“Remain in me, as I also remain in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me. I am the vine; you are the branches. If you remain in me and I in you, you will bear much fruit; apart from me you can do nothing. If you do not remain in me, you are like a branch that is thrown away and withers; such branches are picked up, thrown into the fire and burned. If you remain in me and my words remain in you, ask whatever you wish, and it will be done for you. This is to my Father’s glory, that you bear much fruit, showing yourselves to be my disciples.” (John 15:4-8 NIV)
My wife and I love garden-grown tomatoes. We learned several years ago that cherry tomatoes do much better in our cooler, wetter mountain climate than do the larger varieties. This year, one potted plant was producing delicious fruit (yes, tomatoes are fruit!) and almost daily we were in heaven enjoying our little harvest. Then, in early September, a cold snap was predicted. Temperatures were to dip into the upper 30’s, which would likely weaken the plant and end it’s ability to produce more fruit. Yet, the plant was full of little green tomatoes and we wanted badly for them to ripen.
So we devised a plan: Every evening we would put the plant in the garage to protect it from the cold and then put it outside again the next day as it warmed up. We have been doing that for several weeks now and it has worked brilliantly! That plant doesn’t look too good with its yellowish and brownish leaves, but almost every day, we are able to pick a handful of luscious red tomatoes.
What we have done with that plant is to nurture it in the midst of the elements. We have given it the best opportunity to produce fruit by protecting it and giving it the best environment in which to continue to flourish. In essence, Jesus describes the same thing for us in nurturing our spiritual lives.
The world can be a harsh, cold place, where the elements (stress and worry, distractions, temptations, and bad influences) can threaten to lessen or even destroy our ability to produce fruit. Thus, as were my wife and I with our tomato plant, we have to be proactive to protect our lives from the threatening elements and intentional about creating the optimal environment for us to continue to thrive.
The Lord said that environment consists of being very close to Him. As long as we are maintaining a connection to Him, we are safe and will be productive. What we cannot do is to assume we are impervious to the spiritual elements that seek to steal, kill, and destroy our fruit and our very lives. (John 10:10) We must seek protection from them and put ourselves in the most ideal environment in which to grow. And that is being close to Him—in prayer, in His Word, and in authentic fellowship with other believers. It is in this setting that we will be nurtured and where we can continue to grow and produce the fruit of the Spirit (Galatians 5:22-25).
Today, consider what kind of environment you are placing yourself in. Is it the type that will protect you from the destructive elements and will nurture your growth? If not, then perhaps it’s time to be proactive and make a plan to protect yourself and find a much safer, more nurturing place—close to the Lord.
© Jim Musser 2017
“After a long time the master of those servants returned and settled accounts with them. The man who had received five bags of gold brought the other five. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with five bags of gold. See, I have gained five more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’
“The man with two bags of gold also came. ‘Master,’ he said, ‘you entrusted me with two bags of gold; see, I have gained two more.’
“His master replied, ‘Well done, good and faithful servant! You have been faithful with a few things; I will put you in charge of many things. Come and share your master’s happiness!’” (Matthew 25:19-23 NIV)
Yesterday, my wife and I spent much of the day sharing memories about her mom. Her funeral was in the morning and it was our way to be present without being there. One of the most meaningful and enjoyable things we did was to read some of the letters she wrote to my wife while she served as a missionary in various parts of the world. It was easy to imagine her sitting at her dining table with pen in hand updating Marianna on the latest news from home. And, in the midst of the translation (from Afrikaans to English), I could hear her voice. She was a faithful letter writer, a small thing when you think about it, but such a wonderful and meaningful thing now that she has left this world.
If a celebrity or someone very accomplished dies, the world always points to the person’s achievements, whether it be awards won, money made, or his or her impact on the world at large. The emphasis is on the big things they did. But I can guarantee you that is not the focus of those who knew them best. Oscars, Nobels, inventions that changed in some way how we live are not the things family and friends remember or appreciate the most. Rather than the big things that catch the eye of the public, it is the little things that mean the most to those closest to the deceased—the short letters or notes written, the small acts of kindness, the shared experiences that don’t seem that big at the time.
Our culture puts a lot of emphasis on aiming to do big things, to change the world in some way. It reminds me of someone whose goal is to have a book published without understanding the fact a book is made up of many words, which form paragraphs, which, in turn, form the chapters that make a book. It can only be written if one writes using individual words in sentences, and it will be determined to be great only if the use of the individual words exhibits great skill. To write a great book, you have to be excellent with using the individual words. In the same way, it is the compilation of very small things over a lifetime that makes a life. What one does in the minutes and hours of daily life contributes more to greatness than some one-off achievement. Those are the things the people closest to us will remember and the ones on which the Lord places the most emphasis.
