What was he thinking?

A local police officer visited the gravesite of an old friend. At 2 am, he fired his weapon four times into the ground. When questioned he said the shots were a ‘celebration.’ It’s one of those things that leaves you wondering what he was thinking. 

A woman told me about the failure of her marriage after 30 years. Her husband, who had been a great father and seemingly devoted spouse, quit his job and left the family. He started living like a teenager again. What is he thinking? 

20/20 (ABC News) reported last week about a 40 year-old mother and wife in small town America who became wrapped up emotionally with a 14 year boy, sending explicit text messages and engaging in inappropriate intimacy. Now she’s a convicted sex offender, disgraced in the eyes of the town she once served as mayor! What was she thinking?

Just the smallest amount of compromise or dishonesty can lead a person into situations that are incredibly stupid. How easily we are ‘wrapped up’ in a web of lies, confused by moral relativity, or duped by seduction if we listen for but a moment to the lies of Self or Satan. The story of Eve’s deception in the Garden is a powerful lesson. Genesis 3 tells us that the serpent came with words that offered wisdom, slyly accusing the Lord of withholding a blessing from Eve by His demand that she and Adam not eat from the ‘tree at the center of the Garden.’  She listened and was deceived!

Proverbs offers this sound counsel: "Don’t lose sight of common sense and discernment. Hang on to them, for they will refresh your soul. They are like jewels on a necklace." (Proverbs 3:21-22, NLT) Disciple, the Holy Spirit lives in us and His counsel is always ours. He will keep us from deception unless we make ourselves blind and deaf by disobedience. It is much more difficult to try to escape the maze of confusion than it is to not enter it in the first place! Don’t let it be asked of you: “What was he thinking?” Reject temptation at its first appearance. Stay connected with friends who are willing to ‘speak the truth in love’ into your life when you need it.  Most importantly, be responsive to the Spirit of God.

Here’s a word from the Word. It is both cautionary and a comforting promise for those who would serve Christ faithfully all their days.

"God means what he says. What he says goes. His powerful Word is sharp as a surgeon’s scalpel, cutting through everything, whether doubt or defense, laying us open to listen and obey. Nothing and no one is impervious to God’s Word. We can’t get away from it—no matter what. Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help." (Hebrews 4:12-16, The Message)

____________________

Open our eyes, Lord,

We want to see Jesus,

To reach out and touch Him,

And say that we love Him.

Open our ears, Lord,

And help us to listen.

Open our eyes, Lord,

We want to see Jesus.

Open Our Eyes

Cull, Bob

© 1976 Maranatha! Music (Admin. by The Copyright Company)

CCLI License No. 810055

Seeing the miracles?

Seeing the miracles?

I'm often stressed, a person who likes things done right and efficiently.   I do not say that as a matter of pride.  Too often my driven nature leads me to sin against God and others. Some of my deepest regrets are the result of putting my work first and failing to create gaps in time to savor a conversation - to just be 'in the moment.'  My obsession with ‘getting things done’ has robbed me of appreciation for many of life's miracles.

A story in the gospel of John tells of people who were so committed to their pre-conceptions, so gripped by their ideas about what God wanted, that they missed a miracle that was right in front of their eyes.  Take a look –

"Inside the city, near the Sheep Gate, was the pool of Bethesda, with five covered porches. Crowds of sick people—blind, lame, or paralyzed— lay on the porches. One of the men lying there had been sick for thirty-eight years.  When Jesus saw him and knew how long he had been ill, he asked him, “Would you like to get well?”

“I can’t, sir,” the sick man said, “for I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred up. While I am trying to get there, someone else always gets in ahead of me.”

Jesus told him, “Stand up, pick up your sleeping mat, and walk!” Instantly, the man was healed! He rolled up the mat and began walking!”

What an amazing development, a cause for celebration and rejoicing, right?   After 38 years a man is walking, whole, on his feet!  You would think that everybody who saw him would be infected with his joy, overcome with his excitement.  And, you would be wrong!    Read on -  

But this miracle happened on the Sabbath day. So the Jewish leaders objected.

