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.
Pieces of the Puzzle
The instructions of the Lord are perfect,
….reviving the soul.
The decrees of the Lord are trustworthy,
….making wise the simple.
The commandments of the Lord are right,
….bringing joy to the heart.
The commands of the Lord are clear,
….giving insight for living. Psalm 19:7-8 (NLT)
Isn’t this Psalm beautiful? Isn’t it uplifting and inspirational? Yes, but…
The next portion of scripture from Luke 11 points out things we need to hear. But…
Tonight, I come before You, Father, and my mind is blank… Today was not what any of us had anticipated, full of twists and turns. What we encountered we handled as if it were routine but, if anything is running through my blankness, it is that.
It was by no means the worst thing that could have happened. But it wasn’t necessarily good either. It was just another part of the puzzle of life. Another piece. Another day.
What is rolling over in my mind is, what we would do if we didn’t have each other? You have placed us all here, where we are. Most of us have someone – family or a friend. Quite often strangers will step in the gap to help us out.
But by far the biggest help of all is being able to have You as the piece of our puzzles that brings everything together. It’s like You are the celebratory last piece of the puzzle of life. But what is totally awesome about You and our relationship with You is that You are the Alpha and Omega!
For those of us who don’t know what those words mean (and a reminder for us that do!), Alpha and Omega are the first and the last letters in the Greek alphabet
In Revelation 22:13 Jesus tells us,
I am the Alpha and the Omega, the First and the Last, the Beginning and the End [the Eternal One].” (AMP)
I have worked on quite a few puzzles in my lifetime. I have an aunt who has put together 100s of them! It is one of her favorite pastimes. I realize that part of the fun of assembling puzzles is the placing of each piece in its place and the excitement of seeing it, bit by bit, coming together. But the sense of accomplishment comes when that last piece is put into place. The sense of completion! The ability to feel that a job has been well done. Seeing the final product before you and having total comprehension of the “big picture”.
When we ask Jesus to be a part of our lives – being He is the First and the Last – we have the beginning and the end all in one. We have a sense of completion in the middle of putting everything together one piece at a time. We received the acknowledgment of a job well done throughout life. And though we may not be able to see the “big picture”, He can and eagerly leads us along each and every day!
June 29th, 2020, Mon, 9:20 pm
In What Do You Invest?
An interesting day of worship, Father. As we are beginning to transition back to in-person worship, help us continue to be wise and compassionate throughout the process. Thank You for the privilege of touching lives with Your message of love and hope in so many ways!
********
There is a home we pass going to and coming from Karen’s parent’s place. For the almost 30 years that we have driven by it, it has been a beautiful spread. The house sits on a generous lot with a good-sized pond occupying roughly a third of it. There are numerous trees of various types spread throughout. It was always so meticulously maintained. The pond was clear of scum. The grass was regularly and neatly trimmed. Fallen branches from the many trees we gathered in a timely manner. …but no more…
The gentleman of the estate died a couple of years ago and to my knowledge, his wife died just recently. Someone is doing their best to keep up with the mowing, but it is not a place where a quick job can be done. It takes an investment of time and energy, and I am guessing those things are just not available right now.
I spoke with the gentleman some years back and you could tell, even then, that though it was becoming more than he could handle, he was too proud to accept an offering of help. He took pride in his home and the land around it.
All the time invested. All the sweat that he had exuded. The money for gas and flowers and equipment and whatever else was needed to maintain was good for those years passed but there is really nothing to show for it now. Many of us do the same. I do the same… We love investing time and effort into our home and yard.
Now it’s one thing to invest in this world. But it is another thing altogether to invest in eternity. All I know of this man was that he was a pretty good baseball player in the day when he played against my father-in-law. So, he may have also very well been a devout man after God’s own heart. He may have given his attention to the Word and to service for God and His kingdom and I pray it was so!
…but what if he didn’t…
In what do you invest? What takes your time and energy and resources? Is it something that when you are gone, it will fall away amongst the dust of time, to not be remembered but maybe for a generation or two?
Or will your investment in the way of God and His kingdom continue to multiply many times over as people you have touched for Him, touch others, and they, in turn, touch others? Now that is an investment worth storing up!
Therefore if you have been raised with Christ [to a new life, sharing in His resurrection from the dead], keep seeking the things that are above, where Christ is, seated at the right hand of God. Set your mind and keep focused habitually on the things above [the heavenly things], not on things that are on the earth [which have only temporal value]. For you died [to this world], and your [new, real] life is hidden with Christ in God. When Christ, who is our life, [a]appears, then you also will appear with Him in glory. Colossians 3:1-4 (AMP)
June 28th, 2020, Sun, 7:25 pm