Sucked into the Muck!
Father, it has been a multifaceted kind of day! Good worship this morning, a wonderful rest of the day with Karen, an interesting conversation with a dear friend, and now trying to get a new modem and router to do what they need to do! All praise to You for Your loving support in it all!
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One thing that I thank the Lord for as a school bus driver is that I have never been sucked into the muck. Some of our county and township roads are pretty narrow and often we have oncoming traffic that is as big or bigger than we are – garbage trucks, dump trucks, even semis! For the most part, neither party really slows down a whole lot when we pass but both of us get over as far to the right side of the road as we can.
Occasionally on the side of the road, there may be some gravel or filler of some sort but usually, the ground just meets the pavement. Where we can run into trouble is, if we go just a little too far to the right and our tires go off the pavement and get onto the ground. If it is soupy from lots of rain or snow, with the weight of the bus, it can suck us right into where we are pulled off the road! Sometimes it is a fine line and it takes a keen eye to know how far you can push it.
I am convinced that angels have pushed on the right side of my bus on occasion! There have been too many times where I have been right on that razor-thin edge and not once have I gone too far, thank the Lord!
So, here’s my question. How many times in life do we get too close to the edge of trouble? Now there may be times where we are pushed, as such, and we get stuck where we are not supposed to be. On a bus, better stuck in the muck than getting hit by a truck!
In life, there are times when, by no fault of our own, we are pushed into potential sin-inducing situations. That, in and of itself, is not sin. If we linger or yield to that temptation in some way then we are in trouble.
The bad thing for many of us, it is not a matter of being pushed in those kinds of situations, but sometimes the problem lies in the fact that we just like playing a game of seeing how close to the edge we can get!
If I am on open road on the county and township roads of my route with nothing coming towards me and no blind curves or rises in the road with which to contend, I tend to drive closer to the middle of the road. There is no reason to take chances! The best policy is to avoid even the possibility of problems.
The same is true in my relationship with Jesus. What good is it to play around with temptation? We can rationalize all we want but it is dangerous and way too risky!
I had married acquaintance in college that used to say that he could look at other women all he wanted – and he was implying some very risky thoughts in regards to them – but he was fine…as long as he didn’t touch! That is crazy! I don’t know how he ended up but that is definitely not an attitude that helps to build one’s marriage!
So, in the end, don’t hang out near the edge! Doing so just may get you sucked into the muck!
Feb 23rd, 2020, Sun, 8:43 pm
Mudslinging
Father, please grant me an abundance of patience each day for You are surely patient with me and I can do no less for those charged to my care, old and young alike. Love and patience go hand in hand, as I have experienced under Your care. Amen.
Luke 6:41-42 (<<click to read the passage)
Our current political climate has possibly heightened this problem but all in all, it is a conundrum that plagues the entirety of our society. Mudslinging is at an all-time high on just about every front. We are a people that love to point out “specks” in other people’s eyes while all the while trying to “see past the log in [our] own eye”.
We are so quick to point out another person’s flaws but are just as quick to hide our own.
One big fallout from this mindset is that speck in your friend’s eye? It really does need taken care of.
Most of us at one time or another have gotten something in our eye, and I have yet to meet someone who can just carry on like nothing is wrong at all. Even getting an eyelash in your eye is very uncomfortable and everything else comes to a screeching halt as we take care of it!
We all need “specks” removed from our eyes and sometimes we need someone else to help us.
Our son, Massey, wears contacts and there have been times in the past when for whatever reason the contact has slipped to the back of his eyeball. It hurts! And the bad thing is, he can’t see it! Your one eye can’t see the back of your other eye! Sometimes he can feel exactly where it is laying but sometimes he needs our help to locate it.
Now if I was farsighted and refused to put my glasses on, would I be of any help to him? My trying to see things close up would be useless. Talk about the blind not being any good to the blind! I would have to make sure that my vision was clear in order to help him with his vision.
