IT’S ALIVE!
Father, when I sit down with You, I often feel that I say the same thing over and over again. But then I think, do I ever tire of my son telling me he loves me? And I know that You don’t mind at all! I love You, Lord!
Luke 12:1 (<<click to read the passage)
It’s alive!
No, I’m not writing about Dr. Henry Frankenstein’s historic line from the 1931 film, Frankenstein, when his “creation” comes to life. Instead, my goal is to make you aware of something that truly is alive! I’m talking about yeast.
Maybe I knew this in the past, but I had forgotten that yeast is actually a microscopic fungus, so it truly is a living organism. So, I am not stretching truth whatsoever in proclaiming, “IT’S ALIVE!”
Now in daily life it really isn’t scary – think of those scrumptious rolls at Texas Roadhouse! – but in this passage, Jesus equates yeast (or leaven) with hypocrisy!
The New Testament seems to combine the Old Testament concept of the godless rebel and the Attic Greek, hypocrite. That term meant “stage-playing or acting.” Jesus’s warning had everything to do with godless rebels, as they were, putting on a religious performance to impress men. Hypocrites made outward shows of religion, whether in giving monetary donations, praying, or fasting, but had no real relationship with God Himself.
Yeast and hypocrisy go hand-in-hand. The organisms that make up yeast, as I said, are microscopic – you can’t look at a batch of rising dough and see them at work. You see the results of their efforts but that’s after they have already done their deed!
Hypocrisy works much the same way. It begins in a very subtle manner, but it quickly increases and spreads itself. Jesus warned His disciples, and us, that it infects and corrupts our principles and practices. Much like yeast in a batch of bread dough, hypocrisy puffs and swells us up with a vain opinion of ourselves. Jesus’ goal was to warn his disciples of falling into hypocrisy themselves, but He also wanted to shore them up, so they would not be overwhelmed or intimidated by the double lives of the teachers of the Law.
Lord Jesus, many of us love a good yeasty slice of bread but we must all be wary of the ways hypocrisy can work its way into our lives. Help us to be on our guard so as not to allow it to develop in our lives. But…may we be alert to the fact that it just might be working in the lives of others around us, infecting their hearts and minds in opposition to the truth.
July 6th, 2020, Mon, 7:51 pm
Of Nuthatches and Defensive Linemen
A weekend full of family is always a blessing! Thank You, Father, for opportunities to spend time with those we love. Watch over us all and may we remain in the center of Your will. Amen.
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One thing that has caught my attention in recent days is how birds can zoom past our bedroom window heading toward the feeder I have hanging by the office window, which is the next room over. When they fly by, they are literally just a blur. The only reason I know what the “blur” is that it has happened so many times and when I walk to the door of the office their they are!
Most often when that happens, it is a White-breasted Nuthatch. They are swift in their arrival, but I am amazed that when they “hit” the feeder it barely moves. It is more the case that they “light” on the feeder. I don’t get to see the “lighting” process but just the way birds are created, I can imagine that they use their wings in such a way that they stop all forward movement and lightly place their feet on their intended target with just a slight touch.
I couldn’t do that for sure. I have watched enough sporting events to know that no matter how physically fit you are, no matter how agile you are, if you are running full tilt, you can’t stop!
Karen loves watching The Ohio State Buckeyes’ and the Texas A&M Aggies’ football teams. With new rules in place, players have to be careful not to hit opponents in the with their heads down with the intent, or not, of hurting them with the brunt of their helmets. Also, they have to be very careful about blocking kicks. They can’t slam into the kickers, it’s a major no-no.
But what do you do if you are running with everything you have and right before you get to your opponent, the ball is sent on its way and you can’t touch them? A 300-pound defensive lineman cannot stop on a dime!
Alright, how about us and sin? Sometimes we see it coming and we just avoid it altogether. Other times, we are running full steam ahead and, BAM, we run into something we had no intention of getting in the middle of. We might see it right before we hit it, but contact is inevitable!
First of all, if at the point of contact we turn and immediately run the other way – at least from a spiritual perspective – we are good. The problem arises when we don’t run. If we linger. If we take it all in. If we let our eyes and our minds and our bodies stay at that point of contact, we are in trouble.
It will not be held against us if we do the former. But if we do the latter, there will be consequences. We will have to come before our Father to seek forgiveness.
Unfortunately, for the most part, we cannot respond like a White-breasted Nuthatch when it comes to “off-limits” territory. Too often we can only respond like a 300-pound lineman.
