Seriously! (Part 2)
Yesterday, I started writing out what was on my heart regarding an encouragement I sent to my friend and it went much further than I thought it would go, so I paused, not wanting to overwhelm anyone with too much at one sitting. Regardless, here is part two. (If you missed part one, click here >> Seriously! Part 1)
Many times after writing my opening prayer, unbeknownst to me, God has already laid the foundation for the way He will lead me. It has happened to me numerous times, but it never ceases to amaze me to see God at work in me!
Yesterday I wrote, I feel that sometimes I am all over the place, but You are the immovable rock upon which I stand.
The Old Testament book of Joshua begins with God handing the reigns of leadership over to Joshua upon Moses’ death. There was so much yet to accomplish, so many big hurdles to overcome. And the Israelites alone would have been more than enough to handle! But God didn’t send Joshua out to do the job alone. God spoke to Joshua directly, saying,
“This is my command – be strong and courageous! Do not be afraid or discouraged. For the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.” Joshua 1:9 (NLT)
In the text I sent my friend, I said, God will hold you tight and will not let go.
Understand this – God has got you in the palm of His hand and nothing can get to you that He is not there standing right beside you. His love cannot be conquered. Nothing in heaven or on earth can get between you and God.
You are precious to Him. He sacrificed His one and only Son that you might be redeemed. You were lost in your sins with no means of saving yourself. From birth, you were sold out to sin, but He paid the ultimate price – His very blood…every last drop – to buy you back for Himself! He did it all for you… and He will not let you go!
Looking for a passage of Scripture that came to mind, lo and behold, a passage preceded it that clearly lays out what I just said. But Paul’s words in Romans 8 have such a greater impact! (And again, don’t rush through them…read them thoughtfully…and deliberately. I challenge you to let them soak into your heart.)
What shall we say about such wonderful things as these? If God is for us, who can ever be against us? Since he did not spare even his own Son but gave him up for us all, won’t he also give us everything else? Who dares accuse us whom God has chosen for his own? No one—for God himself has given us right standing with himself. Who then will condemn us? No one—for Christ Jesus died for us and was raised to life for us, and he is sitting in the place of honor at God’s right hand, pleading for us.
Can anything ever separate us from Christ’s love? Does it mean he no longer loves us if we have trouble or calamity, or are persecuted, or hungry, or destitute, or in danger, or threatened with death? … No, despite all these things, overwhelming victory is ours through Christ, who loved us.
And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love. No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord. vs31-35, 37-39(NLT)
What a wonderful promise! An assurance with which nothing compares! And surprisingly enough, I am still not quite done. So, until tomorrow…
(to be continued)
Seriously! (Part 1)
Father, I just want to say that I am grateful for Your everlasting love…your never-ending patience. I feel that sometimes I am all over the place, but You are the immovable rock upon which I stand. All praise to You, God Almighty!
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
I had the opportunity to text a bit with the friend who I referred to in yesterday’s post. In response to a statement he made, I replied,
“God has changed you – the old has passed, the new has come. Cling to that relationship. Every day pour out yourself before Him. He will hold you tight and will not let go. Unfortunately, we are the ones to let our grasp begin to slip. Hold tight, my friend.”
I am usually much more conversational in our texts but today I felt the need to give a well thought out response. As followers of Jesus, it is imperative that we see the utmost of seriousness in everything we do and say. Now, I’m not saying we have to be sourpuss, pickle-faced believers. That is no way to live, especially as we respond to what our Savior has done for us! Our Creator is Love and the outpouring of that is joy!
The point I want to make is that we must always be on our guard.
Peter in his first letter to the early Church driven from Jerusalem into the world cautioned,
Be sober [well balanced and self-disciplined], be alert and cautious at all times. That enemy of yours, the devil, prowls around like a roaring lion [fiercely hungry], seeking someone to devour. 1 Peter 5:8 (AMP)
I would admonish you, in these perilous times – and I truly believe that every era has its perils – cling unrelentingly to your relationship with God! As I stated in my opening prayer, He is the immovable rock upon which we stand.
Secondly, every day pour out yourself before Him. The Apostle Paul says we are vessels,
But we have this precious treasure [the good news about salvation] in [unworthy] earthen vessels [of human frailty], so that the grandeur and surpassing greatness of the power will be [shown to be] from God [His sufficiency] and not from ourselves. 2 Corinthians 4:7 (AMP) (emphasis mine)
We are vessels, yes, but think about it. A container of any sort left outside collects all kinds of things inside – dust, bugs, rain, debris, dew. Just its exposure to the world, just its openness invites any and everything to be taken into the very heart of its being.
