I am continuing to find ways to adapt to the deficits caused by my stroke. The biggest ongoing challenge is excessive sensory input overload. Basically, what that means is my brain gets easily overstimulated, causing it to melt down. In my new normal, in order to not create too much chaos in my brain (painting below), I am very intentional about trying focus on only one person or one thing at a time. As I work on improving my focus and attention, memory, processing, problem-solving, and multi-tasking by using cognitive strategies, it takes tremendous effort and energy just to complete a single task from beginning to end.

Let me ask you – as you go about your day, and quite possibly also as you roll around restless and sleepless during the night, is your mind at peace or is it bouncing from thing to thing? The Bible tells us that even in the midst of busyness and chaos, if we stay attuned to God, we can find calmness and peace. Easy, no. Possible, yes. In Isaiah 26:3 we find this promise, “You keep him in perfect peace whose mind is stayed upon you, because he trusts in you.”

Bible translations (ESV, NASB, KJV, NKJV, and others) that tend to be literal in their word-to-word adherence to the original language use the word stayed; not a word we regularly use in modern language. It means to lean on God, center on Him, trust in Him. Translations (NIV, NLT, RSV, and others) that strive to convey the meaning of the text rather than its original form, called thought-for-thought, tend to use language more common to today – “whose minds are steadfast” (NIV) or “whose thoughts are fixed upon you” (NLT). The third translation method is paraphrase, of which the most familiar would The Message and The Living Bible.

That word stayed comes from a Hebrew word that literally means “to prop, or to lean, lay, rest, support,” or in other words, settled upon. In my study of the Hebrew word samak (stayed in Isaiah 26:3 above), I find several other usages, here is just two – we will be sustained (Psalm 3:5), we will be upheld (Psalm 71:6). Matthew 22:37 tells us, “You shall love the Lord with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind.” We are also instructed to not set our minds on earthly things, but rather, on things that are above (Colossians 3:2). And if we allow ourselves to be, we can have the mind of Christ (1 Corinthians 2:16) and be transformed by the renewing of our minds (Romans 12:2).

I also find it interesting that in this context the word for perfect is shalom. The ancient Hebrew concept of peace, rooted in the word shalom, meant wholeness, completeness, soundness, carrying with it a sense of permanence. So, this verse literally says peace, peace.

If we keep our minds stayed upon Yahweh, we are promised perfect peace. Perfect peace is not a life free from turmoil or struggle or conflict. In John 16:33, Jesus tells us that life is full of things to worry about or keep us up at night. So then, just what is this perfect peace we are promised? This peace is not tangible or visible, but rather, it is a gift offered to us by Jesus that soothes our heart, mind, and soul in those times of trouble that He said we would have. As Jesus was saying his earthly goodbye to his disciples, we find these words in John 14:27, “Peace I leave with you; my peace I give to you. Not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your hearts (and I parenthetically add minds and souls) be troubled, neither let them be afraid.”

Isn’t it true that we keep our minds stayed upon whatever or whoever we trust? So, today and every day, and every night, will you strive to keep your mind stayed upon the LORD?

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When I was growing up, the boys in our neighborhood used to try and catch each other’s shadows. We weren’t too successful. When you move, even just slightly, the shadow that is reflected onto the ground changes both in length and size. And if you stand completely still, your shadow will still constantly change as the sun’s position moves across the sky. The further away that the object creating the shadow is from the surface of projection, the larger the shadow. The length of a shadow is proportionate to the light source’s elevation angle.

Shadows and reflections are the opposite of one other. Shadows are formed on a surface when an object blocks a light source whereas reflections are created when light bounces off a surface. Shadows are usually black in color and rarely beautiful, while reflections have rich color and are often vibrant. Think of your body’s dark shadow projected upon the ground in contrast to the reflection of trees cast upon a still pond’s surface.  

No two shadows or reflections will ever stay the same. They are ever changing. Life is the same way. It too is ever-changing, even if you stand still. Change happens every day all around us. While most of us do not like change, change can be healthy. Change often forces us to mature and grow, to be (or become) flexible, and change often pushes us past our comfort zones into places we previously thought impossible. Change can also be painful and discouraging, causing us to question and doubt. Sometimes simply to survive, we are forced to change and adapt to the ever-changing environment around us.

