Healing Rays of Righteousness

Remember, God is Our Strength

God’s people have returned from Babylonian captivity to again live in their homeland and to rebuild Jerusalem. There is great joy in experiencing liberation from captivity and the freedom to return to their homeland. But their homecoming is not pretty and peaceful. There is much disappointment and difficulty. A large part of Jerusalem has been destroyed. Foreign people claim the grazing land, and only a small remnant of the twelve tribes of Israel have returned with them.

In the midst of their situation and prayer of lament, Isaiah issues a call to his people to remember God and what he has done for them in the past and urges them to also remember and rejoice in what God has promised to do for them in the future.

To “remember” is an important word of encouragement in the Bible. To “remember” is both looking back as well as looking forward. Throughout the history of God’s people, the prophets and the psalm writers urged the people to “remember” God’s actions and benefits in their behalf, as well as his promises for their future. To “remember” is a blessed gift and resource that undergirds and keeps alive our present and future hopes.

In reading Isaiah 63:7-9, we discover that in spite of their difficult circumstances, Isaiah is thankful for the goodness of God in verse 7, the grace of God in verse 8, and the presence of God in verse 9.

Regarding the goodness of God, Isaiah says, “I will tell of the kindnesses of the Lord, the deeds for which he is to be praised, according to all the Lord has done for us – yes, the many good things he has done for the house of Israel, according to his compassion and many kindnesses.”

Regarding the grace of God, Isaiah says, “He said, ‘Surely they are my people, children who will be true to me’; so he became their Savior.”

Isaiah wants Israel to remember that God had adopted them as his very own people and became their Savior. He did not do this because the Hebrews were the biggest and the best, but only because of his grace and love.

How long has it been since you thanked God for being your Savior? We do not deserve salvation; we received it only because of God’s grace. Think of where you would be, and what you would be, without God, and then thank him for the eternal difference he has made in your life and future.

Regarding the presence of God, Isaiah says, “In all their distress he too was distressed, and the angel of his presence saved them. In his love and mercy he redeemed them; he lifted them up and carried them all the days of old.”  

Isaiah wants Israel to remember that in all of their sufferings and distress, God did more than just send angels. God himself came to them to be present and participate in their sufferings. Isaiah reminds his people that it was this presence of God that saved them, or made them well, complete, and whole, which are the most inclusive meanings of salvation.

In this verse, Isaiah paints a beautiful word portrait of the empathetic love of God. He wants us to visualize ourselves as crying children being picked up (redeemed) from unpleasant, painful, and hopeless circumstances and (carried) with strong arms that enfold us with comforting protection and provision.

According to the psalmist, this is God being “our refuge and strength, an ever- present help in trouble.” (Psalm 46:1). He hurts when we hurt – he helps, protects, and provides for us – and he even picks us up and carries us. We are alive today because of God’s goodness, grace, and presence in our lives in our yesterdays.

So let us awaken each morning “remembering” to give God thankful praise for his sustaining grace in our yesterdays and petition him for enabling grace for our today. Let us joyfully sing Fanny Crosby’s hymn, “God of Our Strength” as our daily prayerful anthem.

              1. God of our strength, enthroned above, the source of life, the fount of love,

O let devotion’s sacred flame, our souls awake to praise thy name.

              (Chorus) God of our strength, we wait on thee, our sure defense forever be.

2. God of our strength, from day to day, direct our thoughts and guide our way.

Oh, may our hearts united be, in sweet communion, Lord, with thee.

3. God of our strength, on thee we call. God of our hope, our light, our all,

Thy name we praise, they love adore, our rock, our shield, forevermore.

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com

A Great Big God and Little Me

There are times when we may feel our lives are being driven by the winds of fate or controlled by evil people or forces. Yes, we may sing joyfully about an omnipotent God in Sunday morning worship, but the difficult daily events of Monday through Saturday too frequently challenge our singing.

Difficulties, both routine and unexpected, challenge our faith and perspective of God’s ability to carry us through the week. It is our human nature to easily forget that our God is still the same almighty, sovereign Lord today as he was yesterday and will be tomorrow.

The prophet, Isaiah, was writing to his people, the Israelites, after they had experienced years of judgment and exile from their homeland. They were so beaten down by life’s many trials and great adversity that they began to question whether God was with them or cared about their difficulties.

Isaiah knew both their situation and their hearts, and writes to them asking a crucial question in chapter 40, verse 27; “Why do you say, O Jacob, and complain, O Israel, ‘My way is hidden from the Lord; my cause is disregarded by my God’?”  By asking this probing question, Isaiah hopes to revive and encourage their faith in God’s everlasting love and care as He had promised them.

