Jesus Is Not the Best Way

I know I have spoken about Jesus for a while now. I know I have written article after article about how great He is and all He has done; He is worthy of our praise and our obedience. But I want to make one thing very clear. It's something made crystal clear to me just a few days ago:

Jesus is not the best way.

He is not the best way to heaven. He is not the best way to healing. He is not the best way to peace. He is not the best way to joy or holiness or even justice. Jesus is not the best way. Jesus is the ONLY way. And while that may, indeed, make Him the best way secondarily, in the primary sense, the ultimate sense, the most literal sense, Jesus is the ONLY way.

A little while ago, He had me thinking about the quality of my faith. Do I trust Him because there are other options out there, but I know He is the best? Or do I trust Him because I have no other option? (Is it Faith or a Lack of Options?) And when it comes to the reason I trust Him, I believe it should be because, despite other choices, despite other possible avenues, He is my King and He reigns supreme. In other words, I could trust _____ (fill in the blank), but I choose to trust Jesus. However, when it comes to His identity, His authority, His rank, He is my ONLY Salvation, my ONLY Hope, my ONLY Way to restoration and reconciliation with the Father, my ONLY Healer --yes, I said, ONLY Healer. 

I say this because we don't always feel cut off from the Father, do we? We don't always feel the weight of our sin and separation. We don't always feel the need for a Savior, One to deliver us from eternal punishment. Those are things we usually only consider when we are faced with the reality of death --ours or that of someone near. But healing? I think the need for healing is something we all experience. Whether it's healing from sickness and disease, or healing in our relationships, or healing of our finances, or healing in our communities. We all feel the brokenness of life in this world. We all experience litter and poverty and bad news and dead plants and sweat and spoiled milk and high prices. We all have said, from time to time, that we are sick of things the way they are; we long for repair. Jesus.

All of those "other options" are merely bread and water. We eat the bread of our paychecks or our labor in the garden or our handshakes, and life is good for a while. We drink the water of medications or good news or rest, and we are spared. But we will hunger and thirst again. These things are gifts, shadows, temporary remedies for the eternal, spiritual affliction, the curse that besieges us all. The options help us to exist in a world that is dying, prolonging things until the time God has determined. Jesus is our ONLY Salvation --utterly, truly. Jesus is our ONLY Hope --steadfast, eternal. Jesus is our only Way to restoration and Reconciliation --by His design, all-sufficient. And Jesus is our ONLY Healer. Joblessness, injustice, addiction, cancer, contentions, corruption, immorality, unfaithfulness, confusion, gossip, even mold in the shower and fleas on the dog! ONLY Jesus can restore these things to the place, the condition they belong. And while He has commissioned us as His agents --Yes, we have to clean the shower and treat the fleas --He is the ONLY One who can and will one day bring complete healing to our lives. He is the ONLY One upon whom our focus should always, resolutely be fixed.    

Midweek: The Prayer Bible, NIV

In March of last year, I was given the opportunity to review Thomas Nelson's Prayer Bible. It is a beautiful reminder that Scripture should lead us to prayer, turning our focus to our Creator and Redeemer, breaking the terrible habit of reading Scripture with a what's-in-it-for-me mindset. 

This year, I received Thomas Nelson's NIV copy of The Prayer Bible. This particular edition is bound in a black and grey Leathersoft™ and comes with a lifetime guarantee. The text is printed in 8.5-point Comfort Print® with the words of Jesus are in red. It has a lovely presentation page, a satin ribbon bookmark, an introduction to each book of the Bible, and a 365-day reading plan. The back of this edition has a list of prayers from the Bible and articles entitled Why Read the Bible, Steps to Engage, and Scripture Engagement vs. Bible Study. A short essay on Spiritual Disciplines and Scripture Engagement explains just how being immersed in God's Word regularly equips us to apply those things we have gleaned from our reading, for our benefit and God's glory. In addition to these features, the most notable, and the asset for which this book is named, is the distribution of 1200 "prayer prompts" found frequently throughout the text. As we read about the instructions God gave for the building of His tabernacle, we are encouraged to examine our worship and ask God to help us worship in the manner He desires. Throughout the Psalms, prayer prompts challenge us to praise and cry out and repent with the psalmists to draw our heart into worship of and reliance on the Lord for all things. As we read through familiar passages of Scripture, prayer prompts work to slow us down and refocus our attention in novel ways. 

