About 6 weeks ago, I learned that there was some abnormality in my body that needed further exploration. Yesterday the doctor told me that my biopsy results were all good, no cancer. I am deeply grateful, praising God. I should be elated, and in a sense I am. But in another part of my mind, I am dealing with a new sense of the inevitability of aging and illness, with this episode being a clear reminder that no day of the rest of my life should be wasted. Is it fear that is creating this urgency? Is it a normal reaction to what I perceive as a kind of ‘near miss’ with serious illness? I don’t really know.
Like many of us who have to keep up with life and responsibilities while we deal with our personal crises, I shelved my emotions. After learning the good news, I thought I could just go merrily on my way. An hour after hearing the doctor’s verdict, an emotional tidal wave hit, from which I am still trying to recover. Have you ever had a nightmare in which tragedy overtakes you, your family perishes or something equally horrible happens? Then, you wake up, and shaking off sleep, you feel a mixture of lingering fear and tremendous relief that it was only a dream! That is my state of mind today.
Why did the Lord allow me to walk this road? To claim to know all of His mind would be wrong, but I know this: He is reminding me to be about the business of the Kingdom of Heaven now. This is not the time to slack off, to get distracted with the temporal things of life. This is His Word to me and my prayer is that it will be renewed to you as well. “Wake up, O sleeper, rise from the dead, and Christ will shine on you.” Be very careful, then, how you live—not as unwise but as wise, making the most of every opportunity, because the days are evil. Therefore do not be foolish, but understand what the Lord’s will is." (Ephesians 5:14-17, NIV)
Thank you for praying for me in this time. CoffeeBreak will be back next Monday.
________________
May the Lord’s Presence be part of your Thanksgiving.
"Hallelujah!
Praise God in his holy house of worship,
praise him under the open skies;
Praise him for his acts of power,
praise him for his magnificent greatness;
Praise with a blast on the trumpet,
praise by strumming soft strings;
Praise him with castanets and dance,
praise him with banjo and flute;
Praise him with cymbals and a big bass drum,
praise him with fiddles and mandolin.
Let every living, breathing creature praise God!
Hallelujah!"
(Psalm 150, The Message)
Tuesday, November 24, 2009
Monday, November 23, 2009
God on the margins
Connie Schultz writes a column that appears in my local newspaper. She is a persuasive and provocative feminist. Today, she loosed her verbs on members of Congress who wish to restrict the use tax dollars to fund abortion. Schultz adopts the argument that respect for life is rooted in religion and therefore has no place in public policy. In so many words she says that God is irrelevant to the world in which we live, that belief is a hobby for fools and the self-deluded. We are a nation now governed by an elite that sides with the likes of Schultz. Most of our legislators, judges, and intellectuals continue to profess religious belief. They do so, however, as a sentimental custom, not as a life-shaping commitment. God, if He exists at all, is relegated to the margins of life. Of course, that kind of God is no god at all!
I cannot do much about Connie Schultz’s opinions, but I can examine my own life for the same kind of thinking.
Am I pushing God to the edges of my life, refusing His will or wisdom in favor of my own convenience?
Am I living on my own terms even though they contradict what the Scripture reveals to be the mind of God in the matter?
How can we claim to love and serve God if we try to wall off parts of our lives from Him? Jesus confronts us with this question: "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46, NIV) Perfectly aligning life with God’s will is the true disciple’s desire. Yes, I have inconsistencies in my life that anyone will find should they delve into my actions. I do not perfectly practice what I preach. I confess that with sorrow and with the hope that I am not a rebel, just ignorant! It is one thing to not know the will of God and thus to fail to do it. It is quite another to know what He commands and yet to ignore Him. The Bible reminds us that we sin as much by omission as we do by commission. "You are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil." (James 4:16-17, The Message)
Ms. Schultz probably does not realize that when she shakes her fist at moral absolutes, she is breaking the first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3, NIV) That does not simply prohibit worshipping a small clay idol, or adopting the gods of a foreign religion! It is a call to humility of Self, to submission of our minds and hearts to the One True God. The stark and simple fact is that unless one has settled the issue of the primacy of God in all things, life will be disordered and increasing chaos will result. “Lord, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.” - St. Augustine
Disciple, I urge you to place yourself – every attitude, every assumption, every value – at the Throne of God. Invite the Holy Spirit to make known to you any part of you that is not yielded to His mastery. Pray that prayer which David prayed in humble confession; "What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. … Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you." (Psalm 51:6, 16, The Message)
___________
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me Jesus take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me Savior wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord I give myself to Thee.
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessings fall on me.
I surrender all,
I surrender all.
All to Thee my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
I Surrender All
Van De Venter, Judson / Weeden, Winfield S.
© Public Domain
I cannot do much about Connie Schultz’s opinions, but I can examine my own life for the same kind of thinking.
Am I pushing God to the edges of my life, refusing His will or wisdom in favor of my own convenience?
Am I living on my own terms even though they contradict what the Scripture reveals to be the mind of God in the matter?
How can we claim to love and serve God if we try to wall off parts of our lives from Him? Jesus confronts us with this question: "Why do you call me, ‘Lord, Lord,’ and do not do what I say?" (Luke 6:46, NIV) Perfectly aligning life with God’s will is the true disciple’s desire. Yes, I have inconsistencies in my life that anyone will find should they delve into my actions. I do not perfectly practice what I preach. I confess that with sorrow and with the hope that I am not a rebel, just ignorant! It is one thing to not know the will of God and thus to fail to do it. It is quite another to know what He commands and yet to ignore Him. The Bible reminds us that we sin as much by omission as we do by commission. "You are full of your grandiose selves. All such vaunting self-importance is evil. In fact, if you know the right thing to do and don’t do it, that, for you, is evil." (James 4:16-17, The Message)
Ms. Schultz probably does not realize that when she shakes her fist at moral absolutes, she is breaking the first of the Ten Commandments: "You shall have no other gods before me." (Exodus 20:3, NIV) That does not simply prohibit worshipping a small clay idol, or adopting the gods of a foreign religion! It is a call to humility of Self, to submission of our minds and hearts to the One True God. The stark and simple fact is that unless one has settled the issue of the primacy of God in all things, life will be disordered and increasing chaos will result. “Lord, you have made us for yourself and our hearts are restless till they rest in Thee.” - St. Augustine
Disciple, I urge you to place yourself – every attitude, every assumption, every value – at the Throne of God. Invite the Holy Spirit to make known to you any part of you that is not yielded to His mastery. Pray that prayer which David prayed in humble confession; "What you’re after is truth from the inside out. Enter me, then; conceive a new, true life. … Going through the motions doesn’t please you, a flawless performance is nothing to you." (Psalm 51:6, 16, The Message)
___________
All to Jesus I surrender,
All to Him I freely give;
I will ever love and trust Him,
In His presence daily live.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Humbly at His feet I bow,
Worldly pleasures all forsaken,
Take me Jesus take me now.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Make me Savior wholly Thine;
Let me feel the Holy Spirit,
Truly know that Thou art mine.
All to Jesus I surrender,
Lord I give myself to Thee.
Fill me with Thy love and power;
Let Thy blessings fall on me.
I surrender all,
I surrender all.
All to Thee my blessed Savior,
I surrender all.
I Surrender All
Van De Venter, Judson / Weeden, Winfield S.
© Public Domain
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