Waiting while we praise

Praying for Your hand, oh God,

To heal, to help, to raise

Your people from their fallen ways

Here we are, the blessed,

Watching for Your grace

Praying for Your love to change

Our hearts, our heads, our hands

Your children need to learn Your ways

We are beloved and broken,

Children of the living God

Marked by grace, transformed by love

Your kingdom come today we pray

Here we are, beloved,

Washed in the blood of Christ

Praying for clean hearts and hands

To serve, to teach, to reach

Your lost sheep, Your broken lambs.

We are beloved and broken

Children of the living God

Saved from sin, changed within

Work Your will in us we pray

We are beloved and broken

Our God can make us whole

We are beloved and broken

He heals the wounded soul

We are beloved and broken

Your kingdom come

Your will be done

Make us whole

By Chris Yeager

Not destined for earthen beds

We are not made to rest in the clay

Not numbered with the dead

We are made to live

We are made to last

We are made to praise

Forever and ever

We are not made for corruption

Not made to fade away

We are not marked for destruction

To languish in the grave

We are made to thrive

We are made to shine

We are made to sing

Forever and ever

We are made for glory above

To live among the saints

We are made to sing and dance

Before our God and Father

We are made for Him

We are made for love

We are made for joy

Forever and ever.

by Chris Yeager

Balaam is an interesting man.  He is a prophet of God, but he works for an evil Moabite king, Balaak.  This puts him in a serious conflict of interest when Balaak summons him to curse the Israelites before they can overrun Moab.  When Balaam first gets the request, God tells him not to go because Israel is a people blessed by God.  Balaak does not relent and finally God releases Balaam to go as long as he says whatever God tells him to say.

Before Balaam was truly ready to speak on God’s behalf, he needed to go through a humbling experience with a talking donkey and an angel of death.  He needed to be reminded that it was better to fear God than a Moabite king.  When Balaam finally stands before Balaak, he is clearly a changed man.  The result of his transformation is proclaimed in the verse above; Balaam is now “one whose eye sees clearly.”

In the world of optics, resolution is very important; the better the resolution, the better the image. High definition TV’s, high resolution cameras, and prescription glasses are all intended to give us a clearer picture.  This is really what our resolutions should be about for the New Year – clearer vision.  Resolutions can give focus, clarity and definition to our intentions but that is only part of the picture.  It doesn’t help us at all to have good vision if we aren’t looking in the right direction.

I think that was Balaam’s problem.  He obviously could see before, but he wasn’t looking in the right direction.  He knew that God was on the side of Israel, but he didn’t want to be the one to bless them against the will of Balaak.  Once God had opened Balaam’s eyes, they stayed focused on God and not on Balaam’s fears and doubts.

In looking forward to a new year, and making the almost required resolutions, we would do well to check our vision.  Is it clouded by negative thoughts, fears and doubts?  Are we looking in the wrong direction or at the wrong things?  Are the worries and distractions of this world skewing what God wants us to see?  This year ask God to give you a vision of where He wants you to go.  Be one who “hears the word of God.”  This year, if you decide to make any resolutions, make sure they are being made by “one whose eye sees clearly.”

Righteousness is an amazing thing; we all need, none of us have it and there is only one place to get it.  Talk about evening the playing field.  Righteousness requires us all to become spiritual paupers. This makes Jesus’ statements in Matthew 5 come into clearer focus.  “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.” (Matthew 5:3) and, “Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness, for they will be filled.” (Matthew 5:6)

There is no difference between me or the murderer in jail, until either of us admit our spiritual poverty and hunger for something better than all other things.  God has made His righteousness known and available, but we can get too involved in concocting our own righteousness instead.  We can look at the murderer and say, “At least I am not a murderer” all the while hating the murderer in our heart.  This isn’t righteousness, it is spiritual hypocrisy rooted in arrogance.

Righteousness asks us all to start at the same place, to count everything we have done on our own as rubbish.  We empty our pockets, we deny our credentials, we surrender our pedigree and we come before God naked and poor.  We need Him to clothe us.  We need Him to bless us with the riches of His kingdom.  We need His righteousness.