To confirm and strengthen the truth regarding God’s love and concern, Isaiah tells the Israelites to look up at the stars. “Lift your eyes and look to the heavens:  Who created all these? He who brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (40:26).

Isaiah believed that his people could regain their perspective on life if they lifted their eyes to the heavens. He reminds them that God formed the heavens, “He sits enthroned above the circle of the earth, and its people are like grasshoppers. He stretches out the heavens like a canopy, and spreads them out like a tent to live in.” (v.22).

And furthermore, “He … brings out the starry host one by one and calls them each by name. Because of his great power and mighty strength, not one of them is missing.” (26).

In verse twenty-five, the voice of the Lord is heard asking, “To whom will you compare me? Or who is my equal?”  Isaiah joins the conversation to argue that when you observe creation, you see the power, strength, and loving care of God. “Do you not know? Have you not heard? The Lord is the everlasting God, and Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak.” (vv.28-29).

What a wonderful message to a people who were discouraged, beaten down, and worn out with life.  

Yet, even today, I know from experience that my pondering of this wondrous truth always revives my awareness of this great big God and His awesome power and love for me. This always proves to be a sure defense and remedy for all my doubts and discouragements. And so, I pastorally recommend a daily “looking up to the heavens” for your spiritual health and vitality.

Our God is strong and mighty, all-powerful, and full of amazing love. God has not forgotten any one of us and never will. Jesus told his disciples in a time of great anxiety “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny? Yet not one of them will fall to the ground apart from the will of your Father. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows.”  (Matthew 10:29-31).

Look at the world around, above, and beneath you, and be encouraged by remembering that the Creator of the universe knows your name and your situation. God understands your fears, your hopes, your dreams, and your pains. God’s wisdom is unsearchable, God’s power is unmatched, and God’s love is overwhelming and limitless.

Remember whose you are, and rest in God’s holy presence. Look up at the stars and receive the gift of a grand perspective. God is so big, and we are so small, yet God is holding you and me in the palm of his hand, protecting, planning, and providing for us. THANKS BE TO GOD!

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 7/24/24

Knowing Our Past, Present, and Future

Many people spend thousands of hours and dollars reading horoscopes and listening to fortune tellers because of anxiety about their future. For me, such anxiety is answered and satisfied by reviewing and remembering my journey with God. And when I do, I am reassured of the future that is mine.

To best appreciate what God has done for us in our journey with him, we need to frequently revisit and remind ourselves of what God has done for us in the past, what he is doing for us in the present, and what he has prepared for us in the future. Every time I do this, I am amazed and awed by God’s love.

The opening words of Ephesians 2:1-10 tell us that we “were dead in transgressions and sins.”  We did what we thought would “gratify the cravings of our flesh,” and were victimized by the desires of our body and mind. “Like the rest, we were by nature deserving of wrath,” (v.3).

From God’s perspective, we were spiritually dead because of our willful disobedience to his commandments. God does not say sickor asleep, he says dead and in need of life. Dead means to be powerless, lifeless, and rotting. In God’s sight, we were powerless to change our disobedient behavior. As a result, we could expect nothing from God but His wrath.

Yes, there is a paradox here. We were spiritually dead, yet very much alive and active against God. We followed and obeyed the devil and our fleshly desires, rather than living to obey and please God. This choice leads us on a path toward God’s wrath. “For the wages of sin is death” (Rom. 6:23). That was our past life of sinful separation from God

But “hear ye, hear ye” the good news of our present life in Christ. “But because of his great love for us, God, who is rich in mercy, made us alive with Christ even when we were dead in transgressions – it is by grace you have been saved.” (v.4-5).

What amazing words these are. We were “made alive” and resurrected to a new life of eternal relationship with God. We could not work for it. We did not deserve it. We have not earned it. And yet, God gifted eternal salvation to us who believe, because Jesus willingly and lovingly paid for redemption and reconciliation on the cross. And now, today, we share in his glorious and wonderful resurrection life. This is our present life as a Christian.

“Amazing grace, how sweet the sound!”  But, you asked, what is grace? It is God’s unmerited love acting on our behalf through Jesus Christ to rescue us from eternal death. “For the wages of sin is death, but the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord.”  (Rom. 6:23).

The exclusive agent of grace is Jesus Christ. Behind God’s grace is Calvary’s cross and Easter’s empty tomb. Jesus came to earth and took our sin upon himself, suffered, and died as a condemned criminal in our place, so that we could be made eternally alive and new. Why? Because he loved us!

