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1 year ago
Making Music in One Accord
“May the God who gives endurance and encouragement give you a spirit of unity among yourselves as you follow Christ Jesus, so that with one heart and mouth you may glorify the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.”
Romans 15:5-6
Christopher Parkening plays the guitar like few people in this world are able. Whether on stage with the New York Philharmonic or in front of an audience of three, he can bring out the power and mystery behind those six strings. Not one note is out of place, out of sync. Whether strummed together or plucked separately, the strings all work in unison to create the desired melody or harmony.
Musical accord on the guitar doesn’t happen by chance. Only certain strings pressed down in particular combinations will produce the desired sound. Whether the guitar plays “Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring” or a Spanish dance, its beauty is heard when the strings are in proper relation to one another.
This is what it means to be in one accord.
I wonder if Paul had beautiful music in mind when he prayed that the Romans would have a spirit of unity and with one mouth glorify God. Did he picture the church in Rome as being in concert on stage before the world? Did he hear in his mind the impact of that church on history? We know now that the music of the Roman church did catch on and changed the world. The Christians endured years of suffering until the fourth century, when the Roman Empire at last acknowledged the harmony of the gospel. It abandoned its cultic practices. It paved the way for missionaries instead of persecuting them. And the world has not been the same since.
You and I have the responsibility to use our gifts and live in accordance with God’s will. And the promise of God is that living together in such a way will make for beautiful music and lasting impact.
Tune my heart today, Lord, to your will. Then play my life in accordance with others who love you and desire to sing your praises.
After more than 55 years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering. Joni encourages you to join her in living out Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
The post first appeared on Joni and Friends.
1 year ago
What Have You Got?
“The LORD turned to him and said, ‘Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?’”
Judges 6:14
I learned a lesson early in my career as a quadriplegic: work with what you’ve got. The occupational therapist taught me how to use muscles in a whole new way to make up for muscles that were rendered useless. The good nerves in the upper part of my deltoids help me get a lot of work done that would otherwise be the responsibility of my biceps.
God’s been in the occupational therapy business for ages. He has often come to weak, visionless people and worked with what they had. Whether it was Moses’ rod, Samson’s jawbone, or David’s sling, God simply took what was available and showed his people what was possible.
To underscore the possibilities and potential, God tells us who’s in charge. To simple people like Gideon and Jeremiah, he said, “I’m sending you.” That was it. That was all the guarantee they needed. For Gideon, the guarantee would take him to triumph. For Jeremiah, through trials. In these people and others, God’s commission was sufficient to start and complete the task. No matter how weak or limited God’s people are, no matter what little they have to offer, the Lord works wonders with what he’s got!
God is always commissioning people. He’s commissioning you today with his Word. If you have doubts about that, consider Jesus’ words in John 20:21: “As the Father has sent me, I am sending you.” Jesus seeks willing disciples who will yield whatever resources are at their disposal to carry out his purposes.
So, what have you got? Make the list and show God. Short list? No matter; take it and apply it to the needs and people around you.
He’ll take care of the rest. That is, after all, his business!
Lord, here’s my list. You’ve used rods, slingshots, and loaves to do your work. Can you use me?
Looking back on 55 years in a wheelchair, Joni reflects on the Lord’s faithfulness amid her adversity. She shares how trusting God through hardship has given her strength to not only persevere but live with hope and joy!
The post first appeared on Joni and Friends.
1 year ago
Balm in Gilead
“Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there?”
Jeremiah 8:22
Is there no relief?” The anguished man in the television commercial rubbed his forehead in pain. He seemed to despair for an aspirin strong enough to help. As Christians, we occasionally wonder the same. When hardships broadside us, when pain settles in to stay, we cry, “Is there no relief?”
Jeremiah wondered the same. Amid the horror of the Babylonian invasion, the prophet looked toward the east, to Gilead, a land that was famous for producing medicinal balms to heal wounds. He inasmuch asked, “Do they make an ointment in Gilead strong enough to help us? Is there no cure, even in a place like Gilead?”
We know the answer. For out of Palestine there came a Cure. An Ointment to soothe the wounded. A Salve to ease the pain. “Jesus said, ‘It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick…For I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners’” (Matt. 9:12-13). When you are the one who is at the center of the universe, holding it all together—if everything lives, moves, and has its essence, its being, in you (Acts 17:28)—you can do no more than give yourself when someone is hurting. Jesus helps the hurt.
So in Isaiah 54 he becomes the Husband to the divorced woman. In Psalm 10 he becomes the Father of the orphaned. In Zechariah 2 he becomes the Wall of Fire to those who need protection. In Isaiah 62 he becomes the Bridegroom to the woman who grieves that she’ll never marry. In Exodus 15 he becomes the Healer to the sick. In Isaiah 9 he is the Wonderful Counselor to the confused and depressed. In John 4 he becomes the Living Water to the thirsty. In John 6 he’s the Bread of Life to those who are hungry for more than this world can give.
There is a balm in Gilead to make the wounded whole;
There is a balm in Gilead to heal the sin-sick soul.
Sometimes I feel discouraged,
And think my work’s in vain,
But then the Holy Spirit revives my soul again.
Press the ointment of your love on my hurting heart today, Lord. Be everything to me.
Darci joins Crystal Keating to share her story and to encourage anyone with chronic pain or suffering. She points to the powerful gifts God provides amid suffering: perseverance, courage, and direction when you feel like you can’t go on.
The post first appeared on Joni and Friends.
1 year ago
Power in the Blood
“If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness.”
1 John 1:9
It bothers me when I hear people say that only the weak-minded struggle with severe depression. That’s cause I sometimes get hit hard with more than just downhearted feelings. There are times when I feel like disappearing—I don’t want to talk to anyone, and I don’t want to face the world.
I’m not the only one who has days like that. I think of them as “the day of evil” spoken about in Ephesians 6:13. When they come, I hang on for dear life to a couple of well-worn Scriptures that assure me joy will come in the morning.
And I take encouragement that the great hymn writer William Cowper suffered from depression. He constantly struggled against suicide. Once he even tried to hang himself. Another time he fell on a knife but the blade broke, and at one point he threw himself into a river, hoping to drown. He had a mental breakdown and was placed in an insane asylum for eighteen months. During his detention he read Romans 3:25, the part about the blood of Christ being so powerful as to atone for all past sins—even the guilt of suicidal thoughts.
After his conversion he became friends with John Newton, who wrote “Amazing Grace.” It was just the inspiration Cowper needed to write the beautiful hymn “There Is a Fountain.”
Throughout his life Cowper continued to be plagued by severe depression, and often he sought to end his life. His most powerful hymns were written after those times.
We may become depressed on this side of eternity, but aren’t you glad that little by little, inch by inch, day by day, God renews our minds…all because there is a fountain filled with blood?
Thank you, Father, for the encouragement of past saints’ lives. They remind us there is no permanent cure for our woes here on earth, which makes us long all the more for your transforming grace and mercy.
After more than 55 years living with quadriplegia and chronic pain, Joni Eareckson Tada knows what it means to “press on” through suffering. Joni encourages you to join her in living out Philippians 3:14: “I press on toward the goal to win the prize for which God has called me heavenward in Christ Jesus.”
The post first appeared on Joni and Friends.
