You CAN do it!

Who among us has not had moments when we feel inadequate, simply not up to the task? 
Am I up to the challenge of this new job?
Am I ready to help my child into the new season of life just ahead?
Can I survive the loss of my spouse?
Will I please God today in my life and work?

I readily admit that I have heard those questions and many others bringing whispers of doubt and fear to the doorway of my mind! There is an answer that lies outside of my own skills or strengths. The Lord God promises to be my Rock and Resource.

In writing of the Old Testament preacher, Zechariah, we find this passage. "This is the word of the LORD to Zerubbabel: ‘Not by might nor by power, but by my Spirit,’ says the LORD Almighty. "What are you, O mighty mountain? Before Zerubbabel you will become level ground. Then he will bring out the capstone to shouts of ‘God bless it! God bless it!’"

Then the word of the LORD came to me: "The hands of Zerubbabel have laid the foundation of this temple; his hands will also complete it. Then you will know that the LORD Almighty has sent me to you. "Who despises the day of small things? Men will rejoice when they see the plumb line in the hand of Zerubbabel. " (Zechariah 4:6-10, NIV)

Zerubbabel was leading the work of rebuilding the Temple in Jerusalem many years after its destruction by invaders. He had all kinds of difficulties -  clearing the rubble and meeting the threats from the nations that surrounded Jerusalem. His greatest challenge was motivating the people to do the work when it dragged on and failed to meet their expectations of a Temple as glorious as the one that Solomon had built.

His call was to do something BIG and his resources were limited so, using the preacher, God sent him a word to encourage his efforts, reminding him that his greatest resource was the Spirit of God and that when he finished the task, everyone would realize that it was God, not Zerubbabel who made it happen.

What does that ancient story have to do with you and me?  We, too, take the promise of His power to be in us, making us capable, resourcing us with everything we need. 

You and I, in the purposes of God, are also temple builders. God, the Spirit, lives in us. The Word says “our bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God.”  He desires a way of life that honors Him, that allows His majestic grace and love to be on display to the people with whom we live.  Naturally, I am not equipped for such a high calling. Living a life where God’s love is consistently shown, where my daily actions are graced with goodness is a huge challenge.

Given that we are flawed by a sinful nature, the idea of being God's temple seems ridiculous - except that I am reminded that it is "not by might, nor by power, but by My Spirit."

In Ephesians God's promise to empower us is clear. Paul writes, "God saved you by his grace when you believed. And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God. Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it. For we are God’s masterpiece. He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago." (Ephesians 2:8-10, NLT)

The Good News is that God’s love is greater than all my failure! (and yours, too!) Christ Jesus does for us that we cannot do for ourselves, making us right with God, taking away our guilt and shame, and granting us the gift of the Holy Spirit.

Take the Word to heart. Look up with faith. Ask for strength remain steady, for greater wisdom to see the solutions, and for release of Divine resources so that anyone who walks through life with you will say “Look what God is doing!" And, in that, you will have accomplished the calling we each share - to glorify the God who saved us.

Here is a promise. Paul writes after nearly dying in a time of awful persecution. “We think you ought to know, dear brothers and sisters, about the trouble we went through in the province of Asia. We were crushed and overwhelmed beyond our ability to endure, and we thought we would never live through it. In fact, we expected to die.

But as a result, we stopped relying on ourselves and learned to rely only on God, who raises the dead. And he did rescue us from mortal danger, and he will rescue us again. We have placed our confidence in him, and he will continue to rescue us.”   (2 Corinthians 1:9-10, NLT)

Put your confidence in the Lord and He will bring you safely home! Amen.

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Video of this blog

https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55

My really mean Mom

(20 years ago I wrote this about my Mom.
She was an amazing lady who went on ‘home’ in 2011. Enjoy my memories.)

I'm writing this while watching my Mom sleep in a hospital bed. Occasionally she sort of rouses to recognize that I'm here, but mostly the morphine has her in a haze of semi-consciousness. It's my privilege to sit here by her bed, but it's oh, so hard to see her in such pain.

She was on a stepladder on Saturday evening changing a light bulb and she fell breaking her shoulder and hip! Mom doesn't like to acknowledge that she's days shy of 70 years of age, hence being on a ladder when she might have been more cautious. I'd scold her, but I'll probably be just like her 20 years from now - resisting every limitation of age with kicking and screaming.

It's Mother's Day and while I was leading the worship service at church this morning, I was thinking about my Mom; worrying really. In between worries, I remembered - Somehow thinking back to the way she was when I was 10 or 12, made thinking about the 'now' less frightening. I hated that she was a no-nonsense Mom then, but sure appreciate it now.

She believed in making her kids self-reliant, disciplined, and capable of understanding life's choices have consequences. I hated making my bed to her specifications, (lines on the bedspread straight, corners tight!) and I despised that I had to keep my room picked up neatly (no dirty socks on the floor, all clothes on hangars, thank you!) - but from those little daily chores, I learned that IF a person tends to the simple stuff, the harder stuff in life tends to fall into place, too.

She didn't let me think of letting school work go. It aggravated me that other kids could blow off assignments and that their Mom would cover for them with written excuses. Mine said, "you deal with it" and let me take the detention or whatever was coming my way for my irresponsibility. It taught me that deadlines mean something and to get my work done, on time!

She modeled the same diligence she expected of me. I can't remember when she didn't have dinner ready, when the laundry was piled up, or when the house was a mess! I didn't her complain too often either. She showed us that life was about doing what needed to be done. Yep, there's a lot of Mom in me.

So, sitting her watching her face, a lot more lined than the face that I remember when I close my eyes, I believe she'll be OK, because she's one tough lady and because she trusts God. I oughta know, cause she raised me to be tough and to trust Him too!

