Be Determined!
Father, I am grateful for Your Comforting Holy Spirit. There is so much pain, suffering, and heartache in the world and You are with us in ways we cannot even begin to fully understand. May we come to You and may we bring others to You, as well. Amen.
Luke 3:7-9 (<<click to read the passage)
Growing up it seemed that there were many examples of people coming to Jesus and having their lives radically changed because of their newfound relationship with Him. Habits and lifestyles of their past were greatly impacted. The Apostle Paul’s proclamation in 2 Corinthians 5:17 (AMP) was truly fleshed out!
Therefore if anyone is in Christ [that is, grafted in, joined to Him by faith in Him as Savior], he is a new creature [reborn and renewed by the Holy Spirit]; the old things [the previous moral and spiritual condition] have passed away. Behold, new things have come [because spiritual awakening brings a new life].
Maybe I’m just not mingling in the right circles, but I don’t seem to see that kind of thing anymore. I tend to interact with those who already know Jesus and, like me, they are just trying to follow Him as best they can.
God is most definitely still in the life-changing business! But what do I need to do to be a part of it? Part of the solution is to abide by John’s commands here in the first part of Luke 3:8 (AMP)
…produce fruit that is worthy of [and consistent with your] repentance [that is, live changed lives, turn from sin and seek God and His righteousness]
We must first, with the Lord’s help, get ourselves where He needs us to be. Human nature has this nasty tendency to encourage us to live a multiple-personality kind of life. We have our “Christian” selves that we hold forth when we are around other believers. But that part of who we are can easily be shoved down out of sight so as not to embarrass us when we are out in the “real” world.
Our “real world” selves, though not necessarily worldly through and through, has the tendency to go the easiest route possible. It just gets too difficult to use the plumb line of God and His Word every time we want to do something. We just do it and ask for forgiveness later if we need to.
If we are true followers of Jesus, we must be determined to live changed lives all the time, not just when it is convenient to do so.
Instead of yielding occasionally to the many temptations around us and then asking for God’s forgiveness again…and again…and again, we must be determined to turn from sin. We must pray that God will make us uncomfortable with it anywhere in our lives. We should avoid letting sin get its toe in the door of our lives at all costs!
And one of the most important actions on our part is to seek God and His righteousness. It might be a challenge, but we must be determined to use the plumb line of God and His Word every time we want to do something. That is the only way we will find God and the more time we spend with Him the more like Him we will become.
Well, that’s a start but, Lord Jesus, I feel that this line of thought needs to be delved into quite a bit more. Help us to grasp the importance of our relationship with You in every aspect of our lives and then we can honestly pursue sharing You with others. Amen.
Nov 14th, 2019, Thurs, 7:46 pm
Remove the Obstacles
Father, what a full day of blessings! Good runs on my routes today with Your hedge of protection around me. A wonderful time of fellowship with new friends. And some quality time with my favorite girl! Thank you, Father, for all that You are to me!
Luke 3:1-6 (<<click to read the passage)
Fast forward 20+ years and neither Zechariah’s son, John, nor Jesus are children any longer. Their miraculous beginnings have not been forgotten by those close to them, but the world has moved on. Rome is still “in charge” and if anything, the corruption of politics and religious structure has only deepened.
And then, out of the wilderness, steps John. He will come to be known as John the Baptist. He is fulfilling God’s call on his life by being the precursor of the Messiah – Jesus – who is close on his heels.
Luke quotes a passage from the writings of Isaiah to introduce John’s mission, which ultimately is just one more piece of the puzzle of God’s ultimate mission – the salvation of the world!
Luke actually quotes of the Greek version of this Old Testament passage,
He is a voice shouting in the wilderness,
“Prepare the way for the Lord’s coming!
Clear a road for our God!
Fill in the valleys,
and level the mountains and hills.
And then the glory of the Lord will be revealed,
and all people will see the salvation sent from God.
The Lord has spoken!”
I love what the Amplified Bible interjects in regard to the preparation – remove the obstacles! Prepare…clear…fill in…level…their dreams were finally coming to fruition and they had to be ready! For that matter, we have to be ready, too! Jesus came as much for us as He did for them!
Two points need to be made here.
