DayBreaks for the Week of 10/16/22: The Fateful Journey

The other day I was driving in town and watching the cars around me. I wondered where the people inside them were headed. What was their intended destination?

Then, suddenly, out of the blue, a thought hit me with visceral force: all the people you see are heading toward death. Don’t ask me why that thought came to mind or why it struck me so strongly. Sure, we know that everyone will die – but we push that thought so far down in our conscious mind that it seldom comes to the surface. But that day it did.

For some, the exit from this life may be way down the road, but for others, it might be just around the corner. Even as we get older, we know the offramp is getting closer and closer, yet we choose not to meditate on it. The simple fact is that none of us know when we will reach the exit. But reach it we shall.

Was my mind just being maudlin? I think not. I think God wanted to impress on me that urgency of life and of finding eternal life. How many of the people that I saw driving in their cars that afternoon were on the straight and narrow and how many were on the wide, twisty road that leads to perdition? I don’t know. God does, but I don’t. And that’s why I need to take this revelation to heart – there is a job at hand for each one of us that claim the name of Christ. We aren’t here to just live out our days, and then die and go to heavenly splendor. We’re here to help others find the right road, the good road, that will lead them to eternal life and joy.

The message to me couldn’t have been much more clear: get busy telling the good news and begin living it as if you really, truly believe it, because everyone you see is driving toward death.

As a result of my experience, I’m starting by reminding myself that everyone I see is on that journey – including me and including you. I’m trying to let that awareness sink deep into my heart and the daily practice of my life in such a way that I’ll be more eager and open to share the glorious news of who Jesus is, what he is like, and what he has done for the person in the car on my left and on my right, in front of and behind me.

How close are you to the offramp of your life? Who, in the final analysis, will be able to say in glory one day that it was you who showed them the map to get to the glorious land where there is never darkness because the Lamb is the light:

PRAYER: Lord, forgive me for my blindness to the reality of the destination of all mankind and for my reluctance to tell people about Jesus. Create in my heart a true belief that the fields are white unto harvest and that you want me to be part of the plan to bring others to you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2022, Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for the Week of 6/27/22: We Shall All Be Changed

Adapted from Lee Eclov, Preaching Today, May 23, 2022: Pastors have the incredible privilege and honor of walking people to the edge of the world and watching them step away. It was holy ground and I felt so small – yet mesmerized – at the moment the soul left the body. With unbelievers I felt a kind of a dull thud. There was no grace left. God had offered extravagant, measureless, priceless grace and they would have none of it. How different, though, when it was a believer! When believers stepped away, I felt wonder and a little bit of envy. I often thought, What just happened here? We are better shepherds when we ponder the joys before us.

The Puritan Thomas Brooks wrote, “Remember this—death does that in a moment, which no graces, no duties, nor any ordinances could do for a man all his lifetime! Death frees a man from those diseases, corruptions, temptations, … that no duties, nor graces, nor ordinances could do. … Every prayer then shall have its answer; all hungering and thirsting shall be filled and satisfied; every sigh, groan, and tear that has fallen from the saints’ eyes shall then be recompensed. That is not death but life, which joins the dying man to Christ!”

Among the wonders of our heaven-bound hope is the promise of new bodies. We peer through the windows of the Gospels’ stories of the risen Jesus to catch a glimpse of the bodies we, too, shall have—corporeal, able to eat and breathe, unhindered by miles, doors, and gravity, and able to shine like the sun.

Paul taught us how death will improve upon the seeds of these mortal bodies: The body that is sown is perishable, it is raised imperishable; it is sown in dishonor, it is raised in glory; it is sown in weakness, it is raised in power; it is sown a natural body, it is raised a spiritual body. (1 Cor. 15:42-44)

“Raised imperishable,” incorruptible. Not only will our bodies never deteriorate but neither will any sin seep into our hearts to taint our blood-bought holiness. There, we can never be ruined.

“Raised in glory”—beauty, splendor, radiance. Our bodies will be bright and beautiful to see, they will have extraordinary dignity and grace, ready and willing to do anything our Christlike minds can conceive.

“Raised in power,” is a stunning contrast to the dead body which is sown, the epitome of weakness. We will be mighty, vigorous, capable of doing all that heaven makes possible; not merely Samson-strong but Christ-strong, with bodies unhindered, minds quick, curious, and knowing, hearts energetic with holy love and zeal.

“Raised a spiritual body.” Not ghostly, some kind of floaty phantom, but drawing our breath and life, our thoughts and strength, from the Spirit of God. David Prior explains, “The first body has all the limitations of our earthiness; the second body has all the capacity of God’s Spirit.” The “earth to earth, ashes to ashes, dust to dust” sown in cemeteries, seas, and battlefields will be raised as bodies perfectly suited to the ecosystem of the new creation.

