Drop Tail and Run
Thank You, Father, for a very productive day – got through a good portion of my sermon for Sunday, along with the PowerPoint to go along with it. I also was able to ready myself for a funeral service tomorrow for a dear lady of our church. I am so grateful that Your hand is in it all!
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For whatever reason, I didn’t realize that we had wild lizards in Ohio. In my mind I thought they were more indigenous to warm climates; be they dry arid areas or more tropical regions. Well, this summer, when we started mowing at my one church, I discovered that around our front entrance ramp and steps there is at least one lizard and maybe more!
After a little research, it wasn’t too difficult to narrow down what kind of lizard it was. In Ohio, we only have 4 indigenous lizard species. (A fifth one was introduced into Southwest Ohio in 1951 and seems to be doing pretty well!) The one living around Beulah is a Common Five-lined Skink and is found through most of central and southeastern United States.
The Common Five-lined Skink can measure up to 8.5 inches in length and are considered large lizards. They have short legs with long bodies and tend to be brown, black, or gray with five white to yellow stripes. Their stripes run two on either side of the body with one down the center of the back. Also, juveniles have bright blue tails that fade as they age with males often losing their stripes with an orange to red-colored head.
Yesterday’s post got me thinking about the skink in that when I first looked it up I learned something very interesting that ties in very well to how we should respond when we are tempted to yield to sin.
When threatened, the skink can make a quick getaway – they are very fast. If, for some reason, it is caught by its tail…the tail falls off! And that remnant, while detached, will keep quivering – to distract its attacker – as the lizard makes a run for it. (By the way, its tail grows back!)
Even though the Apostle Paul targets a specific audience – youth – 2 Timothy 2:22 applies to us all.
Run from anything that stimulates youthful lusts. Instead, pursue righteous living, faithfulness, love, and peace. Enjoy the companionship of those who call on the Lord with pure hearts. NLT
1 Corinthians 10:13 is another great passage.
The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience. And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand. When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure. NLT
Lord Jesus, may we learn from the excellence of Your creation. Like the skink, when needed help us to drop tail and run!
Aug 11th, 2021, Wed, 8:36 pm
Betcha Can’t Eat Just One!
Father, I am grateful for a restful sleep last night, for today has been a busy one for sure. Thank You for getting us through all the many elements of our day and for the blessing of having each other.
John 12:1-10 (<<click here to read the passage)
I was surprised to discover that I am as old as Lay’s Potato Chips theme “Betcha can’t eat just one”! It was introduced in 1963 and one of its earliest promoters in commercials was the one and only, Bert Lahr, famous for his portrayal of the Cowardly Lion in 1939’s The Wizard of Oz.
Over the years, several people have advertised for them, but as many will recall, the person in the clip would have one chip and simply could not eat one. They always had to have another…and in at least Lahr’s spots the whole bag!
Chips, at least in controlled amounts, are very tasty but whole bags at a sitting can be very detrimental to one’s health – the salt and the carbohydrates alone make for a very bad combination! They are best avoided by diabetics and those dealing with high blood pressure for sure!
Something else that is bad for us is sin! And of course, sin can take many forms and can literally affect every aspect of our lives. The biggest problem is that sin very easily multiplies. In our thinking, one little sin isn’t going to hurt anything but if it remains unchecked, it widens the door inch by inch allowing bigger and bigger sins to remain unchecked. Eventually, that little introductory sin becomes a whole lifetime of entanglement, from which we will never be able to escape…at least not in our own ability and strength!
In verses 9-10 of our passage John notes,
When all the people heard of Jesus’ arrival, they flocked to see him and also to see Lazarus, the man Jesus had raised from the dead. Then the leading priests decided to kill Lazarus, too,
My Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation spells it out very clearly.
The leading priests’ blindness and hardness of heart caused them to sink ever deeper into sin. They rejected the Messiah and planned to kill him, and then plotted to murder Lazarus as well. One sin leads to another. From the Jewish leaders’ point of view, they could accuse Jesus of blasphemy because he claimed equality with God. But Lazarus had done nothing of the kind. They wanted Lazarus dead simply because he was a living witness to Jesus’ power. This is a warning to us to avoid sin. Sin leads to more sin, a downward spiral that can be stopped only by repentance and the power of the Holy Spirit to change our behavior.