In contrast to ever-ending change in us and around us, we have a God who never changes. The theological word for this is immutable, which is defined as unchanging over time or unable to be changed. God Himself tells us that He does not change. In Malachi 3:6 we read – “I the LORD do not change.” And we find these words in Hebrews 13:8 – “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever.”  

In James 1:17 we are told, “Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow due to change.”

There is another image of shadows that brings great comfort; that being God’s protection – “He who dwells in the shelter of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty. I will say of the LORD, ‘He is my refuge and my fortress, my God, in whom I trust’” (Psalm 91:1-2). 

So, while you cannot avoid change, you can cling to and rest in the constant shadow of the ever-faithful, never-changing God; the same God who created you in His image, who loves you, and who wants nothing more than to be your rock and your protection as life shifts all around you. And the more you cling to God, the more He changes you, and, get this, the more you reflect His perfect and beautiful image to the world around you!  

What reflected image do people see when they see you?

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If you are like me, at the end of a long trip, you simply want to get home. We love to go to the beach for a week. When packing for the trip, we are methodical. Clothes are neatly folded in the suitcases. The bags filled with other vacation supplies are orderly. Everything has its place. When I pack the car, it too is well thought out.

When it is time to come home, well, that is another story. Not so methodical. Not so organized. Not so neat. We just want to get packed and get home. Any little distraction is often annoying.

Close your eyes for a minute and picture yourself in Jerusalem some 2000 years ago. You and your family had gone there for the weeklong Passover celebration. On the way to the city, you got delayed. Something about a guy on a donkey and people lining the streets. You come to Jerusalem every year, but for some reason, this year the streets and shops all seemed busier than in previous years. On Friday you wanted to do some last minute sightseeing but some of the places you wanted to visit were jammed packed. You heard that there had been quite a bit of commotion right outside the city on a hill.

Now today, it is time to go home. You and your family had a real nice week but everyone is tired (and cranky?) and ready to get home. You pack your bags and get dressed, log on to the airline’s website to print out your boarding passes, then get ready to go down to the lobby for one last continental breakfast … when suddenly there is a heightened excitement out your window; something about a tomb being empty! Your initial thought, ugh, I don’t need this today, but maybe I can get some good pictures to post on my social media channels. And just think, years from now, what a great story it might be – remember that year when…

So, you rush downstairs to see what all the excitement is about!

Early in the morning, women went to the tomb and found the stone closing the tomb’s entrance had been rolled away. An angel told them Jesus was alive – “Do not be afraid, for I know that you seek Jesus who was crucified. He is not here, for he has risen, as he said (Matthew 28:5-6).” They excitedly (with fear and joy) left to tell the others. John tells us that after being told the news, “Peter went out with the other disciple, and they were going toward the tomb. Both of them were running together, but the other disciple outran Peter and reached the tomb first (John 20:3-4).”

Imagine yourself running with the two disciples; are you pushing past them, wanting to be the first one to the tomb? Or do you hold back, hesitating, doubtful that the news is true, tired and ready to get home and get on with life? Do you think it is just a big April Fool’s Day joke? Be honest, today, do you live your life believing, not just in your mind, also in your heart, that Jesus is alive? Do others see that in you?

So, today, do you believe that Jesus is resurrected, just as He said? The stone has been rolled away and the tomb is empty! Click here to read Luke’s account.

Later that evening, after dinner, when two men who had encountered a third man on the road to Emmaus earlier in the day (Luke 24:13-35), now recognized him as Jesus, they returned to Jerusalem, and we read this… “It is true! The Lord has risen and appeared to Simon.” (Luke 24:34)

Jesus has risen and is alive to give all those who ask new life. Receive His love and embrace your new life today!

Let me end with this. The truth is that every one of us needs to be saved from ourselves. If you have never given your life to Jesus, Easter is a perfect time to do so. All you need to do is pray these words, or something similar –

Dear Lord Jesus, I know that I am a sinner, and I ask for Your forgiveness. I believe You died for my sins and rose from the dead to give me new life. I turn from my sins and invite You to come into my heart. I want to trust and follow You as my Lord and Savior. I give myself to you.