My mother-in-law, by the world’s standards, didn’t achieve much in her lifetime. She wasn’t famous; she didn’t change the world. But she was faithful in the life she was given. She was faithful to her husband of over 50 years; she raised and loved six children; she loved the Lord; and she faithfully sent cards and wrote letters. Her life was rich and meaningful because of the little things in which she was so faithful. Now I believe she is receiving the reward of much greater things.
Today, realize the sum total of your life is not determined by a few big accomplishments; rather it is by the little things you do over the course of your lifetime. It is the faithfulness in the small things that one day will lead to much greater things.
© Jim Musser 2017
“Rejoice with those who rejoice; mourn with those who mourn.” (Romans 12:15 NIV)
Sorry for your loss. It is used so much in social media feeds to respond to someone in grief that it has become almost passé. It is meant to convey sympathy, but to me it has always sounded a bit shallow; a convenient all-in-one phrase that doesn’t truly bring much comfort, but gives us comfort to say it. We may not know what to say—sorry for your loss. We may be afraid of saying too much, but do not want to remain silent—sorry for your loss. We may feel we just don’t have the time to invest to comfort someone—sorry for your loss.
This may offend you because the phrase is so ubiquitous, you have probably used it. I don’t think I ever have, but I am guilty of typing out a quick 1-2 sentence response on a Facebook newsfeed and thinking I have brought comfort. So I am writing this morning not as one looking down my nose at those who express their sympathy in tweets and four-word phrases, but with the realization the age of social media has made most of us oblivious to how we truly mourn with those who mourn.
This all came to mind yesterday when my wife and I were discussing whether or not to post something about the death of her mother. She was reluctant because she really didn’t want to read “sorry for your loss” dozens of times. I responded that is probably what she should expect if we post it. Her response was clear and on target: “Whatever happened to mourn with those who mourn?”
The problem we have in a social media age is we are accustomed to having everything quick and easy. Someone has a birthday, post a few celebratory words. Someone graduates, do the same. There is no cost and only a moment’s investment. To be clear, we mean well and have the best intentions, as I have when I’ve done the same, but in the midst of the technological maelstrom we find ourselves, I think we believers have been blinded.
To truly mourn with someone (or rejoice), we have to invest our time and ourselves. Sure, it is nice to get a lot of comments and there might be some comfort in them, but for most of us, we need more personal investment, particularly from the ones we know well. We need a voice, a touch, a listening ear. We need presence.
I remember days after my father had died and I was back at college, I longed for my friends to inquire about how I was doing. I needed their presence to help me in my time of grief. It was the same when my mother died and when my first wife wanted a divorce.
The problem is what we need is no longer in fashion. Neighbors often never speak to one another. We don’t drop by other’s homes. We don’t call. Instead, we meet in neutral places; we text, send a tweet or post on Facebook or Snapchat. So when a person is in mourning, what happens? Hardly anyone visits or calls, or sends personal cards or letters. Rather, the person is inundated with short electronic messages and four-word phrases. And the result is often isolation and loneliness, of which no one is aware because they think there is plenty of comfort already being given.
The bent of our culture is to want to stay in our comfort zones, safe in front of our screens, inside our living spaces, or keeping to our schedules. But mourning along side others cannot be accomplished that way. Presence is required. There is no substitute.
Today, if you know someone who is grieving a loss, figure out how you can be present for them, to mourn with them. It may be dropping by for a visit, a phone call, sending or giving a card or a gift that would be meaningful. There are a myriad of ways to mourn with someone. Our duty as Christians is to figure out how to do it well, rather than what is the most comfortable or convenient for us.
© Jim Musser 2017
“So from now on we regard no one from a worldly point of view. Though we once regarded Christ in this way, we do so no longer. Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, the new creation has come: The old has gone, the new is here! All this is from God, who reconciled us to himself through Christ and gave us the ministry of reconciliation: that God was reconciling the world to himself in Christ, not counting people’s sins against them. And he has committed to us the message of reconciliation. We are therefore Christ’s ambassadors, as though God were making his appeal through us. We implore you on Christ’s behalf: Be reconciled to God. God made him who had no sin to be sin for us, so that in him we might become the righteousness of God.” (II Corinthians 5:16-21 NIV)
It happened early in the summer during my recovery from heart surgery. I was reclining on the couch, thinking about our ministry to students. One of them came to mind in a vivid, almost vision-like, way. She was standing in front of a group of young women speaking to them. That was it; but it was so vivid and so surprising that I am convinced it was from the Lord. I thought and prayed about it for several months, unsure whether I should keep it to myself or share it with the student. In the past several weeks, I had felt an increasing sense the time was approaching. This week, at our large group meeting, she sat close to me, so I knew the time had come. Immediately after the meeting ended, I approached her and told her what I had envisioned. She was taken aback and unsure how to comprehend it, but thanked me for telling her.
