There are times in my life that I just do not give God any thought at all. I go blithely on my way, accepting His good gifts and blessings without a single moment of acknowledgment of where these might come from, and Who it is that sends them my way.
As I have mentioned before, my usual procedure each morning is to first of all read a Psalm and then go to a Gospel passage to reflect on. This morning I had to stop after the Psalm 50 reading because a couple of parts caught my eye.
Offer to God a sacrifice of thanksgiving (verse 14)
The one who offers thanksgiving as his sacrifice glorifies me (verse 23)
Thanksgiving as a sacrifice, now that seems an oxymoron. Where is the sacrifice in this?
Occasionally, we sing The Doxology in church. Those simple words in the first line "Praise God from Whom all blessings flow" stop me short, often not even allowing me to sing the rest, as I think of all I have to be thankful for. Not just the "stuff" that He sends my way, but the people, the relationships, the opportunities and just the life He allows me to live.
Thanksgiving is a way of saying, "I would have nothing except for You, and I would be nothing either".
It is also saying, "I did not do any of this on my own".
Thanksgiving is not just a day on the calendar in November each year, it is a lifestyle that glorifies God, and puts me in my rightful place.
Thanks be to God
Thursday, May 31, 2012
Wednesday, May 30, 2012
Is Dust Important?
In the story told today in Matthew 14, Herod Antipas, ruler over the territory of Galilee in the time of Jesus, shows what is important to him when he orders John the Baptist to be killed, just so he would not lose face with his friends. His place of authority and his pride, that would not let him admit that he had made a mistake, lead to the death of an innocent man.
In the movie that I watched, The Way, the box that contains the ashes of a son who died at the beginning of a pilgrimage in Spain, becomes the focal point of a father's walk of his own. It is the most important thing in his life at that point. His work and life fade into the background, and his goal becomes to walk the trail for his son.
When he has to rescue his backpack out of the river, the first thing he checks out is the box with the ashes. When a fellow traveler tries to touch it, he grabs it away. When his backpack is stolen he cries out to the buildings around him, "you can keep the pack, just give me back the box".
I think about what is important to me. Is it a box of dust?
At the end of the film, the box is placed on the altar in the cathedral, and then emptied into the sea.
To me, those closing scenes represent surrender. The surrender of what one man felt was important, to a power beyond his control.
Am I willing to surrender the "important" things in my life to God? Do I want to cling to my life, or offer it on the altar of service, or pour it out for Him?
Herod kept his pride and saved his face, the father in the movie went from being possessed by a box of ashes to giving it all up. Which way do I take?
In the movie that I watched, The Way, the box that contains the ashes of a son who died at the beginning of a pilgrimage in Spain, becomes the focal point of a father's walk of his own. It is the most important thing in his life at that point. His work and life fade into the background, and his goal becomes to walk the trail for his son.
When he has to rescue his backpack out of the river, the first thing he checks out is the box with the ashes. When a fellow traveler tries to touch it, he grabs it away. When his backpack is stolen he cries out to the buildings around him, "you can keep the pack, just give me back the box".
I think about what is important to me. Is it a box of dust?
At the end of the film, the box is placed on the altar in the cathedral, and then emptied into the sea.
To me, those closing scenes represent surrender. The surrender of what one man felt was important, to a power beyond his control.
Am I willing to surrender the "important" things in my life to God? Do I want to cling to my life, or offer it on the altar of service, or pour it out for Him?
Herod kept his pride and saved his face, the father in the movie went from being possessed by a box of ashes to giving it all up. Which way do I take?
Tuesday, May 29, 2012
Preconceived Notions
At least two things intersect in my thoughts this morning. Let's see where they lead.
The Scripture reading is from Matthew 13 and includes this portion (from The Message):
"We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?"
These are folks from Jesus hometown, Nazareth, talking about a man that they knew firsthand. A man that was familiar to them and that they presumed to know, because of His physical presence among them.
Yesterday Tropical Storm Beryl passed over our island, so it was a rainy and windy day, a good day to stay inside and watch a movie. A friend had recommended "The Way" and so we watched. The main character undertakes a pilgrimage, and, along the way, meets up and travels with three others. When he meets each of the others, an idea forms in his mind about each, but as they travel, those ideas change, and at the end, relationships form that supersede the original. In one scene from the film, all four are walking through a vineyard. They are all walking on this journey in the same direction, but the director has them each on a different row. They are in close proximity to each other, going the same way, but each on a different path. They each state a reason for taking the long walking trip, and express it to the others, but these are only a means to an end, a way to find themselves.
I have ideas in my life, notions that have built up over the years. These can have a tendency to limit me in some way, but I cling to them anyway. They can refer to God, to Jesus, to the church, to the Bible. They can be about my life, my relationships, my children, my work. They can be about how I am supposed to be and act. They can be correct or false.
Have I allowed preconceived notions from the past to cloud my judgments in the present? Have I used the phrase "that is just how it is" to keep me in the same rut on the road, or am I open to let God show me different ideas and paths?
The folks in Jesus' hometown thought they knew the man that stood before them to talk. The travelers on the pilgrimage thought they knew at least a little about their fellow walkers, but they could not see the souls and hearts of each other.
God, help me not to be satisfied with preconceived notions, but show me the truth, about myself first of all, and then about others.
The Scripture reading is from Matthew 13 and includes this portion (from The Message):
"We've known him since he was a kid; he's the carpenter's son. We know his mother, Mary. We know his brothers James and Joseph, Simon and Judas. All his sisters live here. Who does he think he is?"
These are folks from Jesus hometown, Nazareth, talking about a man that they knew firsthand. A man that was familiar to them and that they presumed to know, because of His physical presence among them.
Yesterday Tropical Storm Beryl passed over our island, so it was a rainy and windy day, a good day to stay inside and watch a movie. A friend had recommended "The Way" and so we watched. The main character undertakes a pilgrimage, and, along the way, meets up and travels with three others. When he meets each of the others, an idea forms in his mind about each, but as they travel, those ideas change, and at the end, relationships form that supersede the original. In one scene from the film, all four are walking through a vineyard. They are all walking on this journey in the same direction, but the director has them each on a different row. They are in close proximity to each other, going the same way, but each on a different path. They each state a reason for taking the long walking trip, and express it to the others, but these are only a means to an end, a way to find themselves.
I have ideas in my life, notions that have built up over the years. These can have a tendency to limit me in some way, but I cling to them anyway. They can refer to God, to Jesus, to the church, to the Bible. They can be about my life, my relationships, my children, my work. They can be about how I am supposed to be and act. They can be correct or false.
Have I allowed preconceived notions from the past to cloud my judgments in the present? Have I used the phrase "that is just how it is" to keep me in the same rut on the road, or am I open to let God show me different ideas and paths?
The folks in Jesus' hometown thought they knew the man that stood before them to talk. The travelers on the pilgrimage thought they knew at least a little about their fellow walkers, but they could not see the souls and hearts of each other.
God, help me not to be satisfied with preconceived notions, but show me the truth, about myself first of all, and then about others.
Monday, May 28, 2012
"Thy Kingdom Come"
A phrase from the reading this morning keeps running through my mind.
"God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:44)
"Or, God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:45)
"Or, God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:47)
Then instead of concentrating on these short parables that Jesus talks about here, my mind leaps to another rendering of these same words. In the middle of the "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6:10, I read:
"Thy kingdom come..."
