Author: Victor Scott

I am a disciple of Jesus Christ, husband, father, and author. I am an avid Cubs fan and a lover of Chicago-style Deep Dish pizza.

Lent 2018 | Day #23: Compassion

In almost every instance the best way to describe how Jesus looks at people in difficult circumstances is compassion.

One of the more interesting aspects of Jesus’s ministry is how his interactions with the downtrodden are described. In almost every instance the best way to describe how Jesus looks at people in difficult circumstances is compassion.

When I think about Jesus’s love for those who are hurting, I realize that I still struggle to see past what I see to the person God loves. And while I have seen a change in this area, I know that it is an area of life where I am still growing.

So, how do we work on this? How do we get to the place where we see others with the kind of compassion Jesus shows? For me, it begins with admitting and acknowledging that I am one of those recipients. I am one of those poor souls that needed Jesus’s compassion.

It is so easy to forget that our sin needed to be forgiven. That our wounds need to be healed. That our prejudices need to be corrected and replaced. We all must never forget the “I” that needed Jesus.

I needed him. And, I continue to need him every day. The challenge of seeking to reflect Jesus’s compassion is to realize it will cost us. It will cost our pride, our fears, our insecurities, everything we think we need, God will ask for.

Lent is can be a fruitful time, but it should also be a challenge. We should not finish the season of Lent and realized that we have not been forced to confront some area of our lives in Jesus. I want to be more compassionate. I want to see and look at people with the love and tenderness Jesus had. And, in order to do that, I have to remember that I am also a beneficiary of that compassion from Jesus.

Lent 2018 | Day #22: Hope

In order to see the power of hope, we have to remember that it is against the backdrop of the dark spots in life that it shines brightest.

There are few realities in the human experience that are necessary. Some are physical: food, water, shelter. But others are metaphysical. They are not made up of atoms but are realities of the mind and soul. Without these non-physical realities will be robbed of vital spiritual nourishment.

Today I want to look at the necessity of hope. Hope is the fuel that keeps us going when the world is in shambles. It is the optimism that the darkness of the night will fade with the rising sun. Hope is the inclination to believe that tomorrow will be better than today. This is hope. It sustains and protects us from the morass of human weakness.

We all know, instinctively, that the world is broken. That the human family has some very disturbed and wicked members. That injustice is the tool of the wicked. You may not be the victim of this expression of sin, the fount from which all evil springs, but we all have been witnesses to how bad we can be.

In order to see the power of hope, we have to remember that it is against the backdrop of the dark spots in life that it shines brightest. I really like what J. I. Packer said about Christmas. It helps us to see a little better God’s point of view on this life we live on this speck of dust hurtling through the cosmos.

The Christmas message is that there is hope for a ruined humanity–hope of pardon, hope of peace with God, hope of glory–because at the Father’s will Jesus became poor, and was born in a stable so that thirty years later He might hang on a cross. – J.I. Packer

In Jesus there is hope, but it is not a hope that is blind. It is anchored to a promise of what God is able to do. We can hope, and that hope will abide forever because God sustains it by his power and grace. This is why hope works. When we place our hope in God we are not taxing our limited human abilities. We are placing our trust in God’s capabilities. This is the hope of the Gospel. Christ has died. Christ has risen. Christ will come again! Glory, Hallelujah!

Why are you cast down, O my soul, and why are you in turmoil within me? Hope in God; for I shall again praise him, my salvation. Psalm 42:5

Lent 2018 | Day #21: Timing

Whenever I get out of sync with God everything is going to feel off. We are going to be disconcerted by that lack of connection with God’s rhythm.

I have been playing guitar for about 10 years. I started as a necessity, but over the years I have grown to love playing. I have also learned some music theory along the way. One of the tips that I have come across over the years has been to practice with a metronome. If you don’t know what that is, it’s a device or app that keeps time. You tell it how fast you want it to go, usually to make the tempo of a song, and then you play along with it. The idea is that as you play with a metronome your sense of timing improves. And more specifically, it evens out.

During our worship team practices, we have started incorporating a metronome. The challenge is staying in step with it. We were having difficulty with a song and I told our team, “The metronome has no feelings. It just keeps right on ticking.” It is our job to get on the beat with this relentless pulse.

What I found surprising with my own description is that our faith is like that. God is the steady, consistent beat of the universe. He does not change and everything takes its cue from Him. Whether we understand it or not.

So often we ask God about his timing. Why was he late or early? Why didn’t he show up when we needed him to? What I am starting to realize is that it’s not God’s timing that is off, it’s mine.

Whenever I get out of sync with God everything is going to feel off. We are going to be disconcerted by that lack of connection with God’s rhythm. I am still thinking through how do we practice staying in step with God. I don’t have anything “new” to offer. However, I get the feeling that one good place to start is by doing a better job of practicing some of the time-tested spiritual disciplines handed down through the centuries. Disciplines like prayer, scripture reading, contemplation. There are many others, these are the ones that I know I need to constantly be working on to feel like I’m locked into God’s spiritual metronome for my life.

