Look Up

This is one of the basic truths in the Bible. If you're a believer, nothing comes into your life that hasn't been filtered by your heavenly Father. Your life is not a random series of freak accidents and occurrences and circumstances. God never does anything by accident. He has an appointed time for everything in your life. Even the bad times? Yes.  Rick Warren

Do you look up or around as you negotiate the treacherous waters called life?  One of the greatest lessons I learned over the past few years is to look up.  When I have a question about faith, sorrow, blessings and happiness in my life I look up. God has the answers and he will reveal them to us if we look up instead of around. 

When we look around instead of looking up, we place our faith in ourselves and those around us instead of the One who created us.  Remember the verse in Romans 8:28. And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. God has a purpose for each one of us and we can fulfill His purpose or deny it.  He gives us the ability to choose. 

One of the traps of Satan that I frequently fall into is that I often look to those in the world around me to give me answers.  One of the most important lessons I have learned in my life is that every person we encounter is a sinner.  That includes me, pastors, deacons, brothers, sisters, parents and friends.  There is not a single person on this earth who is not a sinner.  Jesus was the only person to ever live on this earth that was sin free.

God is continuously sending us signals.  Too many times we ignore them because we call them coincidence.  God doesn’t work through coincidence.  He works with purpose.  If we want to hear His voice we must look up and pay attention or we will miss an opportunity to glorify Him.

          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You know everything that will happen in my life and I know I don’t have all the answers.  It is not by chance or coincidence that things have occurred in my life.  If I pay attention and continuously look up to You for the answers, You will reveal them to me. Sometimes I can’t see what Your plan is for me, but I do wait eagerly for You to reveal it to me.  I praise You Father.   

     

Scripture:  For I consider that the sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory which shall be revealed in us.  For the earnest expectation of the creation eagerly waits for the revealing of the sons of God.  For the creation was subjected to futility, not willingly, but because of Him who subjected it in hope; because the creation itself also will be delivered from the bondage of corruption into the glorious liberty of the children of God. For we know that the whole creation groans and labors with birth pangs together until now. Not only that, but we also who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, even we ourselves groan within ourselves, eagerly waiting for the adoption, the redemption of our body. For we were saved in this hope, but hope that is seen is not hope; for why does one still hope for what he sees? But if we hope for what we do not see, we eagerly wait for it with perseverance.

Likewise the Spirit also helps in our weaknesses. For we do not know what we should pray for as we ought, but the Spirit Himself makes intercession for us with groanings which cannot be uttered. Now He who searches the hearts knows what the mind of the Spirit is, because He makes intercession for the saints according to the will of God.

And we know that all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are the called according to His purpose. For whom He foreknew, He also predestined to be conformed to the image of His Son, that He might be the firstborn among many brethren. Moreover whom He predestined, these He also called; whom He called, these He also justified; and whom He justified, these He also glorified.  Romans 8:18-30

Chair Snafu Revisited

Life is a journey, not a home; a road, not a city of habitation; and the enjoyments and blessings we have are but little inns on the roadside of life, where we may be refreshed for a moment, that we may with new strength press on to the end - to the rest that remaineth for the people of God.  Horatius Bonar

Once you become aware that the main business that you are here for is to know God, most of life's problems fall into place of their own accord.  J.I. Packer

I had another chair snafu; in other words; an out of control situation with my desk chair.  Remember a couple of years ago the story about my desk chair.   If you don’t remember the following is an excerpt from that devotional. 

I have one of those chairs that has a lever that raises and lowers the chair.  I started to notice this week that when I would get to the office and sit down my knees would be above the seat of my chair.  I thought the cleaning people might be lowering my chair so the arms would fit under the desk. 

One of my bosses was in town this week and he normally will come into my office and sit in a chair across from my desk and dictate letters to me.  My computer screen is in the middle of my desk and the chair is directly across from my screen so I can normally make eye contact with him when he is dictating to me.

 

I started to notice that I would gradually get lower and lower until I couldn’t see him over my monitor.  It wasn’t like all of a sudden I was dropped to the floor.  It was just a gradual lowering.  I just kept hoping that my boss wouldn’t notice.  When I first began to notice it I thought I just hadn’t locked the chair in place.  I felt like my chair was a periscope slowly being lowered into the ocean. 

  

Here is where the update comes in.  I was sitting in this same chair not long ago and when I went to sit down the arm rest flew off and fell on the floor.  They say things start at the top and go downhill from there.  I decided it was time to request a new chair before the seat fell off or collapsed.  I picked up the arm and went to find our office manager.  I am now sitting in my semi-used “new” to me chair. 

     

I started thinking as usual about what God might be trying to teach me. Everything that happens in your day can be used to return your focus to God.  I started thinking about all the things I need to get done at work with special projects, the outside activities that I have going on right now and this thought came to mind. 