I have thought before of my sometimes inability to participate in a worship service when this prayer is recited. I often find that, as the words are spoken aloud, my heart is just not ready to take them seriously, and to pray them without sincerity seems wrong on my part. There is just so much meaning in those three words, that I cannot wrap my mind around them in the time before I have to go on to the rest of the prayer. So, I remain silent.
Why do I do this? In retrospect, I am afraid of offending God. When I think of these words I find a couple of different ideas popping into my brain. On the one hand I may want my kingdom to come and not His. I may like my life and don't want it upset. On another, I may see any present difficulties and look for a way out, even if it is the future. Either way is not bowing my knee to God and saying that I know His way is best for me, whatever it looks like.
God has placed me where I am today, with all of the attendant joys or trials. Someday I will realize the "rightness" of what is going on, but today is where I am to look for His kingdom, not someday. It is here and it is now. It is not my ideal fantasy life nor is it an escape from it.
"Thy kingdom come..."
I want to pray those words reverently and sincerely. God, help me do it.
"God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:44)
"Or, God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:45)
"Or, God's kingdom is..."(Matthew 13:47)
Then instead of concentrating on these short parables that Jesus talks about here, my mind leaps to another rendering of these same words. In the middle of the "Lord's Prayer" in Matthew 6:10, I read:
"Thy kingdom come..."
I have thought before of my sometimes inability to participate in a worship service when this prayer is recited. I often find that, as the words are spoken aloud, my heart is just not ready to take them seriously, and to pray them without sincerity seems wrong on my part. There is just so much meaning in those three words, that I cannot wrap my mind around them in the time before I have to go on to the rest of the prayer. So, I remain silent.
Why do I do this? In retrospect, I am afraid of offending God. When I think of these words I find a couple of different ideas popping into my brain. On the one hand I may want my kingdom to come and not His. I may like my life and don't want it upset. On another, I may see any present difficulties and look for a way out, even if it is the future. Either way is not bowing my knee to God and saying that I know His way is best for me, whatever it looks like.
God has placed me where I am today, with all of the attendant joys or trials. Someday I will realize the "rightness" of what is going on, but today is where I am to look for His kingdom, not someday. It is here and it is now. It is not my ideal fantasy life nor is it an escape from it.
"Thy kingdom come..."
I want to pray those words reverently and sincerely. God, help me do it.
Saturday, May 26, 2012
"It's a Gimmie"
There are some days, when I sit down to read a Scripture and then write on the meaning that God is showing me, that it is difficult to see an application. I want some words to literally jump off the page into my consciousness. I want an "aha moment", to know this is the message that I need right now. I know what I want at that particular time, but I don't always know if that is the way God wants me to get the lesson. Perhaps there is meaning in the struggle.
My wife is always amazed that I can come in from a round of golf and be able to remember each of the shots on that round. Often I can recall, not only the score and each stoke, but also the feelings I had while playing them. I can take the scorecard and pick out several, and sometimes many, errant shots, that, if I had executed better, would have lowed my score to a respectable number. Even if my final score was OK, there would be missed opportunities for a great one. "If only" is a prefix to many a description of rounds played.
There are 6 words that are music to my ears when I am not confident in my ability to score. As I walk toward my ball on the green, someone says, "pick it up, it's a gimmie". In other words, I don't have to make the putt for it to count. It is a chance not to be embarrassed by the flubbing of an easy shot. It is a short cut to a better round. When someone asks how I did that day, I can sing out with a decent number without admitting that I did not have to putt eight two-footers, but got to count them as good without any effort on my part.
Is the object to look good on the scorecard, or play well?
Is my object in study and blogging to look good for anyone who happens to read? To come up with some great insight that will make my time profitable? Sure, I want to hear from God, and want to be able to apply lessons from Scripture to my life, but could the struggle to determine these perhaps be the message on any given day?
Maybe I had better not write down my score on a hole until the ball hits the bottom of the cup, a true measure of my game.
There are no shortcuts to what God wants me to be. No gimmies.
My wife is always amazed that I can come in from a round of golf and be able to remember each of the shots on that round. Often I can recall, not only the score and each stoke, but also the feelings I had while playing them. I can take the scorecard and pick out several, and sometimes many, errant shots, that, if I had executed better, would have lowed my score to a respectable number. Even if my final score was OK, there would be missed opportunities for a great one. "If only" is a prefix to many a description of rounds played.
There are 6 words that are music to my ears when I am not confident in my ability to score. As I walk toward my ball on the green, someone says, "pick it up, it's a gimmie". In other words, I don't have to make the putt for it to count. It is a chance not to be embarrassed by the flubbing of an easy shot. It is a short cut to a better round. When someone asks how I did that day, I can sing out with a decent number without admitting that I did not have to putt eight two-footers, but got to count them as good without any effort on my part.
Is the object to look good on the scorecard, or play well?
Is my object in study and blogging to look good for anyone who happens to read? To come up with some great insight that will make my time profitable? Sure, I want to hear from God, and want to be able to apply lessons from Scripture to my life, but could the struggle to determine these perhaps be the message on any given day?
Maybe I had better not write down my score on a hole until the ball hits the bottom of the cup, a true measure of my game.
There are no shortcuts to what God wants me to be. No gimmies.
Friday, May 25, 2012
My Times and Thy Will
It is has been my practice for most of this year, to read a Psalm as my opening prayer in this study session. I read, or heard at some point, that if a person prays a psalm back to God, He cannot fail to answer, and so I do it, trying to make sure that He knows of my efforts to find Him in my study. It may be that I am looking for a magic bullet that will assure this happening, but the practice has yielded some gems.
But, as I think about this search for a formula of prayer and study, one that will give me insights into God, His Word, and my place in the whole scheme of things, my mind goes back to another prayer that I have associated with a sure answer.
Jan Karon, in her Mitford series books, has a character, Father Tim, who often suggests that, in times of uncertainty, we use the "prayer that never fails". What is this talisman, the certain set of words that if we utter, will cause God to bend near and hear us?
This prayer comes from Matthew 6:10 and it included in the Lord's Prayer. As translated in the King James version it reads "Thy will be done".
Praying this prayer says that the petitioner bows his knee and gives up any sovereignty in his own life to what God knows is best. It is an acknowledgment that God is in control, and I am not.
When I read in my Psalm reading for today, in Psalm 31:15 to be exact, that "My times are in Your hand", I see the same meaning.
These two prayers, one prayed by David, and the other cited by Jesus, himself, as a model, will put my life where God would want it to be, if I only pray them in sincerity from my own heart.
Can I or will I?
But, as I think about this search for a formula of prayer and study, one that will give me insights into God, His Word, and my place in the whole scheme of things, my mind goes back to another prayer that I have associated with a sure answer.
Jan Karon, in her Mitford series books, has a character, Father Tim, who often suggests that, in times of uncertainty, we use the "prayer that never fails". What is this talisman, the certain set of words that if we utter, will cause God to bend near and hear us?
This prayer comes from Matthew 6:10 and it included in the Lord's Prayer. As translated in the King James version it reads "Thy will be done".
Praying this prayer says that the petitioner bows his knee and gives up any sovereignty in his own life to what God knows is best. It is an acknowledgment that God is in control, and I am not.
When I read in my Psalm reading for today, in Psalm 31:15 to be exact, that "My times are in Your hand", I see the same meaning.