How about you and me? Every day we are exposed to a wide variety of things. We smell, we hear, we see, we touch…and all of those experiences are taken into the very heart of our being. We also regularly dredge, up from the depths of our souls – good things and bad – pain, love, bitterness, peace, hate, to name but a few. But each of those things is poured into the vessel that we are.
Late last summer we put our pool cover in place. Since then, rain and melted snow along with leaves, branches, bird droppings, insects, seedlings, and who knows what else has collected in that concoction of nature. Now the water under the cover was treated to remain as pure as possible. I have not looked but it should be clear enough to see to the bottom. Now the question is, how wise would I be to just allow all of that contaminated water from the cover into the “pure” water below?
So, each day, to keep the world’s contamination from intermingling with the purity of our souls, we must pour out ourselves before the Great Purifier of our souls.
(to be continued)
Apr 28th, 2020, Tue, 5:44 pm
Searching for Something When You’re Not Even Sure What You’re Looking For
It has been a full day, Father, and a lot of little things have gotten done. Thank You for prompting Karen to have us go for a walk this evening while the weather was still nice. We needed the exercise and the change of view! All praise to You!
Luke 9:49-50 (<<click to read the passage)
I have a friend…a good friend…who has become a changed man. I have known him for quite a few years now but the man he is today is not the man he was even just a couple of years ago. He was (and is) faithful to the church. He was regular in his attendance, supportive of his pastor, generous in his giving…anything the church got behind and supported, he was right there at the front of the line to contribute whatever he could in any way he could. He most definitely was active…but he was distant. Maybe even a little cold… Something in his youth, something from the church, had hurt him…it had hurt him badly. I would say it scarred him for life. But that did not stop him from doing what he could for God. It was just that there was a barrier, if you will, something that deprived him of the joy for which he longed. I don’t think he ever really stopped looking for it. But sometimes it is difficult to find something, when you are not even exactly sure what you are looking for.
That all changed a little over a year ago.
A series of extremely difficult circumstances enveloped his life. It was not just a couple of bumps in the road of his life. In reality, it was a life and death situation in which he found himself. He had no choice but to go down the path that stretched before him…and it could easily have brought an end to his life. But God…
God chose to intervene. He stepped into the situation – which mind you, was overflowing with prayers from the faithful. And God heard those prayers and saw fit to answer them in a mighty way…in a miraculous way! What could have brought death, was halted by life! And the life was not just of flesh and blood but was of the Spirit Himself!
The joy he sought, has been granted. And his life has been changed. And even that word “changed” seems so inadequate! It is much too small a word for how this new life in Jesus has impacted his life! And truly Jesus is everything to him. Jesus is no longer an obligation to be lived up to, He is a friend like no other! And my friend is following Jesus, to the best of his ability, with every word, every action, and every thought. He lives to bring happiness and joy to his Savior!
In today’s short passage, there are some pretty harsh words spoken. And what makes them even harsher in their impact is who said them. Verse 49 tells us that the Apostle John said to Jesus, “Master, we saw someone using your name to cast out demons, but we told him to stop because he isn’t in our group.”
Doesn’t that sound petty? Selfish? “Hey don’t do that! You’re not part of the club like I am!”
Remember, too, that John and his brother James – and it’s recorded in just a couple more verses -they wanted to call fire down on some unsavory villagers because they were ticked off at them! (Luke 9:51-54)
Mark’s Gospel has them vying for seats of honor in Jesus’ kingdom – something Jesus could not grant and something for which they had no right to ask. (Mark 10:35-45)
John wasn’t a bad guy…and even though he had spent a lot of time with Jesus, up close and personal time…he really didn’t know Jesus. But one day he would.
Read John’s own Gospel and you will see that he, too, had sought for joy and it was miraculously granted to him. And just as my friend’s life was changed, so was John’s…and without a doubt Jesus became everything to him, too.
Lord Jesus, may we all find the joy – that “joy unspeakable and full of glory” that You have in store for each of us who truly seeks You…for we will surely find it!
Apr 27th, 2020, Mon, 8:21 pm
Too Much for Breakfast
Father, thank You for my companion through life. You have blessed me in so many ways because of the blessing she is to me! Bless her, too!
Luke 9:46-48 (<<click to read the passage)
Humility can be hard – even for those who are pretty meek and mild.
I remember an incident from my middle school years. We were on a class trip to the Great Smokey Mountains. The unwise chap that I was, had squandered the money I had been given. When it came time for breakfast on the last morning of our trip, I was broke – nobody’s fault but mine. One of the mothers offered to buy me a bite. I eagerly accepted but instead of humbly ordering something inexpensive and modest, I ordered more than I really needed. I remember my benefactor being a little put-off…and she had every right to be.