I am just like my broken chair.  There are going to be things that happen every day that will fall apart, fail or malfunction. I can allow all of these things to adversely affect me, or I can turn to God at those times and rest in Him.  He wants to take my burden if I will allow Him to.  When I am broken and defeated is when He wants me to turn to Him the most, so that I will depend on Him and not myself. 

If you are carrying a burden that is too heavy to carry, lift your eyes up to heaven and lean into the only One who can provide a sanctuary in your storm.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, as the arm of my chair flew onto the floor; I was reminded that I am as broken as that chair.  You are my constant in this temporary world.  It has been a gradual process, but over the past few years my focus seems to stay more and more on You and what you are trying to teach me in my daily life. You are with me wherever I go and all I have to do is turn to You to be in Your presence.

Scripture: Only be strong and very courageous, that you may observe to do according to all the law which Moses My servant commanded you; do not turn from it to the right hand or to the left, that you may prosper wherever you go. This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night, that you may observe to do according to all that is written in it. For then you will make your way prosperous, and then you will have good success. Have I not commanded you? Be strong and of good courage; do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”  Joshua 1:7-9

Be Good at Being You

God is preparing His heroes. And when the opportunity comes, He can fit them into their places in a moment. And the world will wonder where they came from.  A.B. Simpson

Have you ever tried to be like someone else?  Maybe you decided you wanted to look like another person or dress like someone else.  We decide that we like the way someone dresses or an outfit they wear and so we go out and buy something similar.  Have you noticed that when you do that the outfit or whatever it is doesn’t look the same on you as it does on the other person?  Part of the problem is that God didn’t create us to be just like another person.  The very characteristics that God created in us to make us different from every other human being, we decide we want to change.  We may be shorter, taller, thinner, so we will never look like another person and that is exactly why God created us the way He did.

One of the things that advertisers do is they make commercials that cater to what we don’t like about ourselves.  They tell you that if you buy whatever they are selling, you can look just like the person on TV.  I saw a commercial yesterday where there was a close up shot of a man and a woman.  The woman was attractive but the guy had long sideburns, bushy eyebrows and a long scraggly beard.  I didn’t even have the sound turned on and I could tell what the commercial was about.  All of a sudden the guy pulls out this little shaving gadget and runs it over his beard and then they flash to the next picture and the guy is clean shaven and the woman is looking at him adoringly and running her hand across his smooth face.

We are bombarded daily with things that can make us look better to the world.  We can have brighter, whiter teeth, long flowing locks, fewer wrinkles and just about anything that man can create to make money.  The problem is we begin to forget that we are God’s creation.  Each person on earth was uniquely created by God for His purpose. If we are always trying so hard to look or be like someone else, we will never become the person God created us to be.  Be good at being you.  God created you especially for His purpose and trying to be something other than what He created will hold you back from being everything he meant you to be.   

          

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am guilty of the very thing I talk about in this devotional.  You created me in Your likeness yet I try to change the things you created in me that make me special and different.  Help me to be good at being me.  If I understand that You created me as a unique individual created for Your purpose, then I will understand that the only thing I can be great at is being me.

Scripture: Then God said, “Let Us make man in Our image, according to Our likeness; let them have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over the cattle, over all the earth and over every creeping thing that creeps on the earth.”  So God created man in His own image; in the image of God He created him; male and female He created them. Then God blessed them, and God said to them, “Be fruitful and multiply; fill the earth and subdue it; have dominion over the fish of the sea, over the birds of the air, and over every living thing that moves on the earth.” Genesis 1:26-28

An Abundant Life

abundant  1. present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient: an abundant supply of water.

By a matchless parable our Lord there taught us that all believers are branches of the Living Vine, and that, apart from Him we are nothing and can do nothing because we have in us no life.  A.T. Pierson

What do you consider an abundant life?  Do you have or live one? 

When I looked up the definition of abundant the phrase that struck me was “oversufficient”.  If you look at that from a worldly perspective, most of us have an oversufficient life.  We have a home, plenty of food to eat, cars to drive and sometimes we have multiples of some things in our life. 

If we look at it from Jesus’ perspective we have an oversufficient life in things that are not important.  Jesus came so that we would have an abundant life but His coming wasn’t so that we could have more stuff.  Isaiah 55:1-3 offers a definition of what an abundant life means from a heavenly perspective. 

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,

Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Isaiah 55:1-3

If I am living my life from a worldly perspective instead of a heavenly perspective, I will never see the abundant life Jesus offers.   

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You promise that I can have an abundant life, yet too many times my idea of an abundant life is very different from what you intended. I thirst for You and You promise Living Waters.  Thank You for Your Son who died so that I may live abundantly, not with the satisfaction of life here on earth, but the satisfaction of a life with You in Heaven.  