These two prayers, one prayed by David, and the other cited by Jesus, himself, as a model, will put my life where God would want it to be, if I only pray them in sincerity from my own heart.
Can I or will I?
Thursday, May 24, 2012
A Bonfire of Weeds?
One of the reasons that it takes me so long to write a blog is that, while reflecting on the Scripture passage of the day, my mind takes me on so many different rabbit trails. Consider today:
The passage is from Matthew 13: 24-30, and is the parable of the farmer's field planted with wheat, but also sown by "the enemy" with weeds, thistles or tares, according to the translation used. Where do I go with all of that?
Well, first of all, I think about the Thanksgiving Hymn or Come You Thankful People Come, so I looked up the lyrics to the hymn and found this in the second verse: "wheat and tares together sown". Look at the whole score here:
http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh694.sht
That got me to thinking about a time, growing up, when my Dad decided to plant a small field of corn and my job was to weed out the Johnson grass from among the corn plants. The only trouble was that when each first sprouted and grew, they looked the same, at least to the untrained eye of a kid. So, I probably weeded an equal number of good and bad plants.
How about the analogy of my life as the field in which good and bad things grow up together? Perhaps the plants may look similar, and maybe all look good, but there will come a day when the wheat will be separated from the tares, and then the true good works will be known. In the hymn cited above that will be when God "gives His angels charge at last".
As I follow that trail, I think about the verse in I Corinthians 3:13-15:
And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
How much of my life will be filled with stuff that looks good but is only wood, hay and stubble, or tares and thistles? When that is burned away, what will be left?
The field may look good, but the smoke from the burning could be intense.
The passage is from Matthew 13: 24-30, and is the parable of the farmer's field planted with wheat, but also sown by "the enemy" with weeds, thistles or tares, according to the translation used. Where do I go with all of that?
Well, first of all, I think about the Thanksgiving Hymn or Come You Thankful People Come, so I looked up the lyrics to the hymn and found this in the second verse: "wheat and tares together sown". Look at the whole score here:
http://www.hymnsite.com/lyrics/umh694.sht
That got me to thinking about a time, growing up, when my Dad decided to plant a small field of corn and my job was to weed out the Johnson grass from among the corn plants. The only trouble was that when each first sprouted and grew, they looked the same, at least to the untrained eye of a kid. So, I probably weeded an equal number of good and bad plants.
How about the analogy of my life as the field in which good and bad things grow up together? Perhaps the plants may look similar, and maybe all look good, but there will come a day when the wheat will be separated from the tares, and then the true good works will be known. In the hymn cited above that will be when God "gives His angels charge at last".
As I follow that trail, I think about the verse in I Corinthians 3:13-15:
And the fire will test what kind of work each has done. If what someone has built survives, he will receive a reward. If someone’s work is burned up, he will suffer loss. He himself will be saved, but only as through fire.
How much of my life will be filled with stuff that looks good but is only wood, hay and stubble, or tares and thistles? When that is burned away, what will be left?
The field may look good, but the smoke from the burning could be intense.
Tuesday, May 22, 2012
Think Before You Speak, or Write
Words fitly spoken...
Be careful what you speak, or write...
Words can come back to haunt you...
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.
These sayings and others came to my mind this morning as I looked at Matthew 12 in The Message translation:
"It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."
Especially "Words are powerful; take them seriously".
Most days it takes me a long time to write this blog. I want the words that I put down to be an accurate representation of my heart, what I want to say back to God as I read over the Scripture for the day. I want them to be true, not just sound good. God knows my heart so I don't need to, or want to, posture before Him.
But it is not just God whom I want to be true to. There are others who may read these words also. That is why I usually include words from The Bible so that God may speak to them directly, as I think He has to me. His words are the authority, not mine.
Words spoken or written have power. Power to build up and encourage, but also power to tear down and destroy. We all hold this power, and the wise person will consider what he says, and the message that it conveys.
I have failed in this area too many times, but I want to...
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to Thee, my strength and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)
Be careful what you speak, or write...
Words can come back to haunt you...
It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and confirm it.
These sayings and others came to my mind this morning as I looked at Matthew 12 in The Message translation:
"It's your heart, not the dictionary, that gives meaning to your words. A good person produces good deeds and words season after season. An evil person is a blight on the orchard. Let me tell you something: Every one of these careless words is going to come back to haunt you. There will be a time of Reckoning. Words are powerful; take them seriously. Words can be your salvation. Words can also be your damnation."
Especially "Words are powerful; take them seriously".
Most days it takes me a long time to write this blog. I want the words that I put down to be an accurate representation of my heart, what I want to say back to God as I read over the Scripture for the day. I want them to be true, not just sound good. God knows my heart so I don't need to, or want to, posture before Him.
But it is not just God whom I want to be true to. There are others who may read these words also. That is why I usually include words from The Bible so that God may speak to them directly, as I think He has to me. His words are the authority, not mine.
Words spoken or written have power. Power to build up and encourage, but also power to tear down and destroy. We all hold this power, and the wise person will consider what he says, and the message that it conveys.
I have failed in this area too many times, but I want to...
"Let the words of my mouth and the meditations of my heart be acceptable to Thee, my strength and my redeemer." (Psalm 19:14)
Monday, May 21, 2012
Challenge and Response
Last evening, we finished up leading the Truth Project for a home group in our church again. We have done this a few times and each time I get to the end of the 12 lessons and have to ask myself, has it made any difference in my life? Have the truths embedded in the sessions changed me in any way? Several times in the course of the study, the study leader of the recorded lessons would state an obvious fact, that if each of us who watched the sessions on the DVDs really believed the truths presented, we would become world changers.
It is easy to come away from the last meeting with a conviction that I should be different, that I should live and breathe and talk and act in a new way, because of what has been presented. I can agree with all the facts and the challenges of the lessons, and I can see things in my own life that need change, but if that is as far as it goes, it matters little.
It can be the same when I get up off the pew after hearing a sermon that moves me, or I read a book that convicts me, or the morning devotion speaks to me. God has presented me with new opportunities to make a difference through these means. They are not just there to entertain me. There is a new day to live in the light of what He has shown. God is faithful to keep giving me these chances, but how will I respond?
If I look back, a year from now, on what I have written this morning, what will I see and feel? Will I have regret that I did nothing with what has been presented to me by God, or will I see some progress to a life lived as He wants?
The faithfulness of God is not in question. He continues to put those precepts and opportunities in front of me, but He does not force me into compliance.
How will I respond this time around?
It is easy to come away from the last meeting with a conviction that I should be different, that I should live and breathe and talk and act in a new way, because of what has been presented. I can agree with all the facts and the challenges of the lessons, and I can see things in my own life that need change, but if that is as far as it goes, it matters little.
It can be the same when I get up off the pew after hearing a sermon that moves me, or I read a book that convicts me, or the morning devotion speaks to me. God has presented me with new opportunities to make a difference through these means. They are not just there to entertain me. There is a new day to live in the light of what He has shown. God is faithful to keep giving me these chances, but how will I respond?
If I look back, a year from now, on what I have written this morning, what will I see and feel? Will I have regret that I did nothing with what has been presented to me by God, or will I see some progress to a life lived as He wants?
The faithfulness of God is not in question. He continues to put those precepts and opportunities in front of me, but He does not force me into compliance.
How will I respond this time around?
