THE GOD OF DREAMS by Terry Benson

“Don’t be afraid, Zechariah! God has heard your prayer. Your wife, Elizabeth, will give you a son, and you are to name him John.”   Luke 1:13 (NLT)

“It’s no use, I’m too old now. My dreams are dead, my body hurts in places I didn’t know I even had. I’ll just put in my time and try to be a good pastor for the remainder of my years. Liz and I tried, but we’re just too old now.”

I don’t know if Zechariah ever had thoughts like the above, but I’m sure many of us recently “seniorized” baby-boomers have. Not that we want more kids! But as we age it’s easy to feel like life has passed us by, that what we once hoped for should remain in the scrapbooks of our minds, or that we just need to let go and give in to the natural order of things. Dreams are best left to the young and the therapist’s couch.

Zechariah and his wife had a dream once. Like most Jewish couples they longed for a baby. But their dream died as they grew older. There were no fertility clinics in the first century to aid childless couples. So they resigned themselves to living out the rest of their days as good Israelites. Until the day the angel came. Funny how God doesn’t see the wrinkles, the dimming eyes, or the barren womb. With God, possibilities always exist, and He loves to use dreams as the blueprints for new realities.

So the angel came to tell Zechariah that he wasn’t too old and that God remembered the prayers that Zechariah had long forgotten. He and Elizabeth were expecting! Not just a son to carry on the family name, this miracle baby would be a special gift – a child whose name would define his very existence and purpose. “John”, the angel said his name would be. It means “God is merciful”.

You don’t have to be an aging baby-boomer to experience broken dreams and disappointments. Life in this dark world has a way of crushing the reveries of even the youngest.  But God knows what your hopes once were, and God sees what is now obscured to your vision. So don’t be surprised if one day in the middle of your devotions an angel visits you and says, “Don’t be afraid, God has heard your prayers….”

SUFFERING REDEEMER by Terry Benson

“We despised him and rejected him; he endured suffering and pain. No one would even look at him— we ignored him as if he were nothing. But he endured the suffering that should have been ours, the pain that we should have borne. All the while we thought that his suffering was punishment sent by God…. My devoted servant, with whom I am pleased, will bear the punishment of many and for his sake I will forgive them.”  Isaiah 53:3-4, 11 (GNT)

A Messiah was promised who would take the part of servant, of slave – taking all the abuse and punishment and suffering and pain that human beings could heap on him. He, the Righteous Ruler, was Victorious Warrior by virtue of His humility. He overcame evil with good, He overcame violence with peace, He overcame arrogance with humility.

Human understanding of personal trouble is that it’s the result of our wrongdoing – so if a person is going through difficulties, through suffering and pain, through abuse, we think it must be because God is punishing him. Yet here is a picture of God’s faithful and “devoted” servant bearing the brunt of all punishment. He did nothing wrong, He was innocent as a newborn, as a lamb. Our troubles are most often the result of our predicament – we are born into a world full of brokenness and disease and death. It’s all the result of the first disobedience, but it’s not God wreaking vengeance on the poor human transgressor.

And yet, there is punishment involved and it does belong to us. But this Deliverer would come as the Sacrificial Servant, and the Messiah would become the Redeeming Savior – “I will forgive them (that’s us and all human beings),” because this “devoted servant” bore the punishment.

The Promised One has been the hope of humanity since the twilight of Eden and the onset of sin’s midnight rule. Our race looked for One who could overcome evil, One who would rule in justice and mercy, One who would save us from eternal death. And He did come, crushing the head of the Serpent. Now the only power Satan has over us other than temporary suffering and temporary death is the power we give him. No temptation need overtake us, no deceptive lies or seductive enticements need sweep us into His control because Jesus Christ conquered him. Jesus died not only because of our sins but with our sins, and He came back to life – breaking the power of the evil one, which was death. And now He lives as our Righteous Ruler, judging us with mercy and compassion and forgiveness; promising His eternal life as ours.

This Promised One upon whom all the hopes of humanity hung did come. Born as Jesus of Nazareth, He lived and loved, He suffered and died, He rose and ascended to heaven. And He promised He would return to destroy all death, end all suffering, wipe away all tears, and establish His rule of peace forever. The Promise remains. And we pray, “Come Lord Jesus, Come.”

