"The Gift of People"

Have you ever considered the people you wouldn't know if you had not become a born again believer in the Lord Jesus Christ?


"That's a really sobering thought" remarked a good friend when I raised the subject. It is, isn't it? I think of my wife Frances, whom I met in church not long after I met the Lord. This wouldn't have happened had I not become a Christian, and thus I wouldn't have known her or the children (and now grandchildren) with which God has blessed us. I don't like thinking about this very long, of course, because it is "a really sobering thought."


I also think about you who read this devotional. I wouldn't have known any of you apart from God's grace in the Lord Jesus. Most of you I have not met face to face, but nevertheless your example, encouragement, challenge, and testimony of our Lord's goodness continually bless and strengthen me. I would not have wanted to have lived without the gift of your fellowship and friendship, and without having shared together "the unsearchable riches of Christ" for nearly 12 years now (Ephesians 3:8).


The list could go on and on of the people I would never have met if I had not become a believer. You have your own company of such blessings, and doubtless share with me the overwhelming sense of gratitude to God for the gift of people included in the gift of His salvation in the Lord Jesus. The body of Christ, composed of all who by faith have received His grace, expresses the goodness of the Savior to us in countless ways designed to personally reveal God's love for us. Indeed, the truth of the matter is that the goodness we have known in our brothers and sisters in Christ has been our Lord Himself, touching us through those in whom He dwells and walks (II Corinthians 6:16).


Occasionally I ponder what life would have been like if I had not received God's grace in 1975. In simple terms, it wouldn't have been life at all. "To live is Christ" declared the Apostle Paul, and the longer we walk with our Lord, the truer we know this to be (Philippians 1:21). We merely exist until the Savior becomes our Savior, and until we become a part of "the whole family in heaven and earth" (Ephesians 3:15). Our fellow believers reveal and confirm this wonderful truth in a multitude of moments and ways throughout our Christian life. Again, ponder those moments and ways - briefly, I would suggest - in the realization that none would have happened if the Lord Jesus had not made us His own. Much gratitude and thanksgiving will ensue as our hearts are overwhelmed by the gift of people included in the gift of salvation in Christ.


"Behold, how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell together in unity! It is like the precious ointment upon the head, that ran down upon the beard, even Aaron's beard: that went down to the skirts of his garments; as the dew of Hermon, and as the dew that descended upon the mountains of Zion: for there the LORD commanded the blessing, even life forevermore."
(Psalm 133:1-3)

"This Is Love"

(For those of you who don't care for golf, my apologies for this one :) ).

I saw the best golf shot I have ever seen today, and will likely ever see.

My son Noah, my grandson Jackson (age 4), and I played a round together at a local course. We had a great time on a beautiful fall day, and hit a lot of good shots (along with some stinkers!). Jackson is a natural golfer, and although too young to play a round, still was allowed to occasionally hit some balls. This he did with his usual golf skill and aplomb, and with jaw dropping results for a 4 year old (sounds like a bragging granddad, doesn't it?).

The all time "best golf shot" I reference happened on a hole where Noah hit his second shot over the green onto a cart path. The ball bounded to a spot behind a 15 foot pine tree, 50-60 yards from the green, which sat on a steep hill 10 feet above us. From where Noah stood, he could not actually see the green's surface because of the hill. His challenge involved hitting the ball over the tree, which was no more than 6-7 feet in front of him, and thus requiring him to get the ball very quickly up in the air. The surface of the green also sloped downward and away, so if Noah could somehow get the ball heading toward the green, there was seemingly no way it could have stopped once it landed. As he addressed the ball, I stood 15 yards or so to his left and waited to see the shot.

All I can say is that it was a thing of beauty that almost seemed to take place in slow motion. Noah somehow got the ball quickly in the air in order to navigate the pine tree. I was amazed enough by this, but then from my vantage point, I could see the very high trajectory of the ball carrying it perfectly above the green. It seemed almost to hover for a moment, and then dropped straight down.

Again, we could not see the green's surface because of the steep hill. I knew, however, that the shot had been so perfectly struck that Noah had somehow pulled off the impossible. I shouted to him, "This is going to be good!" Sure enough, I ran up the hill to the green and saw the ball sitting 6 inches from the pin. Unbelievable. There's just no way to hit that shot, and I honestly believe you could take Tiger Woods or Phil Mickelson to the spot where Noah stood, have them hit 100 balls, and never get one as close as Noah accomplished.