Our new bodies will be sin-free and sick-free, fit for eternal living. We will have minds unmuddled by the lies and lunacy of this world, hands that will only and ever serve the Lord, eyes wide open to the brilliant sights of heaven, ears attuned to the anthems of saints and angels, voices that will speak only praise and truth, and hearts clean enough and big enough and loving enough to embrace the glory of God. We will be outfitted for a new world free of sin, a whole civilization—a kingdom—of people like Christ, through and through.

PRAYER: Father, we are confounded by that which is to be! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2022 by Galen C. Dalrymple.

DayBreaks for 1/10/22 – A Sobering Reality

I recently lost one of my best friends to death and a cousin. I have more who are teetering on the very brink and will surely pass soon. We need to take such matters to heart.

“Of all the books written and all the sermons preached about death, none has come from firsthand experience.  Yes, not one of us has intellectual doubts about death’s invincibility.  The mute testimony of our ancestors tells us that to deny that death will one day come is literally fantastic.  Nevertheless, among believers, profound consciousness of death is a rarity.  For some, the veil between present reality and eternity is the shroud of silence – death is simply the last disease waiting to be conquered by medicine.  For others, their view is represented by a physician in a respected medical journal: ‘In my opinion death is an insult; the stupidest, ugliest thing that can ever happen to a human being’ and therefore, a cruel, unwanted interruption that is best ignored.  For many the separation from loved ones is too painful to consider.  Perhaps for most of us, the frenetic pace of life and the immediate claims of the present moment leave not time, except for fleeting reflection at funerals, to contemplate seriously where we came from and where we are going.  Saint Benedict, the founder of Western monasticism, offers the sober advice to ‘keep your own death before your eyes each day.’  It is not a counsel to morbidity but a challenge to faith and fortitude.”  – Brennan Manning, Abba’s Child

How can we keep our own death before our eyes daily and not have it become an exercise in morbidity?  Simple.  It’s the secret behind the understanding of the passage from Philippians 1:21 (above).  Simply put, Paul is telling us that life means Christ, and that death is not a spectre to be avoided, but rather a prize to be won.  We, as Christians, are not faced with a choice between life and death, but as Brennan Manning wrote, but a choice “…between life and life.”  This is, indeed, the promise from the very lips of Christ: (John 14:19b) “Because I live, you also will live.”

Contemplate your death not as the end, but as the birth to a new, vibrant reality – not something to be feared, but something to be won, a prize for which you have longed that will be yours in His time.

PRAYER:  As mortal creatures we are appalled by death, Lord.  We know it is an enemy, but what power You have to turn even the final enemy into an instrument of beauty! In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2022 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 12/10/21 – Thinking About Adam and Eve

Romans 5:18-19 (NLT) – Yes, Adam’s one sin brings condemnation for everyone, but Christ’s one act of righteousness brings a right relationship with God and new life for everyone. Because one person disobeyed God, many became sinners. But because one other person obeyed God, many will be made righteous.

As I was driving yesterday, I pondered the early days of Adam and Eve. I wondered what a delight it must have been like to live in a perfect world – a world where there wasn’t any death. A world before the Fall. It must have been spectacularly glorious.

But then, the rebellion. I wonder what was the first sign to them that the entire cosmos had suffered because of their rebellion? I wonder what first caught their attention. Was it a cat pouncing on a mouse and biting it until it died? Was it a bird falling dead out of a tree? Did an ill wind literally start to blow that took their breath in a gasp as they realized that something dreadful had happened?

And how did they then feel? What would it have been like to have been Adam and Eve and know because of what YOU did, the entire cosmos entered disarray and things started dying and animals (and people) started killing one another? What would it be like to realize that you were the cause of all that?

I feel badly enough when I fall into sin. But I’ve never experienced a perfect world. As a result, I suppose that I don’t feel the weight of my sin as heavily as Adam and Eve felt theirs. Perhaps I should feel it just as heavily (or even more so as we know the price it cost God to “fix” it) as they did, but my guess is that we don’t begin to approximate the understanding or comprehension of the effect of our sin.

I’m glad I wasn’t Adam. I wish I wasn’t a sinner. How grateful I am for the second Adam who will one day restore that perfect world and we will all know what it was like for Adam and Eve in the beginning before sin ruined everything. I long to see and experience that world. I’m willing to bet you do, too!

