Reckless Raging Fury

“There's a wideness in God's mercy 
I cannot find in my own 
And He keeps His fire burning 
To melt this heart of stone 
Keeps me aching with a yearning 
Keeps me glad to have been caught 
In the reckless raging fury 
That they call the love of God…”

The Love of God by Rich Mullins, 1985

The above song is one of my favorites. I don’t think Rich Mullins ever did a song I don’t like but this one strikes a chord within my soul. My grandmother was a minister and I grew up hearing about God’s love, salvation, mercy and grace but the life that tossed me about was a striking contrast to what Grandma said was true. Not only was it confusing to a child, it got worse as I got older and saw more of the world and less of what Grandma called truth. The world was a careless, unloving place full of pain and sorrow and God was a concept so far away, I couldn’t fathom His existence on any plain, much less as a loving father. But somehow, that “reckless raging fury” of God’s love found me and pulled me out of the sea of misery that tossed me around for so many years. I can’t tell you how or why without giving the same answers my grandmother did—God loves us no matter what we do, or how we let Him down, and when God calls our name, everything changes.

“’Behold, at that time I will deal with all your oppressors. And I will save the lame and gather the outcast, and I will change their shame into praise and renown in all the earth. At that time I will bring you in, at the time when I gather you together; for I will make you renowned and praised among all the peoples of the earth, when I restore your fortunes before your eyes,’ says the Lord (Zephaniah 3:19-20).”

All of us feel like outcasts sometimes, and we’ve all done things we are ashamed of but the thing with God is, He has seen every evil thing we’ve done, and He still loves us. God is the only One we never have to prove anything to. We don’t have to dress a certain way, talk a certain way, wear make-up, or do anything to try and impress Him the way we’ve had to do with the people in our lives. God knows the innermost secrets, the hidden things we wouldn’t dare tell a living soul because we know they would kick us to the curb if they knew the real us. But long before we come to the point of confessing our sins to God and accepting Christ as our Savior, He already knew our innermost secrets and the darkest thoughts we’ve had. Yet, He doesn’t care. He loves us anyway, with an everlasting love (Jeremiah 31:3), and the wideness of God’s love is immeasurable, incomprehensible, unbelievable, and all-encompassing. His compassion for us is beyond measure and His love is truly a “reckless, raging, fury” because there are no lengths He will not go to, no depths He will not sink to, and no sin He will not forgive in order to have us by His side.

“Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or danger, or sword? As it is written, ‘For your sake we are being killed all the day long; we are regarded as sheep to be slaughtered.’ No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord (Romans 8:35-39).”

Read Ecclesiastes 5-7

Weekend reading Ecclesiastes 8-11

 © 2018 Marie McGaha

Hook, Line & Sinker

“Let no one say when he is tempted, “I am being tempted by God,” for God cannot be tempted with evil, and He tempts no one. But each person is tempted when he is lured and enticed by his own desire. Then desire, when it has conceived, gives birth to sin, and sin, when it is fully grown, brings forth death.”

~James 1:13-15

I like to fish. When I was a kid, we didn’t have a lot, including fishing poles, so we made our own out of tree limbs, tied line to the ends and caught grasshoppers for bait. Fish couldn’t resist those grasshoppers in the water struggling to escape the hook. The water was so clear, we could watch the fish swim toward the grasshopper, bump it, then open their mouths and swallow. As soon as the grasshopper disappeared, we jerked our poles to set the hook, and then ran up the bank, dragging that fish out of the water. We don’t need no stinking reels! Years later, I thought of how I was like those fish, so focused on the grasshopper, they didn’t see the danger of the hook. That’s how sin gets us. We see something, want that thing, think about it, and go after it without considering what might happen once we have it. We can want something—drugs, sex, money—so badly that we go after it without thinking about the hook hidden beneath.

“And Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, returned from the Jordan and was led by the Spirit in the wilderness for forty days, being tempted by the devil (Luke 4:1-2).”

