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April 19, 2017

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Faith & Hope, God's Grace & Love, God's Word: The Bible, Knowing Him, Prayer, Trusting God, Wisdom & Guidance

WHAT’S YOUR QUESTION?

I pray that the glorious Father, the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, would give you a spirit of wisdom and revelation as you come to know Christ better. Then you will have deeper insight. You will know the confidence that he calls you to have and the glorious wealth that God’s people will inherit. [Ephesians 1:17-18 (ESV)]

I received an email regarding a not yet released Christian movie about a journalist who has the opportunity to interview someone who claims to be God. The email posed an interesting question: “If you could interview God, what would you ask?”

day lilyAn interview with God would appear to be a journalist’s dream opportunity! As I started thinking of questions, I realized I wouldn’t want to know the answers for many. I don’t want to know when or how I’ll die and I certainly wouldn’t want to be privy to that information about anyone else. I wouldn’t want to know exactly what will become of friends who don’t believe or who will go where at judgment. A friend said he might ask how he was doing but, fully aware of his failings, realized he probably wouldn’t want to hear God’s answer. Some friends in Chicago might want to ask Him about the Cubs but, unless they were gamblers, knowing the answer would be a season spoiler. There is much that God could tell me that I wouldn’t want to know because I could never live with the weight of His answers.

On the other hand, many of God’s answers would be amazingly profound in their simplicity. If I did ask when I would die, His answer would be “Never” since He’s already given me eternal life. If I asked how He could possibly love me, His answer would be, “Because I am love and you’re my child.” If I asked how he managed creation, He might answer, “With a word!” If I asked what proof there is of His existence, He’d remind me to open my eyes and see the proof in a sunrise, sunset, butterfly or flower. When asked how He came to be, He’d reply that He’s always been and forever will be. If I dared ask why people suffer, He would remind me that Job already asked that one. He’d probably add, “You wouldn’t understand!” which is correct, because I wouldn’t. Conceivably, many of His answers would consist of only one word—such as listen, sacrifice, love, obey, trust, believe, share, witness, care and forgive. If I asked what I should know, He’d tell me I already had everything I truly needed to know in the Bible, his love letter to us, and then remind me to spend more time reading it. Fortunately, there’s no need to make an appointment for a formal interview with God; we can interview Him every day in prayer!

Thank you, God, for the privilege of reading your word and coming to you in prayer.

Our supreme need, our only need, is to know God, the living God, and the power of His might. [Martyn Lloyd-Jones]

For his invisible attributes, namely, his eternal power and divine nature, have been clearly perceived, ever since the creation of the world, in the things that have been made. [Romans 1:20 (ESV)]

Thus says the Lord: “Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, let not the mighty man boast in his might, let not the rich man boast in his riches, but let him who boasts boast in this, that he understands and knows me, that I am the Lord who practices steadfast love, justice, and righteousness in the earth. For in these things I delight, declares the Lord.” [Jeremiah 9:23-24 (ESV)]

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April 11, 2017

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Attitudes & Behavior, Bible Stories, God's Grace & Love, Holidays & Holy Days, Holy Spirit, Knowing Him, Obedience, Peace of God, Salvation: A New You, Temptation & Sin

TECHNICALITIES (Passover – Part 2)

Sin is no longer your master, for you no longer live under the requirements of the law. Instead, you live under the freedom of God’s grace. [Romans 6:14 (NLT)]

great egret - breeding loresSince Jews are prohibited from possessing any food products containing leavening (chametz) during Passover, a Muslim Arab-Israeli man in Abu Ghosh now owns most of the bread, pastries and beer in Israel. As they have for many years, Israel’s two chief rabbis sold all of the leaven food from state-owned companies, the prison system, and the national emergency stores to him. He symbolically purchased the chametz for the duration of Passover by making a small down payment. Having promised to pay an enormous sum at the end of Passover, at week’s end he will tell the rabbis that he can’t pay up, the deal will be canceled, his down payment returned, and Israel again will own its yeast-laden products. Here in the U.S., some Jewish families “sell” their chametz to non-Jewish friends and then put the food in an out-of-the way cupboard. Technically, while still on their property, it’s not really theirs because they’ve “leased” the cupboard to the Gentile buyer. After Passover, the lease expires and the food is sold back to its original owner. While this may circumvent the law, I’m not sure it’s what God had in mind when He commanded, “There must be no yeast bread or any yeast at all found within the borders of your land during this time.” [Exodus 13:7]