Something I say fairly regularly to students is that the Lord wants us to become the men and women He created us to be. His original intent for us has been marred by sin, so He wants to re-create us. Like Michelangelo as he contemplated the block of marble in front of him that would eventually become David, God sees something the normal eye does not see. The great artist saw within the block of marble something beautiful, beyond the imagination or conception of others. In the same way, the Lord sees us in the midst of our encasement, our beauty and value hidden by the hardness and opacity of sin. But inside our “tomb,” we cannot see it; the darkness is overwhelming and often complete.
I believe that is the case with this student. She has struggled and fallen many times. She is unable to see who she really is. What she is surrounded by seems impossible to penetrate or to escape. She is stuck.
This is exactly what Satan wants, for us to feel hopeless and powerless. He wants us to give up and just accept our predicament as unchangeable. Look around and you will find many living just like this—they’re not good enough, have made too many wrong decisions in life, and are beyond saving. So they just muddle on through life until it’s over. Perhaps you feel this way or know others who do.
What the Lord wants us all to know is sin doesn’t have to have its way with us. The Great Artist has both the desire and ability to recreate us. He can apply his skill and eye for beauty to chip away at what bounds us to eventually reveal who we truly are. But it takes time, just as it took Michelangelo more than two years to bring his David out of that marble slab. But those who commissioned him had the confidence he could do it well before the statue began to take shape.
Today, know the Lord is at work on freeing you. Be confident in His ability and be willing to allow Him to chip away. Like the student with whom I shared, He has a vision of who you truly are and what you can become. He can make you into the person He created you to be even if now you can’t even imagine it.
© Jim Musser 2017
“When Simon Peter saw this, he fell at Jesus’ knees and said, ‘Go away from me, Lord; I am a sinful man!’ For he and all his companions were astonished at the catch of fish they had taken, and so were James and John, the sons of Zebedee, Simon’s partners.” (Luke 5:8-10 NIV)
“But for that very reason I was shown mercy so that in me, the worst of sinners, Christ Jesus might display his immense patience as an example for those who would believe in him and receive eternal life.” (I Timothy 1:16 NIV)
These two passages reflect a fine line of how we are to view ourselves. Upon being in the presence of the Divine, Peter knew he was totally unworthy, recognizing how far short he came to the glory of God. This was before he experienced His grace and he was scared and wanted nothing to do with Jesus.
Paul also had an encounter with Jesus on the road to Damascus (Acts 9) and was rattled by His presence, knowing what a rebel he truly was. Yet he, too, experienced the mercy and grace of Jesus and, like Peter, was invited to join the Lord in His ministry to the lost on earth.
What draws all of us to Jesus is the combined knowledge of our own sinfulness and His grace and mercy in spite of it. Yet, it is a temptation to forget the sheer depth of our sinfulness once we cross over into grace. It is easy to become prideful and look down on others who have yet to experience the freedom and forgiveness Jesus offers. Thus, the judgment and condemnation of people and lifestyles that so often comes out of churches. Or to go into the opposite direction and, because of the grace and mercy of our Savior, gloss over how offensive sin is to God as if it is not that big of an issue.
The image of Peter’s fear in the presence of the Lord is a good reminder of how serious and deep our sin is. Yet, Paul’s declaration that he, the “worst of sinners,” is an example of the depth of God’s mercy, is a proper counterbalance to the reality of our sin. We need not despair, but we can never forget our need for mercy. Thus, we can live lives with both hope and humility.
Today, never forget the depth of your sin and your desperate need for the Savior. Yet, never forget how much He loves you and wants you to be a part of His redemptive work in the world. Both are necessary in living a life following Jesus.
