He IS Coming Back!
Father, it has already been a hectic week and we are just halfway through with much more to do. Strengthen me in mind, spirit, and body to accomplish what needs doing. Amen.
2 Peter 3:1-18 (<<click here to read the passage)
Roughly 2000 years ago, Lord, while living here amongst us, You spoke of Your eminent return. That has been quite a while, but the length of time that has passed or that has yet to pass has no bearing on the truth or validity of Your words.
People like to argue that there is nothing to Your promise because it was made so long ago. They could not be more wrong. You are coming back when You decide to return. Our timetable is not Your timetable. Peter admonishes us to not forget that “a day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.” v8b
Lord, You are not slow or hesitant – You are patient – You are long-suffering…and it is for our sake.
“[You do] not want anyone to be destroyed but [You want] everyone to repent.” v9c
You yourself said,
“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.” John 3:16
Several years ago, an old friend, Renita Koehn, and her husband Daniel ministered to my joint congregations through music. Daniel also dramatically delivered chapters 12-17 of the Gospel of John. After the service one of our young ladies came and asked me about John 12:25, wanting to know what it meant. It reads,
“Those who love their life in this world will lose it. Those who care nothing for their life in this world will keep it for eternity.”
Absolutely nothing we accumulate here of a physical nature will remain. As the old adage goes, we can’t take it with us. Peter emphasized that everything on this earth will pass through the fires of judgment – it will all be destroyed. Only our souls and the things of the heart we have stored up will continue to exist.
I told this sweet young lady that when we lose a loved one that everything physical about it will one day be gone and that all that will remain will be our love and memories of them. Only what we do for Christ will remain. Lord, help me to live out Peter’s admonition.
“And so, dear friends, while You are waiting for those things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives than are pure and blameless in his sight.” v14 NLT
Amen. So be it.
(Mar 21st, 2017, Tues, 6:26 am)
Apr 26th, 2023, Wed, 7:04 pm
Of Charlatans Beware!
My body is rebelling, Father. Picking up branches this weekend, I used muscles that I haven’t used in a while. That along with another funeral for which to prepare is wearing on me. May this time produce good fruit for You, as well as, my preparations for services later in the week. Amen.
2 Peter 2:1-3 (<<click here to read the passage)
Did you realize that snake oil was originally a real-deal, legitimate thing? Between 1849 and 1882, 180,000 Chinese immigrated to the United States and one thing they brought with them was snake oil. It was made from the oil of the Chinese water snake, which is rich in omega-3 acids. It helped reduce inflammation. Snake oil, in its original form, really was effective, especially when used to treat arthritis and bursitis.
Of course, entrepreneurial individuals saw a market and since there weren’t any Chinese water snakes in the American West, many “healers” began using rattlesnakes to make their own versions of snake oil. This set the stage for entrepreneur Clark Stanley, aka The Rattlesnake King. He began reeling in the money at the 1893 World’s Exposition in Chicago when he took a live snake and sliced it open before a crowd of onlookers. But in 1917, federal investigators found that it primarily contained mineral oil, a fatty oil believed to be beef fat, red pepper, and turpentine. And the image of snake oil charlatans was born! (The NPR article is pretty interesting. Check it out! A History Of ‘Snake Oil Salesmen’)
Many were led astray buying into easy fixes for what ailed them!
Switching gears, another reason we must be diligent in reading Your word and speaking with – and listening to – You is to ensure that we are not led astray. Most definitely those who proclaim Your word are not infallible, we have our struggles, we make mistakes. Because of this, we as Your people must be discerning. We should pray for and lift up Your servants.
Yet another reason we should pray for discernment is that for millennia there have been charlatans who have been driven not by desires to further Your Kingdom but instead are all about fulfilling their own agendas of power or prosperity – some, at their core, have as their goal to undermine Your Kingdom. They are all about discrediting Your Church and Your name.
Some started with their hearts in the right place, but those first tastes of power and control moved things from their hearts to their heads. They were in charge after all. They deserved their portion of the “profits.” They, little by little, came to see themselves as above the Law.