An anonymous author penned this in tribute to his Mom -- "Because of my mother, I missed out on lots of things other kids experienced. I've never been caught shoplifting, vandalizing other’s property, or ever arrested for any crime. It was all her fault. I didn't get drunk, didn't take up smoking, wasn't allowed to stayed out all night, or a million other things that other kids did. Sundays were reserved for church, and I didn't miss ever, that I can remember unless I was deathly ill. And, I knew better than to ask to spend the night with a friend on Saturdays. Now I'm a God-fearing, educated, honest adult. I am doing my best to be a mean parent just like Mom was. I think that’s what is wrong with the world today. It just doesn’t have enough mean moms anymore."

Forgive me for this little reverie... I'm only thinking about my Mom today!

• "Her children stand and bless her. Her husband praises her: “There are many virtuous and capable women in the world, but you surpass them all!” Charm is deceptive, and beauty does not last; but a woman who fears the Lord will be greatly praised. Reward her for all she has done. Let her deeds publicly declare her praise." (Proverbs 31:28-31, NLT)
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To all the Mom’s out there – HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY.

I’m gonna work for His ways

The news of a friend’s death hit me like a sledgehammer blow. Last Monday she slipped and fell, and she was critical, then a day later, she was gone! It made me sad and angry all in the same moment. Somewhere deep in me I knew that this tragedy was yet another evidence of the brokenness in this world that is counter to what God intends for His creation. We were made for joy, for life, to know Him and worship Him with delight, which I do. But then come those awful days, those tragic moments, ultimately coming from Evil that mars perfection.

I hate the suffering that sin causes in this world.
When power is used to demean or abuse others – it outrages me.
When I learn about someone who willfully abuses a child, I am deeply angered.
When I learn of the greed of corporation that causes people to die from some toxic product, I am ready to go to battle.

Such anger is right and good. Jesus Himself was angered by abuse and misuse of people, by the pain and suffering that was introduced to this broken world because of evil.

In the 11th chapter of John's Gospel, we find Jesus in a little village where He faced pain. Despite the request of Martha and Mary for Him to come and heal their brother, Lazarus, He waited and when He arrived the man was already dead four days. Naturally, He walked into a scene of great sorrow.

What happened next is stunning. When Mary saw Jesus, she fell at his feet, crying accusing words.  "Lord, if only you had been here, my brother would not have died." When Jesus saw her weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. "Where have you put him?" he asked them. They told him, "Lord, come and see." (John 11:32-34, NLT)

Why did Jesus get angry at that moment? 

Because He knew that Death was the ultimate result of the work of Satan and human disobedience! What God made and declared “it is good” was marred by the entrance of evil into Creation.

God is the Giver of Life, the Lover of Humanity, Light and Joy. Death is none of those things. As Mary and her friends surrounded Him that day, He was stirred to anger because of the suffering visited on people that God loved by sin and the Devil. Another translation of that passage tells us that Jesus was "deeply moved in His spirit."  It was an anger that caused Him to go to the tomb and command, "Lazarus, come out!"  

At that moment a dead man was restored to life and walked into the light. Jesus was the Lord of Glory demonstrating the power of God over sin and death! He had told Martha moments earlier,"I am the resurrection and the life. He who believes in me will live, even though he dies." (John 11:25, NIV)

Christian let’s care enough to become angry but to remember to act redemptively like our Father in Heaven does. Sin angers God but He does not choose to erase this Creation and start over. He loves! He sent a Deliverer, Jesus Christ. God’s anger moves Him to reach out with amazing grace that offers forgiveness and restoration, in place of guilt and alienation. This is truth that -"While we were still sinners, Christ died for us." (Romans 5:8, NIV) By that death, He made life possible.

When we become followers of Christ Jesus we are inducted into His holy cohort, commissioned to two tasks that are parallel –
to invite others to receive the salvation that restores them to Life and right relationship with their Father, AND
to work to make the rule of God and good visible in this present world.

We are sent with a message of salvation and the promise of an Eternal home. In addition to that work, we must, like our Father, care about hunger, abuse, oppression, racial hate, war and such things. With great wisdom and the leadership of the Holy Spirit, we allow ourselves to feel angry enough to give ourselves to bring about change!

Ponder what we learn of Jesus’ work in this passage – “Jesus began a tour of the nearby towns and villages, preaching and announcing the Good News about the Kingdom of God. He took his twelve disciples with him  along with some women who had been cured of evil spirits and diseases. Among them were Mary Magdalene, from whom he had cast out seven demons.”  (Luke 8)

Paul preaching included a message of God’s rule on earth, too. In Acts 19, we learn of his work in Ephesus.  “Paul went to the synagogue and preached boldly for the next three months, arguing persuasively about the Kingdom of God.”

Make no mistake, this is not about creating a new theocracy or anointing some politician as the savior of humanity. Nothing corrupts the true Gospel more than marrying it to political power. The good we share comes from within, a changed heart that is born anew through Christ Jesus.  Jesus says our true influence is like ‘salt and light’ – influencing, healing, preserving, and bringing clarity.

We do NOT compel with power; we convince with Love that flows sacrificially just like the love of Christ who gave Himself for us. Let’s get angry, then give ourselves to Him – radically – to do Kingdom work.

Here is a word from the Word. May it inspire us to hunger for the Kingdom come and to work with the Oen whose ‘yoke’ fits well even as we labor for Him.
At that time Jesus prayed this prayer: “My Father has entrusted everything to me. No one truly knows the Son except the Father, and no one truly knows the Father except the Son and those to whom the Son chooses to reveal him.”

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you. Let me teach you, because I am humble and gentle at heart, and you will find rest for your souls. For my yoke is easy to bear, and the burden I give you is light.”  (Matthew 11)

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Video of this blog  https://www.youtube.com/@JerScott55