Vulnerable
Father, Your might was showcased out our window as a storm in all its splendor flew by! The calm and the sun have returned, and all is well. What a mighty God we serve!
Luke 10:3 (<<click to read the passage)
According to Merriam-Webster,
vulnerable adjective
….: capable of being physically or emotionally wounded
Shouldn’t that be our life’s goal? Isn’t that something, early on, that we instill in our children? Isn’t that something we all set out to accomplish every day? “Alright world, heads up! Today I am going to be…vulnerable!”
Bad idea, you say? You’re having none of that? Not happening on your watch?
Jumping back into Luke 10, I stopped at verse 3. Remember Jesus is sending out a troupe of disciples in pairs to towns that he was planning to visit. Many needed to hear the good news that he intended to share, and they were His forerunners. After speaking of the need for workers for the great harvest of souls to come, He commands them,
Go! I am sending you out like lambs among wolves. (NIV)
A portion of a study on the Blue Letter Bible website says,
Jesus commands them to go with a certain kind of heart, that trusts in God and doesn’t seek to abuse and manipulate people. Going as lambs among wolves doesn’t sound very attractive to us! Yet, it is exactly as Jesus was sent, and how the power of God worked through Him mightily.
Isn’t that what gives us pause? We are believers! We are more than conquerors! …but going out as “lambs among wolves”? Talk about being vulnerable!
“Yet, it is exactly as Jesus was sent…”
The King of Heaven placed Himself, willingly, into the womb of a young Israelite girl. Is there anything more vulnerable than a newborn child? Infinite deliberately placing Himself into finite.
Nothing about His life was easy. He exerted His power, not for His own gain, but for the benefit of those in need. He hungered but fed the hungry. He grew weary but did not withhold His attention from those who craved His touch. He was always on call and literally had to slip away in the quiet morning hours to spend much needed time with His Father.
Our Almighty Creator God allowed Himself to be betrayed, tried, convicted, beaten, and crucified on a cruel cross as…a lamb.
In his Bible Commentary, Matthew Henry, in reference to Luke 10:3, stated,
Your enemies will be as wolves, bloody and cruel, and ready to pull you to pieces; in their threatenings and revilings, they will be as howling wolves to terrify you; in their persecutions of you, they will be as ravening wolves to tear you.
It’s easy to see it applying to Jesus, but to us?
Henry goes on to say,
But you must be as lambs, peaceable and patient, though made an easy prey of. It would have been very hard thus to be sent forth as sheep among wolves, if he had not endued them with his spirit and courage.
Jesus asks nothing of us that He has not already done.
Again, I will address the mentality of those with a “my rights” mentality. We are sent by a wounded Savior to touch a world that will just as readily accept our extended hand of mercy as it will just as readily bite it off.
There are no guarantees. There are no apologies. The opening word in verse 3 is “Go!” It is not a suggestion…it is a command. The Lord of Heaven’s Armies leads the way…by example…and we must readily follow. Then, and only then, will we be endued with His spirit and courage. It is exactly as Jesus was sent, and how the power of God worked through Him mightily and will work through us, as well.
The way of vulnerability is not easy, but it is the way we must go.
May 14th, 2020, Thurs, 6:46 pm
Not in Our Budget
As this day is winding down, Father, may my mind and heart be attentive to Your direction. Amen.
*********
Well, this afternoon I took time to do some much-needed cleaning on my bus – #25. Though we will continue to deliver lunches through the last day of “school” – June 3rd – we were asked to have the bulk of everything tidied up by this Friday.
I have not quite finished cleaning #25 yet, in that I need to mop my floor and then thoroughly wipe down the area where my feet go when I drive – but that will have to wait. And I’m not really sure how long that wait will be.
A couple of weeks ago, the computer that takes care of the elaborate emissions components on my bus had an issue. Our fine mechanics have done everything they know to do, cleaning some parts, and replacing others as needed. But they cannot go any further. Everything they have done so far has involved communication via phone calls with International – the manufacturer of my bus. And now they’ve hit a wall. At this point, it has to be hooked up to a diagnostic computer to see what ails it. So, tomorrow morning, bright and early, #25 gets to make a trip to Zanesville. …ugh….
As I have said, we have great mechanics but without the proper software (and it is quite expensive, I am told, and not in our budget – at least not in the near future) you can only do what you know to do.
