Pound into the Same Mold
A much fuller day than I expected, Father, but it was all good! It is a great comfort to know that You are a part of it all, that You never leave my side. Your love is made evident every day!
John 1:43-46 (<<click here to read the passage)
(I sit and read, often wondering what in the world I’m going to write about. As I do so, You always bring something to mind! Thank You, Father, for Your inspiration!)
I majored in Church Music in college and my first position out of college was as a full-time minister of music at a very nice-sized church in the St. Louis, Missouri metro area – specifically, Webster Groves. I was so excited to be blessed with the opportunity! I had a wonderful choir, a goodly amount of music from which to choose, and a reasonable budget with which to work.
One of the first conversations that I had – and honestly, I do not recall with whom – regarded the church organist. I was told she was a handful and would be a challenge to work with. If I remember correctly, she was in her early 60s and supposedly she was pretty set in her ways and was not shy about voicing her opinions.
I am very pleased to say that I never had one problem with her. She was a fine organist, and we had a wonderful working relationship. She was a beautiful lady inside and out, and I am so glad that I didn’t just assume that she was going to be a problem.
As Jesus continued to move forward in His earthly ministry, He continued to pull others close to himself. One of those men was Philip, another resident of Bethsaida, Andrew and Peter’s hometown. v44
As soon as Philip found out who Jesus was, he ran to tell his friend, Nathaniel who was from Cana. He excitedly told him, “We have found the very person Moses and the prophets wrote about! His name is Jesus, the son of Joseph from Nazareth.” v45
You’d think that Nathaniel would have been excided, too, but his initial reaction was, “Nazareth! Can anything good come from Nazareth?”
Nazareth had a bad reputation due to the fact that a Roman garrison was there, too. Other things may have factored in but regardless people from Nazareth were not looked upon fondly.
We all know people that assume things due to association. Another word that can be applied is prejudice. Unfortunately, it’s not always other people who think those thoughts…we can be guilty of prejudice, as well.
Like Nathaniel, if someone is from a certain community or area, we can label them along with everything we’ve ever heard about “those” people. But geography is not our only denominator. We can use all kinds of things to make assumptions about others – clothing, hairstyles (or if they color it funky colors!), race, gender, religious persuasions, the number of tattoos they have, political affiliations, and the list goes on and on.
We can throw others in the pot with what we assume will be their thoughts or personalities and we never even give them a chance to show us who they are and what they think. Thankfully, though Nathaniel had his assumptions, it didn’t stop him from going to see for himself, as Philip had encouraged him. v46
Lord Jesus, help us to keep open hearts and minds when we interact with others. Help us not assume and pound them into the same mold everyone else does. May we see with Your eyes and love with Your heart! Amen.
Mar 14th, 2021, Sun, 8:15 pm
Less Rock, More Rocky
Thank You, Father, for a good night’s rest. May today be all that You want it to be for me and those who cross my path. Amen.
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My apologies for not posting yesterday. I got my second COVID vaccine
on Tuesday and it totally took the wind out of my sails yesterday.
I just didn’t have it in me to get off the couch. Feeling much better today!
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John 1:40-42 (<<click here to read the passage)
I don’t know about you, but I love Peter! It is probably for the same reason that I love David, Israel’s greatest king from of old. They both were great men, but Scripture doesn’t hold back one bit on their humanity, nothing is glossed over.
When Jesus first met Peter, he wasn’t known as Peter…yet. His name was Simon, a run-of-the-mill, hardworking fisherman on the Sea of Galilea. But the very first thing Jesus said to Peter was, “Your name is Simon, son of John—but you will be called Cephas” (which means “Peter”. v42
Of course, as many of you know, the names Cephas (from Aramaic) and Peter (from Greek) both mean “rock.” Eventually, Peter would live up to the intentions that Jesus had when He gave him his new name. He would be foundational in God’s Kingdom in the establishment of His church. He would be solid and immovable…but not yet. In the beginning, he was less rock and more rocky.
If you’ve ever walked through a deposit of shale rock, you quickly realize that you have to be careful. Smooth loose rock on top of smooth rock can be slippery. It is not necessarily stable. It is most definitely movable.