The gospels tell the story of Jesus being tempted in the wilderness by the devil. He was shown food and riches and all He had to do was bow down and worship satan. Of course, that sounds ridiculous because Jesus already had everything satan offered. He knew who He was and didn’t have to prove anything. He couldn’t be tempted to show off to the devil a little bit either, which is what I think the devil wanted. The devil knew who Jesus was too, but he couldn’t resist trying to get the better of the Son of God; satan does the same thing to us. He isn’t too concerned with those who don’t know the Lord personally, his target is those of us who do. He wants us to fail, he wants us to look at our situations, and at what we don’t have, instead of at Jesus, who gives us salvation and everlasting life. He wants us to look at the bait and forget about the hook. The devil can only tempt us when we let our lusts and desires take control but if we keep our focus on Jesus, He will always stand between us and the devil.

“Do not be deceived, my beloved brothers. 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 (James 1:16-17).”

Read Ecclesiastes 1-4

©2018 Marie McGaha

Delight In the Law of the Lord

“Blessed is the man who walks not in the counsel of the wicked, nor stands in the way of sinners, nor sits in the seat of scoffers; but his delight is in the law of the Lord, and on His law he meditates day and night (Psalm 1:1-2).”

This Psalm continues to tell us that if we obey verses one and two, we will be like a “tree, planted by rivers of water,” and we will “bring forth fruit.” What is this fruit? It is what comes from being obedient to the Word of God. It brings about love, joy, peace, faith, kindness, patience, gentleness and self-control (Galatians 5:22-23). These are the attributes of Jesus, and we are to strive to be like Him, “whoever says he abides in Him ought to walk in the same way in which He walked (1 John 2:6).” Our first priority then is to pray that we become more like Jesus, with the same attributes, and to keep His commandments.

Psalm 4 is a prayer for safety of the faithful. When praying Scripture, pick one or two verses that speak to you, and pray them back to God.

“There are many who say, “Who will show us some good? Lift up the light of your face upon us, O Lord!”  You have put more joy in my heart than they have when their grain and wine abound. In peace I will both lie down and sleep; for you alone, O Lord, make me dwell in safety (Psalm 4:6-8).”

In these verses we see the following truths:

1)   The Lord will show us good and not harm

2)   The Lord’s face is light that shines upon us

3)   The Lord puts joy in our hearts

4)   The Lord gives us peace

5)   The Lord provides our safety

Praying this Scripture might go like this:

“Heavenly Father, I thank You for Your Word and promises to show me good and not harm. I pray you will shine the light of Your face upon me, and put joy in my heart. Thank You for Your peace in my life, and for providing safety for me and my family. In Jesus’ Name I pray. Amen.”

Prayers don’t have to be long and involved, especially when we first begin praying Scripture. Short prayers are just as effective as long, drawn out ones. Being repetitious and droning on in our prayers doesn’t impress God. It is the fervent prayers of a righteous man that availeth much (James 5:16).

From "Keys To The Kingdom" by Marie McGaha © 2018 
Available from Dancing With Bear Publishing Fall 2018

Read Proverbs 21-31

Very Good

“In the beginning, God created the heavens and the earth. The earth was without form and void, and darkness was over the face of the deep. And the Spirit of God was hovering over the face of the waters.”

~Genesis 1:1-2

When I was a kid, the series Star Trek was the greatest sci-fi show on TV, with the most up-to-date special effects. People disappeared in the transporter, we saw the Enterprise fly through the stars at warp speed, and of course, we saw really strange people and creatures from other planets. Sometimes, the planets were inhospitable and wouldn’t support life as we know it, so the crew moved on. Of course, it didn’t take long for technology to leap forward and when I watch the old Star Trek episodes now, the special effects seem so antiquated they’re something we laugh about. We can take what is already there and turn it into something better, something brand new and more efficient but we can’t take nothing and turn it into something. Only God can do that. When God’s Spirit hovered over the face of the waters, He didn’t think it was inhospitable or that nothing could ever come from it. God looked at the waters and thought, I can make dry land. I can make light. I can take some of that dirt and form a human being. And that’s exactly what He did. But He didn’t stop there, He formed that human being from a pile of dirt and then, He did something remarkable, He breathed His own Spirit into that pile of dirt and gave it life. That pile of dirt became the first man—a living, breathing, moving, thinking person. And God said it was “very good.” Up until then, everything created was called “good” but man and woman were “very good.”

