What I Have and Have Not

2-28-15

Psalm 118.18 The Lord has disciplined me severely, but he has not given me over to death. (ESV)

Currently I am reading a 365 Day devotional. It is one of the best devotionals I have ever encountered. I think it is fitting for the days of my present journey.

Life presses in upon us and many of us fear it is the displeasure of the Lord with us that causes our days to be pressed and hard-pressed. We hear the word discipline and immediately we equate it with pain… or worse, punishment. I think hearing the word discipline raises our defenses as well: Why am I going through this – what’d I do!? I’m learning these days that there is a plan and a purpose for discipline; discipline is outcome-based.

And so today I read: The Lord has disciplined me severely, but He has not given me over to death. What a relief! I thought He was mad at me or something. No, He’s not mad; He’s simply, lovingly, thoroughly, and carefully making me into the person He’s created me to be. What’s so bad about that?

I like to think I have it altogether. I like to think I’m making such marvelous progress in my spiritual journey. I am; it’s just not the way I want it to be – there’s pain involved. Oh, and difficulty as well. Difficulty is just another form of pain; but discomfort causes me to think differently and look for answers – not to relieve the pain, but more, to find out why.

But this I know: even though the Lord disciplines me severely, He hasn’t given me over to death. Death would be His leaving me alone. I might think He’s left me alone, but the presence of the pain, discomfort, inconvenience, frustration, sorrow, and whatever else: shows me He is working in me to work out of me my dependence upon myself; and working into me a humility I never knew existed in depending wholly and solely upon Him.

My devotion today told me: He’s preparing me for my (Face-to-face) eternity with Him. He’s preparing me for the earthly battles yet to come. My scant days on earth are nothing compared to eternity with Him. And He’s preparing me for a new mindset and worldview where He is truly my King, not some fleeting theory I hold in my mind. (Somebody was thinking when this devotional was written.)

Lord Jesus – Creator God, I hold You responsible for disciplining me severely. I know it is done in love and it is done with an eternal purpose in mind. It isn’t fun. It isn’t pleasant. But it will produce a yield in me that I couldn’t conceive of otherwise: a harvest of righteousness. And I thank You that my discipline – as painful as it is – is for my life and for my future in the eternity that patiently awaits my arrival. Do not stay Your hand. Thank You. Amen.

Pet Theories

02.21.15

Mark 12.24-27 24 …“Is this not the reason you are wrong, because you know neither the Scriptures nor the power of God? 25 For when they rise from the dead, they neither marry nor are given in marriage, but are like angels in heaven. 26 And as for the dead being raised, have you not read in the book of Moses, in the passage about the bush, how God spoke to him, saying, ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’? 27 He is not God of the dead, but of the living. You are quite wrong.” – Jesus (ESV)

The Scriptures were not written to make us feel better and to underscore whatever pet beliefs we have: All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness, that the man of God may be complete, equipped for every good work. (2 Timothy 3.16-17) Feeling good for our own comfort is the least thing the Scriptures address.

The Sadducees (a Jewish religious sect in Jesus’ day) didn’t believe the Scriptures: they believed their own pet theories that they derived from the Scriptures. Pet theories cause trouble. The Sadducees didn’t believe in one of the key truths of the Scripture: resurrection from the dead.

What happened in the Garden was that Adam and Eve died – they lost their standing with God. They sinned. They fell. And from that moment when they sinned and fell God set about His premeditated plan to redeem them from eternal separation from Himself. Eternal separation is death. But God’s plan encompasses the reversal of human death, it also proves that God (Who is eternal) desires to be in fellowship with us undeserving creatures for all eternity – not only something future, but also something present. God to the rescue.

And so, God gave us His word to teach us – if we will be taught. God gave us His word to reprove us – to make us see how stupid human reasoning can be. He also gave us His word for correction to show us the right way to think. And, He gave us His word to train us to be righteous (B.asic I.nstruction B.efore L.eaving E.arth). The only feel good perhaps is that God is in control of every aspect of the believer’s life and because of that, the believer will spend all eternity working alongside God in whatever God has in store for the ones who believe.

The Sadducees called that bunk. (Many today call that bunk.) Jesus calls them wrong. And Jesus pointed out that the God of the Scriptures (the very Scriptures they read and studied) said of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: ‘I am the God of Abraham, and the God of Isaac, and the God of Jacob’; not, ‘I was…’. God is the God of the Living and the living are those who believe in Him and that belief results in a life that never stops living.