They said to the man who was cured, “You can’t work on the Sabbath! It’s illegal to carry that sleeping mat!”

He replied, “The man who healed me said to me, ‘Pick up your sleeping mat and walk.’ ”

“Who said such a thing as that?” they demanded. The man didn’t know, for Jesus had disappeared into the crowd.

But afterward Jesus found him in the Temple and told him, “Now you are well; so stop sinning, or something even worse may happen to you.”"

(John 5:2-14, NLT)

I am amazed by their love for tradition that kept them from seeing the miracle! A man was healed after 38 years of being crippled and they only saw a man carrying his bedroll in violation of their religious traditions!   That was not the only time in Jesus' life when He ran into people who missed the miracle. In the 12th chapter of Matthew, we are told that he healed a man with a deformed hand.   There, too, the Pharisees only saw that He did it on the Sabbath, in violation of their prohibition against doing 'work,' so instead of rejoicing that a man was healed, they "discussed plan to kill Jesus."  

Yes, that is how easy it is to miss the miracle when we're consumed by our own pre-conceived ideas. I've missed my share of miracles, too, because I was focused on my plans, my ideas, my needs and unwilling to enter into the experience of another person in a way that let me feel their wonder, share their joy (or sorrow),  or see what God was really doing in and/or through them.

Today, the God of wonder is at work!  And He will be working in your neighborhood, and mine, too. The question is, will we perceive His work?

Will we rejoice with those in whom He is working?

Here's a word from the Word, Jesus' words of frustration with those who would not see what He was doing.   Let these words challenge you to celebrate the wonder, to open your eyes to the miracles of the hand of God who is here, now!    

“To what can I compare this generation?  They are like children sitting in the marketplaces and calling out to others: ”‘We played the flute for you, and you did not dance; we sang a dirge, and you did not mourn.’ For John came neither eating nor drinking, and they say, ‘He has a demon.’ The Son of Man came eating and drinking, and they say, ‘Here is a glutton and a drunkard, a friend of tax collectors and “sinners.”’ But wisdom is proved right by her actions.”

Then Jesus began to denounce the cities in which most of his miracles had been performed, because they did not repent. “Woe to you, Korazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes. But I tell you, it will be more bearable for Tyre and Sidon on the day of judgment than for you. And you, Capernaum, will you be lifted up to the skies? No, you will go down to the depths. If the miracles that were performed in you had been performed in Sodom, it would have remained to this day." (Matthew 11:16-23, NIV)

_____________________

Lord of all creation-

Of water, earth, and sky;

Heavens are your tabernacle,

Glory to the Lord on high!

Early in the morning,

I will celebrate the Light. 

When I stumble in the darkness,

I will call Your name by night.

God of wonders beyond our galaxy,

You are holy, holy!

The universe declares your majesty,

You are holy, holy!

Lord of heaven and earth!

Lord of heaven and earth!

God Of Wonders

Steve Hindalong

New Spring Publishing© 2000

CCLI License No. 810055

Like Ivory Soap, 99.44% pure?

Our culture is corrupt! For reasons I cannot fully grasp, much of our entertainment is packed with lewd, crude, and/or shocking content. Foul, profane language spews even from children. Many young women seem not to understand the difference between dressing beautifully and dressing to seduce. Each week brings yet another story of some prominent person in a leadership position who is revealed as a rapist, a thief, a hypocrite, or a liar. Our media seems to celebrate the sordid, ugly details more even than just reporting them. It happens so often that trusting our pastors, political leaders, teachers, and physicians is becoming a quaint relic of the past.

My goal is not just to be different. I want a pure heart! Jesus promises that "the pure in heart, … will see God." (Matthew 5:8, NIV) To understand this as only a promise of heaven is to miss a huge part of the blessing. In The Message, the larger intent of His words emerges. “You’re blessed when you get your inside world—your mind and heart—put right. Then you can see God in the outside world." When our actions are aligned to the will of God, our hearts full of the Spirit of God, and our thoughts shaped by the wisdom of God; a wholeness of being lets us see the real world of love and beauty that exists in the plan of the Creator.