First, as my Life Application Study Bible puts it, “To prepare the way means clearing aside the baggage of the past and doubts of the present in order to let the King come into your life.” We cannot fix ourselves. We are incapable of ridding ourselves of the sin in our lives. Jesus, and only Jesus, has the power to do that but preparing the way means that we must open ourselves to His work in our lives.
Second, when it says all people will see the salvation sent from God, it opens the doors wide! It says all people, no one is left out. No one is excluded. Let that sink in. Absolutely, positively, irrevocably no one is left on the outside looking in.
We in our humanity like to be divisive. We like to be a part of the “haves” and delight in sticking it to the “have nots”. No matter where you go, every culture, every schoolyard, every office…and unfortunately, many churches have this mentality. And let me be very clear, that kind of mindset is not – I repeat not – God’s mentality. It’s not even close!
John 3:16 underscores God’s mindset,
“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.” (NLT) – emphasis mine
What an awesome offer! What an indescribable gift from our Heavenly Father! We – every single one of us – is cherished! We are chosen! And all we have to do is accept what He extends to us! Lord Jesus, may we do so!
Nov 13th, 2019, Wed, 7:59 pm
Mentality of Gratefulness
It was a challenging day with all the ice and snow, Father, but thank You for Your watchcare over all the bus drivers and others driving to and from school today. Keep us in the hollow of Your hand.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
From a very early age, gratitude is one of those things that our parents drill into us. Saying “please” and “thank you” is a great foundational lesson for one and all.
But, if you really think about it, there are many different ways that “thank you” is communicated. As a bus driver, many teachers/coaches want their students to be polite and encourage them to thank us as they exit the bus. We get paid to transport them but it is also a volunteer service for them. We could say “no”. There are most definitely many heartfelt “thank yous”. But there are also, the I-have-to-say-this-because-my-teacher/coach-said-so “thank yous”, as well. They’re not mean or disrespectful – they’re just sort of shallow and for sure not genuine.
When we’re learning to be grateful as kids, we are not always good at it. I remember when I was in upper-elementary I received a gift from my grandmother (whom I loved dearly – and more so, as I got older). That was when Legos started to gain popularity and that is what I wanted but my grandmother – as many grandparents will be – had no real grasp as to what I wanted and thought toy blocks are toy blocks and bought me a Mega Blok set. I felt they were not up to snuff for my standards and was quick to express my dissatisfaction.
My ingratitude stung. I might have gotten the same result if I had slapped her across the face. I was reprimanded, and she forgave me for my insolence but it bothers me to this day how I hurt her.
We are just a couple of weeks out from Thanksgiving, when – hopefully – we will have the opportunity to gather with friends and family to celebrate the many things for which we should be thankful. Some family traditions are full of opportunities to express said gratitude but for many others, it’s just about stuffing ourselves like the turkeys before us and watching sports on TV for the rest of the afternoon. “Yeah, yeah, yeah, thanks and all that, but where are the rolls!?”
A lot of it is a mentality of gratefulness. Do we just take things for granted? Do we just expect to have clean laundry and food available whenever we are hungry? Again, some are better at being grateful than others and it is probably something that all of us could improve upon.
But here is the big question, how often do we thank the Provider and Sustainer of all of life’s many blessings? Many of us may say a quick prayer as we bow our heads before we eat…but what about our lives beyond that?
If you are reading this, you woke up today? Are you grateful?
More than likely one of the first things you did today was to shuffle to the bathroom and flip the light switch on. Were you grateful for electricity and running water?
And on and on our days go – food, friends, shelter, love – there is a never-ending list. …but do we say a heart-felt thank You to the One who has given us everything?
The psalmist wrote,
Praise the Lord! (Hallelujah!)
Oh give thanks to the Lord, for He is good; For His mercy and lovingkindness endure forever! Psalm 106:1 (AMP)
Let’s strive to not just be occasionally grateful and, too, may we do so with truly grateful hearts – not just because someone told us that’s what we were supposed to do.
Priceless Charges
I am a little later sitting down to write today. Thank You, Father, for the opportunity to get out for supper with Karen’s dad, a Korean War veteran and honoring him. It was a blessing to acknowledge his service and a pleasure spending time with family.