Lord Jesus, You were tempted by sin but never yielded to its lures (Hebrews 4:15). You understand what we go through but even that does not stop us. Even those who are faithful and strive to obediently follow in Your footsteps can struggle with temptation. It lurks behind every corner, under every rock, biding its time, knowing that we will pass and be tempted for just one chip. May we resist and even if we yield may we stop at just one. Amen.
Aug 10th, 2021, Tues, 9:07 pm
Heads…or Tails
A little different view today, Father – looking out on a putting green at a golf course. Thank You for Your watchcare over us as we traveled to get here, and I lay hold of Your hedge of protection as we head back home. Amen.
John 12:1-10 (<<click here to read the passage)
We are all pretty familiar with what a coin toss is. At some point, we’ve been part of making a decision that way.
Interestingly enough the coin toss goes back centuries. It existed during the rule of the Roman Empire and through the Middle Ages.
Today it is a permanent fixture in everything from high school football games up to the National Football League. (In fact, the coin toss has been a part of professional football since its start in 1892!)
It factored into which Wright brother got to take flight at Kill Devil Hills, North Carolina, in the first-ever powered aircraft in December 1903. (Wilbur won, by the way.)
And one more factoid, the naming of what now is Portland, Oregon, came down to a coin toss. Asa Lovejoy and Francis Pettygrove, who both owned the land that would become Portland, each wanted to name the new town after their respective hometowns: Boston, Massachusetts, and Portland, Maine. Pettygrove prevailed in the 1845 coin toss, and the Oregon city was christened Portland.
Interesting tidbits but in those instances, it is pretty much chance.
Something else that has two possible outcomes, is our eternal destination. But in this instance, there is no chance whatsoever. It is each person’s choice…period.
In these first verses of John 12, we see an example that involves two people – Mary and Judas. Jesus was a part of each of their lives. He influenced each of them but prior to His interaction with them, they each had already established a propensity. It was not destiny. They had a choice.
Mary was thoughtful. She was not wasteful. She gave the best of herself to others.
Judas was deceitful. He was a liar and a thief. He looked out for himself and no one else.
Jesus saw them for who they were. And even knowing what Judas would do…He loved Him. Judas could have chosen – even at the last possible moment – to shift his loyalties. But he didn’t… In the end, he felt he had gone too far to be forgiven. He made his last choice, and no others could be made.
Each of us has a choice. The world and its “treasures” are passing into nothingness. May we choose wisely. Amen.
Aug 9th, 2021, Mon, 12:47 pm
Crossed Wires
A beautiful day away with Karen and Massey! Thank You, Father, for the adventure, such as it was – good exercise, good food, a good time all around!
John 11:45-57 (<<click here to read the passage)
It’s hard to believe, but we’ve been in our house now for over 30 years. When we moved in, it needed quite a bit of work.
One of the big challenges for me was electrical work. I knew the bare essentials, but not much more. So, when we got ready to renovate our backroom – someone had enclosed the attached carport years before we moved in – I was working from scratch. The main part of the room had no electricity at all. So, I installed four outlets, two on the right wall and two on the left.
Now I’m not foolish, so we got a real electrician to check out my work before we powered everything up. And I’m glad we did! Somehow, I had reversed every single outlet! It was simple for him to fix but what I had done would definitely have given us issues!
When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it was the last straw, as far as the Pharisees were concerned. And in the Father’s perfect timing, Jesus knew that His time was quickly coming to a close.
By this point, Jewish leadership had had enough. Because of their arrogance and the humiliation at the tongue of Jesus, they had become blind. A man had literally been raised to life after four days in the tomb, and their reaction was to freak out! All they saw was this whole “Jesus-movement” snowballing out of control. They jumped from Jesus’ many miraculous signs to the belief that everyone will believe in him to the Roman army coming to destroy both our Temple and our nation. vs47-48 NLT
It had been building for months, and now it was so “bad” in their minds and hearts that they were crossing wires left and right. They were so blind to the truth that they were prepared to do whatever it took to take Jesus out. They and all they held dear were quickly heading to total annihilation! They were losing it!