This life is too short to spend time trying to be right; too precious to spend our talents and treasures just to prove someone else wrong.  Make your argument with your life.  Hunger and thirst for righteousness and you will make the best argument possible; that God’s righteousness is better than man’s.  I certainly don’t say this from a place of success.  Every day is a struggle to seek God’s righteousness instead of creating my own, but I believe I am closer than I was last week, last month, last year.  I still hunger.  I still thirst.

Righteousness is an amazing thing, but it is not impossible.  My hope is rooted in the victories in my own life and the cloud of witnesses who testify to this truth.  The righteousness of God is our inheritance, but we must let go of the petty riches we cling to in this world.  We have to let go of our reputations, our degrees, our experiences and grab a hold of the hem of His garment.  Lord, let us hunger and thirst for You more every day.

Blessings,

Chris Yeager

Christmas is a wonderful time of the year. I love the music, the food, the family gatherings, but most of all I love the reason. Christ come in the flesh, a baby born in a quiet town with shepherds in attendance. A young couple following the advice of angels to make a good start to their new family. The humble manger holding the greatest treasure in all of creation.

Jesus is the reason for the Christmas season, but our love for Jesus should not be seasonal. We cannot afford to be fair weather friends to the Prince of Peace. Jesus is the reason in every season of life. He is the reason we can make it through the harsh seasons and the reason we can celebrate the bountiful ones. His faithfulness never fails and we should make every effort to live likewise.

Christmas is a time to celebrate love and family and giving. Let’s remember to keep giving the gift of our love, faith and obedience to God even after the decorations are stowed away and the tree is gone.

Have a blessed Christmas and face the New Year with hope and peace.

There is a lot of anger being thrown around today.  We see it on our TV screens, we hear it on our radios, we read it in magazines and papers and it seeps into our hearts and minds.  In Christian circles we have made excuses that our anger is “righteous,” but it is just that; an excuse.  Anger makes us feel powerful; it makes us feel like we are in the right.  When we look at the world and others through the lens of wrath, we see too much of what proves our point and are blind to most everything else.

Righteousness is rooted in not getting angry.  While James may not have had this in mind, it is clear that the fruit of the spirit (love, joy, peace, patience, kindness, goodness, faithfulness, gentleness, self-control) are remedies to the angry heart and mind.  If we are day by day allowing the Spirit to do His work in our lives, the fruit will be righteous.  James tells us three things that helps put us in the Spirit’s hands: listen, be quiet and get a longer fuse.  Good advice, but hard to follow in our angry world.

If we want to avoid the anger James is warning us about, we need a quiet place, a quiet heart & mind and a humble attitude.  Our days are full of noise and busyness, which can shorten our fuse.  If we can find that quiet place, even if it is a closet in our room, it can provide the opportunity to listen for God’s voice.  However, the quiet place has to be matched with a quiet heart and mind.  It does no good if we spend all of our time in a quiet place making noise about our life and our wants.  There is a real need of being still before God.  Each day we need to let the quietness of that place sink into our hearts and minds to drive out the angry noise of the world.  But that is still just a beginning.

Anger is too easily motivated by pride.  To be slow to anger is to be humble.  When we consider the needs of others, the hurts and pains that may be at the center of their life, we will have a different attitude toward them.  Instead of anger, we may find compassion, love, mercy and grace.  Humility is the last place that anger tries to find a home.  Humility is the open door for the Spirit to bear fruit in our lives.

Where is your quiet place?  When was the last time you felt silence and calm in your heart and mind?  How long have you held anger toward someone who may need your love and kindness?  Let’s work together to come against the anger of our world with the fruit of the Spirit and the humility of Christ.

I have done and said things in my life that I am not proud of; at all.  These acts are proof of my unrighteousness, but they no longer define me.  The love of Christ has changed me from sinner to saint, from lost to found, from blind to seeing.  The lost blind sinner rears his ugly inclinations from time to time, but his power wanes as the found seeing saint gains strength and wisdom.  This is the path of righteousness.

My problem lies in perspective and memory.  Instead of being informed by my past through the eyes of grace, I allow it to rule the way I view myself and others. Grace redeems even the errant movements of my past and leads me toward righteousness.  When I begin to let my past sins peck away at that grace, my faith flounders and guilt sets in.  The righteousness from God overcomes our past and paints our future with hope and promise.

