He isn't a quitter, so neither are we

God remembered us when we were down. His love never quits. Rescued us from the trampling boot. His love never quits. Takes care of everyone in time of need. His love never quits. Thank God, who did it all. His love never quits. (Psalm 136:23-26)

We are reminded over and over again that God's love never quits - not less than twenty-six times in as many verses within this psalm. His - there is no other basis for our trust, nor our focus - it is him and him alone. Love - evident in nothing more revealing than his grace. NEVER - not just when the urge strikes him, but each and every time we need to see, feel, or experience it in some manner. Quits - as impossible as it is for God to lie, it is equally impossible for him to withhold his love from us. It is good to be reminded of things we have a tendency to forget, isn't it? Our mind wanders and finds distraction in the most unlikely places, all the while setting us up to forget who it is we have placed our trust in and to begin to fear whatever it is we face at the moment. 

God cannot forget us. His focus is not like ours - it is unlimited and without error. Forgetting can be accidental or intentional on our part, so we think God must have that same inability to always remember what he promises, or that he will choose to forget a promise. Scripture doesn't ever say God has "selective remembering" when it comes to us. It says he "cannot" forget us - not that he chooses to not forget us but finds it impossible to go against his character by not having us in his focus 24/7. God isn't just there for us in the "up" times. We go through ups and downs in our emotions and in every other sense - physical, relationship rollercoasters, and in our own thoughts about self or others. We have a tough time consistently recalling his love is always with us. His love is what is there for us when we are down, as much as when we are on top of the world.

Destructive forces cannot keep his love from reaching out to us. We are invaded by all manner of distracting and destructive thought. His love reaches beyond those forces and isn't going to cower when they come but it will reach out to us to lift us away from those forces. I remember being lifted over the yard fence which separated the neighbor's yard from ours as a small child. The storms of summer would come, bringing loud thunder which frightened me terribly. The flashes of lightening could have taken me down in an instant. As the storms raged, I came to count on one thing - the reaching arms of my mother. God's arms reach even farther than my mom's ever did - so why doubt, why fear, why panic? No one escapes his view. His vantage point sees ALL need - not just the loudest or most urgent, but all need. His love can be counted on to counteract our need - regardless of how big or small - they are his to manage and to fulfill. His love - based in grace - never fails. He never falls short. He never attempts and then comes up short. His grace is ever reaching, his love never failing. Chew upon that one today as you begin to think your issues are too small, or your need is too great. His love NEVER fails. Just sayin!

Circumstantial or Direct Evidence?

Circumstantial evidence - have you ever heard that term used? It means there is some form of evidence, but does it really prove whatever is being proven? Circumstantial evidence allows for more than one possibility to be presented - relying heavily upon 'inference' rather than a direct connection. My fingerprint on your phone doesn't mean I own it - it means I likely held it for a moment at some time. My DNA found in the genetic mapping of one of my children gives clear evidence that we are entirely related. One is circumstantial - inferring a connection; the other is direct evidence - confirming the connection without any doubt. God gives us direct evidence of his love for us in his Son - yet I wonder how many times we look at the 'circumstantial evidence' trying to convince us that God feels we still don't 'measure up'? We can give a whole lot of credence to 'circumstances' and forget there is one who has already made a direct connection that overrides those circumstances!

Celebrate always, pray constantly, and give thanks to God no matter what circumstances you find yourself in. (This is God’s will for all of you in Jesus the Anointed.) (1 Thessalonians 5:16-18)

We probably spend a great deal of our lives relying upon 'circumstantial evidence' in our lives. We settle for some form of connection, however weak it may be, instead of pressing for that direct evidence in our lives. Whenever we settle for less than the direct evidence of God's grace, love, and hope in our lives, we are falling short of what God intends for us. There is no room for 'inference' in God's house! Direct evidence is that which makes a connection via the shortest and straightest path. Now, doesn't that sound a little like how God likes to work in our lives? He isn't impressed with the long, drawn out prayers - he is drawn to our simple, truthful, and transparent ones. God isn't going to scold us for those long ones, but he would sure rather we get down to business with him instead of pussy-footing around all the time!

When we choose to allow God to take a 'direct course' in our lives, we are not allowing what are called 'collateral' courses to develop. If you look at the miracle of our circulatory system, you will begin to understand a 'collateral' course. When a blood vessel in our heart begins to experience some form of narrowing or blockage, our body has a way of forming what is referred to as 'collateral circulation'. The body begins to make small pathways for blood to circulate and feed the heart muscle, albeit not as efficiently as the main vessel would have done. In time, the heart can be surrounded with all kinds of 'collateral' vessels, but none will do the job quite as well as the original pathway for circulation of that blood.