This is one of the primary reasons I have grown to love the Liturgical calendar, even though I don’t belong to a liturgical church. There is something precious about making the passage of the years to a steady, repeating rhythm. We are in the season of Lent. It will pass and a new one will come. But, I also know that Lent will come again. And I will be able to go through this process of reflection again next year. Embrace the rhythm and work to get back on track when you fall behind or get ahead of what God is doing.

Lent 2018 | Day #20: Obedience

What surprised me was that throughout the Scriptures there is a consistent connection between our obedience to what God commands and God’s blessing of that obedience.

In the last few weeks I have been surprised by something that has been in the Scriptures the entire time. What surprised me was that throughout the Scriptures there is a consistent connection between our obedience to what God commands and God’s blessing of that obedience. I don’t have time to going into many of the examples, but I would like to provide one example that is representative of what I mean. The example is phrased in the negative sense—describing disobedience—but the positive principle is still present.

The context the writer is discussing is the exodus of the Hebrew nation of Egypt.

16For who were those who heard and yet rebelled? Was it not all those who left Egypt led by Moses? 17And with whom was he provoked for forty years? Was it not with those who sinned, whose bodies fell in the wilderness? 18And to whom did he swear that they would not enter his rest, but to those who were disobedient? 19So we see that they were unable to enter because of unbelief. (Hebrews 3:16-19)

Now, what makes this an interesting commentary on the events surrounding the Exodus is the interaction between two ideas. The question that popped into my mind when I read this section was this: Did those who were restricted from entering into the promised land, where they kept out because of disobedience (v. 18) or because of unbelief (v. 19)?

The way the passage is structured I was left with the impression that disobedience = unbelief, and by extension, obedience = belief. The writer of Hebrews draws a straight line between the concepts of obedience/disobedience and belief/unbelief. It was something that I had never noticed before, and definitely not with this implication.

To put this in more practical terms, the evidence of my belief is not my confession, but my changed conduct. My actions are the physical manifestation of what I claim to believe, which is exactly what James was arguing for in James 2! The problem is that most people understand WHAT James is saying, but not WHY. Why are we supposed to have good works? We have good works because in doing these good works our faith, what we believe, is proved; both to the world and to me.

Another reason this link is so significant is that it provides an answer to a question I have heard a lot of people ask and have asked myself. It is this: How do I increase my faith? According to this passage and a few more, we are able to increase our faith when we increase our obedience. Or said another way, when our obedience increases it is because we have internalized the commandments of God. We have accepted the cost and call of conforming our lives to God’s will.

I will grant that there may be many who already knew this, but I was new to me. And, it has greatly affected how I understand what God is doing in and through his word in my life. And what God is calling me to do in my daily walk with Him.

Allow this season of Lent to be a time of intentionally growing in our obedience to God.

Lent 2018 | Day #19: Discipleship

As I have been discipled and have done discipleship I have realized that what makes discipleship work is the friendship that is created in the process.

For the last several years the idea and practice of discipleship have become a life-changing passion. I have thought about it, written about it, and become more intentional about practicing it. The remarkable effect of becoming focused on any subject, you quickly learn how little you know about what you are studying. That was the case for me. Even with all I have learned, I know that I can refine my application of all that insight.

Today I would like to share what I believe is the most important lesson I have learned in my investigation of discipleship. As I have been discipled and have done discipleship I have realized that what makes discipleship work is the friendship that is created in the process. This is exactly what Jesus tells us at the end of his ministry on earth.

15 I no longer call you servants, because a servant does not know his master’s business. Instead, I have called you friends, for everything that I learned from my Father I have made known to you. (John 15:15)

There are two points to focus on. The first is that Jesus intentionally identifies the disciples as friends. After three years of travel and ministry, Jesus did not see them as servants. They had become friends. The shared experiences of life had forged a bond among them all. We do not know all of the details because the Bible does not tell us, but we do know how Jesus felt about the relationship.

The second point of focus is that Jesus shared everything God had sent him to share with them. This means that sharing is an important aspect of discipleship. But the purpose of sharing is not merely to inform, it is to help that person be transformed. If all you do in a discipleship relationship is get more information, be careful that transformation is sacrificed in the process. Information is a poor substitute for a transformed life. And too often we accept it when we should be looking for a lasting change. But, we all know how difficult changing is!

As we move closer and closer to Lent I would ask you to consider your own discipleship. Are you being discipled in a way that leads to transformation? Or are you getting fat on new information? Chose the kind of discipleship that does the first! You will never regret it and you will never be able to deny it.

Lent 2018 | Day #18: Patience

I have stopped asking God for patience. I don’t do it anymore. And the reason I don’t do it is that I know that the second I ask God to increase my patience, something is going to happen to test it!