“He (Christ) is the image of the invisible God, the firstborn of all creation. For by Him all things were created, in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or rulers or authorities—all things were created through Him and for Him. And He is before all things, and in Him all things hold together (Colossians 1:15-17).”

However, man and woman weren’t the point of Creation. Christ has always been the point of Creation, the point of all that ever was or ever will be. We were created for the Creator, to partake in His glory and dominion but never to be above who He is or what He’s done. But the problem is that we like to be first. We like to be at the top. We like people to look up to us. We like people to think we know everything, can do everything, and never fall down. The truth is, we like to feed our egos with the adoration of others and that’s a trap that will keep us from seeing the truth of God in our lives.

“See to it that no one takes you captive by philosophy and empty deceit, according to human tradition, according to the elemental spirits of the world, and not according to Christ. For in Him the whole fullness of deity dwells bodily, and you have been filled in Him, who is the head of all rule and authority. In Him also you were circumcised with a circumcision made without hands, by putting off the body of the flesh, by the circumcision of Christ, having been buried with Him in baptism, in which you were also raised with Him through faith in the powerful working of God, who raised Him from the dead. And you, who were dead in your trespasses and the uncircumcision of your flesh, God made alive together with Him, having forgiven us all our trespasses, by canceling the record of debt that stood against us with its legal demands. This He set aside, nailing it to the cross. He disarmed the rulers and authorities and put them to open shame, by triumphing over them in Him (Colossians 2:8-15).”

Read Proverbs 11-20

©2018 Marie McGaha

Fortitude and Strength of Character

“Bless the Lord, O my soul, and all that is within me, bless His holy name! Bless the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all His benefits, Who forgives all your iniquity, Who heals all your diseases, Who redeems your life from the pit, Who crowns you with steadfast love and mercy, Who satisfies you with good so that your youth is renewed like the eagle's.”

~Psalm 103:1-5

David had a lot of ups and downs in his life, some of his own doing, and some due to the jealousy of others. He often found himself alone, abandoned by his friends, and pursued by his enemies. David gave in to his own fleshly desires on occasion, he whined and complained, and sometimes, he felt like giving up. I think we can all identify with David in one way or the other. I know I can. But the what I take away from David’s life isn’t that he sinned and did stupid things that caused a lot of pain in his life and the lives of others, but that David always, always came back to God with a contrite heart and repentance. He never let foolish pride stand keep him from confessing his sins and asking forgiveness. To me, it takes more courage to admit you’re wrong and in need of forgiveness than it does to commit those sins in the first place. In fact, I think committing sin only takes pride and a lack of humility. When I was living according to the flesh, it didn’t take any courage at all to sin. In fact, I think sin shows a serious lack of fortitude and strength of character. Standing up and saying, “I was wrong, and I’ve sinned against Jesus Christ, and made a mockery of all He did on the Cross,” takes a whole lot more guts than living with sin does.

“All things are lawful for me, but not all things are helpful. All things are lawful for me, but I will not be dominated by anything. Food is meant for the stomach and the stomach for food—and God will destroy both one and the other. The body is not meant for sexual immorality, but for the Lord, and the Lord for the body. And God raised the Lord and will also raise us up by His power (1 Corinthians 6:12-14).” 