PRAYER:  Lord, we long to see what the perfected heavens and earth will be like, to see Your creation in its perfected splendor. For what we have done to deface Your creation in our day and age, we repent in dust and ashes! In Your name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 12/09/21 – One Day

Today I am flying to the west coast where I’ve been invited to officiate at the funeral of one of my very best friends. This post from the DayBreaks archive seemed especially appropriate:

“And on that day when my strength is failing
The end draws near and my time has come
Still my soul will sing your praise unending
10,000 years and then forever more!
Bless the lord oh my soul
Oh my soul
Worship his holy name
Sing like never before
Oh my soul
I worship your holy name.” 10,000 Reasons – Matt Redman

These are the words to the last verse and chorus of Matt Redman’s song, 10,000 Reasons. I don’t know if there has been a song in my entire lifetime that has touched me as deeply and as often as this song has over the past two years.

We’ve all been through tough times the past two years. It hasn’t been easy. There were plenty of times when the darkness seemed to be settled in forever and it seemed that things were not going to work out. But, as always seems to be the case, they did and have.

But as I listened to this song again twice today, I was moved by the image of the moment of death and of waking up singing an unending song of praise for “…ten thousand years and then forever more.”

Perhaps you already start each of your days with praise (I have this song on my cell phone as my wake-up alarm, by the way!) Praise is a great way to start the day, isn’t it? But you know, you just know before your first foot hits the floor that it won’t be long until the first issue of the day arises. Until the first complaint leaves your mouth. Until the first bad attitude creeps in. Before the first unkind word is spoken. Before the cares, worries and problems of your day start to take control and the praise fades into a muffled, barely audible background at best.

Now, for even just a few moments, I want you to think about something else. I want you to picture what it will be like some day to wake up and not have a single issue with which to contend. To not have a single complaint leave your lips – or even any reason to complain. To spend an unending day and never have or experience from others a bad attitude. To never hear an unkind word. To never have a relationship problem. To never fail, to never again have a self-image issue.

We think of the great promises of The Revelation: that death and dying will be no more, nor will there be any more tears. But how often do we think about all the myriad hundreds and thousands of little things that niggle and nag at us as we pass from our unconscious sleep until we fall into unconscious sleep again? Not only no death, but not a single ache. Not only no death, but no fear of death or cancer or heart disease or Alzheimer’s. Never to have a problem….period. Never to have a want that is unsatisfied. Never to long for something newer or better – for there will be no such thing as “better” than what we’ll have on that eternal day. We will live in an eternal “best”. One day.

It’s coming.

PRAYER:  How I long for that “one day”, Lord! For that day of unending songs of praise, for that day that will last 10,000 years and then…forevermore! Thank you for the hope, the assurance, of that one day! Maranatha, Lord Jesus! In Your name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 10/22/22 – It Will Never Fail

Your kindness and love will always be with me each day of my life, and I will live forever in your house, LORD. – Psalms 23:6 CEV

I’m rather melancholy today. Late last week, we learned that a co-worker of mine (I didn’t know him, but I do know his close friend and boss very well) has gone to be with the Lord. But the circumstances may not be what you think. It wasn’t COVID.

Last week, Boko Haram came into the village where this brother, Solomon, lived. They entered his home and wanted to kidnap his daughter. Solomon, a pastor, refused to let her go and tried to protect her. Boko Haram shot and killed him. Thanks be to God, in the chaos of the moment, his daughter was able to hide herself and Boko Haram didn’t get her. Both the daughter and her mother have now been taken to a safe and secure location. Solomon’s heroic actions undoubtedly saved his daughter from unspeakably evil things. But Solomon is gone.

How do we square such things with passages like Psalm 23:6? It’s hard…very hard. Sometimes we can only attempt to see things such as this through the eyes of faith.

When we fall in love with someone, we all hope and want it to last forever. No one falls in love thinking and hoping that someday they will become bitter toward one another and filled with hate. They don’t get married planning to divorce. But they do know that at some point, they will be separated by death if nothing else.

That thought terrifies those of us who deeply love our families and friends. We don’t want to deal with the pain of that loss, or to be the cause of that kind of pain to our loved ones. But we know that at some point it will happen.

We look at this verse and it says that God’s kindness and love is different. It will be with us each and every day of our lives. God’s love and kindness for us won’t grow old, he won’t grow bitter toward us, and not even death itself will separate us from him. It is hard to understand and believe that – we can only imagine such a love through hopeful eyes of faith – and we long for it to be really, really true.

Solomon is dwelling now in the house of the Lord, where he will know nothing but love and kindness throughout endless ages. In the meantime, we who are left behind are the unfortunate ones as separation from those we love still looms ahead of us somewhere down the line, but we need not fear that of God – and that’s no small consolation. In times like this, when it is most hard to believe in the unending kindness and love of God, it is most vitally important that we do just that.