Lord, first of all, may we all be diligent in keeping ourselves true to You – striving to immerse ourselves in the Bible and spending quality time in Your presence. Then may we fervently pray for those who lead us. May we pray for their purity of heart. May we not hesitate to go to them if realignment is necessary for their lives. May we do so in Your love, but may we not shy from the responsibility. And Lord, if they will not change may we not hesitate to remove ourselves from their influence on our lives.
Lord Jesus, help us to not be led astray into easy fixes for what ails us spiritually. Help us to seek Your face and to live pure and holy lives in Your power and strength. Amen.
(Mar 17th, 2017, Fri, 6:33 am)
Apr 25th, 2023, Tues, 6:15 pm
Use Me in My Imperfection
(2CDYH3N Kintsugi beige bowl. Gold cracks restoration on old Japanese ceramic.)
Father, I’m struggling to get my head all here. Help me reel in my thoughts and heart as we come together. May I do what is pleasing in Your eyes. Amen.
Romans 8:31-34 (<<click here to read the passage)
I haven’t spoken of this for a while, but do you know why this blog is titled “More than Useless”? Well, it all began with a dissatisfaction in my life. I accepted Jesus as my Savior at a very early age – so early in fact that I don’t remember the exact act of asking Him to do so. I will back that up by saying that this does not make me a super saint or anything close. I have stumbled and fallen too many times to count throughout my 60+ years. But where my faith has lagged, Jesus’ faithfulness has never wavered – not once!
The thing is though He has been my Savior for so long, in a lot of ways, I don’t feel I live up to what a believer in Christ should be. Yes, I preach. Yes, I have faithfully put this blog out for almost eight years now…but those things are just ways I express my thoughts and heart in my relationship with Him.
Thinking back to my youth, I have stood back in awe of what God has used me to accomplish. I have done things. I have touched lives. And all with the sincerest desire to do them for Him. Where my struggle has been is that my humanity has slowed me down. My lack of effort or enthusiasm has weighed upon me. My thoughts, both in the past and yet today, basically boil down to this: what more could I have done if I had really put my mind to it? How much greater of an impact could I have made?
Many times, I have felt useless in that there is so much more I could have done…
I see the lives of many around me and I stand back in awe of what they are doing – churches growing, lives being changed left and right under their ministry. And here I am just plodding along. I wonder not so much that they may think poorly of my efforts, but what weighs upon my heart and mind is what the world thinks. And by that, I mean, in their minds are they thinking, “Is that all this Christianity stuff adds up to? If so, what’s the big deal? Whoop-de-do! Is that all that this dead-and-gone Jesus person can accomplish? I’m really not impressed…”
But then I read the words of the Apostle Paul in these verses, and my perspective changes.
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. NLT
I don’t have to please the world; I just have to point the world to Him. I can’t worry about, what they think; I just have to concern myself with what He thinks. And let Him take care of the rest. That doesn’t mean I’m off the hook as to how I live, for what I say and do does reflect on Him but when I falter – and I do – I just have to trust that He is bigger than me. I, myself, am not the one they must follow. I am merely the pointer to the One they must follow.
Lord Jesus, continue to use me in my imperfection as only You can. Draw others to You for only then can they too be changed. Amen.
Apr 2nd, 2023, Sun, 8:07 pm
For more on the beginnings of More than Useless check out these two links:
Better than Biscuits!
I have tried hard to find you—
….don’t let me wander from your commands.
I have hidden your word in my heart,
….that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:10-11 NLT
Romans 8:28-30 (<<click here to read the passage)
Maybe you’ve seen this, but even if you have it’s worth reading again.
One Sunday morning at a small southern church, the new pastor called on one of his older deacons to lead in the opening prayer. The deacon stood up, bowed his head, and said, “Lord, I hate buttermilk.”