How about a canoe? As a novice would it be wise to stand in one? If you wanted to get wet I suppose. It makes me think of that old song, Rock the Boat, by The Hues Corporation from the early 1970s.
So I’d like to know where you got the notion…
….to rock the boat…
Don’t rock the boat, baby
….Rock the boat
Don’t tip the boat over
….Rock the boat
Don’t rock the boat, baby
….Rock the boat
Peter excelled at inserting his foot in his mouth. He got some things right, but he got a lot wrong. He was quick to react. He didn’t always think before he spoke.
Be we never have that problem…do we? We always take plenty of time to speak…to respond to situations…right?
Peter was very much human, just like we are. Peter was not perfect, any more than we are perfect. But…Jesus didn’t give up on Peter…and He won’t give up on us either.
Before Jesus’ crucifixion, Peter denied he even knew Jesus – something he swore he would never do. He fell and he fell hard, but Jesus wouldn’t leave him there. He restored Peter. He put Peter – the rock! – into his rightful place of leadership, despite his failings…and He will do the same for us.
Lord Jesus, may we not be able to forget that You hold tightly to us, regardless of our many issues. We fall again and again and again, but You are always poised ready to pick us up. You love us beyond anything we could ever imagine. May we always cling to the overwhelming truth! Amen.
Mar 11th, 2021, Thurs, 8:22 am
Come and See
Father, another gift of a day! Warmth and sunshine in abundance, it is most certainly welcome! Thank You for Your wondrous gift!
John 1:35-39 (<<click here to read the passage)
Until I read through this portion of Scripture from John 1, I had forgotten all about a man by the name of Bob Bennett. I don’t remember the first time I heard his music, but I would guess it would have been when I was in college.
At the beginning of verse 39, Jesus is being followed by two of John the Baptist’s disciples (one we find out to be Andrew and the other is probably John, the author of this Gospel – who by the way does not name himself but refers to himself at the end of his Gospel as “the disciple whom Jesus loved” John 20:2). Anyway, as Jesus passed by John the Baptist point Jesus out to the two saying, “Look! There is the Lamb of God!” – remember he was a pointer!
When John’s two disciples heard this, they followed Jesus.
Jesus looked around and saw them following. “What do you want?” he asked them.
They replied, “Rabbi” (which means “Teacher”), “where are you staying?”
“Come and see,” he said… vs37-39 NLT
Come and see.
That phrase is what tripped a memory in my mind. I remember it being a song or at least a part of a song. It took me a bit but, in my searching, I eventually saw Bob Bennett’s name and knew right away that that was the song I had recalled from so long ago.
It was from an album he released in 1982. I may have been a freshman or possibly a sophomore in college when I first heard the song Come and See. (That fall, by the way, was when I first met Miss Karen Yough, the love of my life!)
The song was actually the result of an assignment he and a classmate received. They were to write a song based on anything in the book of John. And as many students are in the habit of doing, they waited until the night before the assignment was due and this is the song they came up with.
Here are the lyrics and a YouTube posting of him singing it…enjoy!
Come and see, come and see
Come and see a Man from Heaven
Come and see, hear Him speak
He has seen the face of God
Come and see, come and see
This Jesus of Nazareth
Come and see the One that we
Have heard of all our lives
A voice crying in the wilderness
A voice from the sky loud and clear
A still, small voice deep inside
And a voice still ringing in my ear … saying
Follow Me, Follow Me
And I will show you My Father
Follow Me and you will see
The Heavens opened wide
Come and see, come and see
Come and see this Man from Heaven
Oh, could it be? Could it be
We will see the face of God?
Mar 9th, 2021, Tue, 8:16 pm
Called To Be a Pointer
What a beautiful day, Father! It may still be a bit cool, but it is beautiful nonetheless! Spring is not quite here but beauty is here! All praise to You, Heavenly Father!
John 1:32-34 (<<click here to read the passage)
At the Kohl’s store where I worked, the Jewelry Department sat front and center. For a majority of my time there, there was pretty much always an associate behind the counter. If we needed a break of any sort, we had to procure another associate to take our place until we returned.