Please join me in praying for pastor Solomon’s (his first name – last name omitted for safety reasons) family and other who are in harms way.

PRAYER: Lord, we lift up Solomon’s family to you for your comfort. Hold them all close, let them hear your heartbeat and see your tears as your heart breaks for them, but give them assurance that Solomon is safe in your home. Keep us always in your love and kindness as we await the time, we, too, shall be home with you. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 8/20/21 – An Immense Sense of Mystery

1 Corinthians 15:51-54 – Behold, I shew you a mystery; We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, In a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality. So,when this corruptible shall have put on incorruption, and this mortal shall have put on immortality, then shall be brought to pass the saying that is written, Death is swallowed up in victory.”

“My father had been moved to another ward.  In later years I would come to know so well this quietly programmed progression of receding mortality as I stood with other families in faraway hospitals.  Now each stage was mystifying, its details vivid and arresting like a play never before seen.  My father was on his side in the bed, his body curled as if in deep sleep, his breathing labored, the sound harsh and loud in the silent room.  The hours slipped by, measuring the gradual occupation of the room by a terrible intruder.  A sudden spasm of obvious distress and struggle brought an oxygen unit.  The quiet hiss became the background to the whispered attempts at conversation between my mother and myself.

“The door opened and the canon came in.  In physical stature he was a small man.  He came to us as a giant of assurance, care, dependability.  We knew he could not vanquish this greatest of enemies in our family life.  All we knew was that his presence brought something totally beyond definition but of infinite value.  He was still with us when there was a sudden change in the rhythm of my father’s breathing, a succession of quiet gasps, each one weaker than the last, then silence.  Only the sound of the oxygen tank broke the silence, its sibilant consistency mocking the poor lurchings of our human breath giving itself to tears.

“For a moment I was conscious of an immense sense of mystery.  With part of my mind I knew that my father had died.  Yet in those first moments disbelief challenged the knowledge.  I was aware of a new quality of stillness.  I had never seen sleep like that.  I became aware of the canon saying the prayers of commendation as he stood beside us.  I was conscious of a sudden image of a vast vaulted universe, splendid with planetary systems and wheeling galaxies, into which my father had stepped and among which he began to journey.  As we stood together in the timeless way of families experiencing this dark visitation, we were released from immobility by the canon’s gentle invitation to come home and rest.  There was a last silent kiss to my father’s still face and then we went, the small figure of the canon shepherding us forward, quietly playing the priestly role of father.”  – A Doorway in Time, Herbert O’Driscoll

Isaiah 60:19-20 – The sun will no more be your light by day, nor will the brightness of the moon shine on you, for the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your God will be your glory. Your sun will never set again, and your moon will wane no more; the LORD will be your everlasting light, and your days of sorrow will end.”

PRAYER: Father, we are both wary, yet intrigued, by death and what the experience will be like.  Help us, in the presence of the final enemy, to sleep peacefully in Your embrace and awaken to see Your glory!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021 by Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 8/10/11 – Uncertainties and Certainties

There are so many things in life that are uncertain. Will you find your chosen career rewarding? Who is the “right one” for you to marry? Will the marriage last? What is the place you should live? Will the COVID pandemic go away by the end of 2021 or will it linger for a long time? Will mankind reach Mars? Who will win the next election? Who will the candidates be? Who will be in the World Series this year or who will win the Super Bowl? Will I die of old age, heart disease, cancer or in some other way? Even trying to ponder all the possibilities is an impossible task – and confusing.

It was just a week ago this past Saturday night that my wife and I were asked to go watch a 95-year-old woman while her son and his wife were at a wedding reception for someone from church. It was a simple enough thing to do and once we were there we both enjoyed talking with her and hearing a bit about her life. It came time for her to go to bed, which she did, and we went back home.

Imagine our shock when the next day we received word that she’d passed away Sunday afternoon. She’d had a fall earlier in the week but seemed fine. Apparently, she wasn’t. Unbeknownst to everyone, there was a slow bleed in her brain and it took her life. Outside of her son and daughter-in-law, my wife and I were the last ones to see her alive.

It made me contemplate both the uncertainties and certainties of life. The uncertainties are too many to enumerate, but there are a couple certainties that, if we are wise, we will do well to never forget.

FIRST: we will die (Heb. 9:27). “Death and taxes”, you know. Taxes may not always be relevant depending on one’s earnings, but there’s simply no escaping death. Its approach may announce itself with shrieks and pain, or it may come silently on kitten paws and take us by surprise. But know this: it’s coming.