    

Scripture:  Jesus the Good Shepherd

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep. All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  John 10:7-10

Fog

In order to know God, we must often think of Him; and when we come to love Him, we shall then also think of Him often, for our heart will be with our treasure.  Nicholas Herman

The kingdom of heaven is worth infinitely more than the cost of discipleship, and those who know where the treasure lies joyfully abandon everything else to secure it.  D.A. Carson

This week it has been rather humid around the Dallas area so on my drive to work there is a lot of open slightly hilly land where the fog will form and hover just above the ground.  I find fog interesting because you can see it obscure trees, cars, buildings and anything it covers.  The thing is if you were to walk across the field where it hovers even though you can’t see past it you can walk through it. 

The fog made me think of God’s wisdom.  Anyone can have knowledge.  It is not so easy to gain wisdom.  Wisdom is like the fog that hovers over the ground obscuring whatever it surrounds.  When you open the Bible there is treasure beyond our comprehension.  Notice I said “beyond our comprehension” not beyond God’s.  God tells us he will give us wisdom if we search for it. 

The problem with our search for wisdom is that we give up too soon and we don’t take the proper tools for our search.  Here is an analogy to put it in perspective.  If you are mining for gold, what tools would you take with you?  You might take a chisel, hammer and a pan to put the pieces of rock in.  But if instead you decided to take duct tape, a string and a lawn chair, you won’t find much gold.  You’ll be able to fix anything, tie it up and have a place to sit while you do it, but you won’t come away with much treasure. 

God’s Word is as great as He is.  It is a treasure beyond compare to what we have on earth. The smartest scientist, theologian or person with the highest IQ cannot match what is in God’s Word.  When we realize that nothing we do or create will even come close to what God’s Word can do; we are on the path to finding an amazing treasure.  Knowledge is great, money is green, but the treasure in God’s Word: PRICELESS.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, as I drove by the fog near the freeway, I thought of You. You give me the book that contains amazing treasure.  If I don’t get past the fog that obscures my vision of You, I will never find the hidden treasure in Your Word.  If I search Your Word diligently, You will reveal great things.  Thank You for giving me the opportunity to have wisdom.  What I do with it can change the world.  

Scripture: The Value of Wisdom

My son, if you receive my words, and treasure my commands within you, so that you incline your ear to wisdom, and apply your heart to understanding; yes, if you cry out for discernment, and lift up your voice for understanding, if you seek her as silver, and search for her as for hidden treasures; then you will understand the fear of the Lord, and find the knowledge of God. For the Lord gives wisdom; from His mouth come knowledge and understanding; he stores up sound wisdom for the upright; he is a shield to those who walk uprightly; he guards the paths of justice, and preserves the way of His saints.

Then you will understand righteousness and justice, equity and every good path. When wisdom enters your heart, and knowledge is pleasant to your soul, discretion will preserve you; understanding will keep you, to deliver you from the way of evil, from the man who speaks perverse things, from those who leave the paths of uprightness to walk in the ways of darkness; who rejoice in doing evil, and delight in the perversity of the wicked; whose ways are crooked, and who are devious in their paths; to deliver you from the immoral woman, from the seductress who flatters with her words, who forsakes the companion of her youth, and forgets the covenant of her God. For her house leads down to death, and her paths to the dead; none who go to her return, nor do they regain the paths of life—so you may walk in the way of goodness, and keep to the paths of righteousness. For the upright will dwell in the land, and the blameless will remain in it; but the wicked will be cut off from the earth,
And the unfaithful will be uprooted from it.  Proverbs 2:1-22

An Abundant Life

abundant  1. present in great quantity; more than adequate; oversufficient: an abundant supply of water.

By a matchless parable our Lord there taught us that all believers are branches of the Living Vine, and that, apart from Him we are nothing and can do nothing because we have in us no life.  A.T. Pierson

What do you consider an abundant life?  Do you have or live one? 

When I looked up the definition of abundant the phrase that struck me was “oversufficient”.  If you look at that from a worldly perspective, most of us have an oversufficient life.  We have a home, plenty of food to eat, cars to drive and sometimes we have multiples of some things in our life. 

If we look at it from Jesus’ perspective we have an oversufficient life in things that are not important.  Jesus came so that we would have an abundant life but His coming wasn’t so that we could have more stuff.  Isaiah 55:1-3 offers a definition of what an abundant life means from a heavenly perspective. 

“Ho! Everyone who thirsts,
Come to the waters;
And you who have no money,
Come, buy and eat.
Yes, come, buy wine and milk
Without money and without price.
Why do you spend money for what is not bread,
And your wages for what does not satisfy?
Listen carefully to Me, and eat what is good,
And let your soul delight itself in abundance.
Incline your ear, and come to Me.  Isaiah 55:1-3

If I am living my life from a worldly perspective instead of a heavenly perspective, I will never see the abundant life Jesus offers.   

       

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, You promise that I can have an abundant life, yet too many times my idea of an abundant life is very different from what you intended. I thirst for You and You promise Living Waters.  Thank You for Your Son who died so that I may live abundantly, not with the satisfaction of life here on earth, but the satisfaction of a life with You in Heaven.    