We were given free will and can choose what we do, when, and with whom but that doesn’t mean it’s good for us. In free will, we can also choose that which will save our lives not just here on earth, but for eternity. Our lives were bought with a hefty price and when we honor our lives, we are honoring God. When we make the choice to accept Jesus Christ as our Savior, we are also making the choice to give up the world around us. No one can ride two horses with one saddle. We can either live in this world as a testimony to what Christ did for us, or we can live as if the world is all that matters. And with either choice, we have chosen the consequences—eternity with Christ, or eternity without Him. When we choose Christ, we are choosing to live a life that takes courage, conviction, fortitude and strength.

“Since therefore Christ suffered in the flesh, arm yourselves with the same way of thinking, for whoever has suffered in the flesh has ceased from sin, so as to live for the rest of the time in the flesh no longer for human passions but for the will of God. For the time that is past suffices for doing what the Gentiles want to do, living in sensuality, passions, drunkenness, orgies, drinking parties, and lawless idolatry. With respect to this they are surprised when you do not join them in the same flood of debauchery, and they malign you; but they will give account to him who is ready to judge the living and the dead. For this is why the gospel was preached even to those who are dead, that though judged in the flesh the way people are, they might live in the spirit the way God does (1 Peter 4:1-6).”

Read Proverbs 1-10

©2018 Marie McGaha

Liar, Liar

“And they heard the sound of the Lord God walking in the garden in the cool of the day, and the man and his wife hid themselves from the presence of the Lord God among the trees of the garden. But the Lord God called to the man and said to him, “Where are you?” And he said, “I heard the sound of you in the garden, and I was afraid, because I was naked, and I hid myself.” He said, “Who told you that you were naked? Have you eaten of the tree of which I commanded you not to eat?” The man said, “The woman whom you gave to be with me, she gave me fruit of the tree, and I ate.” Then the Lord God said to the woman, “What is this that you have done?” The woman said, “The serpent deceived me, and I ate.””

~Genesis 3:8-13

When my kids were little, I heard a lot of excuses, and I heard a lot of blaming. It was always someone else’s fault no matter what happened. Or they flat out lied to me, even when I caught them doing something. But passing the buck, making excuses, and lying goes all the way back to the beginning of mankind. It’s part of our nature to want to share the blame and therefore, share the punishment. Adam and Eve did it. They stood face-to-face with God Almighty and straight up lied to Him! Every time I read that portion of the Bible, I’m struck by their audacity to lie to God’s face but one day, I read that and thought, wow, we are still lying to God’s face. Every single one of us lie to God’s face every time we deny that we need His help, His grace, and His forgiveness. Every time we blame someone else for our situation, we are lying to God. I’m not saying others don’t affect our lives, but we are ultimately responsible for our own lives and how we live them. We might follow the crowd but that doesn’t make it right. We make choices every single day that affect how our lives are going to be tomorrow and there’s no one to blame but ourselves. We are all big fat liars who don’t want to take responsibility for ourselves. It’s just so much easier to wallow than it is to stand up and say, “It’s my own fault. I did this. I’m the one who messed up my life.” There is no action that does not have a consequence, good or bad. Choose the action, and you are choosing the consequence.

“Lying lips are an abomination to the Lord, but those who act faithfully are His delight (Proverbs 12:22).”

I’ve lied. I’m just as guilty as everyone else. But what I came to realize it that lying does nothing good. It doesn’t help, in fact, it just digs a bigger hole that gets deeper and deeper until you can’t climb out. Lies hurt the one being lied to and the one doing the lying. Lying erodes the very foundation of every relationship we ever have. And those lies always come to light one way or another. To me, lying is just not worth the trouble. Another thing I’ve discovered is that the truth is a lot more fun. People seem geared to handle lies but the truth will throw them for a loop. But lying to others is one thing, lying to God is impossible. God sees all, knows all, hears all, and every time we lie, it breaks His heart. And there is no room for liars in Heaven.