Caiaphas, who was high priest at that time, said, “You don’t know what you’re talking about! You don’t realize that it’s better for you that one man should die for the people than for the whole nation to be destroyed.” vs49-50
In his mind, Caiaphas was setting things in motion to ensure the future viability of his people. He knew that it was better to eliminate this troublemaker once and for all. He, for one, wasn’t going to let this carpenter-turned-“Messiah” take the whole nation of Israel down with Him. Caiaphas’ actions and mindset did not communicate that he was a man of God. Yes, he was a fool, but God used him…
…to prophesy that Jesus would die for the entire nation. And not only for that nation, but to bring together and unite all the children of God scattered around the world. vs51-52
The stage was set. Jesus had lived His life preparing for what was ahead. In just a matter of days, he would do exactly what Caiaphas had foretold. And although Caiaphas knew nothing of it, because Jesus was ready to lay down His life God’s salvation would be made available for all of mankind!
Aug 6th, 2021, Fri, 8:38 pm
Righteous Anger
…let the godly rejoice.
….Let them be glad in God’s presence.
….Let them be filled with joy. Psalm 68:3 NLT
John 11:17-44 (<<click here to read the passage)
I know that I’m not alone, but anger is one of my biggest struggles – and unfortunately, I can’t always control it. One of the detriments in bottling up my anger is that it can get pretty intense when I do let it go. Anyone who follows my writings knows that it is an issue for me.
All in all, I grapple with anger that has nothing to do with what we would call righteous anger. But most assuredly, righteous anger does legitimately exist.
Let me stop for a moment and recommend a blog post written by Jeffery Curtis Poor, a young pastor and church planter. In researching Jesus’ anger here in John 11, I stumbled upon his writings. The post on Jesus’ anger led me to a post entitled Why Did Jesus Weep? It. Is. Excellent! I seriously considered sharing it here, but it would equal about four of my posts in its entirety. Click on the title and read it. You’ll be glad you did!
Quoting Jeffery Poor (from 6 Times Jesus Got Angry), “We often view anger as an emotion we should avoid – a sin. But our anger isn’t the problem, it’s what we do with our anger that determines if we sin or not.”
And “don’t sin by letting anger control you.” Don’t let the sun go down while you are still angry… Ephesians 4:26 NLT
I bring this up because in this telling of Lazarus’ death and resurrection, in these short 27 verses of Scripture, it speaks of Jesus’ anger, not once…but twice.
When Jesus saw [Mary] weeping and saw the other people wailing with her, a deep anger welled up within him, and he was deeply troubled. v33 (emphasis mine)
And then verse 38 states, Jesus was still angry as he arrived at the tomb… (emphasis mine)
So, the question that comes to mind is, why was Jesus angry?
Jeffery Poor goes on to write,
Humanity exists in a broken state, a fallen world. That should come as no surprise, the evidence is everywhere. Kids are starving, people are dying, broken families are the norm, mental health crises abound, war is commonplace, and pain and turmoil exist around every corner. We are not okay.
And Jesus was angry about it.
This is most clearly seen in John 11:35, the shortest verse in the Bible: “Jesus wept.” Jesus was so overcome by the human condition, the death a friend faced, that he wept.
I think in this moment Jesus is reacting to the fallen condition of his people. He is distraught that people he cares for are experiencing pain. He was not overcome with grief over the loss of a friend. Why did Jesus weep? Because he feels empathy for his people.
Jesus feels empathy, but he responds with anger. In John 11:38, Jesus was deeply moved and yelled for Lazarus to come out. Jesus was mad over the human condition…Jesus feels empathy for what we are facing.
You would benefit from reading both of Poor’s posts, but I pray that this little snippet will stir your heart. Jesus was angry because of what we have allowed sin to do in and to our world – and to ourselves. He hurts because we hurt…and most importantly, He cares. Do I? …do you?
Aug 5th, 2021, Thurs, 8:09 pm