Lord Jesus, may our goal be to love You as Your word says, with all of our heart, soul, strength, and mind (Luke 10:27). And may that love be so strong that we want nothing to do with sin but want everything to do with You! Amen.
July 5th, 2020, Sun, 10:08 pm
Don’t Throw Away the Key
Today was a day to accomplish much of importance. I was able to get a little done outside but the majority of my day has been at the laptop readying things for Sunday. Thank You, Father, for the gifts and abilities You have given me!
Luke 11:45-54 (<<click to read the passage)
This may be a touchy subject but, how often have the practices of the church driven people from the church instead of lovingly bringing them into the church?
We are quick to jump on the bandwagon of shaking our fingers and clicking our tongues at the Pharisees and experts in religious law with whom Jesus always seemed to be clashing. But conveniently we never seem to come to terms with the fact that we of the church, on many fronts, act and speak in pretty much the same manner. We may use different terminology, but the attitude and mentality are not very different.
As I’ve said, I grew up in a pretty conservative environment. Many of the things that we held to, definitely set us apart from the world, but also put a wall up between us and the world. To be a part of “us”, you had to become like “us”.
Just as Jesus chided the religious leaders of His day for placing so much emphasis on the outside and conveniently forgetting the inside, we had the same mentality – no long hair for men, no short hair for women, no pants for women, no jewelry for men or women, no playing cards, no movies, no dancing…you get the idea. Don’t get me wrong, we were sincere. And I wholeheartedly believe that a majority of those adhering to those “rules” did so with the greatest of intentions. They did so faithfully, believing that that was the way to be holy as God was holy. Holy means to be set apart…and we were set apart alright.
But the question is, did we prevent people from knowing God because that had to follow our rules – yes, they were solidly based on God’s word – but how many people who were searching for God were blocked from finding Him through us because of what we thought had to go hand in hand with our faith?
The rules and regulations I listed? In the denomination in which I grew up, not one of them is really held to any longer. God’s word didn’t change…but we did.
No one is perfect. We all make mistakes. We all have to work through our own struggles and the issues of life. Some make decisions quickly. And for others, it may take a while…or two.
I believe with all my heart that God loves us exactly where we are. He doesn’t want us staying where we are, but He loves us none the less. He is patient. He suffers with our failings but never gives up on us. He knows what we can be – He made us after all…from scratch even! But He waits. He encourages. He pushes, too, but He most certainly will never leave us nor forsake us.
Lord Jesus, first of all, thank You for bearing with me…for sticking with me. Help me to be what You made me to be. And, secondly, enable me to be like You. Help me to love as You do. May I be patient with others who are growing in You, too, and most importantly may I not be guilty of taking away “the key to knowledge (scriptural truth)” but may I throw open the door to Your Kingdom to all who may be eagerly seeking You out.
July 2nd, 2020, Thurs, 7:45 pm
One Bad Apple Spoils the Barrel
It was a good day for some outside labor, Father. Thank you for the strength and ability to do so. Bless our time together. Fill my heart and mind with Your word. Amen.
Luke 11:42-44 (<<click to read the passage)
Ethylene sounds like someone that I would have known growing up in West Virginia but…have you ever heard the proverb “one bad apple spoils the barrel”? Ethylene is the culprit. I learned this from mentalfloss.com.
As they ripen, some fruits…produce a gaseous hormone called ethylene, which is, among other things, a ripening agent. When you store fruits together, the ethylene each piece emits prods the others around it to ripen further…
The riper a piece of fruit is, the more ethylene it produces, and overripe fruit gives off even more ethylene, eventually leading to a concentration of the gas that’s enough to overripen all the fruit. Given the right conditions and enough time, one apple can push all the fruit around it to ripen—and eventually rot. (emphasis mine)
In other words, if you see a bad apple in your fruit bin, get rid of it ASAP.
In verse 44 of today’s text, Jesus continues to “light into” the Pharisees by saying, “For you are like hidden graves in a field. People walk over them without knowing the corruption they are stepping on.”
My study Bible* tells me that the Law stated in Numbers 19:16 that just touching a grave made a person “unclean”. It goes on to say,
Jesus accused the Pharisees of making others unclean by their spiritual rottenness. Like unmarked graves hidden in a field, the Pharisees corrupted everyone who came in contact with them.
The Pharisees were known for their “bad apples”.