How often do we go through life only doing what we know to do? We take care of business the best we know how, but there are many things in life that we just can’t handle. We need someone with a greater understanding of the situations in which we find ourselves. What we need, is to get ourselves back to our manufacturer – our Creator. Only He can help us. It makes no difference how much experience we have; there are some things that we just can’t fix.
And before we begin thinking we can do it ourselves; we have to realize that paying for the answers to all of our life’s questions is not – and can never possibly be in our budget. Only One has paid the price and it was at great cost that He did so.
Jesus fulfills the prophecy found in Isaiah 44:22,
“I have swept away your sins like a cloud. I have scattered your offenses like the morning mist. Oh, return to me, for I have paid the price to set you free.” (NLT)
Only Jesus, our Creator, can fix what ails us because He alone was able to pay the price, and I, for one, am eternally grateful.
May 13th, 2020, Wed, 8:29 pm
A Father’s Love
As always, Father, I must express my appreciation for Your presence throughout this day. It has benefited me in so many ways.
********
For whatever reason, I don’t remember a whole lot of incidents from my childhood, but a few linger in the recesses of my mind.
There was a time in my preteen years that my sister and I were under the care of a sitter. Mrs. Palmer, not too awfully far from where we lived in Mason, Ohio. Oddly enough I remember both early morning things and late evening things, though I’m sure that we weren’t there for entire days at a time.
All my memories are positive ones. I remember Mrs. Palmer, on more than one occasion, making oatmeal for breakfast and making us toast in the oven. It was good but different in that we used a toaster. I remember, too, playing out amongst the neighbor kids out and about in their yards and even on the street. One girl, Joy, lived across the street and one memory I have is that as the evening waned and the sun was setting, the streetlights would come on. I remember her mom calling to come in for supper, as our time of fun came to an end.
Thinking along these lines brought an old song to mind – Suppertime, written in 1950 by Ira Stanphill. The first verse and chorus go like this,
Many years ago in days of childhood,
I used to play till evening shadows come;
Then, winding down an old familiar pathway,
I heard my mother call at set of sun:
Come home, come home, it’s supper time!
The shadows lengthen fast;
Come home, come home, it’s supper time!
We’re going home at last.
These things all ran through my mind last night as I, with eyes closed, made my regular trek to the bathroom in the wee hours of the morning. We all have those things in life, whether they be dreams or reality, that call us to think or do or say things that we shouldn’t. It had been one of those evenings for me and I was feeling pulled. But then…I heard my Father calling me. I had spoken with Him about my struggles and in the dead of night, He reached out to me. He called to me. I prayed once more out of gratitude and as I crawled back under the warm and cozy comfort of my bed, I couldn’t help but feel warm and cozy comfort of my Father’s love and concern.
David wrote Psalm 9, and verse 10 of it says,
And those who know Your name [who have experienced Your precious mercy] will put their confident trust in You,
For You, O Lord, have not abandoned those who seek You. (AMP)
Father, thank You, for Your promises.
May 12th, 2020, Tues, 7:37 pm
No Lone Rangers
As I sit to type, Father, fill my heart, and mind with Your presence. Sweep through it, clearing all the cobwebs from all the corners. Eliminate anything that doesn’t belong in Your abode. Amen.
Luke 10:1-2 (<<click to read the passage)
I am very blessed that in my lifetime I have never once been unemployed. I have worked and served in several different places. I have been a minister of music, a minister of youth, a sales associate in a Christian bookstore, a fork-lift operator, a children’s pastor, a sales associate in a major retail chain, and now a school bus driver. But in all of those transitions, I have never had a lag time between them. Nor have I ever been laid off and needed to find some other means of income.
I realize that many cannot say that, especially in the current state of our nation’s economy. I am not special; it is just how my life has been.
From as far back as I can remember, I have felt that God called me to ministry, but if you look at the jobs I’ve had not all of them were in a church setting. What do you think of when you hear that someone is a minister? There are many words you might use to describe them but for the most part, most of our definitions would put that person into a church setting where they would “minister” to others on a regular basis. They would probably receive most of their support from said churches, as well.
I like what one of my churches had set a precedent long before I ever stepped into their building for the very first time. It was printed in their bulletins and I have continued to do so over the fourteen years that I have been their pastor.
In a box that has a header of Servant Leaders Today, following the word Ministers is the word Congregation. My name is not the sole name affiliated with that term – every believer that walks through the doors of that church (or that tunes in to the live broadcasting of our services) is a minister.
I love the very first sentence in my Life Application Study Bible about verse 2 in today’s passage. It states, “Christian service has no unemployment.”