Ok, the bragging granddad is now the bragging dad. Which leads to the point I want to make in all this. I would not have been nearly as thrilled by the shot if I had hit it myself (which I could not have done). It was far more exciting to have witnessed my son hit the shot. All the parents reading this know exactly what I mean. There's something about our children's success and accomplishment that is far more blessed than our own, and I believe there to be a sublime reason for the joy we find in their achievements.

"This is My beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased" (Matthew 3:17).

God has forever existed as Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. "From everlasting to everlasting, Thou art God... I am the Lord, I change not" (Psalm 90:2; Malachi 3:6). At the heart of such glory is simply this: "the Father loveth the Son" (John 3:35). Personally, I believe this to be the very essence of God's own reality and existence. It is also the very essence and reality of our own existence in the sense that this is who our Creator is, and we must know it in order to rightly relate to Him. "Whosoever shall confess that Jesus is the Son of God, God dwelleth in him, and he in God" (I John 4:15). Our salvation depends on faith in this most elemental truth, and the ongoing experience of that salvation proceeds from our growing knowledge and apprehension of the relationship between the Father and the Son, as revealed by the Holy Spirit.

What we feel for our children are the glimmers and echoes deep within us of the eternally ancient glory of God's love that exists in His triune being. Such sensibility is beyond understanding and explanation, and even feeling seems inadequate to fully fathom the wonder of such devotion. Fathers and mothers, however, are aware that deep within our hearts there is something for our children so beautiful and affectionately committed to their well being that their blessedness is far more important than their own. This is God's communication to us of that love that can never be adequately conceptualized, the love of the eternal Father for His Son somehow glimpsed and intuitively apprehended in our love for our sons and daughters.

"Forever and ever the Father hath loved the Son, and the Son by the Spirit hath responded. Oh, the beauty of this glory is now living down deep inside us, and this is love... this is love" (From the song, "This Is Love").

I'll always remember Noah's miracle golf shot. I'll also try to remember that the way it made me feel was a glimpse of that which God the Father feels for His Son, and now for us as His trusting sons and daughters. Speaking of daughters, have I told you any of my Marie or Emmie stories? Well, there was this time...

"Father, I will that they also, whom Thou hast given Me, be with Me where I am; that they may behold My glory, which Thou hast given Me: for Thou lovedst Me before the foundation of the world. O righteous Father, the world hath not known Thee: but I have known Thee, and these have known that Thou hast sent Me. And I have declared unto them Thy name, and will declare it: that the love wherewith Thou hast loved Me may be in them, and I in them" (John 17:24-26).

"Luminous With Love"

A writer of old, describing the glories of the new heaven and earth to come, declared that all shall be "luminous with love."


It is hard to imagine a more beautiful phrase, especially when we consider that it is the love of the Lord Jesus Christ that will radiate from every atom in the universe.



"Having made known unto us the mystery of His will, according to His good pleasure which He hath purposed in Himself: that in the dispensation of the fullness of times He might gather together in one all things in Christ, both which are in heaven, and which are on earth; even in Him" (Ephesians 1:9-10).


In our present life we experience beauty with our senses, and then affirm the Lord's presence. "What a beautiful sunset! How great and good is our Lord!" In eternity, however, our response may be reversed. We will see beauty in a particular expression, and perhaps apprehend and acknowledge the glory of God first. "How glorious and beautiful is the Lord! And how He shines forth in that lovely flower!" The Christ in whom the universe is gathered will radiate from all things, presenting the love of God on eternally continual display. Our glorified hearts will continually respond, and all shall indeed be luminous with love.


We have no frame of reference for such glory, other than the firstfruits of Christ we presently "see through a glass darkly" (I Corinthians 13:12). Our hearts and lives are at times luminous, to the degree that we feel overwhelmed by the dynamic presence and working of God. We do well to give thanks for such experience, but we also do well to realize that the loving luminaries to come will cause every blessing of our present life to pale in comparison. This is our hope and assurance in the Christ who will grace every moment of eternity with realities luminous with a love that will never be exhausted in its glorious expression.


"Blessed is the people that know the joyful sound: they shall walk, O LORD, in the light of Thy countenance. In Thy name shall they rejoice all the day: and in Thy righteousness shall they be exalted. For Thou art the glory of their strength."
(Psalm 89:15-17)