Sunday, May 20, 2012
Help in Reading
I use an internet site, Examen.me, to get my start each day on studying a Scripture passage and seeing how it relates to my life. The first thing it asks me to do is to take a few moments of time and compose a prayer to begin the process. This is an attempt to put the cares of the world behind and to focus on the reading and its meaning in my life.
If I believe, and I do, that each Scripture has a message for me, and that it is no accident that I am reading it on a particular day, then my focus should be on, not only what the literal words say, but their relationship to a particular time or circumstance in my life.
I thought of all of this as I began this time. It is afternoon and a lot of things have already happened today. We got home from our trip late last night, got up pretty early and made it to the early service at church. After picking up our mail for last week, and making a short stop at the store for milk, we came home and fixed lunch. After consuming that, I sat down to read the passage for today.
My stomach is full, it is raining outside and, in short, it is a sleepy time. The condo is quiet and I suspect that my better half is resting comfortably. If I close my eyes to pray very long, I'll be out, too.
I need help every day that I study, but especially today. If Jesus does not show up to lead me, I won't get a thing, or at least, I won't receive what He has for me this day. The important thing is that I realize that I need help, and that I look for it in the right place. Anyone can read the facts and know what it says, but supernatural help is what I need to read, examine and apply the Bible passage to my own life.
Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life". If I want the truth then what better person to lead me to it, than the one whose truth it is.
He is my Help.
If I believe, and I do, that each Scripture has a message for me, and that it is no accident that I am reading it on a particular day, then my focus should be on, not only what the literal words say, but their relationship to a particular time or circumstance in my life.
I thought of all of this as I began this time. It is afternoon and a lot of things have already happened today. We got home from our trip late last night, got up pretty early and made it to the early service at church. After picking up our mail for last week, and making a short stop at the store for milk, we came home and fixed lunch. After consuming that, I sat down to read the passage for today.
My stomach is full, it is raining outside and, in short, it is a sleepy time. The condo is quiet and I suspect that my better half is resting comfortably. If I close my eyes to pray very long, I'll be out, too.
I need help every day that I study, but especially today. If Jesus does not show up to lead me, I won't get a thing, or at least, I won't receive what He has for me this day. The important thing is that I realize that I need help, and that I look for it in the right place. Anyone can read the facts and know what it says, but supernatural help is what I need to read, examine and apply the Bible passage to my own life.
Jesus says "I am the way, the truth and the life". If I want the truth then what better person to lead me to it, than the one whose truth it is.
He is my Help.
Saturday, May 19, 2012
Laughing Could Be Dangerous to My Health
We have been up in the North Georgia mountains these last couple of days with some friends from California. It has been a time of remembering things from days gone by, and having fun in fellowship with folks that we like to be with.
A lot of stories have made the rounds, and we have laughed over incidents that we both remember; well, at least, as we remember them. They may change over time, but they still make us smile.
Fun, food and fellowship...Life is good.
As I read the Scripture passage this morning, one quite incidental thought came out in my mind. Here is the passage:
“Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.
I can imagine Jesus actually laughing with his disciples over some small thing, having a bit of fun, and so the actual act of mirth could not be out of character for even the Son of God.
But there can be a time when laughing could be dangerous to my health.
Laughing at what Jesus says, be careful.
A lot of stories have made the rounds, and we have laughed over incidents that we both remember; well, at least, as we remember them. They may change over time, but they still make us smile.
Fun, food and fellowship...Life is good.
As I read the Scripture passage this morning, one quite incidental thought came out in my mind. Here is the passage:
“Go away, for the girl is not dead but sleeping.” And they laughed at him.
I can imagine Jesus actually laughing with his disciples over some small thing, having a bit of fun, and so the actual act of mirth could not be out of character for even the Son of God.
But there can be a time when laughing could be dangerous to my health.
Laughing at what Jesus says, be careful.
Thursday, May 17, 2012
Not Healed But Blessed
There is a story in Matthew 9 about Jesus healing a man whose friends had gotten him to where Jesus was. We recognize the particulars of this story and marvel in the fact that Jesus chose to heal the man because of the faith of his friends. The one thing that struck me this morning is that The Message translation used the term paraplegic to describe his condition. That fit right in with what Mayre Lou and I were watching on a DVD yesterday.
We are in Chattanooga and visited with John and Darlene Ankerberg. John produces a television program, and he gave us a copy of his latest series. One of the featured personalities in this was Joni Eareckson Tada, a lady who has been a paraplegic for the last 45 years, the result of a diving accident when she was 17.
I was struck with the different outcomes of the paralytic condition of Joni and the man in Matthew. One is healed and the other is not, but that is not the one thing that stood out to me.
Jesus said to the man in the Bible story, "Get up, take up your bed and go home". He said to Joni, "I will give you the strength to get through this, one day at a time. Trust me."
Both of these persons must have prayed for healing. For one the answer was "yes", and he went back to a "regular" life. For the other the answer was "Not now", and she went on to bless thousands of others with her life and ministry. One knew the miracle of healing, and the other was granted a unique opportunity to trust and serve.
Now I do not know what happened to the man in Matthew, the Bible does not say any more about him. He may have gone on to be a giant in the early church, but we do not even know his name.
Listening to Joni's story, I know that her suffering has been real, her pain great, and her anguish and frustration hard to bear. I can't complain about anything in my life after comparing my paltry pains to hers, but I know that God has blessed her in ways that I can't even imagine.
Check out her story at:
http://www.johnankerberg.org/television-shows/
We are in Chattanooga and visited with John and Darlene Ankerberg. John produces a television program, and he gave us a copy of his latest series. One of the featured personalities in this was Joni Eareckson Tada, a lady who has been a paraplegic for the last 45 years, the result of a diving accident when she was 17.
I was struck with the different outcomes of the paralytic condition of Joni and the man in Matthew. One is healed and the other is not, but that is not the one thing that stood out to me.
Jesus said to the man in the Bible story, "Get up, take up your bed and go home". He said to Joni, "I will give you the strength to get through this, one day at a time. Trust me."
Both of these persons must have prayed for healing. For one the answer was "yes", and he went back to a "regular" life. For the other the answer was "Not now", and she went on to bless thousands of others with her life and ministry. One knew the miracle of healing, and the other was granted a unique opportunity to trust and serve.
Now I do not know what happened to the man in Matthew, the Bible does not say any more about him. He may have gone on to be a giant in the early church, but we do not even know his name.
Listening to Joni's story, I know that her suffering has been real, her pain great, and her anguish and frustration hard to bear. I can't complain about anything in my life after comparing my paltry pains to hers, but I know that God has blessed her in ways that I can't even imagine.
Check out her story at:
http://www.johnankerberg.org/television-shows/
Wednesday, May 16, 2012
Could It Be An Inconvenient Truth?
From the reading in Matthew 8 for today:
" Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back."
Jesus had healed the two men who were beset with demons, but in doing so, had destroyed a whole lot of pigs. Two men were made whole, but the economy of the town was in shambles. Which was the most important?
If Jesus were to come into our churches today and overturned some of our traditions and programs would we take it as a cleansing or a great inconvenience? What if He did the same thing in my life?
I've got things in my life that I want to do, things that are good but maybe not the best. Would I want to be disrupted in my plans? Would I readily bow my knee and say "thy will be done"?
As usual, it is easy to sit here and write what I will do in this kind of situation, but what if it really comes up? Do I really want to know what Jesus thinks about my plans and actions?
It may be inconvenient, but the truth is what I need.
" Those who heard about it were angry about the drowned pigs. A mob formed and demanded that Jesus get out and not come back."