  

Scripture:  Jesus the Good Shepherd

Then Jesus said to them again, “Most assuredly, I say to you, I am the door of the sheep.  All who ever came before Me are thieves and robbers, but the sheep did not hear them.  I am the door. If anyone enters by Me, he will be saved, and will go in and out and find pasture.  The thief does not come except to steal, and to kill, and to destroy. I have come that they may have life, and that they may have it more abundantly.  John 10:7-10

Final Exam

“When you understand that life is a test, you realize that nothing is insignificant in your life.”  Rick Warren

Do you remember when you were in school and it came time to take a test, pop quiz or final?  I think it is interesting that the words used for testing our knowledge are kind of alarming.  When you had a “pop” quiz you knew you were in trouble.  The majority of the time it meant you weren’t prepared and when they told you when your “final” would be, it kind of opened the door to anxiety and stress.  A pop quiz was intended to test your knowledge at that moment.  It was used to determine if you were listening in class. 

If you think about it, a pop quiz wasn’t the final determination if you passed or not.  The final exam determined if you went on to the next grade. Our life as a Christian is full of pop quizzes and tests.  If we learn what we need to know from the Bible and live it we will pass the final.  The problem with pop quizzes and tests is that if we don’t know the material we will fail.   

The Pharisees and Sadducees were examples of a people who didn’t understand that their life was a test.  They continually tested Jesus without realizing that he was revealing to them the very answers that would be on the final test.  They wanted a sign from heaven that proved that Jesus was who He said he was.  

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, we will go through many tests in our lifetime.  I pray for Your guidance so that I can pass the final test.  Help me to learn from Your Word and to show others that they too can pass the final as long as they turn to You for the answers. 

     

Scripture: Do not quench the Spirit.  Do not despise prophecies. Test all things; hold fast what is good. Abstain from every form of evil.   1 Thessalonians 5:19-21

The Pharisees and Sadducees Seek a Sign

Then the Pharisees and Sadducees came, and testing Him asked that He would show them a sign from heaven.  He answered and said to them, “When it is evening you say, ‘It will be fair weather, for the sky is red’; and in the morning, ‘It will be foul weather today, for the sky is red and threatening.’ Hypocrites!  You know how to discern the face of the sky, but you cannot discern the signs of the times. A wicked and adulterous generation seeks after a sign, and no sign shall be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah.” And He left them and departed.  Matthew 16:1-4

Then the Pharisees came out and began to dispute with Him, seeking from Him a sign from heaven, testing Him. But He sighed deeply in His spirit, and said, “Why does this generation seek a sign? Assuredly, I say to you, no sign shall be given to this generation.”  Mark 8:11-12

Repeat as Often as Necessary

Forgiveness is repeating the process as long as necessary.

“Peter came to him and asked, ‘Lord, how often should I forgive someone who sins against me? Seven times?’” (Jewish law said you had to forgive a person three times, so Peter doubled it and threw one in for good measure.) “‘No, not seven times,’ Jesus replied, ‘but seventy times seven!’” (Matthew 18:21-22 NLT)

I was thinking about forgiveness as I read the passage in Matthew 18:21-22.  One of the ways that I always fail is when I know what is right but I don’t do it.  It’s self-defeating isn’t it?  I mean God tells us clearly what we should do, but we decide not to do what is right. 

The correlation between how God forgives us and how we are to forgive others is directly tied to how God will treat us one day when we stand before Him.  Remember the parable of the unforgiving servant who had his master forgive him of a debt but then he turned around and didn’t forgive someone who owed him. 

I think one of the biggest issues we face is that we think our sin is not the same as the next guys. We pull out a measuring stick and start measuring our sin against our brothers and sisters and we decide that our sin is not as bad as the other guys.  The reality is that in God’s eyes all sin is bad.  There are no degrees of sin.  If I start to look at my sin as equal to that of someone else, that is when I see the true blessing in God’s forgiveness of my sin.

 

In this parable the words “over and over” again have new meaning.  When we take the sin that is committed against us and turn it into forgiveness we are becoming more like Christ.

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I don’t always do what is right when it comes to forgiveness. Many times I start measuring my sin against someone else’s and I start to think I am not so bad.  The reality of it is I am just as bad as the next guy in my sin.  Help me to forgive as You tell us to in Matthew 18. I want to be more like Christ in my forgiveness of others.

Scripture: Then Peter came to Him and said, “Lord, how often shall my brother sin against me, and I forgive him? Up to seven times?”

Jesus said to him, “I do not say to you, up to seven times, but up to seventy times seven.  Therefore the kingdom of heaven is like a certain king who wanted to settle accounts with his servants. And when he had begun to settle accounts, one was brought to him who owed him ten thousand talents.  But as he was not able to pay, his master commanded that he be sold, with his wife and children and all that he had, and that payment be made. The servant therefore fell down before him, saying, ‘Master, have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ Then the master of that servant was moved with compassion, released him, and forgave him the debt.