Happy Easter!

These days, to get to the person we really want to talk to, it seems like we have to jump through hoops. If you have ever tried calling a company for service or warranty-related issues, you know what I mean. It is just one layer after another of computer-generated instruction. Press 1 for service followed by Press 1 for Internet problems or 2 for TV problems. On and on. Or stay on the line and the next technician will be with you shortly. And finally when we finally do talk to a live person, they are either the wrong person or there is a language problem. I have known business or community leaders who do not have open door policies. Instead, you need to go through their assistant to schedule a meeting. And even then, it was the assistant who actually delivered my message.

It is so often like the “great and powerful” Wizard of Oz – hidden behind the curtain, only heard, never seen. That is until Toto pulled back the curtain.        

Some 2,000 years ago, on what we today call Good Friday, Jesus cried out one last time, dying by crucifixion after being nailed to the Cross. Have you ever been by someone’s side when they died? Picture yourself on that hillside. What is running through your mind as you watch Jesus struggle and then breathe His last breath?

To read the gospel accounts of Jesus’s death – Matthew 27:45-56, Mark 15:33-41, Luke 23:44-49, John 19:28-37.

One passage in the death of Jesus narrative often gets overlooked, and in my opinion, this passage really does change everything. Let’s look at it.

First, here is the context. We read in Exodus chapters 26 and 27 that in the Tabernacle the Most Holy Place (sometimes called the Holy of Holies), the innermost chamber of the temple, was separated from the Holy Place by a curtain (veil). God resided in the Most Holy Place. Any Israelite could come to the temple to pray or to bring an offering, but only priests could sacrifice the animals or burn incense in the Holy Place. And only the high priest could enter The Most Holy Place one day a year (Yom Kippur) to offer blood for his sins and the sins of the world.

What that meant is that in Old Testament days, people did not have personal access to God. We see this is Hebrews 9:7, “But only the high priest entered the inner room, and that only once a year, and never without blood, which he offered for himself and for the sins the people had committed in ignorance.” (I encourage you to read this in context in Hebrews 9.)

Okay, now let’s look at the passage that I think so often is glossed over. When Christ died on the Cross, we read these words in Matthew 27:50-51, “And Jesus cried out again with a loud voice and yielded up his spirit. And behold, the curtain of the temple was torn in two, from top to bottom. And the earth shook, and the rocks were split.”

The curtain (veil) referred to in that passage is the curtain that separated the people from the presence of God. What does that mean for us here and now? Because of Christ’s death on the Cross, through His blood, we now have personal access to God. Jesus is now our High Priest and through Him we can come into God’s presence.

So, take some time right now to reflect upon what it means for you to be able to come into the presence of God, to be able to walk right in. It really does change everything!

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You have been invited to spend the evening with twelve good friends. People that you love deeply and trust implicitly. As the evening goes on, it is decided to have pizza delivered. Everyone will chip in a few bucks. As you go around collecting money from each person, someone’s wallet is missing. There have been no comings or goings since everyone arrived, so someone in the room must be the thief. How do you feel at that moment, wondering which person you can no longer trust? The joy and intimacy previously felt quickly turns to feelings of shock, surprise, sadness, anger. How can this be? You have walked over mountains and through valleys with each other. There isn’t a group of people you trust more. Until now.    

We are in what Christians call Holy Week. It is the time between Jesus’ triumphant entry into Jerusalem on Palm Sunday and His resurrection on Easter Sunday. Today is called Maundy (Latin: mandatum, which means command. See John 13:34.) Thursday, the day that Jesus sits down with His guys for one final meal together, the Last Supper, at which He introduces a new covenant, a new commandment, and also shows great humility by washing the feet of his disciples. That was the topic of yesterday’s writing.

The gospels tell us that Jesus wanted to find a place away from the hustle and bustle of busy Jerusalem, full of people for the Passover, to have dinner with His twelve, soon to be eleven, closest buddies. According to Luke 22:11 (also Mark 14:14), the location of this meal was in the upper room of a guest house (Greek: kataluma). This word kataluma is only found in one other place in the scriptures; Luke’s version of the birth story (2:7). I believe this word has tremendous significance. I wrote about it during Advent. Click here to read that blog post.