From a spiritual point of view (no pun intended!), how can God use us to help others with spiritual problems if we refuse to address our own? With God’s help we, first, need to take care of our “logs”, then He will be able to use us to our best abilities to aid others.
“It is easy for us to rationalize our sins by pointing out the same mistakes in others,” my Life Application Study Bible says. We can sling mud all day long but unfortunately…our source of mud may be ourselves.
Lord Jesus, may we see clearly our “logs” and get rid of them so that You can use us to love others as we love ourselves. Amen.
Feb 20th, 2020, Thurs, 12:18 pm
The Big Dipper
It is a cold but beautiful day and we sure need the sunshine to lift our spirits. There are lots of clouds this time of year and it is a welcome change. Each season and each day are diverse parts of Your creation, Father. What a blessing You have given us all!
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After locking the door upon leaving the house this morning, I glanced behind me and saw that the sky was clear and then I looked straight up. I had not walked into the path of our motion sensor spotlights so beyond the electric candle in the window is was dark. (That’s pretty much the way it is at 5:30 in the morning!) But as I looked up, I was greeted by a spectacular sight!
I am no astronomer, but I do know a few of the constellations – and the Big Dipper is one that most of us can recognize. And there it was in all of its glory shining clearly for all who would look.
I was curious and wanted to know a few details about the Big Dipper, so…I Googled it of course! The first thing I learned was that…hold on to your seats…the Big Dipper is not a constellation! There are 88 of those and it is not one of them! What? It is actually an asterism, a familiar pattern of stars in the sky. Who knew? People more well-read than I am for sure!
I also learned that astronomers measure the sky in degrees – 360 degrees to be exact, and our Moon measures half a degree across. So if you measured from bottom corner of the Dipper to the end of its handle it would equal 40 full moons! Or about 20 degrees.
And one last bit of information, the closest star in the Big Dipper is Megrez at 58 light-years. and the most distant is Dubhe at 124 light-years.
We look at just one spectacular feature of the heavens and are in awe. But hear what the Lord says in Isaiah 66:1 (NLT),
“Heaven is my throne,
and the earth is my footstool.
Could you build me a temple as good as that?
Could you build me such a resting place?
The earth is His footstool – and the earth is four times as big as the moon! We serve a mighty God! Truly he is more than our minds can even begin to comprehend but, in His goodness and love, He came to live amongst us, so that we could get to know Him and actually have a relationship with Him! And because of His sacrifice on the cross, it is all possible! Praise Him for His everlasting love!
Feb 19th, 2020, Wed, 12:47 pm
Blind Leading the Blind
Loving Father, I would ask that your wisdom and direction would be evident in my life. There are so many things that are so very important when we have an eternal perspective in life and there are many things that are deceptively so. I would pray that I would have great determination to invest in the eternal and forgo the temporal. Amen.
Luke 6:39-40 (<<click to read the passage)
Wow! You wouldn’t think that two short verses could get my mind reeling like it is! As I have read through this passage, many thoughts have rumbled through my brain.
My leaping point began with the footnote in my Life Application Study Bible.
Make sure you’re following the right teachers and leaders, because you will go no farther than they do. Look for leaders who will show you more about faith and whose guidance you can trust.
First of all, pray for your pastor every day! There is a heavy load upon our shoulders. We have an enormous responsibility.
James 3:1 alone should deter the foolish from ever stepping behind a pulpit.
Not many [of you] should become teachers [serving in an official teaching capacity], my brothers and sisters, for you know that we [who are teachers] will be judged by a higher standard (or receive greater judgment) [because we have assumed greater accountability and more condemnation if we teach incorrectly]. (AMP)
Secondly, be careful who you follow. As my mind ran down this trail, I couldn’t help but think of disastrous leadership that has led to all kinds of pain, confusion and even death. One prime example is Jonestown in November of 1978, where a delusional leader brought about the death of over 900 people – a third of them children! It all came about because of what he declared to be the truth – Jesus was nowhere to be found!