“But that servant went out and found one of his fellow servants who owed him a hundred denarii; and he laid hands on him and took him by the throat, saying, ‘Pay me what you owe!' So his fellow servant fell down at his feet and begged him, saying, ‘Have patience with me, and I will pay you all.’ And he would not, but went and threw him into prison till he should pay the debt. So when his fellow servants saw what had been done, they were very grieved, and came and told their master all that had been done. Then his master, after he had called him, said to him, ‘You wicked servant! I forgave you all that debt because you begged me. Should you not also have had compassion on your fellow servant, just as I had pity on you?’ And his master was angry, and delivered him to the torturers until he should pay all that was due to him. “So My heavenly Father also will do to you if each of you, from his heart, does not forgive his brother his trespasses.”  Matthew 18:21-35

A Product of the 70’s

Our songs are not the cause of our loss of the sense of God's greatness, though songs are surprisingly influential. No, our songs reflect this loss. Singing God-centered hymns is desirable, but more than that is needed. We sing what we feel, what we believe. When once we rediscover the greatness of God, we will sing it. Our song will echo our conviction. Tom Wells

I am a product of the 70’s.  I often wonder why people say that.  Maybe because those were my formative years where outside influences are the things that stick with you because the world is in your face.  Some of you may have heard of the things I am going to list about the times of the 70’s and others will have to Google it to figure out what I am talking about.

 

The 70’s were a time of parachute pants and earth shoes, Farrah Fawcett hair, platform shoes and eight track players.  The Trans Am was the favorite muscle car and video games like Pong and the Atari were the rage.  There were no cell phones so you had to depend on a stranger for help if you got stranded on the road.  DOS was the operating system for those who even owned one. 

Music was different then.  Everything centered around peace and love.  Joy to the World was a big hit and One Bad Apple wouldn’t spoil the whole bunch.  We all wanted to go to Sweet Home Alabama to find out How Can You Mend a Broken Heart.  Everyone wanted to do the Crocodile Rock and the Monster Mash.  For those of us who couldn’t spell there was ABC and YMCA.  Then there were the love songs.  I’m All By Myself, Pickin Up the Pieces.  Don’t Go Breaking My Heart was a common theme but we then sang Love Will Keep Us Together.   

If you think about it things haven’t changed much.  We still get broken hearts and we still look for love in all the wrong places. One of my best memories from growing up during these formative years was singing in church.  Songs from church weren’t about the angst of life.  They were about turning to the One who made us for deliverance.  We could Have a Little Talk with Jesus, I Saw the Light and take A Closer Walk with Thee.  There was Power in the Blood, In the Sweet By and By and Precious Lord Take My Hand.  There was Victory in Jesus, Leaning on the Everlasting Arms and What a Day That Will Be. 

The thing about the old hymns is that I remember the words to all the songs.  When I return to listen to them it is like I am returning home.  Bart Millard from the group Mercy Me has a cd that is just old hymns.  It is one of my favorites because it brings back those long ago memories of Jesus my Lord and Savior and reminds me of how much I owe Him.

 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I thank you for blessing me with parents who knew the value of a Christian life.  When I was in church all those years ago, I can still remember the songs of praise for You.  Thank You for reminding me of the importance of worship and loving You.    

  

Scripture: For this cause everyone who is godly shall pray to You in a time when You may be found; surely in a flood of great waters they shall not come near him.  You are my hiding place; You shall preserve me from trouble; You shall surround me with songs of deliverance. I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go; I will guide you with My eye.  Psalm 32:6-8

Big Yellow Taxi

No man who is fit to live need fear to die. To us here, death is the most terrible thing we know. But when we have tasted its reality it will mean to us birth, deliverance, a new creation of ourselves. It will be what health is to the sick man; what home is to the exile; what the loved one given back is to the bereaved. As we draw near to it a solemn gladness should fill our hearts. It is God's great morning lighting up the sky. Our fears are the terror of children in the night. The night with its terrors, its darkness, its feverish dreams, is passing away; and when we awake it will be into the sunlight of God.  Thomas Fuller

I had another dream last night, or I should say early this morning.  I dreamed I missed the school bus.  You know how in the early hours of the morning you go into what they call REM sleep.  You know what I am talking about.  Rapid Eye Movement sleep.  I call it RLM because in this dream I was running to catch the bus and I missed it so it was more like Rapid Leg Movement. 

So I am dreaming that the school bus was going to pull up at any minute at school, but I forgot something and ran back to get it.  Have you ever noticed that when you are in a hurry, everything and everyone else slows to a crawl?   I am not sure why I had to run down the bleachers, but as I am running I look over and see one of my uncles sleeping in the bleachers.  I am not sure if this was to remind me not to be caught sleeping when the big yellow taxi pulls into the station, but that is a possibility.  When I returned to the pickup location the bus (or big yellow taxi) had pulled away and was down the street turning the corner. 

