Do You Stagger?

The caution sign shows a staggered road ahead, a decent graphics choice since our paths often become staggered as we make our way through life.  There’s also the thought of a staggering man, unable to keep his way straight, whether by choice or shock.  There are times in our lives where we feel staggered.  We often waiver and stagger in our faith.

Paul tells us that Abraham didn’t:.

He staggered not at the promise of God through unbelief; but was strong in faith, giving glory to God; (Romans 4:20 KJV)

This really belongs with the eleventh chapter of Hebrews, where the writer speaks of all that great cloud of witnesses:

These all died in faith, not having received the promises, but having seen them afar off, and were persuaded of them, and embraced them, and confessed that they were strangers and pilgrims on the earth. (Hebrews 11:13 KJV)

Abraham lived decades with God’s promise afar off, continuing to believe them even when God required his son as a sacrifice.  His faith, and his ability to prophesy, strike me every time I read his answer to Isaac’s question about the lamb:

And Abraham said, My son, God will provide himself a lamb for a burnt offering: so they went both of them together. (Genesis 22:8 KJV)

God did not provide a lamb that day. 

And Abraham lifted up his eyes, and looked, and behold behind him a ram caught in a thicket by his horns: and Abraham went and took the ram, and offered him up for a burnt offering in the stead of his son. (Genesis 22:13 KJV)

Not until John do we see God’s provision of that offering:

The next day John seeth Jesus coming unto him, and saith, Behold the Lamb of God, which taketh away the sin of the world. (John 1:29 KJV)

We have much more information than Abraham.  We have record of his descendants.  We have the writings of Moses, telling of Jacob’s sons, and their tribes taking God’s promise of a promised land as literal fact.  We have the songs of David, a man after God’s own heart (1 Samuel 13:14), telling of God’s greatness, looking forward to a Messiah through elation and depression, pleas and praise, through sin, sorrow and salvation.
We have other writings – history, poetry and prophecy.  The story of people looking forward while always remembering the past, confirming God’s hand in all that is done.

Some of them staggered.  Some of us still do.  Mostly we stagger when we attempt to move forward alone, reacting to the prideful sinfulness that says, “I don’t need God.”  Sometimes we add, “…yet” but more often we just neglect to include Him in our daily lives.  We relegate Him to a position similar to a fire extinguisher, handy for emergency purposes when we’ve made misjudgments. 

When we seek His will, walk with His instructions, the likelihood of emergencies lessen.  Then we can, as David did, sing out about our Lord:

Give thanks unto the LORD, call upon his name, make known his deeds among the people. (1 Chronicles 16:8 KJV)

How’s Your Training?

This is a photo of the Honor Guardsmen from our nation’s armed services, marching to the Tomb of the Unknowns at Arlington National Cemetery, Va., during Veteran’s Day ceremonies in 2004.

They serve here in honor of the Unknowns, but it is also an honor to provide this service.  There is a selection process with many requirements.  Those requirements exclude a large number of applicants, making this a very exclusive group.

Christianity is exclusive, too, though some would say that as a pejorative, state it in a derogatory manner.  Christianity is exclusive not because any person is turned away, but because many turn away from the requirements.

Before going into any job, certain training is expected.  It’s part of job descriptions.  Without that training, no need to apply.

God has a slightly different way of recruiting. Everyone can apply, the position is open to all.  The requirement can be stated in one verse:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

Or another, after a jailer asked how to be saved:

And they said, Believe on the Lord Jesus Christ, and thou shalt be saved, and thy house. (Acts 16:31 KJV)

It’s something we believe and we tell others:

But we believe that through the grace of the Lord Jesus Christ we shall be saved, even as they. (Acts 15:11 KJV)

That’s the easy part.  Living with that knowledge, that salvation, takes more effort.  Paul likened it to running a race:

