That Makes My Heart Hurt!
I have a lot of things pulling at me, Father. During this time together, may I be able to focus on You and what is most important for me to understand and communicate. Amen.
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Over the years, one of the goofy things my wife has been known to say is, “That makes my heart hurt!” And with a lot of “emotion,” she places her hands over her heart. It’s a means of jokingly guilting one of us about some perceived insensitivity towards her. We usually roll our eyes and respond, “Oh, brother!”
That may all be in fun, but recently, my heart has been hurting—not my blood-pumping muscle but the center of my emotions. What I’m about to share may not be well received by some, but it will more than likely be embraced by others. Culturally, it seems that Christians are interacting more and more with their heads and less and less with their hearts. And the world is taking notice.
God has zero tolerance for sin, but as the first Epistle of the Apostle John tells us, “God is love…” The entirety of 1 John 4:16 tells us
We have come to know [by personal observation and experience], and have believed [with deep, consistent faith] the love which God has for us. God is love, and the one who abides in love abides in God, and God abides continually in him. AMP
I hear over and over again from many believers that God will not tolerate sin. I agree. There will come a day when we will all be held accountable for what we have done for and against Him. But until then, He is compassionate. He is loving. He is patient. And as I’ve said before, He is most assuredly long-suffering.
I’ve stated before (and at that time, it was said with more anger than anything else – but now it is more and more with great sadness…an ongoing grief) that you will not find Jesus, anywhere in the Gospels, despising and rejecting sinners.
In fact, the Gospel of Mark, chapter 2, verse 15 says,
Later, Levi [also called Matthew] invited Jesus and his disciples to his home as dinner guests, along with many tax collectors and other disreputable sinners. (There were many people of this kind among Jesus’ followers.) NLT
Verse 16 follows that up with the response of those who claimed to have direct contact with God Almighty and proudly proclaimed it to be the case. This is how the holier-than-thou “religious” leaders of His day responded.
When the teachers of the law who were Pharisees saw him eating with the sinners and tax collectors, they asked his disciples: “Why does he eat with tax collectors and sinners?” NIV
The New Living Translation states, “Why does he eat with such scum?” And that is honestly how they felt!
Verse 17 gives us Jesus’ response.
When Jesus heard this, He said to them, “Those who are healthy have no need of a physician, but [only] those who are sick; I did not come to call the righteous, but sinners [who recognize their sin and humbly seek forgiveness].” AMP
Where do we as Christians get off thinking that God made us the judge of humanity? You won’t find that in Scripture either…
We must abide in love to abide in God. If we don’t do one, we can’t do the other.
We must consider our stance on various issues in relation to that rule of guidance…God’s rule of guidance.
Mar 7th, 2024, Thurs, 7:44 pm
No Time To Vacillate
Father, I am grateful for opportunities to invest time and not just effort. Please bless that time, and may it result in eternal impact. Amen.
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Unfortunately, on my morning route today, I encountered a squirrel in the middle of my side of the road. It is best not to swerve to avoid missing things like that, as you could jeopardize the safety of all on board. This squirrel had every opportunity to escape. It had plenty of time to run to the left or to the right, for that matter. But instead, it vacillated between them both. I don’t know why it couldn’t make up its mind. I’m not 100% sure I got him, but I’m pretty sure I heard the tell-tale “bump” of his demise.
We know not the day or the hour when our time will come. The thing is, we must be ready. Many people throughout the ages had no idea that their time was up…and then it was.
Many think there will be time to set their affairs in order…and I’m not talking about earthly accumulations. I am not here to point fingers. God is our judge. No human creation can take that spot. Our responsibility is to be ready.
Much like the squirrel on my route, we may think we will have time to decide before it is too late, but for many, there will be no time to hesitate, going back and forth between our options. We must have our decision made. Will we live our lives by our own set of rules, or will we submit to God’s will for our lives?