We have been re-created, made alive and new in Jesus Christ to serve God. We, who were dead are now alive, not by good works but for good works. God’s intention is always to restore us to our created purpose as doers of good deeds in loving others. We are God’s workmanship and his presence of light and life in our present dark world of sin and death. This is our reality and mission in life.

But there is more! Both our present reality and continuing future is pictured in the good news that God “made us alive with Christ – … And God raised us up with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms in Christ Jesus, in order that in the coming ages he might show the incomparable riches of his grace, expressed in his kindness to us in Christ Jesus.” (vv.5-7).

Yes, we have been raised and are seated with Christ “in the heavenly realms” and even now share in a measure of Christ’s authority. From this heavenly position of closeness and glory we are called to imitate God by compassionately seeing those near us who are enslaved by the powers of evil, and to love them as God has loved us, thereby participating with Christ in God’s process of salvation.

Please read those last two paragraphs again, slowly, and thoughtfully, letting their awesome truth penetrate deeply into your mind, heart, and soul. And may your assured future re-ignite your spirit and soul with purpose and praise. Thank you, Jesus!

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 7/17/24

Making Peace With Our Hurtful Past

Many of us live with a hurtful past that we can neither escape nor change. And for many the memories are so powerful that their recall brings deep pain to the present. Feelings of inferiority, unfairness, and anger well-up inside us. Suppressed fears once again grab a choke-hold on our life. The past haunts us and robs us of the peace and joy we desire.

The biblical story of Joseph is a proven model of how to best respond to a hurtful past that brings healing of mind, spirit, and relationships. That story is recorded in Genesis 37 through 45.

Joseph, the favorite son of his father Jacob, experienced a past filled with many hurts. He was raised in what we would today call a “dysfunctional family.”  Sibling rivalry filled Jacob’s household. Favoritism abounded and jealousy infected brotherly relationships. It became so bad that one day Joseph’s brothers caught him, threw him into a pit, and discussed killing him. One brother intervened and convinced the rest to instead sell Joseph as a slave to traders headed toward Egypt.

In Egypt, Joseph became the property of a man named Potiphar. Things seemed to be going better for Joseph. But then, Potiphar’s wife made continual sexual advances toward him. Frustrated by Joseph’s refusal, she falsely charged him with attempted rape, and he was imprisoned.

Years later, the Pharaoh had a dream that no one but Joseph could interpret. The dream revealed that Egypt would experience seven years of plenty followed by seven years of famine. To reward Joseph for interpreting the dream, the Pharaoh gave Joseph charge over all of the agricultural activity in Egypt. Seven years later the drought and famine began.

The drought and famine became so widespread and severe that people in neighboring countries came to Egypt to buy food from Joseph. And it was not long before Joseph’s own brothers arrived to buy food. Joseph recognized them, but they no longer knew their own brother. Joseph sold them the grain they requested, but he also tricked them into coming back to him several times before he revealed his true identity.

When he did identify himself as their brother, they were terrified. They remembered the pit and the time they bartered with traders and sold their own brother into slavery. They had every reason to be terrified when Joseph says to them, “Come close to me. …I am your brother Joseph, the one you sold into Egypt! And now, do not be distressed and do not be angry with yourselves for selling me here, because it was to save lives that God sent me ahead of you.” (45:4-5).

Joseph was able to make peace with his hurtful past and experience healing of mind and heart by choosing the following three responses of belief and behavior.

I. Joseph Practiced Forgiveness. – Joseph had been severely wronged, not only by his brothers but also by Potiphar’s wife and the forgetful cupbearer. Joseph could have struck back and felt the exhilaration that came from getting even. Instead, Joseph chose to forgive. Rather than reaching out in anger and revenge, he embraced his brothers. By choosing to forgive, Joseph made reconciliation with his family possible.

Although often difficult, forgiveness is the first step toward healing a hurtful past. Forgiveness is the key that unlocks the door of resentment and removes the handcuffs of hatred. Forgiveness breaks the chains of bitterness and shatters the shackles of selfish retaliation. Forgiveness frees the heart to enjoy life to its fullest.

2. Joseph Lived in the Present. – Joseph chose not to be imprisoned by the bitterness of his past, but instead, to live in the present situation with his eyes focused on the future. (45:9-11).

Making peace with your past demands a choosing to let go of yesterday and actively live for today and tomorrow. Recalling and reliving the sorrows and hurts of yesterday does nothing but rob us of the possibility to experience the blessed wonders and beauties of the present.

3. Joseph Saw the Hand of God at Work in His Life. – Joseph’s ability to forgive his brothers flowed from his understanding of God having a greater purpose for him that overshadowed the hurtful events of his life. Joseph repeatedly declares his belief that God’s purpose, not his brothers’ evil intention, brought him to Egypt, reassuring his brothers that he does not hold anger toward them, and encouraged them to forgive themselves. (45:5-8).