We were all kids at one time and if you never rode a school bus it can make a kid panic if you miss it.  For a kid it is like the end of the world.  There is not another bus that is going to come along and pick you up 15 minutes later.  The bus you ride is the only one that is going to take you home.  You can’t get on the next bus in the line and get home.  That bus will take you somewhere else and maybe somewhere you don’t want to go. 

So back to my dream.  When I missed the bus I reached into my pocket and pulled out my cell phone.  The really weird part (I know you are laughing now because this whole thing is weird), was that back in the day when I went to school we didn’t even have cell phones so this dream covers multiple generations.  So I pull my cell phone out and call my Dad.  Instead of the phone ringing it started playing a Willie Nelson song.  So I am thinking, is this the right phone number because my Dad doesn’t like Willie Nelson music.  In the midst of me making this phone call I jumped out of bed and ran into the kitchen.  I don’t know if I thought I could catch another bus in the kitchen or what, but I thought I was late again.  When I get to the kitchen I glance at my phone and it is 3:30am. When I finally came to my senses, I went back to bed but I couldn’t go back to sleep.  Imagine that.  So yet again, I started thinking about God and this is what I came up with.

There is only one bus that goes to heaven.  We all want to be on that bus because the other bus is not one we want to take. Time is ticking away for us to get on the right bus and we must be saved by the blood of Jesus Christ. I want to be in line when the bus pulls up to my stop.  I don’t want to be running around chasing worldly things. I want to be standing in line waiting for the big yellow taxi to pull to a stop and when the doors open I will run on and take a seat.  I can’t imagine a nicer ride.     

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, there are times when I dream strange things.  One of the things that I so enjoy is thinking about You in everything I do.  Thinking about You brings me joy and I see You in everything, even my weird dreams.  Thank You for loving me enough to give me a way back to You.  When the roll is called I want to be in the Lambs Book of Life and live with You for eternity.       

Scripture:  He who overcomes shall be clothed in white garments, and I will not blot out his name from the Book of Life; but I will confess his name before My Father and before His angels.  Revelation 3:5

 As many as I love, I rebuke and chasten. Therefore be zealous and repent. Behold, I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and dine with him, and he with Me.  To him who overcomes I will grant to sit with Me on My throne, as I also overcame and sat down with My Father on His throne.  Revelation 3:19-21

As Is   

Sociologists have a theory of the looking-glass self: you become what the most important person in your life (wife, father, boss, etc.) thinks you are. How would my life change if I truly believed the Bible's astounding words about God's love for me, if I looked in the mirror and saw what God sees?  Philip Yancey

Have you ever bought something “AS IS”?  It works like this.  You know there is something wrong with the item you are buying but you buy it anyway.  You take a chance that the thing you are buying will operate or work properly even though you know there is something wrong with it. 

Sometimes another person bought the item and returned it but the store can’t sell it as new so they sell it “as is”.  So there is not really anything wrong with the item, the person just didn’t want it.  Then other times someone bought it, it doesn’t work properly, they returned it and it’s not going to work properly for you either.  Then there is the third scenario where someone bought it, broke it, returned it and when you get it home it’s not going to work either.

We are born new but life breaks us.  There might not really be much wrong with us but someone rejects us.  So there is a defect so we are thrown into the return bin.  Then other times we are rolling along through life and things are going well and we have a health issue and now we’re broken.  Then there is the really tragic circumstance where someone breaks us physically, emotionally or verbally and we are rejected again and back in the broken bin. 

This concept fascinates me because God doesn’t work that way.  God takes us “AS IS”.  He loves us no matter what we do.  He takes us back time and again because of that very love.  We mess up, we are defective, we are thrown back in the used, broken, rejected bin and God reaches in and takes us back broken and all, “AS IS”.

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, we are often rejected on this earth by others because we don’t measure up to their expectations.  I love that you accept me sin and all.  You accept the broken, rejected me when others might not.  Thank you for loving me even when I end up in the “AS IS” bin.        

Scripture:    What then shall we say to these things?  If God is for us, who can be against us?  He who did not spare His own Son, but delivered Him up for us all, how shall He not with Him also freely give us all things?  Who shall bring a charge against God’s elect?  It is God who justifies. Who is he who condemns?  It is Christ who died, and furthermore is also risen, who is even at the right hand of God, who also makes intercession for us.  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall tribulation, or distress, or persecution, or famine, or nakedness, or peril, or sword?  As it is written:  “For Your sake we are killed all day long; we are accounted as sheep for the slaughter.”  Yet in all these things we are more than conquerors through Him who loved us.  For I am persuaded that neither death nor life, nor angels nor principalities nor powers, nor things present nor things to come, nor height nor depth, nor any other created thing, shall be able to separate us form the love of God which is in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:31-39

Old Age

We begin life with the natural, next we come into the spiritual; but then, when we have truly received the kingdom of God and His righteousness, the natural is added to the spiritual, and we are able to receive the gifts of His providence and the blessings of life without becoming centered in them or allowing them to separate us from Him.  A.B. Simpson

I don’t know about you, but the older I get the more my mail has changed.  I was sorting through our mail yesterday and came across an interesting envelope.  The first clue I had that this mail was going to remind me of how old I am was the name on the outside of the envelope.  In the top left corner of the envelope in big colorful letters was the word Dignity.  When I looked up the definition of dignity, it read “bearing, conduct, or speech indicative of self-respect or appreciation of the formality or gravity of an occasion or situation.” 