SECOND: we will face judgment (again Heb. 9:27). This, too, is inescapable. We shall all stand before the judge and give an answer. We can go to that meeting as we call for the mountains to fall on us and hide us from the Judge (Lk. 23:30) or we can go with confidence because the Judge isn’t only our Judge, but our redeemer – and his Son is our defense attorney. And when the Judge opens the book on our life there will be nothing sinful to show because our sins have been washed away.

I hope we all live a bit more consciously of those two inescapable certainties. It’s when we forget those things that we stray for the path of righteousness.

PRAYER: Lord Jesus, we so easily get tied up with all the uncertainty in life that we ignore, forget or pretend that these certainties are in our future. Thank you for reminders of our mortality and the coming judgment. In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021, Galen C. Dalrymple. ><}}}”>

DayBreaks for 7/19/21 – Like the Leaves of Autumn

Every year since 2004 Time magazine has each year recognized 100 people as the most influential in the world. As heady a thing as it would be to find your name on such a list, the recognition also highlights the fragility of life and power in this world.

In May 2008 Time recognized journalist Tim Russert as one of the 100 most influential people for the power he wielded over politics on the program Meet the Press. In June of 2008 the respected and beloved Russert suffered a heart attack at age 58 and died.  How long has it been now since you’re heard about him?  Can you even remember?

Also named among the most powerful in the world were the three candidates still in the race for president: Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton, and John McCain. One month later, Hillary Clinton ended her campaign, and before the year was out McCain lost in the national election. 

Follow the others on the top 100 list and you can depend on it: their influence will pass, some in fading glory like the leaves of autumn, others overnight like a towering tree felled by a lumberjack.

Even for the most tenacious, life and power are brief.  As we sang in worship this past Sunday, “Who are we compared to you?”  The answer was well documented by the Psalmist long ago: Psalm 39:4-5 (NLT) – “LORD, remind me how brief my time on earth will be. Remind me that my days are numbered— how fleeting my life is. You have made my life no longer than the width of my hand. My entire lifetime is just a moment to you; at best, each of us is but a breath.”

Our time is limited, my friends.  We will soon vanish.  Will they way you have spent your time here truly reflect what you say you believe to be important?  Will it resonate with the deepest longing of your heart and soul?  If you think the answer may be “No”, even in just some areas of your life, now is the time to make adjustments.

PRAYER: Lord, we invite you to search our hearts, to show us where we need to change our lives to live in harmony with what you tell us is important and not to waste away our years chasing fleeting shadow figures that would cause us to pursue frivolous diversions!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.

Copyright 2021, Galen C. Dalrymple, all rights reserved.

DayBreaks for 6/28/21 – The Dead Listen

John 5:28-30 – Do not be amazed at this, for a time is coming when all who are in their graves will hear his voice and come out-those who have done good will rise to live, and those who have done evil will rise to be condemned.”

It’s interesting to look at the situations in which Jesus raised the dead.  Consider Jairus’ daughter.  Consider the widow’s son.  Consider Lazarus.  There is something common in all three of these resurrections miracles.  In all three cases, Jesus speaks to the dead person, and in all three instances, they hear.  In all three cases, not only do they hear, but they immediately obeyed the voice of the Lord. 

John 5 tells us that they will not be the only ones in history who hear the voice of the Lord.  In fact, all of us who die before the Lord’s return will hear his voice, and when we do, we will come out of the grave.  There will be some who obey the voice of the Lord because they love Him and it has been the pattern of their life to obey.  Then there will be the rest – those who hear his voice and come forth out of the tomb not because they want to, but because they have no other choice. I feel confident that on that day they’d rather stay hiding in their graves – but that will not be an option.

I find it interesting that the dead never fail to hear and obey the voice of the Lord, while the same cannot be said for the living.  Amazingly, it is not the dead that can’t hear, but those who are still alive.  Why should this be?  Perhaps because while we’re alive, we have a choice.  It doesn’t appear that the dead have a choice.  But I think that there may be another reason, a reason Jesus pointed out to Martha, when he told her, as recorded in Luke 10:41 – “Martha, Martha,” the Lord answered, “you are worried and upset about many things…”  Doesn’t that describe what life is like?  There are so many things that yell for our attention, that distract us and which drown out the voice of the Lord. 

If you are too busy to hear the voice of the Lord while you are alive, rest assured that someday you will hear it whether you want to or not.    Luke 8:8 – “He who has ears to hear, let him hear.”

PRAYER: Oh, Lord, help us hear your voice today and tomorrow and every day thereafter!  May we come to know your voice as our Good Shepherd, and not only as our Judge!  In Jesus’ name, Amen.