Finding ingenious ways to sidestep rules and regulations is not limited to Judaism; we all do it. Technically, we’re not texting while driving—we’re texting while stopping at a red light! In principle, the dog is on a leash even when he’s dragging it on the ground or carrying it in his mouth. In 2007, a Minnesota bar got around the smoking ban by using a technicality in the law that allowed actors to smoke in their roles. The bar announced their staging of a continuous improvisational play. Every customer of the bar would be an actor taking a role in the “play” and, therefore, smoking was permitted! Teenagers have a special knack for getting around parental and school rules. It’s part of their make-up to think outside the box to outwit authority. Mankind will find every technicality, loophole, ambiguity, and grey area to circumvent laws and regulations.

Imagine God’s frustration while watching his children sidestep and disobey His law. A covenant of law requires complete obedience and, frankly, try as we might, we just can’t make the cut. We see rules and regulations as an infringement and prohibitions seem to increase our desire to do just that thing. Fortunately, rather than a covenant of law, Christians are under a covenant of grace and freed from the Old Testament rules and regulations. In grace, our salvation doesn’t come from following rules or doing the right thing and God accepts the less than perfect. It is our sincere belief rather than our faultless behavior that saves us. We have no need for sidestepping, semantics, and technicalities because obedience to rules is not what gives us eternal life and sin won’t cause us to lose it. Grace, however, is not license to sin; it is a license to live as God intended and follow the spirit of His law through the power of the Holy Spirit.

So now there is no condemnation for those who belong to Christ Jesus. And because you belong to him, the power of the life-giving Spirit has freed you from the power of sin that leads to death. The law of Moses was unable to save us because of the weakness of our sinful nature. So God did what the law could not do. He sent his own Son in a body like the bodies we sinners have. And in that body God declared an end to sin’s control over us by giving his Son as a sacrifice for our sins. [Romans 8:1-3 (NLT)]

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April 7, 2017

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Attitudes & Behavior, Faith & Hope, Fear & Doubt, God's Grace & Love, God's Promises, God's Word: The Bible, Knowing Him, Trusting God

WHEN BELIEF BECOMES FAITH

trapeze
You say you have faith, for you believe that there is one God. Good for you! Even the demons believe this, and they tremble in terror. How foolish! Can’t you see that faith without good deeds is useless? [James 2:19-20 (NLT)]

When we visited our grandchildren in February, I had another opportunity to watch my granddaughter fly on the trapeze. As she practiced transferring from her fly bar into the catcher’s hands, I thought of promises. The catcher assured the flyers he’d catch them and they clearly believed him when they jumped off the platform, turned upside down and hung from their knees. Knowing his promise and believing it, however, isn’t enough to get someone from the fly bar into his hands. Once swinging through the air, my grand had to act on his promise by straightening her legs, flying off the bar and reaching into emptiness. In that moment, when she floated in the air between fly bar and catcher, her belief in the catcher became faith in him. The catcher can only make good on his promise when the flyer acts on it. Those flyers who professed to believe his words but never reached for him were left hanging upside down.

The word “promise” appears 364 times in my NLT Bible. Scholars usually say that God made more than 3,500 promises to man. In 1956, however, during his 27th reading of the Bible, Canadian schoolteacher Everett Storms catalogued 7,487 promises from God to mankind. Although I couldn’t even begin to list them all, I know that God promises provision, protection, direction, wisdom and a love that will never fail. He promises peace, forgiveness, an abundant life, salvation, Jesus’ 2nd coming, healing and eternal life. Nevertheless, even if I could recite every promise found in the Bible’s 31,173 verses and wholeheartedly professed my belief in each one of them, I still have not shown faith.