Righteousness does not come from us, but through us from God.  A daily understanding of this reality helps keep us humble and dependent before God.  This is a good place to be.

Lord, help me to look at my life through the eyes of grace.  May a right perspective of my life in You, lead me further into righteousness.  Let Your righteousness rule my heart, mind and eyes. Amen.

Our culture has slowly moved toward a scientific approach to solve most of our problems.  If you can’t observe it, measure it and repeat it then it must not be true.  Faith for this culture is more seeing first and then believing, which really isn’t faith at all.  On the other hand, there are many sciences that are based in postulations and theories without any observable evidence, and yet unquestioned belief is the accepted norm.  Sounds like faith to me.

The Good News is evidence of what we have not seen.  I have never seen God face to face.  I have never seen the glory of heaven with my naked eyes.  I have never watched the forces of good wage war against evil in the spiritual realms like Elisha and his servant.  But I believe in the Good News of Jesus Christ crucified and risen to life.  I believe this because I have seen and heard the truth in so many ways, they cannot be recounted here.  I believe because of the witness that speaks to my heart in ways that science never will.  A voice that overcomes my fears, my weaknesses and my doubts to keep me rooted in the truth of God’s will and word.

It is easy to get mixed up about this.  We can try to apply science to the Bible or our understanding of the Bible.  We can seek more help from psychology than the Wonderful Counselor.  We can get fixated on having a system of do’s and don’ts that we can control and twist, creating a customized religion that makes us right all the time.  But righteousness comes to us through faith.  It is not something we can control or cajole.  It is given to us as we give ourselves to Him.  Religion is a burden while faith allows us to cast our burdens down and trust God with them.

I used to be concerned about making a “scientific” argument for the validity of scripture.  I will leave that to the theologians and experts.  I am more concerned with my life being evidence of God’s existence than having arguments about the age of the earth.  If that is your calling, pursue it passionately and with integrity, but for me it is a distraction.  I want to live a life that reflects the truth I believe.  I want the Good News of the Gospel to transform my unrighteousness into righteousness.  Every day.

Lord, help me to be faithful.  May Your truth define me and transform me.  Let Your righteousness rule my heart and mind and be evidence to the world around me that You are God.  Amen

Come, let us sing for joy to the LORD; let us shout aloud to the Rock of our salvation.  Let us come before him with thanksgiving and extol him with music and song. – Psalm 95:1-2

Let your gentleness be evident to all. The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.  And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus. – Philippians 4:5-7

In one of my favorite short films, Boundin’, by the geniuses at Pixar Studios, the main character is a lamb experiencing the humiliation of shearing for the first time.  Prior to this experience, his identity was rooted in how people perceived and treated him, so when his lovely coat is stripped away, he is unprepared for the laughs and giggles of his fair weather friends.  Fortunately, wisdom comes in the form of a Jackalope who gets the sheep’s head in the right place by showing him that nothing has really changed about who the sheep is inside.  The young sheep finds a way to be at peace in his changing circumstances and the viewer is wishing they had a jackalope to come get their head in the right place.

It is hard to be thankful when we are plagued by anxiety.  We tend to shift into survivor mode when anxiousness and fear take the helm.  That really doesn’t help us become “more than conquerors.”  I don’t believe that God desires us to choose between fight or flight when faced with the challenges of this world and our own sinfulness.  I do believe there is a peace that allows us to face even the worst of all possible events in our lives with boldness and even joy.  But just like that little lamb, we need to get our head in the right place.

Paul’s admonition to “present your requests to God” is tempered by an overarching attitude of thanksgiving.  This is critical for us to understand as His children, for we often wait to give thanks after the fact.  Paul is putting forth the idea that we need to lead with thanksgiving; to be grateful for what the Lord will do.  This gets our head in the right place – looking forward to hope and the unfailing promises of God.

What is it that you hope for?  What are the anxieties that keep you from living in the peace of God?  Don’t wait for a jackalope to come along with rhyming platitudes to help you out.  There is one who understands our suffering and the way out.  Put your hope in Him and pray with thanksgiving for His providence, healing and help in your time of need.