Forgiveness

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Hope for those who mess up

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Hope for those who mess up

I love the Psalms. And I thought I knew them well. There is a great deal of comfort and encouragement in those 150 chapters. But I never realized how equally full of pain and despair they are until I started writing a year-long daily devotional (hopefully to be published).

David was nothing if not open and transparent. You never had much doubt where he was coming from, or what he was going through. He had experienced it all. Warfare, deceit, dishonesty, and worst of all, betrayal from close friends. The Psalms are known for their repetition of the phrase, “How long, O Lord, how long?”

I’m glad David was so open. He’s a great model. Many years ago, I used to go to conferences with big name speakers who advertised all their successes, and came away discouraged. Then I started to go to conferences with speakers who were more interested in using the example of their own weaknesses to advertise God’s glory, and I came away blessed.

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A New Year's resolution

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A New Year's resolution

“Behold, I am making all things new.” So says the voice from the throne to John as his vision of the new heavens and new earth unfolds.

I am not a big fan of New Year’s resolutions. They are usually warmed-over versions of last year’s options. And I don’t normally attach a lot of spiritual significance to pronouncements we often hear in church around this time that God will do this or that in the coming year, as if God’s purposes were tied to the calendar. 

But maybe the beginning of a new year is an opportunity to take a fresh look at where things stand between us and the Lord. And to ask some important questions.

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Abandoned

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Abandoned

What Elaine and I saw the other night was an astonishing and wonderful sight: a roomful of people abandoned in life but now abandoned to God.

For the last few years, we have been in contact with the remarkable ministry of Junction 42 as it reaches out into the prisons of northern England. Our interaction has been with one of the groups established for those released from prison and their friends and partners.

Most of the men and women in the room were known to the police. More importantly, as it turned out, they were known also to God.

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The biggest battle

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The biggest battle

“Thanks for being a sojourner with me in this messed up life we live.” A young friend of mine sent me this message the other day.

His battle was my battle, and it’s your battle too. In a word, the battle is forgiveness.

He had suffered a very real and awful wrong. The perpetrator, a trusted friend, had shown no remorse.