♦♦♦♦♦♦♦♦
It has started! I had no sooner dropped off Karen and her parents at the entrance of Der Dutchman Restaurant when the white flakes began to fall…snow! Now I understand for some people snow is a four-letter word on more than one level. I, on the other hand, love it!
You might think I’m crazy – especially since I have to drive my big yellow school bus in it – but it is par for the course. If it gets bad enough, we won’t be out in it but we are professionals who take our jobs very seriously and do our very best to be as safe as we can possibly be. Our “charges” are priceless and our dedication reflects it.
We don’t hear the word “charge” used in this context very often anymore. According to collinsdictionary.com, it is considered a countable noun and describing someone as your charge, means that they have been given to you to be taken care of and you are responsible for them.
To me, from a Biblical perspective, that sounds quite a bit like a shepherd. The first part of Isaiah 40:11 (NLT) states,
He will feed his flock like a shepherd. He will carry the lambs in his arms, holding them close to his heart.
Sheep are not necessarily cooperative – neither are children on a school bus. They want to get into things that are not necessarily safe for them to do. Some are just bull-headed and do what they want regardless of what they are told. Others need guidance because they are naive to the hazards of life or they are in their own little world. For them, it can just be difficult to see beyond their immediate situation.
Lord Jesus, many of us – in all walks of life – shoulder a huge responsibility to care for our charges. They may be children, but ask any pastor and they will tell you that that is not necessarily the case. Adults need shepherding, as well. May we follow Your example. May we do whatever it takes to bring our charges safely home. Amen.
Nov 11th, 2019, 8:49 pm
Lost Child!
A little extra time off this weekend and it was beneficial for rest and for getting a few things done around the house. Thank You, Father, for the restorative time down and for the strength to be productive. I am so grateful that You are always by my side.
Luke 2:41-52 (<<click to read the passage)
I have made reference in the past to some of the scary times when in the course of any given day when I worked at Kohl’s that children would become separated from their parents. From my recollection, there seemed to be as many times when the children found an associate to ask for help finding their parents and as there were times when parents sought out associates to help find their missing child.
Sometimes children were in tears being separated from their parents but the real panic took place when we didn’t know where the child was. The all too familiar “Code Yellow” would be announced as every available associate began to search for the missing child and securing all the exits. Basic identification clues would be passed along, gender, age, hair color, what they were wearing, etc. If it took too long, it could get pretty scary! We always found the child but still, parents were so afraid of all the could-have-beens.
Can you imagine being the parents of Jesus? Now remember this wasn’t your typical 12-year-old boy…this was God’s Son and even from the beginning, many had pointed Him out as the long-awaited Messiah. And they had lost Him!
The Amplified Bible uses the word “anxiously” to describe their search when they first discovered that he is not with them. One thing to keep in mind, most often when traveling to and from Jerusalem for these big events they would travel in large caravans – safety in numbers, you know. And as my Life Application Study Bible states,
“At age 12, Jesus was considered almost an adult, so he probably didn’t spend a lot of time with his parents during the festival.” In these caravans, “The women and children usually would travel at the front…with the men bring up the rear. A 12-year-old boy conceivably could have been in either group, so Mary and Joseph probably assumed that Jesus was with the other one.”
Right up front, none of the three were guilty of any wrongdoing. Mary and Joseph were responsible parents and Jesus was a responsible child. But it didn’t lower the anxiety level having this knowledge.
So, they were already one day out when they discovered His absence. And they didn’t find Him until three days later!
When they saw Him, they were overwhelmed; and His mother said to Him, “Son, why have You treated us like this? Listen, Your father and I have been [greatly distressed and] anxiously looking for You.”
They were rattled for sure! But Jesus wasn’t the least bit ruffled. He had done nothing wrong. He had not deliberately upset them.
And He answered, “Why did you have to look for Me? Did you not know that I had to be in My Father’s house [or had to be occupied with My Father’s business]?”
They really didn’t understand it all but Jesus “was continually submissive and obedient to them”.
In our own relationships with Jesus, we may not understand everything but we can trust Jesus to know what is going on. Even though we may not be able to grasp the “whys”, He does and grasps them in their entirety! We are in the best of care in His hands!
Nov 10th, 2019, Sun, 6:35 pm