Those pure in heart can love without getting tangled up in lust.
Those pure in heart can give without twisting generosity into a means of manipulation.
Those pure in heart can trust God without needing to ignore the problems that are part of life.

The best part of being a person of true purity is the amazing impact on the world he or she can have. Some Christians mistakenly adopt the error of the ancient Pharisees who thought that purity was best protected by isolation. They tried valiantly to live in a way that pleased God by avoiding those that they thought would contaminate them. Even as they walked the streets they held their robes close to prevent them from brushing against the ‘ordinary sinners’ among whom they lived. Jesus told them they were missing the point. The pure are part of God’s plan to save the world. He says that we function like ‘salt and light.’ We think of salt primarily as a flavor. He knew it as a preservative. He said that we don’t light a lamp only to put it under a basket! We carry it to a room to dispel the darkness.

True purity, not mere piety, does change people who come into contact with it. It’s a beautiful thing not reserved only for children, little church ladies, and effeminate men! Purity comes from intimate communication with our holy Father. Purity is not just the absence of filth; it is wholeness of God in us. Piety comes from our own efforts to ‘be good’ and usually comes off as either Pharisaical superiority or a rigid restraint of self. So we pray, "Cleanse me … and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow. … Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me." (Psalm 51:7,10, NIV)

Pray for purity. When the Spirit leads you away from filth, turn your eyes on Jesus. Here’s a word from Word. May the Lord make it a purifying fire that burns up the sin and causes a beautiful holiness to emerge in us. "Now that you have purified yourselves by obeying the truth so that you have sincere love for your brothers, love one another deeply, from the heart. For you have been born again, not of perishable seed, but of imperishable, through the living and enduring word of God. …  
And this is the word that was preached to you. Therefore, rid yourselves of all malice and all deceit, hypocrisy, envy, and slander of every kind. Like newborn babies, crave pure spiritual milk, so that by it you may grow up in your salvation." (1 Peter 1:22-2:2, NIV)

Privileged beyond imagination!

This past Sunday I baptized four adults whose range of experience was dramatic. Sathya and Shagun come from a Hindu background, well-educated and prosperous, yet hungering to know the Living God. Shawn came from a past on the streets were he dealt drugs and watched numerous friends die violently. Jon is a middle-aged guy whose found the Lord through many trials along the way. They are all now ‘in Christ,’ members of His Body, the Church. They once lived in completely separate worlds but are now ‘brothers and sisters’ in God’s family who share a common Father and inheritance.

The Bible says "Your baptism in Christ was not just washing you up for a fresh start. It also involved dressing you in an adult faith wardrobe—Christ’s life, the fulfillment of God’s original promise. In Christ’s family there can be no division into Jew and non-Jew, slave and free, male and female. Among us you are all equal. That is, we are all in a common relationship with Jesus Christ. Also, since you are Christ’s family, then you are Abraham’s famous “descendant,” heirs according to the covenant promises." (Galatians 3:26-29, The Message) The wonder of the Gospel is that it erases the guilt of our past, restores our relationship with God now, and puts us in line to receive the promises first given to the ‘father of the faithful,’ Abraham!

Abraham was invited to journey to a land that God would give to him if he would receive the promise by faith. God told him “I will bless you; I will make your name great, and you will be a blessing. I will bless those who bless you, and whoever curses you I will curse; and all peoples on earth will be blessed through you.” (Genesis 12:2-3, NIV) It was not his intelligence, his stellar morality, or his attractiveness that earned these promises. They were the Lord’s gift of grace, accepted through obedient expectation. Once those blessings were available only to those who descended from Abraham. Now, they come to all of us who receive Christ. "Through Christ Jesus, God has blessed the Gentiles with the same blessing he promised to Abraham, so that we who are believers might receive the promised Holy Spirit through faith." (Galatians 3:14, NLT)

I am among the privileged and the blessed. I am God’s son, one who is able to claim the promises of abundant life and eternal life. Is this cause for pride? God forbid! Nothing I have done has brought me to this place. God loved, God pursued, God saved. Like Abraham, the only thing I have done is to accept the gift and obey the call. Those baptized on Sunday have done the same and now share the heritage of all the children of God.