WATCH FOR THE STAR by Terry Benson

I tried to threaten my older brother once when I was six years old. Something he did (or wouldn't let me do) made me mad, so I pulled out the little souvenir pen knife my dad had recently given me and growled, "I'm gonna kill you!". My brother got on his bicycle (I don't think he was scared) and rode off down the street. In that moment, I was terrified because I thought I had made him run away, and I couldn't bear the thought of losing him. When he returned 15 or 20 minutes later, I sobbed my remorse and begged him not to leave again. My curse was useless in the face of our familial bond.

Long ago a mercenary prophet was hired to curse God's people. He tried to speak against them, but only words of blessing would come out of his mouth. What else would you expect from someone whose vocation is to be God's spokesperson? He made three attempts at cursing them (it wasn't personal, he was just in it for the money) and every time only good words would flow -- words of hope and future greatness. The fourth time Balaam foretold not just the rise of Israel, but the coming of Israel's Messiah. A Star would rise, a King would conquer. When the itinerant ex-slave nation of the once-mighty Pharaoh was to come into their own land, the Star would shine over them and defeat their enemies.

God's promises always trump apparent threats or attempted curses. Facing devastating circumstances or dealing with hateful enemies, the promise still rings true, "a Star will come... a Ruler will rise." In your darkness, His light will shine. In your fear, His strength will conquer. Because His love always overcomes the curse.

T. Benson

ADVENT: THE ONE by Terry Benson

“…One of hers will strike you on the head, and you will strike him on the heel.”  Genesis 3:14 (Message)

Paradise was lost. Guilt and shame were freshly discovered. The culpable couple cowered, fearful of the fate that awaited them. But before punishment came promise as the Creator declared war on the Perpetrator of deceit – enmity between the children of Eve and the minions of the Serpent, epic battles to be fought, the painful horror wounding even the Promised One. But victory would be His, this Child of Eve – the Son of God.

How does God turn the Great Disappointment into Glorious Destiny? That is the mystery of salvation. God Almighty, Creator and Ruler of all things animate and inanimate – endless Power, infinite Light, Wisdom of the ages – and He chooses to use Love as His weapon. Love will crush the serpent's head, Love will save the lost race, Love will carry the Son of God through the bowels of hell itself. Love will come as a Child of the woman, a Warrior of compassion, a Lamb of sacrifice, a Victor over eternal death. No wonder the hopes of humanity hung on the advent of the Promised One for millennia. No wonder the wonder of angels eagerly anticipated the Event. No wonder that the story is even now told and retold because our destinies too are wrapped up in the swaddling clothes of the One God sent to crush the head of the serpent.

T.B.

MY "LIFE PSALM" by Terry Benson

“I love the LORD because he hears my voice and my prayer for mercy. Because he bends down to listen, I will pray as long as I have breath!”   Psalm 116:1,2


1971 was a defining year in my life. I had recently moved to Mission Beach, California, from a quiet country setting where the only distractions were the distant coyote chorus at night and an occasional jetliner passing high overhead. Mission Beach was not quiet. I worked at a vegetarian restaurant and Christian outreach center trying to share the gospel (which I had recently discovered) and healthy living with hippies, saffron-robed chanters, young Vietnam vets, and beach people of all types. I had grown up in a pretty protected environment and hearing the motorcycle gangs race up and down the boulevard at night was quite unsettling.

I remember lying in bed one night staring up into the darkness and really talking to God – pouring out my heart and longing for some inner peace in the midst of all the chaos. Though not audibly, God spoke to me and gave me such a deep reassurance that the memory of that feeling lingers to this day. I heard His voice, and He heard mine.

It was shortly after that “encounter” that a friend shared Psalm 116 with me and it was like experiencing the rays of a morning sunrise after a long dark night. The words of David’s song gave a voice to what I had experienced and it has been my favorite ever since. I have read and prayed and meditated this psalm repeatedly in the course of my life because I find such solace, such authentication, such hope for the detours of my journey.

Here are some of the reasons I love Psalm 116. It says that my love for God is the response to His attention to me -- He hears my voice, He is aware of my prayer. The fact that it is a prayer for mercy indicates the need for mercy. This is not an "everything's just great" prayer, but a plea for help -- a cry of desperation, "God have mercy on me." We need mercy when we have offended God and He has reason to punish us. Psalm 103:10 says God hasn't treated us how we deserve to be treated -- the implication being that if He were to treat us as we deserve we'd be done in. Mercy also indicates I come to God in my weakness, not my strength. There is a strong sense of dependence here. I come to God relying on His ability and heart to treat me better, much better, than I deserve.