But watch thou in all things, endure afflictions, do the work of an evangelist, make full proof of thy ministry. For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand. I have fought a good fight, I have finished my course, I have kept the faith: (2 Timothy 4:5-7 KJV)

Paul’s call for Timothy (and us) to endure and work also calls for making full proof – and that requires training. Where do you get your training? What do you look for?  My suggestion is with the scriptures, in prayer. Don’t look for confirmation of what I write or what you believe. Hear what the Bible has to say, not another:

But though we, or an angel from heaven, preach any other gospel unto you than that which we have preached unto you, let him be accursed. As we said before, so say I now again, If any man preach any other gospel unto you than that ye have received, let him be accursed. (Galatians 1:8-9 KJV)

There was an example set for us:

These were more noble than those in Thessalonica, in that they received the word with all readiness of mind, and searched the scriptures daily, whether those things were so. (Acts 17:11 KJV)

Expecting Big Things?

‎"How often we expect big things from God without preparing for big things from him"
Beth Moore.

Before quoting someone, I want to know more about them, so I went looking for Beth Moore and found her at Living Proof Ministries.  She writes that she came to love God’s word in a Bible Doctrines class. I can understand that.  Though I’ve read and memorized from the Bible since a pre-teen, not until I began studying God’s word did it come to mean my life.

Setting our expectations from God often confines His work, His will in our lives.  If we look upon Him as someone to call upon when we’re in trouble, we've limited God to a fixer-upper.  We won’t be listening for Him any other time.  We won’t be seeking His input on other things in our lives.

It is not easy to look to Him first.  We’ve been taught to take care of ourselves, to be able to stand up against all odds and overcome.  We are taught to look for the good in people and help them grow in their own individual ways, taking different paths, learning on their own. That’s good advice, but I prefer not to do it alone.

Sometimes it appears to me as though we’ve been encouraged to fight our way through heavy jungle growth with a machete, overcoming but also overlooking a path God laid through it.  It is not because of that path’s ease that we should choose it, but for the best use of time, material and energy.

Accepting that path establishes our expectations that God will provide the clearing to accomplish His will.  We come to Him as the beggar who spoke to Peter and John:

And he gave heed unto them, expecting to receive something of them. (Acts 3:5 KJV)

His expectations were correct, he would receive something – something he never had before:

Then Peter said, Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have give I thee: In the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth rise up and walk. And he took him by the right hand, and lifted him up: and immediately his feet and ankle bones received strength. And he leaping up stood, and walked, and entered with them into the temple, walking, and leaping, and praising God. (Acts 3:6-8 KJV)

Beth Moore's Living Proof Ministries’ Our Mission page closes with a scene of people praising God.  That scene will include me, because I expect Him to give such as He has, and He has salvation:

After this I beheld, and, lo, a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and kindreds, and people, and tongues, stood before the throne, and before the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; And cried with a loud voice, saying, Salvation to our God which sitteth upon the throne, and unto the Lamb. (Revelation 7:9-10 KJV)

Just A Sentence

A link from a Pastor's FB Notes brought me to a FAQs page about John Piper.  I found great truth there:

"It is sentences that change my life, not books."

That sentence stopped me in my tracks.  It agreed so much with what I've come to understand.

"What changes my life is some new glimpse of truth, some powerful challenge, some resolution to a long-standing dilemma, and these usually come concentrated in a sentence or two."

It has been sentences, a few or maybe just one, that I’ve posted each day.  A sentence here, another there, from God’s word.  It takes but a few words to create concepts, foundations, curiosity – and the Bible has sentences that will do all of that and more.

The first most Christians refer to is the gospel in a single verse:

For God so loved the world, that he gave his only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have everlasting life. (John 3:16 KJV)

That is the foundation of Christianity. It requires a belief in a loving God that makes promises with eternal ramifications. It creates curiosity about God and His Son.  We should wonder what is meant by “perish” and about “everlasting life.”