I challenge the people of my congregations to double-check everything I say against God’s word. Paul encourages us in 1 Thessalonians 5:21 (AMP).
But test all things carefully [so you can recognize what is good]. Hold firmly to that which is good.
Jesus declares in today’s passage,
“Can one blind person lead another? Won’t they both fall into a ditch? Students are not greater than their teacher. But the student who is fully trained will become like the teacher. Luke 6:39-40 (NLT)
A person without sight cannot safely lead another person without sight. But He is addressing much more than physical blindness. One who is spiritually blind will be inept in leading others spiritually. It is dangerous for all!
Our goal must be to follow Jesus! And whoever we choose to lead us must follow Jesus, as well. If they are a pastor after God’s own heart, pray for them with all that you got! And if they are a pastor after their own heart, run as fast as you can in the opposite direction. Lord, help us all!
Feb 18th, 2020, Tues, 12:59 pm
Just as I Am
Father, my life has been filled with so many different things both beneficial and detrimental but You have woven them all into the fabric of who I have become and I am grateful that regardless You have used them to make my life a thing of beauty in Your eyes. You accept me, as You accept all of us, as we are. All praise to You for Your love, mercy, and grace is freely given in abundance to us all!
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Karen and I were blessed to be able to spend a wonderful day together today. We enjoyed talking together and walking with each other. (My phone says we walked 3.29 miles!) We ate together and did some shopping. We talked with a friend, a fellow teacher of Karen’s, and then later ran into a couple whose children had been in my “congregation” when I was a Children’s Pastor twenty plus years ago. God has blessed me with a wonderful companion for almost 34 years now!
On our way home tonight, our conversation took a more serious turn and as we talked, I was once again reminded how God has been actively at work in my life all of my life – hence my opening paragraph.
Some years ago, I wrestled with the fact that my testimony was pretty bland. I sowed a few wild oats but for the most part, I toed the line of what was expected of me as a Christian young man. By no means was I perfect but I truly believe that God kept me from so many things that could have drastically changed the course of my life. And with that knowledge, I let that become my testimony.
Now let me be clear, there are things in my life about which very few people know. I even shocked Karen with an experience I had as a young child – I had never shared it with her before. I am tainted, as we all are. I am no more without sin than anyone reading this blog is. But as I said in my opening prayer, God accepts me, as He accepts all of us, as we are.
Of course, as anyone that has read much of what I have written would know, I love music and hymns come to mind often as I write. The one that comes to mind tonight is Just as I Am. It was written way back in 1834 by Charlotte Elliot and many associate it with what God was able to accomplish in the many years of ministry granted to Rev. Billy Graham.
Here is just the first stanza:
Just as I am, without one plea,
But that Thy blood was shed for me,
And that Thou bidd’st me come to Thee,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
I could not communicate it any better than what I found on the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association’s website concerning this hymn,
According to How Sweet the Sound, a book by Billy Graham’s longtime Crusade soloist George Beverly Shea, Mr. Graham once explained that “we have ‘no plea’—no claim on God’s love or forgiveness—except that Jesus shed His innocent blood to reconcile us to His Father.”
There’s nothing we can do to earn salvation or freedom from sin; we simply must receive it through the grace and mercy of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection.
Ironically, we live in a world that screams for acceptance through careers, social media, and peers, but we often have difficulty receiving acceptance from a Savior.
Like trying to stubbornly wipe a dirty stain off a favorite shirt, we attempt to fix our own problems, wanting to appear better than we actually are. We forget that God created us in His own image and doesn’t desire our good intentions, but the very hearts that He designed.
Lord Jesus, may we lay claim to the last stanza of this simple hymn.
Just as I am! Thy love unknown
Hath broken every barrier down.;
Now, to be Thine, yea, Thine alone,
O Lamb of God, I come! I come!
Feb 17th, 2020, Mon, 7:48 pm