I have stopped asking God for patience. I don’t do it anymore. And the reason I don’t do it is that I know that the second I ask God to increase my patience, something is going to happen to test it! I have decided that I would rather ask God for wisdom. There are several benefits to this approach. The first is that God promises to give me wisdom if I ask for it. I would rather have the wisdom to deal with the events of life than patience. I want to be patient. Please don’t misunderstand. I really do. However, I also don’t want to be constantly putting out fires in my life.

The second benefit I want to point out is this, when I ask for wisdom I am asking God to change my perspective. I cannot look at my situation in the same light if how I see it changes. And wisdom will change the way I see things. That is why it is called wisdom. I would say that almost all of the wise people I know have an uncanny ability to see things before they happen. Not that they have some special revelation from God, but that they can think through situations and important decisions so effectively that it’s almost as if God had told them what was coming. One of the bonuses of growing in wisdom is that if God does share something, we will be able to manage that information in a far better way.

Patience is a virtue, but wisdom is a gift. It comes from experience and from reflection. I hope that as I get older I will grow wiser and by extension more patient. I find that Lent is a great opportunity for both to happen. Don’t waste the opportunity to ask God for wisdom and thereby learn how to be patient.

Lent 2018 | Day #17: Sacrifice

What did God value in humanity to set into motion the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross?

You never know what you are willing to give until you are faced with having to make the decision. Our willingness to sacrifice cannot be understood in a vacuum. We are willing to sacrifice when the reason for doing it is tied to something we value more than what we are being asked to give.

When we bring this reality to our conversations about the Gospel we are confronted with some interesting questions. The most obvious of which is this: What did God value in humanity to set into motion the sacrifice of Jesus upon the cross? I know there are some who would balk at this question. I will admit that it makes me uncomfortable as well. But, we have to wrestle with the implications of the fact that Jesus died for the redemption of a fallen humanity. He made this choice willingly. He was not forced to die. He chose to allow sinners to crucify him on the cross.

As Christians, our lives are to be patterned, as best as we can, to the example of Jesus. We have so much left to learn about what it means to sacrifice like Jesus. But, we have to see his sacrifice and we have to do our best to understand it if we are ever going to embody it in our own lives.

Jesus sacrificed his very life for us. He died so that we might have life, and that more abundantly. And the reason he did it was not just so he could be called a savior, or for God to simply avoid the accusation of being unjust. The sacrifice of Jesus on the cross was also an expression of what he valued in us, the image bearers of God. As tarnished by sin as we were, there was still a vestige of that perfect image resident within us. There was still something of value in us. But this value was borrowed from God, it was not inherent in us.

The season of Lent should cause us to reflect on the nature of God’s love toward us. His love infuses us with value. Sin has robbed us of any value we had before the fall. But God, who is rich in mercy has restored that value by covering us with the righteousness of Christ. This is a wondrous thing. We should not take it for granted.

Lent 2018 | Day #16: Passion

We are not (or at least should not be) dispassionate observers of the cross.

When you think about Jesus and what he accomplished on the cross, what does that do to your heart? How does that affect your thoughts?

What emotions do you feel about your sin? God’s grace? Jesus’ love for you?

I don’t mean to imply that we all should feel the same things or think the same thoughts. I am just saying that we should feel something and think some thoughts in relation to Jesus. There is no category for a Christian like “professional distance.” We are not (or at least should not be) dispassionate observers of the cross. This great victory that Jesus has won should cause joy to rise up within us.

When we look at Jesus we should feel something that reminds us of what it cost God to break the bondage of sin in our lives. We should find ourselves wondering and pondering what a glorious event the death, burial, and resurrection of Jesus is. Because in Jesus we have life eternal. In Jesus, we have been brought near to God. In Jesus, we have access to the throne room of God. This is no mere trifle.

I know that for some it is difficult to engage their emotions when discussing religious subjects. But that may be a huge part of the problem. We are not merely talking about a religious point of view when we talk about Jesus. We are talking about our King. We are talking about our most cherished treasure. We are talking about the one who transcended time and space and entered into the disaster we call the human race. This Jesus walked among broken people, and he too became broken so that we would become whole.

During Lent, we should work to stoke into flame our passion for God, for Jesus. We should not be idle in this pursuit. We should strive to make sense of what all of this means for each of us. It’s not that we are going to understand how it works. I don’t need to understand the mechanics and physics of the engine in my truck to know that when I turn the key it will start. The hard work has been done. I just need to press the gas.

Take a few moments and ask yourself this question. Do I love Jesus more today than I did yesterday? If yes, why? If no, why not?

Until we become comfortable with answering the question and making the needed adjustments, we will flounder on this journey of faith.

I pray that we would make the psalmists passionate declaration a reality in our own lives.

As a deer pants for flowing streams, so pants my soul for you, O God. (Psalm 41:1)

Exit mobile version
%%footer%%