And it says, "I love Him because..." God initiates the relationship. This prayer is a response to Him paying attention to me-- verse 2 says He "bends down to listen". King James Version says He "inclined His ear". Whatever my need, whatever my situation of desperation -- even when it is the result of my own sin and failure -- God is interested in my cry for help. He is listening, He does hear me. So, yes, I will come to Him as long as there is a single breath in my body.

Never stop coming to God. You can't wear Him out, you can't exasperate Him or bother Him. Above everything else He is interested in what's going on in your heart; He is sympathetic to your trouble; He is waiting to give you hope again. And He will speak to you as He did to me that night in Mission Beach and as He has done so many times since.

ARE YOU A BLESSING TO GOD? by Terry Benson

“Bless the Lord, O my soul: and all that is within me, bless his holy name.”  Psalm 103:1 (KJV)

How easy it is to read words in the Bible as so much “holy talk”, but not really think about the meaning. Take this verse, for instance. We mostly pray, “God bless me,” but have you ever thought of what it means to bless God? “Bless the Lord, O my soul…” – how can I “bless” God? Isn’t He the source of all good things, of every blessing?

I began to think about this and as I read further in the Psalm I realized this is parent-child thing (“like a father…” verse 13), or I should say, a child-parent thing. As a dad of three children, I can think of many times when my kids blessed me. First, when they were born! I was at the event when each of them drew their first breath, and I can’t think of a more holy moment or a greater blessing I could receive than to witness the miracle of a new life. I was blessed to tears of joy each and every time! And as they grew – the slightest smile, their first words, their first wobbly steps with arms outstretched for daddy to catch them should they fall. Blessings overflowing.

When they grew into their own personalities and would give me a kiss good-night, or a tight hug when I returned from a trip – the warmth of their love blessed my soul over and over. And when they disobeyed and shed tears of remorse, I was blessed by their repentant love. My kids have blessed me and continue to be a blessing to me.

So when it says, “Bless the Lord, O my soul,” I know now exactly what that means. Every time I say “thank-you” to God or look up to Him for help to keep me from falling, or smile when I think of His grace and salvation, or tell someone how amazing and good He is – I am blessing Him because He loves the connection and awareness and gratitude of His kids. And every time I come to Him to repent of my sin and I ask forgiveness and I throw myself on His mercy – His heart overflows with joy because even in my contrition He is blessed.

Bless God? Yes! Today I will bless Him with every part of my being!

LESSONS FROM A SACRIFICIAL SQUIRREL by Terry Benson

“…what looked like flames or tongues of fire appeared and settled on each of them.” Acts 2:3 (NLT)

Yesterday our church nearly caught on fire – literally! A poor squirrel made the wrong turn on some power lines and he (or she, we’re not quite sure) was quickly turned into a whole burnt offering as dramatic as the prophet Elijah’s experience on Mt. Carmel when fire came down from heaven and consumed his offering. Those who were present at the event said there were two loud bangs, and then the lights went out. Later we discovered an electrical panel inside the church was fried and came dangerously close to igniting the entire church structure.

Funny thing is, yesterday our church family was on fire because the majority of them spent the day sharing God’s love in tangible ways by giving food to the hungry, sending notes and packages of encouragement to medical mission volunteers in the South Pacific, by visiting and singing for residents of a local Alzheimer’s home, and many other acts of kindness. Old and young embraced the call of God to minister to others as Christ has ministered to us, and it was the most heartening thing to see how the “fire” of God’s love settled on each one.

Then last night, in the glow of candlelight (because we had no electricity), we shared the most awesome time of fellowship in an Agape’ Feast and Communion. You could feel the joy and the love that came from the day’s experiences in ministry and from the opening of our hearts to each other by the influence of the Holy Spirit. And as we shared the simple meal, including the bread and the wine (don’t worry, it was unfermented!), it was clear that God was among us.

The outpouring of Holy Spirit power to Jesus' followers on the Day of Pentecost was first and foremost God’s love filling hearts open and ready to receive, and then overflowing in ministry to the needs around them. That same Holy Spirit Power was present in North Hills Church yesterday in so many ways. It only takes one spark to set off an explosion, and it only takes one open, hungry heart for God to manifest His miraculous love to and through a believer.

 T.B.

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