Faith requires action; it requires us to live our lives in reliance on each one of God’s glorious promises. It’s when we act on our belief, when we live our lives in dependence on God’s word, that faith is born. God can never make good on His promises if we never act on them! Of course, since my grand is still learning, she wears a safety harness in case her timing is off. When we take that leap of faith with God, however, we don’t need a harness—we can get it right the first time we do it. It’s always the right time to take our belief and act in faith on God. Without that leap of faith that propels us into God’s arms, however, we’re just hanging upside down from the fly bar!

But don’t just listen to God’s word. You must do what it says. Otherwise, you are only fooling yourselves. For if you listen to the word and don’t obey, it is like glancing at your face in a mirror. You see yourself, walk away, and forget what you look like. But if you look carefully into the perfect law that sets you free, and if you do what it says and don’t forget what you heard, then God will bless you for doing it. [James 1:22-25 (NLT)]

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April 5, 2017

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Attitudes & Behavior, Challenges & Difficulty, Family, Friends & Fellowship, Fruit of the Spirit, Love & Works, Temptation & Sin, Wisdom & Guidance

CHITCHAT (GOSSIP – Part 1)

Watch the way you talk. Let nothing foul or dirty come out of your mouth. Say only what helps, each word a gift. [Ephesians 4:29 (MSG)]

Black Skimmers - Clam Pass“I’ve never seen eye to eye with Mary since we were neighbors,” said the woman harshly. Her statement begged us to ask, “Why?” The woman beside her, however, refused the invitation with the comment, “Well, we can’t get along with everyone!” and promptly changed the subject. Gossip was avoided that time but it’s not always so easy; the line between conversation and gossip is a fuzzy one at best.

I asked a friend how to distinguish between gossip and conversation. She’d been doing a Bible study on Proverbs and that week’s topic had been gossip; surely she knew the difference. After telling me our words should be true, useful, respectful, necessary and kind, she added, “If we wouldn’t say it in front of the person, it shouldn’t be said!” Almost immediately, she went on to speak of someone in her study group with words that never would have been said had the woman been present! In a few short sentences, her lesson on gossip became an example of it!

Last month, we were together with four of my husband’s college friends. As expected, conversation turned to “Whatever happened to…?” and “Where’s so-and-so?” When you put the research capabilities of two lawyers and a journalist together with a few iPads, you’re bound to discover many of the answers. That friendly curiosity and reminiscing became intrusive prying when court records were found that included the juicy details of a fraternity brother’s hotly contested divorce. Yes, the records were public but we had no need to see them, less reason to discuss them and no right to gloat over them! I’m not sure when recalling their college days and catching up with one another deteriorated into gossip, but it did. Gossip has a way of sneaking its way into conversations without our even being aware of it. It was only later that afternoon that I recognized how wrong we all had been.

We can call it shooting the breeze, chewing the fat, catching up, dishing or chitchat but, when it’s about other people, most likely it’s gossip. I’m not sure why we do it. Maybe it’s herd mentality that makes us think of gossip as a way to bond with others when we speak of those not present. Perhaps we’re jealous, angry or unable to find anything interesting about which to talk. We all love a good story, especially when it reassures us that we’re not the most messed up person in the room. It seems human nature to savor bits of information about others and to want to offer a few tasty bits of our own when we can. Whatever our reasons, it isn’t right. Moreover, God doesn’t care whether the words spoken are true or false—if it’s gossip, it’s wrong! Just as we don’t have to attend every argument to which we’re asked, we don’t have to attend every gossip fest that sends an invitation. We must learn to recognize gossip’s arrival and refuse to attend its iniquitous party. We also might want to remember that old Spanish proverb: “Whoever gossips to you, will gossip about you.”