For many, it is a struggle; even faithful followers of Christ battle with some of those decisions daily. Personally, I think it is an overall frame of mind. Followers of Christ give themselves over to Him. He has our heart and understands that this life throws many a wrench into the works. Just because we strive to be faithful in following Him doesn’t mean there won’t be challenges along the way. We are going to have to fight along the way. Christ has won the war, but we still have battles to fight. The glorious thing is, we don’t have to fight them alone. He is with us all along the way…helping us, guiding us, strengthening us, fortifying us with His fathomless resources of love and grace and forgiveness…and the list goes on and on.
So today – right at this very moment, if you have not already done so – decide. Will it be your way, or will you submit to Christ and go at life His way? Do it now, for there’s no way to know if you will have another opportunity.
Joshua, son of Nun, the servant of Moses, declared this to the people of Israel as they prepared to enter the Promised Land.
“Now fear the Lord and serve him with all faithfulness. Throw away the gods your ancestors worshiped…and serve the Lord. But if serving the Lord seems undesirable to you, then choose for yourselves this day whom you will serve… But as for me and my household, we will serve the Lord.” Joshua 24:14-15 NIV
Mar 6th, 2024, Wed, 5:25 pm
A Fork in the Blender
I would ask, Father, that Your hand be upon me this day. Speak through me, whether on this keyboard or my mouth, as I interact with others. May You be visible above all. Amen.
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This morning, on my bus route, another vehicle approached me as I slowed down for a stop. I had my amber warning lights on, which meant I was preparing to stop and pick up a student. Usually, I appreciate it when drivers stop several feet back from my stop. It’s safer for my kids. It keeps others back, with an additional visual that others also need to stop.
The problem was that they came to a total stop several feet past my student. It was light enough that my student was clearly visible, and where they stopped, there was an open field to my right and an empty yard to my left. No one was going to pop from behind trees or an empty field. I motioned them to go on so I could pull up and pick up my student.
The driver’s heart and mind were in the right place – they were doing what they were supposed to do by stopping. They weren’t endangering my student, but they were obstructing my progress. I couldn’t get where I needed to because they were in my way.
How often in our spiritual walk with the Lord do we impede the progress that He seeks in our lives and the lives of those around us?
On Instagram the other day, I came across a guy talking about how he prayed for God’s will in his life instead of asking Him what His life was for his will. At least for me, it was a little hard on the ears. I wasn’t quite catching it, but he went on to give an example.
He prays, “God, what is Your will for my career?”
And God replies, “I need you to forgive the guy you’re mad at.”
And the guy fires back, “Woah, woah, woah, I’m talking about my career here.”
And God fires right back, “I know, but I want to talk about your heart.”
He says, “No, I want to talk about how You need to change my circumstances.”
God replied, “No, I want to change you.”
He then gave an example of him and his daughter making a smoothie when they accidentally dropped a fork into the blender. They were so busy putting the things they wanted to put in that they didn’t notice…at first! In their eagerness, they neglected to look inside the blender and see the big ol’ problem in there. So, when they turned it on, the blender went crazy – sparks and noise and smoke! He said it literally blew the fork out the side of the blender!
He then said that it made no difference what all they put in the blender because things weren’t going to turn out right unless they got the fork out.
He then prayed, “God, would You just show me Your plan for my life?”
And God said, “Would you just let My presence invade your plan? Stop trying to get the secret plan in your head and work on getting the ‘fork’ out of your heart.”
God is eager to work in our lives, and sometimes, it would work a lot better if we just get ourselves out of the way. May we pray as Jesus did, “…yet not my will, but yours be done.” Luke 22:42 NIV Amen.
Mar 5th, 2024, Tues, 12:52 pm
Embrace with Total Abandonment!
We had a beautiful day, and now that the sun has set, it’s time to focus on our time together, Father. Speak through me the words You deem best. Amen.
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Today, on one of my first elementary drop-offs, I witnessed a heartwarming sight. Two brothers get off, and their father is walking the family dog down their long drive to meet them. The younger brother, a first grader, hits the ground running and, with total abandonment, embraces his father’s waist in the biggest hug you can imagine! The father eagerly and with equal enthusiasm lifts his son off the ground!