© Jim Musser 2017
“Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth! You have set your glory in the heavens. Through the praise of children and infants you have established a stronghold against your enemies, to silence the foe and the avenger. When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them? You have made them a little lower than the angels and crowned them with glory and honor. You made them rulers over the works of your hands; you put everything under their feet: all flocks and herds, and the animals of the wild, the birds in the sky, and the fish in the sea, all that swim the paths of the seas. Lord, our Lord, how majestic is your name in all the earth!” (Psalm 8:1-9 NIV)
Like millions of others five years ago, I was glued to my computer screen watching Felix Baumgartner’s jump from 24 miles above the earth. A giant helium balloon had carried his tiny capsule to the edge of the earth’s atmosphere where, in a pressurized suit, he would climb onto a platform and jump back toward earth. For one, who as a kid once dreamed of becoming an astronaut and watched the first moon landing, this took me back to those exciting days of space exploration.
As Baumgartner climbed onto the platform of his capsule and prepared to jump, he said, “Sometimes you have to go up really high to understand how small you really are.” And then he was gone, disappearing rapidly back into the wide expanse of the earth, a tiny dot on a giant canvas.
There is something about going high that puts one’s life into perspective. I remember the astronauts of Apollo 8 reading Genesis 1 as they orbited the moon and looked back at the blue planet hanging in space. They and many around the world realized in that moment how small we really are compared to God and the universe He created. I have that same feeling when flying at 36,000 feet and looking out on the earth below.
David writes, “When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers…who is mankind that you are mindful of them…?” In pondering the immense creation around him, David realized, in spite of the power and position he held, how small he truly was. By going high in his mind, he gained a proper perspective.
A former astronaut who watched Baumgartner’s jump said the high perspective one gets from space helps you to realize the world doesn’t revolve around you. Perhaps we all need to have that experience!
Today, though you may not be able to reach the height of space, look up and around to gain a higher perspective. See how truly small you are compared to God. Life, as Felix Baumgartner realized 24 miles above the earth, is not about us. We are so small. No, it is about Him who is so great and so majestic, and who from His lofty perch, looks down upon you and me with love and mercy.
© Jim Musser 2017
“When those tending the pigs saw what had happened, they ran off and reported this in the town and countryside, and the people went out to see what had happened. When they came to Jesus, they found the man from whom the demons had gone out, sitting at Jesus’ feet, dressed and in his right mind; and they were afraid. Those who had seen it told the people how the demon-possessed man had been cured. Then all the people of the region of the Gerasenes asked Jesus to leave them, because they were overcome with fear. So he got into the boat and left.
The man from whom the demons had gone out begged to go with him, but Jesus sent him away, saying, ‘Return home and tell how much God has done for you.’ So the man went away and told all over town how much Jesus had done for him.” (Luke 8:34-39 NIV)
The technician doing my echocardiogram (a sonogram of the heart) last week said, as she was reading my chart notes, she wondered how I was able to come to the hospital on my own. Until she came to the part which revealed my aortic valve replacement surgery last spring. The condition of my heart six months ago, as revealed by the last echocardiogram, was so poor that she concluded I was unable to do much physically. When I told her that I had exercised regularly and had hiked up Grandfather Mountain, among the highest peaks in North Carolina, she literally gasped. She couldn’t believe I was able to such things with the very poor heart function I had.
I found out how bad it was last spring and, since, I have reminded myself, and been reminded, just how much grace the Lord showed me. There were literally dozens, if not hundreds, of times when I unknowingly put myself in grave danger, such as hiking up Grandfather Mountain. My valve could have, and perhaps should have, failed due to the exercise regimen I kept. Yet, that pre-surgery exercise was what helped me recover so quickly and so well because I was in great physical condition as I began my rehab.
Like Jesus commanded the man delivered from demon possession, I told the technician this, and have told many others, to let them know how much the Lord has done for me. A lot of people like to give me credit, because of my hard work and dedication, but the reality is I was close to dying and my commitment to exercise increased that likelihood. But the Lord spared me and took the very thing that should have exacerbated my condition and turned it into an asset for my recovery. Even as I type this, I feel “blown away” by the reality of what He has done for me. It has not grown stale from repetition, but still carries the same emotional and spiritual weight it did from the beginning.
I also have plenty of other stories to tell regarding the things God has done for me. And I tell them because it glorifies Him to do so. It is a way to put a practical face on the grace and mercy of God for people who are skeptical about how much the Lord really loves or cares. What about you? How has the Lord shown you grace and mercy in your life? Are you telling anybody?
Today, know the Lord wants you to tell those stories. It is a way to show your appreciation to Him, as well as revealing to others just how awesome He is.
© Jim Musser 2017