The pastor opened one eye and wondered where this was going. The deacon continued, “Lord, I hate lard.” Now the pastor was totally perplexed. The deacon continued, “Lord, I ain’t too crazy about plain flour. But after you mix ’em all together and bake ’em in a hot oven, I just love biscuits.”
“Lord, help us to realize when life gets hard, when things come up that we don’t like, whenever we don’t understand what You are doing, that we need to wait and see what You are making. After You get through mixing and baking, it’ll probably be something even better than biscuits. Amen.”
Most of us are familiar with the 28th verse of today’s passage. Here it is from the New Living Translation,
And we know that God causes everything to work together for the good of those who love God and are called according to his purpose for them.
I read through that in my study Bible but when I read it in the Amplified Bible on biblegateway.com it triggered something in my mind. Here’s the same verse in that translation.
And we know [with great confidence] that God [who is deeply concerned about us] causes all things to work together [as a plan] for good for those who love God, to those who are called according to His plan and purpose.
…as a plan… Not will-nilly…not pick and chose what you like and omit what you don’t like… It’s a plan, God’s perfect plan. No matter what is a part of our lives, God can bring it to a wonderful, beautiful finish. We may think that many of our contributions have messed things up beyond repair. But God is the Master Chef knowing everything about everything (omniscient) and He can take the buttermilk (my grandmother liked it but, yuck – I sure don’t!) and lard (it’s OK in certain things but I wouldn’t eat a spoonful of it!) and plain flour (I wouldn’t dare!) and put them all together and make something much more amazing than biscuits from the hodge-podge of our lives!
Lord Jesus, use me as you will! Amen!
Mar 27th, 2023, Mon, 6:29 pm
Tap Your Brakes
You have charged us
….to keep your commandments carefully.
Oh, that my actions would consistently
….reflect your decrees!
As I learn your righteous regulations,
….I will thank you by living as I should!
I will obey your decrees.
….Please don’t give up on me! Psalm 119:4-5, 7-8 NLT
********
Friday morning as I pulled up to the stop sign waiting to pull out onto the state route to begin my elementary bus route, I looked to my left and saw a vehicle just pulling past Sparta, the village closest to the school. I could easily have pulled out with plenty of room to spare…but I didn’t. I don’t know anyone who likes to get stuck behind a school bus – myself included! So, I didn’t pull out but let them go past me and then pulled out.
I had no sooner done so when glancing forward, the vehicle now driving ahead of me flashed their brake lights three times. To me, it was a “thank you”, I often do the same thing. Maybe it wasn’t the intent of the gesture but I’m taking it that way. Often in life, it’s the little things that matter. It was obvious that the other driver knew that I didn’t have to wait for them to pass, but as they pulled away going faster than I was, they were grateful that I had allowed them to go on their way unhindered by my “speed-limit-abiding” driving.
Sometimes it’s the little things that impact our lives most. A kind act buoys up our day. And any kindness perpetrated, no matter how small, changes a person and we truly have no idea the trajectory the recipient’s life might take.
OK…that’s one side of my thoughts, but the other side has the same results – impact and change of trajectory – yet involves different characters. Humanity is on the receiving end, but God is the perpetrator of kindness. Every day, we are the recipients of His kindness – evil and good, just and unjust alike.
Jesus proclaimed in Matthew 5:43-45,
“You have heard the law that says, ‘Love your neighbor’ and hate your enemy. But I say, love your enemies! Pray for those who persecute you! In that way, you will be acting as true children of your Father in heaven. For he gives his sunlight to both the evil and the good, and he sends rain on the just and the unjust alike.
Kindness is not just a nice sentiment – and before we go any further let’s use a stronger word for what kindness truly is – love.
Once again, every day God loves us in an infinite number of ways. Some of those ways we comprehend, we see, we understand. In other ways that God shows us His love, we simply have no clue. He just does. And because He does, our lives are forever changed. They are eternally impacted, and a change of trajectory takes place…and all for the better!
So my suggestion would be to tap your brakes a couple of times, each and every day…it’s the least you can do to say “thank you”!
Mar 26th, 2023, Sun, 7:11 pm