments from Jesus’ life: the time he came to his disciples walking on the water; the day he fed five thousand people with a few fish and a few loaves of bread; and his forty days of temptation in the desert.

Here, Matthew gives us a passage that is so tiny and quiet that we almost overlook it.

In these two verses, the miraculous and the mundane happen simultaneously. That’s why you won’t see this passage acted out in any major motion pictures. It’s just too ordinary.

In the preceding chapters, Jesus delivered his Sermon on the Mount, one of the most important sermons ever delivered.

Then in chapter eight and the following chapters, Jesus demonstrated what his new kingdom would look like by performing a variety of miracles.

Then, after healing a leper and the servant of a Roman official, Jesus did something we can all relate to. He went to Peter’s house for a time of rest and relaxation.

Perhaps Jesus needed to sit down and rest his tired and weary feet. Maybe it was a cup of water he needed most. Or perhaps he merely wanted a few moments away from the crowds that continued to throng around him and press in on him.

Peter was one of the first men to agree to follow Jesus, but he still had a family.

This brief passage doesn’t give us many details about the family life of the disciples, but I suspect that Peter’s house was a lot like mine and yours: messy, active, and noisy.

But even in the midst of this private domestic scene, Jesus has an opportunity to demonstrate his divine power. Peter’s mother-in-law is laid up with a fever, so Jesus touched her hand and healed her.

If this had been a movie, we would have expected a few angels to hover overhead flapping their wings while the soundtrack’s violins played a crescendo of sound.

Instead, the woman got up and began waiting on Jesus. Perhaps she even cooked him a batch of her favorite cookies.

These two verses are little more than a brief break in the action. Soon, the crowds will be gathering again, and Jesus will be performing more fantastic miracles such as healing the sick and casting out demons.

Movies will always focus on these dramatic scenes, but Jesus’ visit to Peter’s house reveals another side of the Savior.

And this humble domestic episode shows us that God doesn’t love us only in our most “religious” moments, but also when we’re just hanging out in the family room with our family.

Jesus isn’t some otherworldly deity who is insensitive to the daily reality of our lives.

Instead, he comes into our daily lives and trans¬forms the mundane existence into something miraculous.

Jesus, I thank you for coming to earth in human form, and I ask you to transform my daily life into an occasion for the miraculous