“Put to death therefore what is earthly in you: sexual immorality, impurity, passion, evil desire, and covetousness, which is idolatry. On account of these the wrath of God is coming. In these you too once walked, when you were living in them. But now you must put them all away: anger, wrath, malice, slander, and obscene talk from your mouth. Do not lie to one another, seeing that you have put off the old self with its practices and have put on the new self, which is being renewed in knowledge after the image of its Creator (Colossians 3:5-10).”

Read Psalm 119

Weekend reading Finish Psalm 119

©2018 Marie McGaha

Walk of Faith

“As it is my eager expectation and hope that I will not be at all ashamed, but that with full courage now as always Christ will be honored in my body, whether by life or by death. For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. If I am to live in the flesh, that means fruitful labor for me. Yet which I shall choose I cannot tell. I am hard pressed between the two. My desire is to depart and be with Christ, for that is far better. But to remain in the flesh is more necessary on your account. Convinced of this, I know that I will remain and continue with you all, for your progress and joy in the faith, so that in me you may have ample cause to glory in Christ Jesus, because of my coming to you again.”

~Philippians 1:20-26

For a law abiding citizen, I’ve spent a lot of time in prison. My late husband was in both state and federal prisons, where I met and married him and spent the last four years of his stretch in visiting rooms all over the country. The feds like to move their charges around a bit. One of my sons is in the federal system, and is also moved around quite often, but never close to me. Sometimes I think it’s a conspiracy to keep us as far apart as possible. I don’t get to see him often. I have also worked as a drug and alcohol counselor in the prison system, and I’ve been involved in prison ministry, so I’ve seen prison from every side. But no matter how much prison I’ve seen, I’ve never seen it the way the Apostle Paul did. There was no judge or jury, no three hots and a cot, no visiting days, TVs, weight piles or boneyards. It was a dark, dank cell with rats, insects and a prisoner chained to the floor. There was no early release or parole, and prisoners often died from disease or malnutrition, unless the governor of the province released them. But Paul, bound and chained to the floor never lost his joy. Instead, he dictated letters to be sent to the churches he established so the congregations wouldn’t lose heart over his situation. He knew sheep scatter when the shepherd is gone. He also knew that no matter where he was, Christ was with him. His only goal in life was to see Christ glorified and preach the gospel. Imagine if today’s prisons were full of prisoners like that!

“Only let your manner of life be worthy of the gospel of Christ, so that whether I come and see you or am absent, I may hear of you that you are standing firm in one spirit, with one mind striving side by side for the faith of the gospel (Philippians 1:27).”

Paul wanted the people to continue their walk of faith whether or not he was present. The same thing Christ wants of all of us. We cannot physically see, hear or touch Jesus Christ, but we can see, hear and touch Him through the Holy Spirit, in our inner being, in our own spirits. He is alive and real, living within our spirits through His own. It’s a mind-bender but it’s the coolest thing I’ve ever experienced. When we get that into our minds and hearts and understand the full implications, we can rejoice like Paul. No matter what happens in this life, the important thing is that Christ is glorified in our lives. In prison? Death of a loved one? Cheated on by a spouse? Talked about by a friend? Left behind by the crowd? Fired? Got a failing grade on a test? It doesn’t matter. Is Christ glorified in your life by what you do no matter what’s going on? That’s the important question and the only that matters. Life sucks. It sucks bad. Life will knock you down, jump on top of you and beat the crap out of you. And when you try to get up, it’ll kick you in the face. But that isn’t important either. What’s important is when you were on the ground, was your manner of life worthy o the gospel of Christ?

“And so, from the day we heard, we have not ceased to pray for you, asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of his will in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so as to walk in a manner worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to him: bearing fruit in every good work and increasing in the knowledge of God; being strengthened with all power, according to his glorious might, for all endurance and patience with joy; giving thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of the saints in light. He has delivered us from the domain of darkness and transferred us to the kingdom of his beloved Son, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins (Colossians 1:9-14).”

Read Psalm 131-150

©2018 Marie McGaha