March 12, 2025

Viewing all things through the lens of the True and the beautiful!

The True

Handiwork for Good Works

You are God’s handiwork. You are also the way in which God actively works in your tangible world (Eph. 2:10).

I have a fascination—and even maybe a holy obsession—with the biblical concepts of being both fashioned by God and fashioned for God’s good works. Would you take a moment to inform our brief contemplation of these amazing truths by reading Ephesians 2:1-10 for yourself? Seriously, click over and read it. You won’t regret it.

I don’t know about you, but considering these two concepts together is for me a bit like considering eternity, to which my son Jude says, “It makes my brain hurt.” In each case, they are truths that live beyond the confines of our finite human brain. They are incomprehensible, yet still immensely beautiful and it is critically important for us to continually grow our capacity for embracing them.

You were dead. Useless. A slave to sin.

But now you are ALIVE! Saved by grace. Totally redeemed.

This is true not because of anything you did to earn it, but rather the result of a costly but freely offered gift. As a result, there is no cause for personal boasting, but every cause for boasting in the magnificent power and grace of your God!

You are saved not because of your works, but because you are His handiwork and a recipient of the life-giving gift of His Son!

It is easy to read that amazing truth and conclude your works do not matter, but the sentence doesn’t even conclude before turning that instinct on its head. Read it again:

“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do” (Eph. 2:10).

Your works are not what saves you, but the very purpose for your creation was to join in God’s good works, and He has even gone ahead of you to prepare them for you! Like Jude with the concept of eternity, the magnitude of this thought makes my small brain glitch a bit. God’s works are infinitely above mine, and yet He has chosen to reserve a specific part of His work for me. He has done the same for you.

My friend, there is only one conclusion to draw from this amazing juxtaposition: While God is certainly capable of being glorified without you, He desires to be glorified by you and through the works for which He has prepared you.

Isaiah 43:21 is my very favorite depiction of this crazy amazing reality: “The people I formed for myself that they may proclaim my praise.” Put your name in the sentence.

“I formed John for myself that he might praise me!”

“I formed Mary for myself that she might praise me!”

Wow! You were dead in sin, but no longer! Your God has brought you to life, and He has commissioned you for good works prepared specifically for you! There is no higher calling, so I urge with the utmost intensity, excitement, and anticipation to answer His call on your life!

You are His handiwork, you are redeemed through a power greater than your own, and you are invited to join Him in good works that transcend anything this world can offer!

World

Greenland Election

Greenlanders made their way to the polls on Tuesday in a national election that would have typically involved little fanfare outside the borders of the giant and frigid island nation. This week’s elections, however, drew a great deal more attention in the wake of U.S. President Donald Trump’s sustained interest in Greenland joining the U.S. While neither the issue of annexation nor independence was on the ballot, the increased worldwide attention has added momentum to the local drive for independence (Greenland is currently a territory of Denmark). Despite its massive landmass, there are only approximately 57,000 residents of Greenland, a significant majority of which are indigenous and belong to the Inuit ethnic group. Both annexation and independence would require a referendum vote.

Analysis and eternal perspective: God created humans in His image (Gen. 1:26-27) and purposed that we should be free (Gal. 5:1-26, 2 Cor. 3:17, Jn. 8:32,36). It can be very easy, however, to conflate the freedom scripture repeatedly calls us to with the temporal earthly freedom with which we have become most familiar.

You likely associate freedom with individual autonomy and liberation from authoritarian government control. This type of freedom has been yearned for across the wide span of human civilization and affords those living within it a prime opportunity to choose the free gift of salvation offered to each of us (Rev. 3:20). It is a governing structure this writer views exceedingly favorably, in large part because of the many ways in which it reflects the Creator’s character. There is a very strong case to be made that both scripture and world history point to this type of freedom as something worthy of pursuing and defending.

But the freedom to which you—and every person, including Greenlanders—are called is infinitely higher than one defined by the earthly governing structure under which you live. You are called to a freedom secured by Truth (Jn. 8:32)—one that liberates you from the curse of sin and death (Rom. 8:1-4). This is a freedom that is yours for the possessing no matter whether you live with robust earthly freedom or under the thumb of an oppressive authoritarian regime. It is one offered by your Creator and Savior, and one no man can either offer or take away.

So while the days ahead are important ones for the people of Greenland, every day is one in which they—and you—can choose not just independence, but true freedom!

U.S.

Shutdown on Loop

Congress is once again racing the clock to avoid a government shutdown (we told you back in December to bookmark early March for this reality). This time around, GOP leadership in the U.S. House and U.S. Senate are pushing for a Continuing Resolution that would fund the government through the end of the fiscal year on September 30, 2025. This approach has the support of President Donald Trump and was passed narrowly by the U.S. House on Tuesday, but is being opposed by most congressional Democrats. It remains to be seen whether the measure can be enacted before current funding runs out (it will require at least seven Democrats to support it in the U.S. Senate in order to clear that chamber).

Analysis and eternal perspective: We in The Equipped family will continue to remind ourselves of three things around these revolving government shutdown stories: 1) The federal budget and spending process of the U.S. government is fundamentally broken, 2) The perpetual loop of shutdown politics is entirely predictable and unproductive, and 3) Jesus followers in America should be part of a fruitful solution aimed at stewardship of resources rather than partisan posturing.

There is plenty of blame to go around for the current lurching from shutdown deadline to shutdown deadline. But the finger-pointing exercise simply perpetuates the current unproductive cycle. Whether you are Republican, Democrat, Independent, or politically agnostic, you can be both, a) equipped and unsurprised as each “shutdown deadline” approaches under the current status quo, and b) clear-eyed about the importance of establishing a healthier budget and spending process.

Scripture reminds us that much will be required of those who have much (Lk. 12:48). America has been given more in the way of tangible resources than any other nation the world has ever known. If you are a Jesus follower in America, you have been given much! As a steward of those blessings and a participant in your own self-governance, consider today how your voice can contribute to the repairing of this broken process.

Space

Starship Explosion

An unmanned SpaceX Starship rocket exploded last week shortly after blastoff from Texas. The resulting debris field included parts of Florida and temporarily grounded flights at Orlando International Airport. It is the second mid-air explosion in two months for the Starship program, which touts its mission as including eventual manned travel between points on Earth, the Moon, and Mars. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and SpaceX are investigating the cause of the incident.

Analysis and eternal perspective: Space travel and exploration has long been the object of wonder and potential. It is also a new horizon that includes plenty of hazard and personal risk. This is true for both public (i.e., NASA) and private (i.e., SpaceX) endeavors.

As a Jesus follower, you know “the heavens declare the glory of God” (Ps. 19:1). In fact, I encourage you to read all of Psalm 19 today, as it paints such a beautiful reminder of the vast goodness and majesty of your God!

Perhaps my favorite portion of the passage is the literary juxtaposition that the heavens and the skies “pour forth speech [and] reveal knowledge,” but “have no speech . . . use no words [and] no sound is heard from them” (v. 2-3).

In other words (pun intended), your God—the God of the vast and unknowable expanse—says volumes without ever uttering a word! By His voice, God created all that is, and as a story like this reminds you of God’s greatness, let it also remind you that His majesty and splendor are always on display, even without a single word being spoken!

The Beautiful

Great Gain

Simplicity yields some of the richest beauty. Your world is constantly pulling you toward more and bigger and louder. But simply communing with your God, enjoying the goodness He has provided, and resting in a contentment of who you are in Him results in what the scripture calls “great gain!”

“But godliness with contentment is great gain” (1 Tim. 6:6).