Jesus had healed the two men who were beset with demons, but in doing so, had destroyed a whole lot of pigs. Two men were made whole, but the economy of the town was in shambles. Which was the most important?
If Jesus were to come into our churches today and overturned some of our traditions and programs would we take it as a cleansing or a great inconvenience? What if He did the same thing in my life?
I've got things in my life that I want to do, things that are good but maybe not the best. Would I want to be disrupted in my plans? Would I readily bow my knee and say "thy will be done"?
As usual, it is easy to sit here and write what I will do in this kind of situation, but what if it really comes up? Do I really want to know what Jesus thinks about my plans and actions?
It may be inconvenient, but the truth is what I need.
Tuesday, May 15, 2012
Looking Forward to a Wasted Day?
So often life is like today. We are traveling to Chattanooga in a hour or so, to see some old friends for a couple of days and then going to a resort area in North Georgia to spend another short time with a couple that we shared life with back when our kids were small. We look forward to both of these visits even as we sit in the car for some hours to get there.
But what of the time spent getting to our destination? Is that part of life also? Is it just a transition time, a time to be gotten through and void of any importance?
The obvious answer is no, and I think of a phrase that I wrote down some years back. I got it from somewhere, but the source I do not remember.
"Life is what is going on while you are waiting for the future".
Jesus' disciples got after Him for sleeping in the back of the boat when the storm raged around them. They did not understand who He was. The analogy is not good, but I do not want to sleep through a day of my life, just waiting for a future event to happen. There is a day to be lived today, even a day traveling.
Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, but I don't want to hear Him rebuking me for wasting 6 or 7 hours on the road.
Life is the journey, not the destination. Let me be aware of that.
But what of the time spent getting to our destination? Is that part of life also? Is it just a transition time, a time to be gotten through and void of any importance?
The obvious answer is no, and I think of a phrase that I wrote down some years back. I got it from somewhere, but the source I do not remember.
"Life is what is going on while you are waiting for the future".
Jesus' disciples got after Him for sleeping in the back of the boat when the storm raged around them. They did not understand who He was. The analogy is not good, but I do not want to sleep through a day of my life, just waiting for a future event to happen. There is a day to be lived today, even a day traveling.
Jesus rebuked the wind and waves, but I don't want to hear Him rebuking me for wasting 6 or 7 hours on the road.
Life is the journey, not the destination. Let me be aware of that.
Monday, May 14, 2012
Centurion or Pharisee?
Where lies the road to a true and vibrant faith?
In Matthew, chapter 8, a Roman centurion speaks these words:
"Oh, no," said the captain. "I don't want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I'm a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
This man, a leader in the Roman garrison, had come to Jesus to ask for healing for his servant. When Jesus heard his reply to what He told him that He would do, Jesus told him:
"Taken aback, Jesus said, "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works.
This man was a Gentile, an outsider to the Jews who were the chosen of God. What was the difference in this man's faith and that of the Jews? In fact, how does the faith of the centurion compare with mine?
The Jews of Jesus day had it all religiously. They had the Word of God, the Old testament, the Law and the Prophets. They had the tradition and the practices that God had commanded their ancestors to initiate among those people. They had all the stories of how God had acted in the past to take care of them, and, even then, in that day, when they were under the hand of Rome, they knew they were better than their oppressors because they were "chosen".
But Jesus says to them and to me as well:
"I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life."
What do I rely on? My status, my money, my education, my job, my church and my role in it? I can say that my trust is in Jesus, but do I live that way? Am I the centurion or the Pharisee?
I have been blessed, sure, and I acknowledge that all of this comes from the hand of God, but I can't let those good things blind me to the truth.
True faith, and one that pleases God, comes through a Person and not through my circumstances.
In Matthew, chapter 8, a Roman centurion speaks these words:
"Oh, no," said the captain. "I don't want to put you to all that trouble. Just give the order and my servant will be fine. I'm a man who takes orders and gives orders. I tell one soldier, 'Go,' and he goes; to another, 'Come,' and he comes; to my slave, 'Do this,' and he does it."
This man, a leader in the Roman garrison, had come to Jesus to ask for healing for his servant. When Jesus heard his reply to what He told him that He would do, Jesus told him:
"Taken aback, Jesus said, "I've yet to come across this kind of simple trust in Israel, the very people who are supposed to know all about God and how he works.
This man was a Gentile, an outsider to the Jews who were the chosen of God. What was the difference in this man's faith and that of the Jews? In fact, how does the faith of the centurion compare with mine?
The Jews of Jesus day had it all religiously. They had the Word of God, the Old testament, the Law and the Prophets. They had the tradition and the practices that God had commanded their ancestors to initiate among those people. They had all the stories of how God had acted in the past to take care of them, and, even then, in that day, when they were under the hand of Rome, they knew they were better than their oppressors because they were "chosen".
But Jesus says to them and to me as well:
"I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life."
What do I rely on? My status, my money, my education, my job, my church and my role in it? I can say that my trust is in Jesus, but do I live that way? Am I the centurion or the Pharisee?
I have been blessed, sure, and I acknowledge that all of this comes from the hand of God, but I can't let those good things blind me to the truth.
True faith, and one that pleases God, comes through a Person and not through my circumstances.
Saturday, May 12, 2012
An Epitaph
I wrote yesterday about words, and I used the words written on a tombstone as evidence of a life lived in the right way. Even in the face of the severest trial of life, death, a woman had shown her faith by the way she had borne herself in front of those who knew her, and the words written about her gave a testimony of her Christian faith; in fact, her faith, in this instance, was her work.
This epitaph read: "The last privilege vouchsafed for her on earth was that of teaching her husband and children how a Christian ought to die".
One sentence in the reading for today from Matthew 8, as translated in The Message:
"Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."
The man Jesus was speaking to had come begging to be healed of his leprosy, showing his faith by his act of presenting himself to The Master in this way. Now he is instructed to again show himself to someone, in this case the priest, to bear witness to what had happened in his life.
I have said many times before, that it is much easier to sit in the quiet of the morning and write about what speaks to me in a particular Scripture, than it is to live out these words in the crucible of daily life.
The leper's life dramatically showed what had happened to him, what about mine?
Cleansed and grateful.
What a magnificent epitaph!
This epitaph read: "The last privilege vouchsafed for her on earth was that of teaching her husband and children how a Christian ought to die".
One sentence in the reading for today from Matthew 8, as translated in The Message:
"Your cleansed and grateful life, not your words, will bear witness to what I have done."
The man Jesus was speaking to had come begging to be healed of his leprosy, showing his faith by his act of presenting himself to The Master in this way. Now he is instructed to again show himself to someone, in this case the priest, to bear witness to what had happened in his life.
I have said many times before, that it is much easier to sit in the quiet of the morning and write about what speaks to me in a particular Scripture, than it is to live out these words in the crucible of daily life.
The leper's life dramatically showed what had happened to him, what about mine?
Cleansed and grateful.
What a magnificent epitaph!
Friday, May 11, 2012
Words Fitly Spoken
What are the true results of a life lived in the right way? Do they end up being washed away like the house built on the sand that was spoken about by Jesus in the reading for today? Words that are spoken by God to a person condemned by the way they had lived. Words recorded in Matthew 7, as translated in The Message:
21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Oh, those would be terrible words to hear. How tragic to have lived a life and spoken words, however true, for the wrong purpose.