When I opened to envelope they proceeded to tell me what a bargain I would get and how considerate I would be to my family if I bought my burial plot, casket and paid my burial expenses ahead of time.  Don’t get me wrong, I think everyone should prepare for the end of our lives, but I would prefer not to receive reminders in the mail about my ultimate demise. 

Do you remember when you were 18 and the only thing you received in the mail were credit card applications?  Your whole life was in front of you and they couldn’t wait to help you make your mark on the world with their credit card.  You hit the half century mark and your mail changes.  You get letters and advertisements from funeral homes, hearing aid companies, and ads for 2 pair of bifocals for $60 bucks.  As if these things aren’t enough, you get the stuff from the life insurance companies and the motorized cart manufacturers and then there is Medicare. 

I think some of these companies have it all wrong.  Instead of sending me stuff that points out my old age, why not send me something that makes me celebrate it.  How about sending me a “Welcome to Heaven” card or “You’re in Good Hands with God, or what about “I Can See Clearly Now” and heaven is what I see with no bifocals in sight.    

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, as I grow older more and more companies are waiting on the sidelines ready to point out my aging. When Adam and Eve ate from the Tree of Life, it meant each of us will one day face death.  I praise You for giving me the choice of eternal life with You.  There will come a day when we have the opportunity to live with You forever.  I look forward to that day.           

      

Scripture: Life and Judgment Are Through the Son

“Most assuredly, I say to you, he who hears My word and believes in Him who sent Me has everlasting life, and shall not come into judgment, but has passed from death into life.  Most assuredly, I say to you, the hour is coming, and now is, when the dead will hear the voice of the Son of God; and those who hear will live. For as the Father has life in Himself, so He has granted the Son to have life in Himself, and has given Him authority to execute judgment also, because He is the Son of Man.  John 5:24-27

Fault Line

Truly it is an evil to be full of faults; but it is a still greater evil to be full of them and to be unwilling to recognize them, since that is to add the further fault of a voluntary illusion.  Blaise Pascal

Fault: a defect or imperfection; flaw; failing: responsibility for failure or a wrongful act: an error or mistake: a misdeed or transgression.

We are human and every one of us has fault lines. We also have different degrees of fault lines.  If I apply this to sin in my life, I find that I will have fault lines that cause tremors and then there are the full blown earthquake causing fault lines.

If all of us know we have these fault lines why do we so often ignore them and pretend they don’t exist? 

In Romans 5:12 the Bible tells us “ Therefore, just as through one man sin entered the world, and death through sin, and thus death spread to all men, because all sinned. This verse doesn’t say some of us sinned or a few of us sinned.  It says “because all sinned”.  When Adam sinned death spread to all of us. 

I think one problem with our fault lines is we look at our own sin as minor and someone else’s sin and major.  When we finally figure out that our sin is equal to another person’s sin; that is when we start looking at other sinner’s differently.  We stop elevating ourselves above the other person because our perception of our sin is skewed.  We start to see the other person in a different light.  They are just like us.  Sinful.  When we look at each other that way we can then be empathetic to their plight because they are no different than we are.

It doesn’t matter whether your fault line is tremor or earthquake size; we will see others as equals if we understand their need for a Savior is as great as our own. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I praise You for Jesus Christ Your Son.  He came to this earth for one purpose and He fulfilled that purpose.  He died so that I might live.  Help me to look at other sinners as equals in need of a Savior.  Remind me of my own fault lines so that I don’t judge or compare my sin to theirs.  We are all equal in Your eyes.  You love each of us as if we were the only one. 

Scripture: Bear and Share the Burdens

Brethren, if a man is overtaken in any trespass, you who are spiritual restore such a one in a spirit of gentleness, considering yourself lest you also be tempted. Bear one another’s burdens, and so fulfill the law of Christ.  For if anyone thinks himself to be something, when he is nothing, he deceives himself. But let each one examine his own work, and then he will have rejoicing in himself alone, and not in another. For each one shall bear his own load. Galatians 6:1-5

Be Courageous

Beloved, I say, let your fears go, lest they make you fainthearted. Stop inspiring fear in those around you and now take your stand in faith. God has been good and He will continue to manifest His goodness. Let us approach these days expecting to see the goodness of the Lord manifest. Let us be strong and of good courage, for the Lord will fight for us if we stand in faith.  Francis Frangipane

cour·age 1. The quality of mind or spirit that enables a person to face difficulty, danger, pain, etc., without fear.

I was studying in the Bible about courage and there was a sentence that kept repeating over and over again.  “Be of good courage.” What does it mean to be of good courage?