Yes, life’s difficult and hurt-filled experiences are useful as God’s classroom in learning how to trust God and how to forgive others. Those who have journeyed through the dark valley of hurts and pain, who have suffered much but have chosen to forgive the past, can now look back and attest to God’s leading, providing, shaping, healing, and calling into a larger life and ministry of blessing others. I know this to be true because this has been my life’s journey and experience.

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 7/10/24

God and Painful Disappointments

If God is always for us, as I believe he is, why do disappointments painfully interrupt our expectations and dreams? Where is God when disappointments frustrate our lives?

I do not fully understand the “why” question but believe the story of Jesus’ response to the death of his beloved friend, Lazarus, does give us some helpful insights into the “where” question. The story is found in the 11^th chapter of John’s gospel and vividly reveals Jesus’ heart of caring empathy for us during times of painful disappointments.

Mary and Martha had sent word to Jesus that their brother, Lazarus, “the one you love is sick.”  Two days later Jesus begins his journey to Bethany in Judea knowing that Lazarus had already died.

As Jesus and his disciples were nearing Bethany, Martha went out to meet him. Her disappointment and frustration with Jesus arriving too late to heal Lazarus is heard in her greeting, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (v.21).

Likewise, Mary quickly leaves her house to go to Jesus, who is still outside the village, and falling at his feet she expresses the same disappointment and frustration as her sister did, “Lord, if you had been here, my brother would not have died.” (v.32).

But unlike his teaching response to Martha, Jesus is now seeing and hearing the pain-filled weeping of Mary and the Jews who had come with her, and he is “deeply moved in spirit and troubled” and asked, “Where have you laid him?” (v.33-34).

Yes, Jesus could have reassured the sisters and quieted all this weeping with the good news that he will restore Lazarus with new life. But he does not do so. Jesus does not pass lightly over their pain. Instead, Jesus joined in their weeping and grief, publicly expressing his own grief physically and emotionally. And with his own heart torn with anguish, “Jesus wept.” The Greek word for this phrase indicates that the emotion Jesus felt was such that it seized his whole body, causing him to shudder and groan.

Jesus did not simply wipe away a few hidden tears. He weeps publicly and loud enough so that everyone in the crowd heard it and remarked about it. “See how he loved him!” (v.36). And I believe that with his own tears, Jesus showed us that God always cares deeply about what we are experiencing.

In verse thirty-eight we read, “Jesus, once more deeply moved, came to the tomb.”  Leighton Ford writes in his book, Sandy, “The word taken literally means ‘he snorted in his spirit’ like a warhorse facing battle, seeing what death and evil had done to the beautiful world his Father had made.”

Leighton believes that in that moment, Jesus recommitted himself to God’s mission for his life and became determined to conquer and destroy the painful hopelessness of death. And in a public display of that determination, “Jesus called in a loud voice, “Lazarus, come out!”  And Lazarus came out, still bound in the grave-wrappings. What a glorious moment of God’s presence overpowering death!

I may not fully understand why God allows painful disappointment to interrupt our expectations and dreams, and why our prayers for a miracle often seem lost in the vast darkness of painful uncertainty.

But this I do know. Life-shattering disappointment is painful because it is the death of our expectations and dreams. And, like the story of Lazarus’ death, so wonderfully illustrates, Jesus is present and shares with us the pain of grievous loss. Being present, he invites us to come near and lean on him for caring empathy and encouragement, because he deeply loves and cares for us.

And so, could it be that God allows events of painful disappointment in our lives, because this is when our ears are best opened to hear his invitation to lean into him and more deeply feel his caring love and provision for us, thus deepening our trust relationship with himself?

Frank E. Graeff, a Methodist minister, experienced many disappointments during his lifetime. It was during a time of severe physical agony, doubt, and despondency that he found comfort and strength in the apostle Peter’s words, “Cast all your anxiety on him because he cares for you.” (1 Peter 5:7).

This verse became so meaningful to him that he wrote the words to the hymn “Does Jesus Care?”

“Does Jesus care when my heart is pained too deeply for mirth and song,

as the burdens press, and cares distress, and the way grows weary and long?”

Does Jesus care when my way is dark with a nameless dread and fear?

As the daylight fades into deep night shades, does He care enough to be near?

Chorus:

“O yes, He cares – I know He cares! His heart is touched with my grief;

when the days are weary, the long nights dreary, I know my Savior cares.”

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Ray M. Geigley – “Healing Rays of Righteousness” – www.geigler13.wordpress.com – 7/03/24