Shoppers knew that if they had a question, they would find someone in Jewelry. I could not tell you how many times someone asked me where the restrooms were or where to take returns! I, and all of the associates who worked with me, would dutifully point them in the right direction.
John the Baptist was a pointer, too. His God-appointed responsibility was to point people to Jesus, though at the first he admitted, “I didn’t know he was the one…” But seeing the Holy Spirit descending like a dove from heaven and resting upon him, that is Jesus…the long-awaited Messiah, he knew and proclaimed, “I saw this happen to Jesus, so I testify that he is the Chosen One of God.” vs33-34 NLT
For hundreds of years, the people of Israel had waited. They waited for a deliverer from their bondage. They waited for a king! Jesus was those things but so much more! He was for them what they didn’t even know they needed. He would be their Savior. The wages of sin is death (Romans 6:23) and, though innocent, he would be the one to die in their stead.
Thank God, Jesus’ deliverance, His kingship, His saving, His death, they are all for us, as well. And because of this indescribable gift (2 Corinthians 9:15), we are now called to be the “pointers”!
My study Bible says, “Today people are looking for someone to give them security in an insecure world. Our job is to point them to Christ and to show that he is the one whom they seek.”
Lord Jesus, may how we live, how we speak, how we listen…may it all point people toward You. Help us not to become a wall blocking others from seeing You and all You afford us! Amen.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Mar 8th, 2021, Mon, 12:39 pm
Can You Hear Him Now?
What a nice day it has been Father! Time in worship, followed by time with Karen! Then time at home. Thank You for Your presence in it all!
John 1:29-34 (<<click here to read the passage)
Almost 20 years ago a popular mobile phone carrier began an advertising campaign using the slogan, “Can you hear me now?” We’ve come a long way since those days but when this campaign began individual employees of the carrier would literally drive more than 100,000 miles a year to test the reliability of their network.
Back then “Can you hear me now?” was a common question when using a cell phone since much of the country just didn’t have good cell reception at the time. It has vastly improved but there are still a lot of “dead” spots depending on where you are.
Cell phone receptivity is contingent upon the signal from towers being clearly received. You can have the most up-to-date cell phone, but if a signal can’t get to your phone…you’re out of luck.
In a way, we are like cell phones. The entity trying to reach us with His signal is God. Except for this time His signal is not the issue. It is clear as a bell. He can literally reach any corner of the globe.
Psalm 139:7-12 shows this to be true.
I can never escape from your Spirit!
….I can never get away from your presence!
If I go up to heaven, you are there;
….if I go down to the grave, you are there.
If I ride the wings of the morning,
….if I dwell by the farthest oceans,
even there your hand will guide me,
….and your strength will support me.
I could ask the darkness to hide me
….and the light around me to become night—
….but even in darkness I cannot hide from you.
To you the night shines as bright as day.
….Darkness and light are the same to you.
We cannot escape from the Spirit of God. But something we can do is to ignore Him. Even those who do not know Him can be reached and spoken to. Yet they too can turn a deaf ear to Him.
As I read through verse 33, it is clear that John heard God and responded to His directive. He said, “…God sent me…he told me”.
You may struggle as I do, but when God speaks…and He unquestionably does…His signal is strong, coming through loud and clear…but when He speaks, are we listening? Have we trained ourselves to ignore His voice? Do we now turn a dear ear to His calling?
If we respond to Him that way, we are not stuck in that mode. He can change us! It will take work on our part, but we can once again train ourselves to listen…to hear.
When many of us were younger, especially in the summer, we would play until way after the sunset. (In middle school, the kids in my neighborhood played flashlight tag – it was a blast! I loved being “it”!) But when it was time to wrap things up, a voice would shout into the darkness, “It’s time to come in!” and I knew it was my mom. I knew that voice. I loved that voice. I was attuned to that voice…and I obeyed.
We must do the same with God, and the only way to know His voice, the only way to love His voice, the only way to be attuned to His voice…is to spend time with Him. He wants that more than anything else…us spending time with Him. Oh, the places He will take you!
John listened – and so can you. It’s your call. Can you hear Him now?
Mar 7th, 2021, Sun, 6:44 pm