When I was young we had woods behind our house and I didn’t like to go out there at night.  It was dark and my imagination would often take over.  I could imagine all kinds of things out there that I should be afraid of.  There were some old cars on one portion of the property that gave me the creeps.  I always imagined someone in one of them just waiting for me to walk by and then they would grab me.   It didn’t matter that the cars had no doors, windows or tires for that matter.  My fear was bigger than my faith.

As I have gotten older, the fears of childhood gave way to those of adulthood. I admit I still let fears overtake me.  I find that the more I spend time in God’s Word the less fear plays a part in my life.  I read about David and Goliath and the courage he had to stand up to a giant.  Then there is Noah who was told to build a boat where no water existed.  That took courage.  Then there was Daniel who was cast into the den of lions for worshiping God.  Shadrach, Meshach, and Abed-nego exhibited great courage when they refused to worship Nebuchadnezzar’s gods and the golden image and were thrown into the fiery furnace. 

When I think of all the stories of courage in the Bible, my fears seem trivial in comparison. I haven’t had to face a giant, lions or a fiery furnace.  I am afraid I would have been an embarrassment as a super hero. 

The question I asked myself is how do we become people of great courage?  We must meditate on God’s Word.  We need to live it, breathe it and sleep on it day in and day out.  God calls each of us to be courageous for Him.  If Jesus could stand up to Satan with the Word of God then we can too.   If you are feeling more like the cowardly lion in the Wizard of Oz than a mighty warrior of God, spend time in His Word.  Courage will come and you are not alone. 

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I am not always courageous and I am ashamed to say I don’t always stand up for You. Help me Father to meditate on Your Word and to bury it in my heart so that any time fear tries to overtake me, I will be able to step out with courage and stand for what is right and good.  You are my strength and I praise You.   

Scripture: Be strong and of good courage, do not fear nor be afraid of them; for the LORD your God, He is the One who goes with you. He will not leave you nor forsake you. Deuteronomy 31:6

Imperfection

Imperfection is the prerequisite for grace. Light only gets in through the cracks.  Philip Yancey

The one marvelous secret of a holy life lies not in imitating Jesus, but in letting the perfections of Jesus manifest themselves in my mortal flesh. Sanctification is "Christ in you."... Sanctification is not drawing from Jesus the power to be holy; it is drawing from Jesus the holiness that was manifested in Him, and He manifests it in me.  Oswald Chambers

Do you ever strive for perfection in things that you do?  It might be in your job, your family life or any number of things.  I admit I struggle with this on a daily basis.  I work in a busy environment with a lot of things going on every day.  This alone hinders the chance of ever doing anything perfect by the mere fact that it is busy.  Then I have the outside influences like other people who may thwart my pursuit of perfection. Have you ever worked with someone who you depended on to get you figures for a report or information to complete the report where you have a deadline to meet and they failed to meet the deadline?  It can be frustrating.

One of the things that I see happening more and more is the fact that there are so many different generations working together.  There are all kinds of studies and names assigned to the different generations.  For the purpose of this devotional I will call them by my own made up names, “Advanced in Years” or AIY, “On the Downhill Side” or ODS, and “Not Yet Over the Hill” or NYOH. So when a NYOH starts working with a ODS there are some things that occur due to the age difference.  An NYOH doesn’t like working with a time clock, whereas an ODS only knows how to work with a time clock.  So when you try to get these two to work together there can be problems.  You have an ODS who is always on time and an NYOH who shows up whenever.  The thing is they will both get the job done just not the same way or in the same timeframe. Too many times I expect perfection from the other person and when they aren’t I am disappointed.  Why should I expect perfection from another, when I understand and know that I am not perfect?

One of the things I have learned about perfection is that it has taught me how imperfect I am.  I will say, this is a very humbling experience.  When I begin to see the imperfections in myself, I can then more easily see and accept the imperfections in another. The most important statement I read about myself is the following:

“A person demanding perfect justice and fairness will always feel dissatisfied and will tend to be more preoccupied with getting their just treatment than they are with loving and being loved.” If I give up my right for fairness and justice, I can then begin to live in grace.    

        

Prayer for the Day: Heavenly Father, I have pursued perfection in my life over and over again. Father, I pray for you to make me weak, because You tell me that in my weakness, I am strong.  Thank you for having patience with me when I fail you over and over again.  I want to be like Jesus, but I know my failings.  Help me to work on the things I can change about me to become more like You.

Scripture: And lest I should be exalted above measure by the abundance of the revelations, a thorn in the flesh was given to me, a messenger of Satan to buffet me, lest I be exalted above measure.  Concerning this thing I pleaded with the Lord three times that it might depart from me. And He said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for My strength is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore most gladly I will rather boast in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me. Therefore I take pleasure in infirmities, in reproaches, in needs, in persecutions, in distresses, for Christ’s sake. For when I am weak, then I am strong.  2 Corinthians 12:7-10