How about these two sentences:

A Psalm of David. The LORD is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear? the LORD is the strength of my life; of whom shall I be afraid? (Psalms 27:1 KJV)

How would that sound to someone new to the Bible.  Would they seek to learn of David?  Would they wonder who his Lord was?

Piper quotes sentences from other sources, too.  One we like in common is:

From C.S. Lewis in his sermon, The Weight of Glory: "If we consider the unblushing promises of reward and the staggering nature of the rewards promised in the Gospels, it would seem that our Lord finds our desires not too strong but too weak. We are halfhearted creatures fooling about with drink and sex and ambition, when infinite joy is offered us, like an ignorant child who wants to go on making mudpies in a slum because he cannot imagine what is meant by the offer of a holiday at the sea. We are far too easily pleased."

That last sentence can stand alone as a remarkable one.  “We are far too easily pleased” by television, music, celebrities, even what we term idols.  As a child we were shown “Leave It To Beaver” and recognized our families did not match theirs.  Today Americans are shown “Jersey Shore” and “Teen Mom” and our children are trying to match theirs.

What sentences impact your life?  What are you sentences are you taking into your life? What sentences come from your life?

Can you describe your life in a sentence?  I think Paul did:

For to me to live is Christ, and to die is gain. (Philippians 1:21 KJV)

A Prayer Request, Please

There is no graphic for this.  It was an accident, a boating accident that happened so quickly.  Instead of a pleasant day on the water, somehow the boat flipped, throwing the passengers out.  Doesn’t matter right now how it happened, it’s the results that are over powering.

My friend’s niece was in the boat and then in the water, where she was struck by the still running motor.  The damage was horrific. Her abdomen was badly cut, and her leg severed above the hip joint.

She is being kept in a medically induced coma.  The doctor said the medications they are giving her will help remove any memory of this time of pain.  Nothing will remove the shock of losing a portion of her body.
The damage to her abdomen means infection is to be expected, compounded by dirty lake water, and a portion of her intestines may be lost.  Her mother noticed that her left arm is quite swollen and believes it may broken.

She will be in the hospital for a long while, then moved to rehabilitation, changing all the plans she and her parents had for the rest of their lives.

My friend told her sister-in-law, “God had a plan for her or He would have taken her, so have faith.”  The mother’s response was, “I told Him last night .. I'll take her in any form.”

Luke 13 begins with a couple of tragedies that recently occurred. Christ spoke to let us know that such tragedies may happen to any of us.  We are not protected through holiness or works from such pain. But we can gather together:

And whether one member suffer, all the members suffer with it; or one member be honoured, all the members rejoice with it. (1 Corinthians 12:26 KJV)

That coming together gives strength and lifts us:

Wherefore comfort yourselves together, and edify one another, even as also ye do. (1 Thessalonians 5:11 KJV)

We need to reach for the promised Comforter:

And I will pray the Father, and he shall give you another Comforter, that he may abide with you for ever; (John 14:16 KJV)

I like the verse Paul wrote to the the church at Colosse as he prayed for them – just as we pray for this family through their spiritual and physical pain:

For this cause we also, since the day we heard it, do not cease to pray for you, and to desire that ye might be filled with the knowledge of his will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding; (Colossians 1:9 KJV)

Thus we come to all who read with us and request that for the next few weeks you please pray with us for this young lady and her family.

Pray without ceasing. (1 Thessalonians 5:17 KJV)

Thank you.

Secretly

How open are your beliefs?  I toss mine out publicly every morning for others to see.  Others don’t.  That does not mean their beliefs are not as strong as mine. I was reminded of that a couple of Sundays ago when the pastor’s scripture reference was in John 19.

The message was on ministry, and how it often was not what we expected.  Sometimes it’s not pretty.  It was a very good sermon and I have notes to look back to John 19 and other scriptures he used in explaining the subject.  But I also saw an anomaly in service.