As I look at this today, my mind turns back to a tombstone that we saw, I believe on Barbados, a few years back. Words of honor and not dishonor. It looked like this:
21-23"Knowing the correct password—saying 'Master, Master,' for instance— isn't going to get you anywhere with me. What is required is serious obedience—doing what my Father wills. I can see it now—at the Final Judgment thousands strutting up to me and saying, 'Master, we preached the Message, we bashed the demons, our God-sponsored projects had everyone talking.' And do you know what I am going to say? 'You missed the boat. All you did was use me to make yourselves important. You don't impress me one bit. You're out of here.'
Oh, those would be terrible words to hear. How tragic to have lived a life and spoken words, however true, for the wrong purpose.
As I look at this today, my mind turns back to a tombstone that we saw, I believe on Barbados, a few years back. Words of honor and not dishonor. It looked like this:
In case it is hard to read, it says, "The last privilege vouchsafed for her on earth was that of teaching her husband and children how a Christian ought to die".
Words of honor and not dishonor.
As Solomon records in Proverbs 25:11
A word fitly spoken is like apples of gold
In settings of silver.
In settings of silver.
Thursday, May 10, 2012
To Boldly Go....
Today, the Scripture reading is from the final chapter of Matthew, the 28th, where Jesus gives the eleven disciples what is commonly known as the Great Commission. From The Message it reads:
"Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."
These verses are used as an emphasis for foreign missions, for home missions and other Christian causes, but what do they personally mean for me at this stage of my life? They could mean all of the above, but they have meaning for me just for the day that is stretching out before me as I write and think on this early morning.
I know some things that are on my schedule, but I do not know how they will work out exactly. I may have plans to interact with some people, but I do not know all whose lives will intersect with mine in the hours of this particular day. How will I act? How will I show what I believe? What does God expect me to do today?
Jesus tells the disciples that He will be with them, not bodily as they saw Him that day, but in the form of the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit will be my helper also, in all of the places and situations that come my way, even today. I just need to heed His call and use His help in everything.
Believing what God has said in His Word and acting accordingly on these promises, I can be His faithful servant, even in my ordinary life today.
Or, in the words of the introduction to one of the Star Trek series adventures, "To boldly go...."
Jesus uses the command "Go". Where will I go today?
"Go out and train everyone you meet, far and near, in this way of life, marking them by baptism in the threefold name: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. Then instruct them in the practice of all I have commanded you. I'll be with you as you do this, day after day after day, right up to the end of the age."
These verses are used as an emphasis for foreign missions, for home missions and other Christian causes, but what do they personally mean for me at this stage of my life? They could mean all of the above, but they have meaning for me just for the day that is stretching out before me as I write and think on this early morning.
I know some things that are on my schedule, but I do not know how they will work out exactly. I may have plans to interact with some people, but I do not know all whose lives will intersect with mine in the hours of this particular day. How will I act? How will I show what I believe? What does God expect me to do today?
Jesus tells the disciples that He will be with them, not bodily as they saw Him that day, but in the form of the Holy Spirit. This same Spirit will be my helper also, in all of the places and situations that come my way, even today. I just need to heed His call and use His help in everything.
Believing what God has said in His Word and acting accordingly on these promises, I can be His faithful servant, even in my ordinary life today.
Or, in the words of the introduction to one of the Star Trek series adventures, "To boldly go...."
Jesus uses the command "Go". Where will I go today?
Wednesday, May 9, 2012
Divine Illness?
I plowed some ground this morning. One of the things I mentioned about this concept was to make myself available and be in a place where God might speak to me. So, this morning I got up and went to a Wednesday Bible Study where our teacher is going through the Book of Revelation. He is in chapter 3, finishing up where Jesus is speaking to the seven churches of Asia Minor (Turkey today).
No matter what I read in my study this morning (working on it after coming home from the session at church), my mind wants to go back to what was taught just a couple of hours previously. Jesus is speaking, through the pen of John, to the church at Laodicea and he writes:
15-17"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless."
It is easy for me to say that this is a picture of the church in America today, well, most of them anyway, and a picture of the average Christian American church-goer, but then I have to place my life alongside this standard. Is this the way that God sees me?
It is a picture of an apathetic, self sufficient person, outwardly recognizing God and giving lip service to a life of service to, and dependence on Him. Would the mug shot hanging on the wall under this description look like me?
Do I really want to hear Jesus say "You make me sick"?
Let it never be.
No matter what I read in my study this morning (working on it after coming home from the session at church), my mind wants to go back to what was taught just a couple of hours previously. Jesus is speaking, through the pen of John, to the church at Laodicea and he writes:
15-17"I know you inside and out, and find little to my liking. You're not cold, you're not hot—far better to be either cold or hot! You're stale. You're stagnant. You make me want to vomit. You brag, 'I'm rich, I've got it made, I need nothing from anyone,' oblivious that in fact you're a pitiful, blind beggar, threadbare and homeless."
It is easy for me to say that this is a picture of the church in America today, well, most of them anyway, and a picture of the average Christian American church-goer, but then I have to place my life alongside this standard. Is this the way that God sees me?
It is a picture of an apathetic, self sufficient person, outwardly recognizing God and giving lip service to a life of service to, and dependence on Him. Would the mug shot hanging on the wall under this description look like me?
Do I really want to hear Jesus say "You make me sick"?
Let it never be.
Tuesday, May 8, 2012
Plowed Ground, Again
The reading today is again about the Parable of the Seed, Sower, Ground. It is the portion of Matthew 13, where Jesus explains the meaning of the different situations with the sown seed.
I want to think again this morning about the ways that I can plow the ground ahead of the seed that will be planted. It is not just the seed of the Word of God that leads to salvation, but it is also the seed that God brings into my life each day, as He tries to instruct me in the way to live.
I can make myself available to listen.
I can put myself in places where God can speak. Places like church, or home group, or Bible study.
I can surround myself with those people that I feel will speak truth into my life, even if it might be hard sometimes.
I can open my Bible in those quiet times of study.
Putting myself in those right places is a good thing, but, maybe the most important is to have the right mindset before I get there. I need to pray before I get to any of those times that my mind would be open to hear what I need.
God, help me.....
I want to think again this morning about the ways that I can plow the ground ahead of the seed that will be planted. It is not just the seed of the Word of God that leads to salvation, but it is also the seed that God brings into my life each day, as He tries to instruct me in the way to live.
I can make myself available to listen.
I can put myself in places where God can speak. Places like church, or home group, or Bible study.
I can surround myself with those people that I feel will speak truth into my life, even if it might be hard sometimes.
I can open my Bible in those quiet times of study.
Putting myself in those right places is a good thing, but, maybe the most important is to have the right mindset before I get there. I need to pray before I get to any of those times that my mind would be open to hear what I need.
God, help me.....
Monday, May 7, 2012
The Parable of the Plowed Ground
Here is a portion of the reading for today, from Matthew 13 in The Message:
"What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams."
I guess I have always heard of this passage referred to as the Parable of the Seed or the Parable of the Sower, but, as I read it over again, it seems to me that it might also be the Parable of the the Ground. The sower may sow all day long and the seed may be fresh and good, but if the ground is not prepared, there is little or no harvest at all.
If the ground can represent my life, do I have any responsibility in this whole process of hearing, really hearing? Now, I do not want to get mixed up theologically, but it does seem that there are things I can do to facilitate the hearing of God's call in my life, to really hear.