Are you ‘in Christ,’ friend?

Are you receiving the promises, being blessed and being a blessing?

Ponder this word from the Word that reveal the true identity of those who live in faith.

"Understand, then, that those who believe are children of Abraham. The Scripture foresaw that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, and announced the gospel in advance to Abraham: “All nations will be blessed through you.”
So those who have faith are blessed along with Abraham, the man of faith. All who rely on observing the law are under a curse, for it is written: “Cursed is everyone who does not continue to do everything written in the Book of the Law.” Clearly no one is justified before God by the law, because, “The righteous will live by faith.” (Galatians 3:7-12, NIV)

___________

A New Name In Glory

I was once a sinner but I came

Pardon to receive from my Lord

This was freely given and I found

That He always kept His word

In the Book 'tis written

Saved by grace

O the joy that came to my soul

Now I am forgiven and I know

By the blood I am made whole

There's a new name

Written down in glory

And it's mine

O yes it's mine

And the white-robed

Angels sing the story

A sinner has come home

For there's a new name

Written down in glory

And it's mine

O yes it's mine

With my sins forgiven

I am bound for heaven

Nevermore to roam

© Public Domain

Charles Austin Miles

Pulling that load over the mountain!

One of my favorite childhood stories was The Little Engine That Could. The tale has been around for a hundred years, teaching children about sticking to their task. A little engine used to switch railcars in the local yard is called on to pull a long train of freight over a mountain. It succeeds while repeating “I think I can.”  We all go through seasons in our lives that demand much of us.  Responsibilities settle on us for which we feel only marginally prepared.  Situations develop that feel like they will drag us to a standstill.  I know that I am tempted, from time to time, to throw off the load and run!

While determination can be helpful as we chug along repeating “I think I can” – it has its limits! Optimism is no substitute for faith. The Believer’s blessing is the promise of the Spirit Who "dwells with you and will be in you." (John 14:17, NKJV)  We shift our focus from our determination to His empowerment. Our inspiration is no longer just, “I think I can;” it is “I know He will!”  When I feel the weight of many responsibilities, my natural response is to lean into the load and pull with all my might. Too often when I start to huff and puff, “I think I can, I think I can”   I become exhausted, get frustrated, grow angry, and discouragement usually follows.

Jesus offers us a better way. It is not retirement. It is not shirking responsibility. It is not finding some easier place. He says, "Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls." (Matthew 11:29, NIV) A yoke was a device that balanced the load, that enables work to be shared. It is how we work with the Lord, not for Him. On this Monday morning, as the work week stretches out in front of us we need to make a decision to take the grace that is offered to us. God cares about that deadline. He knows the pressures that your boss is putting on you. He cares about those circumstances that defy your attempts to find an answer.

Let Him be your strength. Here’s an invitation. Will you accept it? "Now that we know what we have—Jesus, this great High Priest with ready access to God—let’s not let it slip through our fingers. We don’t have a priest who is out of touch with our reality. He’s been through weakness and testing, experienced it all—all but the sin. So let’s walk right up to him and get what he is so ready to give. Take the mercy, accept the help." (Hebrews 4:14-16, The Message)

"Those who wait on the Lord Shall renew their strength; They shall mount up with wings like eagles, They shall run and not be weary, They shall walk and not faint." (Isaiah 40:31, NKJV)

______________

What A Friend we have in Jesus

All our sins and griefs to bear

What a privilege to carry

Ev'rything to God in prayer

O what peace we often forfeit

O what needless pain we bear

All because we do not carry

Ev'rything to God in prayer

Have we trials and temptations

Is there trouble anywhere

We should never be discouraged

Take it to the Lord in prayer

Can we find a friend so faithful

Who will all our sorrows share

Jesus know our ev'ry weakness

Take it to the Lord in prayer

Are we weak and heavy laden

Cumbered with a load of care

Precious Savior still our refuge

Take it to the Lord in prayer

Do thy friends despise forsake thee

Take it to the Lord in prayer

In His arms He'll take and shield thee

Thou wilt find a solace there

-      Public domain