Remember there had been twelve (now eleven with Judas’ death) men who traveled with Jesus for most of three years. We see one of them at the cross:

When Jesus therefore saw his mother, and the disciple standing by, whom he loved, he saith unto his mother, Woman, behold thy son! Then saith he to the disciple, Behold thy mother! And from that hour that disciple took her unto his own home. (John 19:26-27 KJV)

The others who openly followed Him are not mentioned.  Only the Marys are.  The ones who followed Him secretly, though, are mentioned.

And after this Joseph of Arimathaea, being a disciple of Jesus, but secretly for fear of the Jews,

Such a reversal!  Those who followed openly before are now hidden. One who followed in secret, out of fear, is now the one to care when the dream has died.

besought Pilate that he might take away the body of Jesus: and Pilate gave him leave. He came therefore, and took the body of Jesus. (John 19:38 KJV)

He had more to lose now than before.  Before there was hope for an earthly kingdom where Jesus’ followers would be powerful.  Here the hope died on the cross, yet Joseph approached Pilate and asked permission to bury his Lord.  And, he was not alone.

And there came also Nicodemus, which at the first came to Jesus by night, and brought a mixture of myrrh and aloes, about an hundred pound weight. (John 19:39 KJV)

Another who sought Jesus in secret, yet in death ministered to the Lord openly.  How these two men must have cared for Him.  To provide a gravesite, take the body there along with His prophetic gift of myrrh, wrap His body in linen and prepare the tomb.

Then took they the body of Jesus, and wound it in linen clothes with the spices, as the manner of the Jews is to bury. (John 19:40 KJV)

Can we minister for our Lord when it appears all hope is gone?  Can we continue to serve when it appears there is no one around who cares?  Can we give of our time, donate our belongings, when things seem to be at an end?

Joseph and Nicodemus did, and not in secret, either.

They Wed

There were several things about Saturday’s wedding that made it special.  First of all, we were invited to join a family in witnessing the marriage of their children.  They could have opted to be married by a justice of the peace.  They could have eloped.  They could have simply moved in together, for a night or a longer shack up (his pastor reminded us of that, too.)

They chose first to remain pure for their spouse.  They made a promise years before to keep themselves physically and spiritual prepared to wear white.  They both did, and wore white.  They chose to make their commitments before God and a large cloud of witnesses. 

She returned her purity ring to her pastor, trading it for the one offered by the man promising to fulfill his commitment to her and his Lord:

Husbands, love your wives, even as Christ also loved the church, and gave himself for it; That he might sanctify and cleanse it with the washing of water by the word, That he might present it to himself a glorious church, not having spot, or wrinkle, or any such thing; but that it should be holy and without blemish. So ought men to love their wives as their own bodies. He that loveth his wife loveth himself. (Ephesians 5:25-28 KJV)

What did they lose by waiting?  Nothing, except for opportunities of regret and worries about HPV or STD.
 
What did they gain? The respect of their family, friends and peers. The knowledge of their spouse’s faithfulness, dependability and stability.  Compliance with God’s commands.  What a trade!!!

They chose to share the moment with others, an open invitation to family, friends, church members – and many of us accepted. We wished to celebrate this day with them, and to let them know that difficulties ahead can be overcome, leading them to their own golden anniversary.  “Only fifty more to go and you’ll catch up with us,” I told her.

All of this took a lot more work, and money, than heading for a court house.  They chose God’s house.  Their vows were before Him, taking into consideration His expectations for marriage as well as their treatment of each other for the rest of their lives.  God is central in their marriage.  As they grow closer to Him, they grow closer to each other.

Next week bills will arrive, meals will need to be prepared, vacuuming (or ‘hoovering’ as my English friend says) will be required, schedules met.  Life will be lived.  The same for all of us!

Saturday we all were a part of their following God’s will:

And said, For this cause shall a man leave father and mother, and shall cleave to his wife: and they twain shall be one flesh? (Matthew 19:5 KJV)