No matter what “job” I have ever had, not once has my relationship with Jesus been set aside. And just as important is the fact that my responsibilities as a follower of Jesus do not have “Lone Ranger” attached to it. We are a body of believers. 1 Corinthians 12:12 makes it clear,
The human body has many parts, but the many parts make up one whole body. So it is with the body of Christ. (NLT)
We are one part of many. We are one minister amongst a multitude of believers.
On occasion we may need to minister alone but, as with any task, the more that join our effort the more opportunities will be had. Jesus informed the troop of disciples that He sent out and us as well that “the harvest is abundant [for there are many need to hear the good news about salvation], but He also declares, the workers [those available to proclaim the message of salvation] are few.”
And then Jesus called them, and He calls us, to pray. The more who join together to “work the fields” the greater the harvest will be.
Lord Jesus, may we be diligent in our prayers for others to join us in our efforts from Your Kingdom. It really is a life or death situation!
May 11th, 2020, Mon, 8:51 pm
Rogue and Destructive Bandits
Father, this day did not turn out that way I anticipated but You have not let me down whatsoever. May You guide me as my fingers type in our time together. Amen.
********
As I said, today had a lot of twists to it. Five minutes before starting our online worship service, I discovered something wasn’t right. The problem was big enough that there was no way to “go live”. It took us out completely!
We were able to record our service another way but by the time it all came together, and we could post online, it was after noon. We’ve been touching so many lives each week since broadcasting online. Both of my churches together run between 30 and 40 each week. Estimated attendance on our virtual services has averaged almost 70! Last week we actually recorded 86 people that stepped into “church! That is awesome! I’ve never been a “numbers” pastor, but I’ve been so excited about how many lives that God is touching through our services! …and then today’s debacle.
We got word today that one of our cousin’s daughters, who is a medic in the Army Reserves is being called into active duty at a nursing home in Pennsylvania. This particular facility is dealing with an 85% COVID-19 infection rate of staff and residents. She’ll be there for at least two weeks and then will have to quarantine herself after that for two weeks. (Pray for Kara’s protection, please!)
I don’t normally watch much TV but today I caught a couple of old episodes of Elementary. It is set in current-day New York City with characters loosely based on Sherlock Holmes. A big part of the last episode I saw had characters dealing with heroin addiction – somewhere in the middle of their addiction and some were in the middle of recovery. Just the squalor portrayed… the devastation of those dealing with it all… the pain… the death …the relapse of healing people unable to stop themselves. It was heart-wrenching…
I think we have a rogue and destructive bandit around our house. I’m almost sure that a resident raccoon has raided the suet in my bird feeders three times now – and my feeder holds two whole suet cakes! They are there the night before and totally gone the next morning!
Yesterday I put a small bungee cord around the suet cake compartment. It tried to get them out (bending the metal grid around them!) but was unsuccessful in getting much of the suet cakes at all! (I’m sure it wasn’t pleased!)
Now again, I’m not 100% positive – because I can’t see in the dark and haven’t caught our “friend” red-handed -but I think it has also been digging for grubs or worms or something in the mulch around the house. A good part of the front flower bed has had all the mulch pulled away from the foundation into the flower bed – some of the back, as well! The booger!
In life – especially our spiritual life – we must be very careful when things begin to dig away at our “foundation”. We are in the middle of an unprecedented time in history. We are confined, way more than normal, to our homes. Yesterday we got my in-laws out of their house and got some carry-out food and went to a local greenhouse (all with proper distancing and face masks, of course!) For the most part; they have been nowhere except a couple of medical-related trips for 6 weeks! We all know, at this point, that it wears on you!
Things like plans that don’t come together as we think they should, loved ones being called to honorably serve in harm’s way, seeing the “seedy” side of life vividly portrayed and realizing is not just fiction but reality! It all impacts us!
Those things, along with the “raccoons” in our lives can erode our ability to remain in an upright position! They can knock our feet out from under us! But…
We have a God who is not distant but who is there for us! If we abide in Him we can stand firm! Ephesians 6:13 (NIV) tells us,
Therefore put on the full armor of God, so that when the day of evil comes, you may be able to stand your ground, and after you have done everything, to stand.
Stand your ground. And after you’ve done everything…stand!
Lord, help us to put on the full armor that we can find only in your arsenal! (Read Ephesians 6:10-18) May we stand firm in You! Amen
May 10th, 2020, Sun, 8:13 pm