This week, I am working on a sermon for the fourth Sunday of Lent. My text is Luke 15:1-3; 11b-32 – the story of the prodigal son. As you might remember, the youngest of two sons had taken his share of his inheritance – an audaciously arrogant act – and had blown the entirety of it. When he hit rock bottom, he realized the error of his ways and, with great humility on his part, headed back home to confess his wrongdoings and beg for a place amongst his father’s servants.
His father, while he was still a long way off and filled with love and compassion…ran to his son, embraced him, and kissed him. v20 The son had to wait to vocalize his confession, but his father would hear nothing of it. Instead of rejection or lectures, he welcomed him home as his son!
In my mind’s eye, the father hit the ground running and, with total abandonment, embraced his son in the biggest hug you could imagine!
As I pondered these thoughts along the rest of my route, I got to thinking about the youngest son – the prodigal, the oldest son (who did everything he was “supposed” to do, minus the love for his father), and then I had the desire to be a third – middle – son. This isn’t a part of Jesus’ parable, but as one reborn into the family of God, my heart’s desire upon stepping into heaven would be for my Heavenly Father and I to run to each other with even greater eager enthusiasm than my young student. Could anything be greater? Oh, that my joy would increase exponentially as my anticipation rises all the more every day!
Mar 4th, 2024, Mon, 7:12 pm
No Rolling Stops!
I am grateful for the opportunity to meet up with my family today. What a blessing they have been and continue to be in my life. Thank You, Father, for that wonderful gift.
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One thing that I find annoying is people who bend (break is probably more accurate!) the law for the sake of convenience. Witnessing other drivers commit rolling stops is not unusual, especially on my bus routes. (By the way, I learned in my bus training that a legal stop is three seconds long.) I understand nobody likes getting stuck behind a school bus, but I don’t think it’s because I am there with my bus. People do it all the time!
Another infringement on the safety of the roadways is cutting corners. When turning onto another road, many do not enter that road squarely into their side of the road but have a bad habit of cutting diagonally across the other lane to get into it. It may save you milliseconds, but it is very reckless, especially if another vehicle is close to being in the same spot. If you are in a fender-bender, that savings of milliseconds will be multiplied exponentially into possibly hours of paperwork, and the financial end of things will blow up as well!
These kinds of things can have all sorts of negative repercussions, all for the sake of convenience or for saving minuscule increments of time in our lives.
But what about spiritual shortcuts? Some of those may be more obvious (I think “white” lies fall into this category, but in reality, a lie…is a lie), but many of these shortcuts are things that others might not even notice but impact our lives significantly.
I realize that it takes time and has to be a deliberate act on our part, but one big example is the importance of reading your Bible daily. When talking with my dad today, we were talking about my Uncle Stan, who we knew was on the verge of death (we found out later that he had passed last night). He was the husband of Ruth, one of my dad’s sisters, who died two years ago. One of his memories of her was her determination to have a devotional time as a young lady. Dad said it wasn’t unusual for her to have a flashlight under her covers reading her Bible – it was that important to her to maintain her relationship with her Lord and Savior.
How many of us “shortcut” that part of our life by side-stepping that time with God? We get it in our heads that our time at church is sufficient. But it truly isn’t… Cutting corners in our lives shortchanges our growth. It deprives us of growing in our faith, of becoming more like our Savior, and getting rid of those things in life that we readily accept but at the same time continue to drive a wedge between ourselves and God.
Do what is right, stop, and spend time reading your Bible and listening to what God has to tell you – no rolling stops allowed because those don’t count. No cutting corners in your relationship with Him – take time…make time. Saving those small increments of time for things as trivial as flipping through Facebook posts or watching reels on Instagram are not fair trades. Whatever your vices, examine where your time goes and adjust in the light of eternity. Invest in what is truly important. You won’t regret it.
All Scripture is inspired by God and is useful to teach us what is true and to make us realize what is wrong in our lives. It corrects us when we are wrong and teaches us to do what is right. God uses it to prepare and equip his people to do every good work. 2 Timothy 3:16-17 NLT
I have hidden your word in my heart,
….that I might not sin against you. Psalm 119:11 NLT, NIV
Mar 3rd, 2024, Sun, 7:44 pm