When we read Scripture, we are to apply what we learn and stand on the promises found in God's Word, but the Bible is revelation from Genesis to --well, Revelation. The Bible reveals who God is, and that should cause us to speak to Him and listen for His voice through prayer. Reading Scripture should be a cyclical practice: we pray for the Holy Spirit's guidance as we read, we pray in response to what we've read, and we meditate throughout the day on that. Thomas Nelson's The Prayer Bible is a wonderful way to begin and continue to engage in that habit. 

The copy I received gratis retails $59.99, but Amazon is currently listing it for $41.98, and Christianbook.com for $35.99 

At the Intersection of the Tragic and the Glorious

Let me first say that any death has an element of tragedy attached to it. The death of a human being, no matter how old or sick, even the death of an unrepentant serial rapist or a child murderer on death row --it's all tragic. A consequence of sin and disobedience. But we have expectations as a society. Our children should outlive us. People we love do not suffer in death; they go ready, peacefully in their sleep, not languishing in excruciating pain month after month. And people who do good, people who serve with love die quietly, contentedly in old age, their mission complete.

I watched, this morning, as my husband bid me Goodbye from the end of the yard, exaggerated waves with his whole arm and blowing kisses back and forth as we do. To imagine him never doing this again, going off to work as he's done thousands of days before, but not returning because someone wants him to die... Unthinkable. My husband does not have a public platform. My husband does not lock up dangerous criminals or guard them in prison. My husband does not refuse people a refund at Walmart or audit their taxes. My husband does not do any of those things that you might think would make him enemies. But our society has become such that all you have to do is ride a train, go to your job, disagree, gather for prayer, look different, or be of a certain faction, and you are vulnerable. Depravity.

But God. There's a song that says, "You take what the Enemy meant for evil, and You turned it for good." In fact, I woke up with that very song in my head today; but I'm not entirely sure that's true. Genesis 50:20 records Joseph's words to his scheming brothers as they realize how much power he now wields over them. They stand before him, sure he will seek retribution; but Joseph says, "But as for you, you meant evil against me; but God meant it for good, in order to bring it about as it is this day, to save many people alive." That word --meant; in Hebrew, it is hasab, and it is used twice in this verse; with regard to his brothers' plans and with regard to God's. Yes, God's plan, God's meaning. In the same way betrayal and disappearance were the intent of Joseph's brothers. When the slave traders rode away with Joseph, when the brothers soaked that beautiful coat with animal blood and presented it to their father, God did not wring His hands and say, "Now what do I do?" He didn't see it coming days or even decades before, hatch a plan and alter circumstances. He intended with the same focus on intent --but more perfectly --than the brothers intended. God intended good and masterfully used the evil of men to bring it about.

So, back to life --and death --here in the twenty-first century. We all know tomorrow isn't promised. We recognize the hatred and darkness that exists in our world. We will die, those we love will die, and some of those deaths will most likely be in stark contrast to our expectations. We will grieve. Perhaps, heavily. But those who trust in the Lord will be able to look past the sadness --even in those moments when death has barely turned from our door to be on its way elsewhere. We will be able to look past the sadness and past the grief to the Living Hope who sustains us, promises to grant us something much better, and keeps His word. We will rest in the assurance that He intends to use the very evil the prince of this world intends to destroy us, for His glory and our good! Even when our expectations are not met, we can grieve the tragic but take consolation in the glory that is to come!