Father, may I read and know Your Scriptures, not just filling my head with facts, but filling my heart with Your life; the life You give to those who believe what You have said, and are not just seeking credence to pet theories. Teach me, reprove me, correct me, and train me in righteousness that I may live out eternity prepared better for what You would have me do with You there… Amen.

Better

02/15/15

Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. Proverbs 15:16 (ESV)

I get weird inside when I read a verse like this. It's not that I don't believe; it is just because of how I react to such thinking. It's counter to all that I have been taught as to how to live on earth.

Success, humanly speaking, is great wealth; it's success and influence; it's, "I want to wake up in a city that doesn't sleep, and find I'm king of the hill; top of the heap..." It has little to do with the fear of the Lord. The world shuns this; what it considers to utter nonsense that only applies to the weak.

I know many who'd like to win the Powerball not really understanding that with a hundred and forty million dollars in winnings (or whatever it currently is) come that many losings...and perhaps more. When Jesus said he who is faithful with little will be trusted with much, He wasn't joking; He was telling those who will listen, that more money isn't the answer, but faithfulness is...

For many years I have stupidly sought more money; what I've really always needed is more of Him; specifically more capacity for all He's given: all of Himself. Great treasure for the untested, the uncommitted, the undedicated brings trouble that can not be measured. Better is a little with the fear of the Lord than great treasure and trouble with it. God Alone and respect for Him is always. Eternally. Better.

Father, You are the Forgiver of the stupid and the Teacher of the simple. Heal me God and teach me to walk in wisdom and that fear that quiets my heart. Amen

Walking on Waves in the Wind

02.08.15

Matthew 14.30-31 30 But when he saw the wind, he was afraid, and beginning to sink he cried out, “Lord, save me.” 31 Jesus immediately reached out his hand and took hold of him, saying to him, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?” – St. Matthew (ESV)

I’ll call her Sherrie. She and her husband left the town where we lived in search of a better future in another part of the country where, they’d been told, wages were higher, taxes were lower, and housing was unbelievably affordable. She was full of excitement and assured me it was of the Lord.

Two months later she (and he) returned because, the devil had fought them at every turn and the housing wasn’t so hot, the wages weren’t so great, and the taxes were about the same as everywhere else: too stinkin’ high! She was back because perhaps, God misinformed them.

In Matthew 14, Peter and his companions are in a boat on Lake Galilee beaten by the waves, for the wind was against them and here comes Jesus walking toward them on the water. (Okay, how is He doing that!?) The disciples (Peter included) are terrified. Had I been in that boat I would’ve been looking for the t.p.

Now, in their fear the disciples cried out, “It’s a ghost!” Grown men afraid of ghosts. And Jesus says, “Take heart; it is I. Do not be afraid.” Lord, I have just soiled myself and You’re telling me not to be afraid!!?? And Peter – God love Peter – says, “Lord, if it is you, command me to come to you on the water.” The challenge: Lord, if it is You… Jesus, unwavering, said, “Come!”

What do you perceive God to be asking you to do? Is it better wages? Lower taxes? More affordable housing? Sherrie sure thought so. But I think what Sherrie missed was the wind and the waves beating against her. God sometimes asks us to do some interesting things. And when we take Him at His word, life seems to go to crap. And we doubt. And we cry out. And we think we see ghosts. Because when God asks us to do whatever, we think we’re to do it alone.

Peter got out of the boat in that wind and among those waves and began to walk on water. Wow! But then he took his eyes off Jesus and began to sink in the waves that were beaten by the wind. The best thing Peter ever did was yell: “Lord, save me.” And Jesus stretched out His hand and caught Peter and they walked back to the boat together and got in, and finished the journey to the other shore. And Jesus asked Peter, “O you of little faith, why did you doubt?”

Why do we doubt – because it’s too hard? Because it’s too scary? Because we can’t control it? I’d probably say, “A, B, and C!” Life is hard. Life is scary. You and I cannot control life. But the Maker of Heaven and Earth can control it. And He is asking you and me to trust Him and not doubt that He walks upon the waves in the wind.

Jesus, save me! Help me to trust You no matter the appearance of the circumstances. And help me to believe that despite all my scheming and dreaming, You are in control of it all, and I will never fall out of Your hand. Thank You Jesus! Amen.