At this Passover meal, Jesus instituted the Lord’s Supper (often now called communion or eucharist, depending upon your faith tradition). After offering the cup, Jesus drops this bomb. Luke’s version puts it this way – “But behold, the hand of him who betrays me is with me at this table” (22:21). Imagine the shock and horror in the room. Luke tells us this – “And they began to question one another, which of them it could be who was going to do this” (22:23). Unbeknownst to the other eleven, Judas had already been scheming to sell Jesus to the chief priests for thirty pieces of silver.

Leonardo da Vinci’s “The Last Supper” depicts just that; consternation among the twelve disciples when Jesus announces that one of them would betray Him. Due to the medium the mural was painted on, and environmental factors and intentional damage, the original painting is quite worn. But just envision yourself in that room, two thousand years ago.

The meal would not have been at a banquet table; rather, sitting on the floor or on cushions. But da Vinci gets his point across, everyone is saying “Hmm, who is it? It’s not me!” When in fact, we all betray Jesus at times.

Postscript: All four gospels have accounts of this Passover/betrayal narrative. I encourage you to take a few minutes to read each one – Matthew 26:14-57; Mark 14:10-53; Luke 22:1-54; John 13:1-38, 18:1-14. Each is slightly different, not to contradict one another, but instead, each gospel writer wrote from a different perspective to a different audience. Assuming we remain factual, you and I likely would tell something we both witnessed in a slightly different fashion. Neither wrong. Neither better. Just different.   

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We live in a world that benefits those in power. The saying is that the rich get richer and the poor somehow get poorer. The same can be said of power. The mighty seem to become mightier while those not in power become more insignificant.

And, sadly, all too often this next statement is true as well – “Power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” This quote comes from the 19th century British politician Lord Acton who wrote a series of letters to Mandell Creighton, a bishop in the Church of England. In looking at the Inquisition, Bishop Creighton felt that there seemed to be a tendency to be unnecessarily critical of authority figures, thus he leaned toward “going easy” when writing about the corruption and abuse of power of past popes. Lord Action disagreed vehemently. He believed that all men, regardless of status, should be judged using the same morals standards, especially in light of the reality that power tends to corrupt.

The sinful nature that every one of us is born with, gotten from our first parents, way back in the garden, arcs toward self-centeredness. In my opinion, it is this self-centeredness that pushes us toward wanting to be superior to others. In a dog eat dog world, you either eat or get eaten. Yet, there is a very different way!

Kings in the ancient Middle East, and many kings and leaders today, have absolute power, ultimate authority. Often large and in charge, with little or no concern for those under their authority. Absolute power. Before you write this idea off as only being for those in high places, allow me to say that the most people have some authority, some level of power, over at least one other person. Parents have authority over their children. Bosses have authority over those who work for them. Teachers guide students. Coaches lead athletes. Pastors serve churches. Neighborhood bully knocks around the scrawny little kid. Political party that holds a majority. Community leaders. Business owners. The list goes on.

All of us, whether we acknowledge it or not, in one way or another, are susceptible to “power tends to corrupt and absolute power corrupts absolutely.” It is in our DNA. Yet, there is a very different way!

Regardless of our position in life, we are called to lead, serve, and follow, in a way that is right and just, walked out in a posture of humility. In the Old Testament, Micah, the first prophet to predict Jerusalem’s downfall, answers the question of what should we bring to the LORD (Micah 6:6-7) in a somewhat surprising way – “No, O people, the LORD has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God” (6:8).

Earlier this week I wrote that Jesus is a very different kind of King. Click here to read that post. Whereas world leaders are often high and mighty, Jesus is low and humble.

We are called to model the service and humility of Jesus. Mark 10:45 tells us this – “For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, to give his life as a ransom for many.” And in Philippians, the apostle Paul writes – “And being found in human form, he humbled himself by becoming obedient to the point of death, even death on a cross” (2:8).

What kind of king gets down on his knees and washes feet? Who does that anyway? Does absolute power corrupts absolutely grab a towel and a basin?

I will ask again: who does that? Only one does – King Jesus. The One who came to serve the world. And He calls his followers to do the same.

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