Don’t talk out of both sides of your mouth; avoid careless banter, white lies, and gossip. [Proverbs 4:24 (MSG)]

Mean people spread mean gossip; their words smart and burn. [Proverbs 16:27 MSG)]

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March 28, 2017

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Attitudes & Behavior, Church & Worship, Forgiveness, Joy, Nature, Obedience, Peace of God, Salvation: A New You, Sorrow, Grief & Regrets, Today: Make it Count

SET FREE

great southern white butterfly - collared dove - giant swallowtail
Get rid of all bitterness, passion, and anger. No more shouting or insults, no more hateful feelings of any sort. Instead, be kind and tender-hearted to one another, and forgive one another, as God has forgiven you through Christ. [Ephesians 4:31-32 (GNT)]

It’s the hardest thing to give away And the last thing on your mind today. It always goes to those that don’t deserve. It’s the opposite of how you feel When the pain they caused is just too real. It takes everything you have just to say the word…Forgiveness, Forgiveness …

Show me how to love the unlovable. Show me how to reach the unreachable. Help me now to do the impossible. Forgiveness. I want to finally set it free, So show me how to see what Your mercy sees. Help me now to give what You gave to me – Forgiveness, Forgiveness. [“Forgiveness” by Matthew West]

Those words by Matthew West were the final words of Sunday’s opening prayer. “I want to finally set it free,” echoed in my mind as I looked up to see several butterflies fluttering throughout the park in what appeared to be a dance of freedom and joy. The previous day the local hospice had their annual butterfly release and several of their releases had remained in the park for Sunday’s worship. That event was the organization’s way both to raise funds and to offer an opportunity for people to channel their grief and loss. Following the remembrance ceremony in which loved ones’ names were read, the butterflies were set free. As they flitted off through the trees, these flowers with wings served to remind those attending of the beauty and fragility of life.

Once home from church, I listened to West’s song and, while looking up the lyrics, learned the story behind it. One of twelve songs on his Into the Light album, it was inspired by a letter he received from a woman whose daughter had died at the hands of a drunk driver. The letter told of her journey from hatred and bitterness to forgiveness. Realizing that her anger toward the young man who caused the accident kept her as imprisoned as was he, she chose forgiveness and even reached out to her daughter’s killer. As she shared with him that her God commanded forgiveness, he found his own faith in Christ. While still in custody and wearing shackles, he appeared with this mother as they gave drunk driving awareness presentations. Free from her own prison of rage and animosity, this mother even appeared before the judge to ask him to reduce the young man’s sentence. Truly, she had “finally set it free.”

Sunday morning, as the remaining butterflies danced in the air, our pastor continued his message series on forgiveness. Where once I saw butterflies only as a message of rebirth and resurrection, I began to see them as reminders of how we must release the darkness, resentment, and bitterness that can grow malignantly in our hearts. As the sermon concluded, I noticed that another one of God’s creatures, a dove, had joined the butterflies in their frolic. Perhaps this symbol of peace was just enjoying some leftover crumbs dropped from the previous day’s event. Nevertheless, its presence reminded me that releasing our hurts and anger will bring us peace. Holding on to our injuries keeps us trapped in the darkest of dungeons with no chance of parole or amnesty. Forgiveness is the key that opens the cell door and brings us into God’s light, love and peace.

Most of us will never reach out in forgiveness the way that mother did and I’m not sure God expects us to. Nevertheless, He does expect us to forgive and forgiveness isn’t easy. Chances are the people we need to forgive don’t even deserve it. Deserving, however, has nothing to do with it since we certainly don’t deserve God’s forgiveness for all of our failings. Forgiveness is something we desperately need both to receive and to give. As the butterflies remind us of the beauty and fragility of life, they can also remind us that life is too beautiful and fragile to waste a single moment in anger or resentment. As we release our hurts and offer forgiveness, it’s not the perpetrator who is set free—it is us! And with that beautiful freedom will come God’s peace.

Be tolerant with one another and forgive one another whenever any of you has a complaint against someone else. You must forgive one another just as the Lord has forgiven you. And to all these qualities add love, which binds all things together in perfect unity. The peace that Christ gives is to guide you in the decisions you make; for it is to this peace that God has called you together in the one body. [Colossians 3:13-15 (GNT)]

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