In today’s passage, the disciples were arguing “as to which of them might be the greatest [surpassing the others in esteem and authority].” v46 and here is the last line of what Jesus had to say to them,
“…the one who is least among all of you [that is, the one who is genuinely humble—the one with a realistic self-view]—he is the one who is [truly] great.” v48
We can blame the world all we want, but in the end, it is our choice to be “genuinely humble” …or to think of ourselves with an unrealistic self-view.
Now, yeah, I was probably just being an unthinking, prepubescent dweeb but, here, over forty years later it still weighs on my conscience. Sure, I’ve matured, but for any of us does that tendency to do what benefits us ever really go away?
Standing at a buffet, do we stand before the bin of broasted chicken and deliberately pull out the choicest piece of the bunch? Or maybe we snatch up the three legs that are left because they are our favorite?
Or maybe more recently, when we’ve been out grabbing a few things at the grocery and there are only two packages of toilet paper left on the shelf and we’re allowed to get two, do we take them both without a second thought?
I could go on…but think you get the point.
My study Bible* has this to say,
Our care for others is a measure of our greatness. How much concern do you show for others? This is a vital question that can accurately measure your greatness in God’s eyes. How have you expressed your care for others lately, especially the helpless, the needy, the poor—those who can’t return your love and concern? Your honest answer to that question will give you a good idea of your real greatness.
Lord Jesus, speak to the depths of our hearts. May we truly…honestly…see who we really are. If there is something there that doesn’t belong, may we give it over to You. And then, and only then, can we move on to the greatness You have in store. Amen.
*Life Application Study Bible New Living Translation
Apr 26th, 2020, Sun, 8:41 pm
Preconceived Notions
As I come before You tonight, Father, and have some music playing, this is the song I hear…
You alone are my strength, my shield
To You alone may my spirit yield
You alone are my heart’s desire
And I long to worship Thee (As the Deer base on Psalm 42)
And it is more than enough…
Luke 9:44-45 (<<click to read the passage)
Have you ever had a job where you were responsible to train someone? If so, then you are aware that several contributing factors would make that an easy job or a difficult one.
One difficult hurdle is if the trainee already thinks they know everything there is to know about what you have to tell them. Or perhaps they just have preconceived notions as to what the job entails. Of course, there are many ways to do certain things and though we may think we know and understand them all, we can quickly realize that much of what we thought we knew was off a little or totally off base!
When Jesus clearly told his disciples what His future held (for the second time, no less!) Luke tells us that “they didn’t know what he meant. Its significance was hidden from them, so they couldn’t understand it…” v45 NLT (emphasis mine)
The Gospels run parallel on many points, and this is one of them. We’ve looked at this problem of the disciples before – they had their own ideas about who the Messiah would be (and as we’ll see in the next few verses, they were also concerned how they would fit into it all!) But regarding things being hidden, there’s a good chance that even we didn’t catch them because of our preconceived notions.
Preconceived notions are some of the biggest obstacles that we must strive to overcome when grasping God’s Word but there are several “notions” that fall into that category.
- I don’t need to read this; I’ve read it before
Over the years I have gone through the Bible several times (See Wide and Deep) but honestly, there is always something new!
It is because of the Lord’s lovingkindnesses that we are not consumed, because His [tender] compassions never fail. They are new every morning; great and beyond measure is Your faithfulness. Lamentations 3:22-23 (AMP)
Of course, that passage refers to God’s lovingkindness to us, but don’t you think the Word He has given us is just one more sign of that love? So hold fast to the truth that His Word for us is new every morning. Read it…ponder on it…read it some more…pray over it…listen…He will speak!
- This is too hard to understand, I’m not even going to try.
Now I would never encourage anyone wanting to begin reading the Bible regularly, to begin with Leviticus or the Book of Revelation – they both are a lot to struggle through. Begin with things that are impacting but still relatively easy to read. The Gospels, for example, give us a great opportunity to get to know Jesus better. They all contain His life and teachings but all from a different perspective. Each author, under the direction of the Holy Spirit, wrote to a different audience – Matthew to the Jewish population, Mark to the Christians in Rome, Luke to the Gentiles (Theophilus, in particular), and John, probably the best to start with, since he was writing to new Christians and searching non-Christians.
Don’t let preconceived notions hinder you from getting into the Word. And most importantly as the old Gaither song goes, “I heard you’re into the word / Getting into the word / But is the word getting into you?”
Apr 23rd, 2020, Thurs, 7:58 pm
And just in case you’re curious…
Into the Word from the Passin’ the Faith Along album, released April 1983 and yes, that is a 26-year-old Steve Green!