I can put myself in places that His voice is easier to hear. I can take away distractions, and I can consciously make time to be in His presence. I can read the right things and watch and listen to voices that can bless my life, rather than confuse it or tear it down. There are choices that I can make that will make it easier for my ears to hear.
I think of the farmer, how he prepares the soil to receive the seed. But he does not stop there. He also continually tills the land during the growing season. This process lets the moisture sink in and also rids the soil of the weeds that will choke out the good plants, lessening the harvest. This illustration needs little explanation.
When I think of prepared land, my mind's eye sees an Amish farm, in the Lancaster, PA area, all neat and well ordered.
"What do you make of this? A farmer planted seed. As he scattered the seed, some of it fell on the road, and birds ate it. Some fell in the gravel; it sprouted quickly but didn't put down roots, so when the sun came up it withered just as quickly. Some fell in the weeds; as it came up, it was strangled by the weeds. Some fell on good earth, and produced a harvest beyond his wildest dreams."
I guess I have always heard of this passage referred to as the Parable of the Seed or the Parable of the Sower, but, as I read it over again, it seems to me that it might also be the Parable of the the Ground. The sower may sow all day long and the seed may be fresh and good, but if the ground is not prepared, there is little or no harvest at all.
If the ground can represent my life, do I have any responsibility in this whole process of hearing, really hearing? Now, I do not want to get mixed up theologically, but it does seem that there are things I can do to facilitate the hearing of God's call in my life, to really hear.
I can put myself in places that His voice is easier to hear. I can take away distractions, and I can consciously make time to be in His presence. I can read the right things and watch and listen to voices that can bless my life, rather than confuse it or tear it down. There are choices that I can make that will make it easier for my ears to hear.
I think of the farmer, how he prepares the soil to receive the seed. But he does not stop there. He also continually tills the land during the growing season. This process lets the moisture sink in and also rids the soil of the weeds that will choke out the good plants, lessening the harvest. This illustration needs little explanation.
When I think of prepared land, my mind's eye sees an Amish farm, in the Lancaster, PA area, all neat and well ordered.
When God sees my land, I wonder what He sees?
Sunday, May 6, 2012
Motives and Specifics
This morning at church, a man, who has worked with me in prison ministry, gave me a packet from a man that he supports financially. Several days ago, when I was trying to find a way to help another man who had recently gotten out of prison, I asked about a program that could help him regain his life again and start over in the work world. The packet I was given was in response to that requested need.
When I read the verses for today in Luke 12, I feel a tension in what I see in the world that needs to be done and what I do about it.
"Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."
Most every day in the mail comes one or more requests for financial help. Almost all of these are pleas from organizations and ministries that we have supported in the past. All of these are ones that are serving God and doing a good job (in our opinion). They are worthy of support, but often I just say "Oh, no, not again".
Where is the balance in all of this? How much can we do? The needs are great, sure, and the rewards for giving are sure, too, so what do we do? In order to avoid a guilt trip for not giving to a particular cause, or for not responding to an urgent (like we are going to have to shut down) situation, we just tear the letter up before reading. Maybe if we don't know about the need it won't count against us.
What does God see in all of this? Does He see us hoarding our resources for a future day and not giving to the current needs around us?
I want to be generous. I want to help where and when I feel led. I want God to be pleased with my efforts along this line. I want to be right.
I have no answers, but sense that prayer for guidance is the best way to go. I just want to bless as God has blessed me.
At least the motive seems to be right even if the specifics are hazy.
When I read the verses for today in Luke 12, I feel a tension in what I see in the world that needs to be done and what I do about it.
"Speaking to the people, he went on, "Take care! Protect yourself against the least bit of greed. Life is not defined by what you have, even when you have a lot."
Most every day in the mail comes one or more requests for financial help. Almost all of these are pleas from organizations and ministries that we have supported in the past. All of these are ones that are serving God and doing a good job (in our opinion). They are worthy of support, but often I just say "Oh, no, not again".
Where is the balance in all of this? How much can we do? The needs are great, sure, and the rewards for giving are sure, too, so what do we do? In order to avoid a guilt trip for not giving to a particular cause, or for not responding to an urgent (like we are going to have to shut down) situation, we just tear the letter up before reading. Maybe if we don't know about the need it won't count against us.
What does God see in all of this? Does He see us hoarding our resources for a future day and not giving to the current needs around us?
I want to be generous. I want to help where and when I feel led. I want God to be pleased with my efforts along this line. I want to be right.
I have no answers, but sense that prayer for guidance is the best way to go. I just want to bless as God has blessed me.
At least the motive seems to be right even if the specifics are hazy.
Saturday, May 5, 2012
Achtung,achtung...
When we were in Switzerland a bunch of years back, we would go down to the train station in the morning, look at the schedule of departures, and decide where we wanted to go to that day. We had come to Europe with a Eurail Pass, which allowed our family to travel about the region with no tickets. We just got on, sat down, and showed our passes to the conductor as he passed through the car. It was a great way to travel and allowed us to make up our itinerary as we went along.
We spent most of our time in Switzerland, in the German speaking area, and the word we heard as we walked through the Bahnhof (train station) was "Achtung, Achtung" Attention, attention, listen up!
That was what came to my mind as I read in The Message, the passage from Matthew 7, which reads:
"Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention."
It seems like Jesus is saying to those people listening on that hillside in Galilee, "Listen up, this stuff I am talking about is important. Don't look for an easy way to live a life that is pleasing to God, it is a full time job, but it is worth your while."
I look at my life then I read what Jesus had to say, and I hear a voice saying right to me:
Achtung, Achtung
We spent most of our time in Switzerland, in the German speaking area, and the word we heard as we walked through the Bahnhof (train station) was "Achtung, Achtung" Attention, attention, listen up!
That was what came to my mind as I read in The Message, the passage from Matthew 7, which reads:
"Don't look for shortcuts to God. The market is flooded with surefire, easygoing formulas for a successful life that can be practiced in your spare time. Don't fall for that stuff, even though crowds of people do. The way to life—to God!—is vigorous and requires total attention."
It seems like Jesus is saying to those people listening on that hillside in Galilee, "Listen up, this stuff I am talking about is important. Don't look for an easy way to live a life that is pleasing to God, it is a full time job, but it is worth your while."
I look at my life then I read what Jesus had to say, and I hear a voice saying right to me:
Achtung, Achtung
Friday, May 4, 2012
Do Unto Others......
"Here is a simple, rule-of-thumb guide for behavior: Ask yourself what you want people to do for you, then grab the initiative and do it for them. Add up God's Law and Prophets and this is what you get." (Matthew 7:1-12, The Message)
Consideration for others is the key to success in my own life. It is easy to take the passage above and make it all about me and what I want others to do for me and say "here is the action I need to take so that what I want to happen to me will come about". The whole object is to get my way, not show love to another.
No, it seems to me that the emphasis is first on the needs of others, as God shows them to me, and then I can serve. I can say, "this is how I would want this to work out in my life" and then try to make it happen for them, my emphasis would be in the right place, on them.
It may be a fine line, but the key is who I put first in my actions. Will it be others who are the most important, or me?
If I look upon the face of God, do I see His mercy and grace toward me as a selfish act on His part, a means to an end, or as love, to give me the best life possible?
When I was still in sin, Christ died for me. His act came first, and His first thought was for me.
Can I live that way for others?
Oh, let it be so.