In much the same way, whenever we begin to see the pathway God desires for us to follow as 'too hard' or 'too narrow', we might begin to form some 'collateral' pathways. We still are his kids, but we aren't as well connected to the direct flow of his life-blood within us. We find we rely upon those things that we have created as 'collateral' pathways instead of that direct connection with him. What would be a 'collateral pathway' in our lives? It might be the reliance upon a relationship with another that we 'go to' because they won't ask the tough questions when we need to be challenged. It could be we bury ourselves in work to avoid the pain of allowing God access to things he has been seeking access to in our lives. There are lots of ways we form 'collateral' pathways - putting our faith in 'circumstantial evidence' rather than allowing for the 'direct evidence' of his grace, love, and hope to fully be worked into our lives. Just sayin!

Will this stand up under investigation?

Okay, it is no secret - I like watching those shows that feature detectives solving some murder case, or finding robbers gone wild. I like to put together the pieces as they unfold on the screen, following along with the plot, and trying to think one step ahead past the commercial to 'solve' the next clue in the case. No matter what show I watch, the basis of the conviction of the criminal is all based on the evidence gathered. If it is flimsy at best, the conviction will not stand. It needs to be 'rock solid' if it is to stand up under the scrutiny of a judge's review. I wonder what evidence Christ has verified in each of our lives - is it really apparent, so all can see? Will it stand up under scrutiny? Will we be able to reveal a life-change has occurred? If not, perhaps we might want to consider how evidence is actually revealed and what purpose evidence fulfills!

Every time I think of you—and I think of you often!—I thank God for your lives of free and open access to God, given by Jesus. There's no end to what has happened in you—it's beyond speech, beyond knowledge. The evidence of Christ has been clearly verified in your lives.

(I Corinthians 1:4-6)

A believer has free and open access to God - a gift provided through the sacrificial work of Christ. In looking into our lives, we need to hear that God proclaims there is no limit to what Christ produces when a man or woman fully yields their lives to his control! In fact, he says it goes beyond what words could describe and what the mind could comprehend! Now, think on that one! Beyond what we could comprehend - that means we don't need to know how all the evidence of grace stacks up in our lives, we just need to let it keep stacking up! Evidence either proves or disproves something. If there is enough evidence, we say the fact or condition is proved true. If the evidence is lacking, we say the trust we place in the facts we can see is less trustworthy. Evidence can either convey a reason to increase our belief, or if lacking, it can further eliminate our basis for believing.

Evidence makes a clear showing of the truth. This describes exactly what Christ does through the activity of the Holy Spirit within us. He makes a clear showing of the redemptive work of Christ IN US. In a court of law, evidence plays an important part in proving the case being presented. Not all forms of evidence carry as much "weight" in proving the case - some evidence is merely anecdotal to the case being presented, while other evidence is so important it cannot be discounted or denied. We might need both types of evidence, but the one that brings conviction is the one that cannot ever be discounted! For evidence to be admissible in a court of law, it must have been maintained through a "chain of custody". In other words, it must have clearly been identified as evidence, carefully "preserved", transferred with great care, and analyzed with the toughest of inspection. When the chain is followed, the evidence bears the greatest significance - it holds up under scrutiny.

There is a spiritual chain of custody, too. In fact, the Holy Spirit has the job of identifying the things within our lives which serve as evidence of Christ's work. He then sets out to preserve the evidence - keeping us from discounting it, losing sight of it, or seeing it as too insignificant to matter. He also makes sure the evidence of Christ's work in us is analyzed with the toughest of inspection - ensuring the evidence is "verified" or "validated" in our lives. Verification is just the confirmation of the authenticity of something. When others look at us, the Holy Spirit has the mission of ensuring the authenticity of Christ's work is displayed with such accuracy so as to allow the toughest of inspection without being able to find fault with the evidence! I don't know what evidence of Christ's activity in your life the Holy Spirit may be focusing on right now, but I do know he is at work bringing forth that evidence! He wants to display the evidence in order to "convince" others of the authenticity of a life change - the very purpose of evidence is to convince others!

Think about that thing God is focusing on in your life today. It is not by accident his attention is focused on the particular area - it is designed to bring forth the evidence of grace having done the work it was intended to do in your life! Some evidence is right out there in plain view - easily identified. Other evidence is a little deeper - needing to be uncovered by the action of one who knows where to look! The Holy Spirit is the best "detective" we could want on our case when it comes to uncovering the evidence of Christ IN US! So, "inspect on"! The evidence bears uncovering! Just sayin!