We don’t like to admit it but often in our relationships with friends or even work associates, this can be a problem. And like a good part of humanity, “bad apples” tend to impact the whole “bunch” more quickly than “good apples”.
How many times have you been perfectly content with a set of circumstances, maybe where you work or under a certain teacher’s teaching style or maybe even a pastor’s mode of leadership? You’re doing just fine, then someone new joins the group and begins to undermine your contentment.
“Well, that’s a dumb way to do that…”
“They’re just asking us to do too much…”
“We didn’t have to do it that way where I came from…”
“Well, they sure aren’t doing what they should be doing…”
And before you know it their “ethylene” starts to permeate our minds and we start thinking along the same lines becoming more and more disgruntled as time goes on.
Working conditions, for example, and the way associates are treated can become very difficult. I struggled with that while working in retail – corporate policy changed, new leadership would step in, and to make the impact higher-ups wanted to see, would shake things up…quite a bit sometimes. It was easy to join in with the grumble bunch. But honestly, it made going to work almost unbearable.
I was ready to leave when I did but if you read back in my journaling through that time you will see, that with the Lord’s help, I purposefully made myself change my mindset.
Before I left, supervisors were doing all kinds of things that we have never done before. I could have complained. I could have grumbled…and I won’t say I never did, but I developed the mentality that “I get paid the same no matter what they tell me to do.” I pray that my “good apple” attitude had a greater impact on others than the “bad apple” ones.
In the end, it is our choice whether we impact as a “good apple” for the Kingdom…or not.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
July 1st, 2020, Wed, 6:49 pm
My Interesting Cement Box
What comfort in knowing that no matter where I am at in my day, I can call on You, Father, and You are there. You encompass me in Your love. Thank You, Father!
Luke 11:37-41 (<<click to read the passage)
See the box there in my picture? It is made of cement and has probably been there as long as our house has been here. We’ve lived here for almost 31 years and our home was built 20 or 30 years before that. So that cement box has been around for quite a while.
Right now, we have a few mums around it that come up every year. We also have a nice crop of milkweed that started last year (hopefully, we’ll get to see some Monarch Butterflies mature on them before the summer is over – they love milkweed!) Also, I have two hanging baskets full of pretty pink petunias sitting on my cement box until we can get a space cleared for our shepherd’s hook at which point, we hang them up!
Regardless it’s a nice cement box, isn’t it? It was power washed not that long ago, so years of grit and dust were cleared away. So, at this point in its life, it is a very presentable cement box…right?
Some may already know, but that box contains the motor for our aerator which is a part of our septic system. Waste from our home’s plumbing system spills into the first chamber. Natural bacteria from our bodies break down that waste into smaller particles – solid waste falls to the bottom. Water containing those small particles spills over into a second chamber. The aerator pumps air into that liquid overflow. The oxygen forced into that chamber stimulates the bacteria there to further break down the waste found in the liquid. Aerated water then spills out an upper portal and is released into a drainage line that runs to the ditch that I mentioned a few posts ago.
Now wasn’t that interesting? I’ve been told that the water flowing into our ditch would be clean enough that a person could drink it and have no ill effects…uh, I don’t think so. But it is all designed to process our waste and after being processed have no ill effects on the environment. (By the way, our aerator system is regularly inspected by county endorsed professionals to ensure everything is in proper operating order.)
So, if you have stuck with me this long, you are probably wondering, “What in the world does this have to do with anything of a spiritual nature!?” And believe it or not…it does!
When Jesus was invited to eat with one of the Pharisees, He neglected (accidentally on purpose) to sit down to eat without first performing the hand-washing ceremony required by Jewish custom. v38
Now keep in mind, this was not part of the Law that God gave to Moses. This was one of the “additions” that the teachers of the Law had made binding for all “faithful” Jews. And even though Jesus was the guest – as we used to say – He lit into that Pharisee! Jesus said,
“You Pharisees are so careful to clean the outside of the cup and the dish, but inside you are filthy—full of greed and wickedness! Fools! Didn’t God make the inside as well as the outside? So clean the inside by giving gifts to the poor, and you will be clean all over.” v39-41 (NLT)
I have a nice cement box in my back yard but no matter how clean it is on the outside, no matter how many flowers and butterflies surround it, it still houses the pump that stirs the waste from my home.
We can look and act nice on the outside but in the end, it is the inside that counts. It is important to take care of our outside but our insides – i.e. our hearts and souls – must be clean in God’s eyes, as well.