Consideration for others is the key to success in my own life. It is easy to take the passage above and make it all about me and what I want others to do for me and say "here is the action I need to take so that what I want to happen to me will come about". The whole object is to get my way, not show love to another.
No, it seems to me that the emphasis is first on the needs of others, as God shows them to me, and then I can serve. I can say, "this is how I would want this to work out in my life" and then try to make it happen for them, my emphasis would be in the right place, on them.
It may be a fine line, but the key is who I put first in my actions. Will it be others who are the most important, or me?
If I look upon the face of God, do I see His mercy and grace toward me as a selfish act on His part, a means to an end, or as love, to give me the best life possible?
When I was still in sin, Christ died for me. His act came first, and His first thought was for me.
Can I live that way for others?
Oh, let it be so.
Thursday, May 3, 2012
One Day or Every One?
God Bless America,
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.
Listen to Kate Smith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2XLHyUWT94&feature=related
Today was the National Day of Prayer, and, as I sat in church this morning, the words of this song kept playing over in my brain. It is a song that chokes me up when I hear it sung, especially by a crowd of proud Americans.
As I thought about how much God has blessed this land and the people who are fortunate enough to live here, and He has, I thought about all the problems that beset us today. We have been blessed, but we have forgotten where those benefits come from. We have not brought them about on our own, especially those of us who enjoy them today. They have been given to us by God and bought with a price by those who have preserved them down through the years.
We are the recipients and the beneficiaries of a heritage that is the envy of all the world, but we so often neglect to show gratitude, first to God and secondly then to those who have preceded us. We are happy to take what we have, but remiss in our responsibilities to pass it intact to those who follow.
It is easy for me to stand and criticize those who lead in our country, and I am often cynical about politics and government, but what should I be doing instead? Praying for all those men and women in those places and asking God to give them the wisdom and courage that they need to govern well, seems to be the least I can do.
I am reminded again today of the verse in II Chronicles 7:14 which says in The Message:
"If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health."
The verse is speaking to me, and its answer to any country's problems does not hold true on just one day of the year.
It is for each and every day, and it is for me.
Land that I love.
Stand beside her, and guide her
Thru the night with a light from above.
From the mountains, to the prairies,
To the oceans, white with foam
God bless America, My home sweet home.
Listen to Kate Smith: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2XLHyUWT94&feature=related
Today was the National Day of Prayer, and, as I sat in church this morning, the words of this song kept playing over in my brain. It is a song that chokes me up when I hear it sung, especially by a crowd of proud Americans.
As I thought about how much God has blessed this land and the people who are fortunate enough to live here, and He has, I thought about all the problems that beset us today. We have been blessed, but we have forgotten where those benefits come from. We have not brought them about on our own, especially those of us who enjoy them today. They have been given to us by God and bought with a price by those who have preserved them down through the years.
We are the recipients and the beneficiaries of a heritage that is the envy of all the world, but we so often neglect to show gratitude, first to God and secondly then to those who have preceded us. We are happy to take what we have, but remiss in our responsibilities to pass it intact to those who follow.
It is easy for me to stand and criticize those who lead in our country, and I am often cynical about politics and government, but what should I be doing instead? Praying for all those men and women in those places and asking God to give them the wisdom and courage that they need to govern well, seems to be the least I can do.
I am reminded again today of the verse in II Chronicles 7:14 which says in The Message:
"If I ever shut off the supply of rain from the skies or order the locusts to eat the crops or send a plague on my people, and my people, my God-defined people, respond by humbling themselves, praying, seeking my presence, and turning their backs on their wicked lives, I'll be there ready for you: I'll listen from heaven, forgive their sins, and restore their land to health."
The verse is speaking to me, and its answer to any country's problems does not hold true on just one day of the year.
It is for each and every day, and it is for me.
Wednesday, May 2, 2012
Open The Blinds
In the middle of the section in Matthew 6, where Jesus talks about laying up treasure in heaven and not trying to serve two masters, there appear these verses:
"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!" (The Message)
Again there is the old contrast between light and darkness. There is no doubt that it is the light that I need to have, but what is He trying to tell me with this illustration? How do I "pull the blinds on my windows"?
If I pull these blinds, I can't see what is going on outside myself. I would be completely self-absorbed. Nothing would have any meaning except that which I carried around inside my world. Even if I turned on the lamps in the room, the light would be artificial and sterile.
But I am not supposed to shut myself off from the light, that light that comes from seeing what is going on around me, seeing the people that God brings into my life, opening my eyes to a world of possibilities that exist outside my personal windows.
No one comes into my life and just opens up a box of darkness, I have to choose to shut the blinds myself. God's light is out there, I just need to pull the cord and let it in.
God help me to open the blinds to all you have for me today.
"Your eyes are windows into your body. If you open your eyes wide in wonder and belief, your body fills up with light. If you live squinty-eyed in greed and distrust, your body is a dank cellar. If you pull the blinds on your windows, what a dark life you will have!" (The Message)
Again there is the old contrast between light and darkness. There is no doubt that it is the light that I need to have, but what is He trying to tell me with this illustration? How do I "pull the blinds on my windows"?
If I pull these blinds, I can't see what is going on outside myself. I would be completely self-absorbed. Nothing would have any meaning except that which I carried around inside my world. Even if I turned on the lamps in the room, the light would be artificial and sterile.
But I am not supposed to shut myself off from the light, that light that comes from seeing what is going on around me, seeing the people that God brings into my life, opening my eyes to a world of possibilities that exist outside my personal windows.
No one comes into my life and just opens up a box of darkness, I have to choose to shut the blinds myself. God's light is out there, I just need to pull the cord and let it in.
God help me to open the blinds to all you have for me today.
Tuesday, May 1, 2012
Speaking to God
For years I have struggled with saying, or praying, The Lord's Prayer aloud in a church service. I just don't seem to get the words out audibly when fellow worshipers around me are doing so. It may be meaningful to others, but the words seem to come out so fast that I do not have any time to reflect on what I am praying.
I have heard sermons on each of the lines of Jesus' prayer that He was teaching to His disciples. There is a richness in the words and how they are put together in this instance of how to speak to Our Heavenly Father. How can I internalize what is meant when the words and phrases come so quickly and glibly to my lips? Do I know what I am praying, or is it just a rote activity that takes place at a particular point in the order of service?
Here are Jesus' words as recorded in Matthew 6:
"“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."
I have heard sermons on each of the lines of Jesus' prayer that He was teaching to His disciples. There is a richness in the words and how they are put together in this instance of how to speak to Our Heavenly Father. How can I internalize what is meant when the words and phrases come so quickly and glibly to my lips? Do I know what I am praying, or is it just a rote activity that takes place at a particular point in the order of service?
Here are Jesus' words as recorded in Matthew 6:
"“Our Father in heaven,
hallowed be your name.
Your kingdom come,
your will be done,
on earth as it is in heaven.
Give us this day our daily bread,
and forgive us our debts,
as we also have forgiven our debtors.
And lead us not into temptation,
but deliver us from evil."
It seems much easier for me to sit and ponder the words and their meaning for me than to speak them aloud with others at the same time. I want to participate in corporate worship, but I want to mean what I pray.
This is not a condemnation of the use of The Lord's Prayer in church; far from it for they are Jesus' words, but it is a confession on my part of my inability to pray it with any meaning in that way, maybe not all of the time, but most of it anyway.
God, help me to get it right.
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