09/17/15
Revelation 22.4-5 4 They will see his face, and his name will be on their foreheads. 5 And night will be no more. They will need no light of lamp or sun, for the Lord God will be their light, and they will reign forever and ever. – St. John
I have a grandson; and he is grand. He is sweet when he’s not being a little pill and he seems to think his Pop-pop is okay. I like that. I like being okay with a 2-year old. After he’s had a rough moment it is comforting to reassure him, “Maxx, everything is all better”. He seems to like that: all better. Hugs and happiness abound.
I thought about that as I read John’s description in Revelation 22 today: “They (God’s people, the chosen, the faithful, the willing) will see His face. Darkness will be banished and the light of the One who said, “let there be light!” will be their light; and they will reign as a favored and royal priesthood forever and ever.” All better.
We long in our present days for things to be all better. We long for strong leadership who will give us what we want and take us to where we want to go. But nationalism never accomplishes that’ only relationship will give us what we truly need provided the relationship is the right relationship. Only with God, are things, all better.
I must admit, I get a bit confused when I read the revelation of Ezekiel the prophet as he describes how things will be (I’m assuming) in the millennial Kingdom. But the reality is the Eternal Kingdom where God will be God and His people will be His children and all will live in the light as He is in the light for the blood of the Lamb has cleansed, paid, and provided for an eternal order of goodness and light. All better.
It is good to know that despite my longings and wishes for all better today, there is the permanent promise of all better tomorrow. It’s good to know that I am presently pacing and right on track for the day when the light of God will be my only Light and I will live in His presence forever and ever. It makes the scarcity of the present day more bearable when I look forward to what will be eternally, all better.
Today, I live in the light of the promise of Light. Today, I live knowing the darkness will soon be banished and I will see His face and live in His light. Today, though there are rough places and the presence of sin and death, there is the light of the promise of His Light and the knowledge that for me, one day soon, all will be all better. Amen.
Thursday, September 17, 2015
Wednesday, September 16, 2015
Complete
09/16/15
Revelation 21.4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. St. John
What a gift that God Himself will do this for His people. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes – the very tears that He created us to shed. Death shall be no more; the limitlessness will take its place. Mourning over loss, crying, and disappointment will be gone. All of these things with which we are so familiar will simply be no more. What a gift. Death will be replaced with life and sin will be gone. Our eyes will be opened and for once we will finally see. I think we’ll realize what it means to be complete.
What moves me, when thinking about all this, is how much God values His children; that He would do all of that. Not every day is emotional for me. But some days are and when they are, they are rough. There is a release that takes place when emotions, having been pent up, are released. It seems to be a freeing of what needs to come out, and there is an accompanying peace…often; not always, but often. Our God understands the way we are made and what it takes to keep us from going stark raving nuts. God so values us and His valuation is complete.
I think too, I am moved that our God, my God wants to be with me. That is a hard thought in these days of tension and turmoil in the world and culture around me. However, that hard thinking about God’s delight in sharing in my life somehow brings me peace as well. He wants to be with me. He designed me to be with Him and one day He will do whatever it takes for me to be complete and free. No more tears. No more tangles.
I am moved today to rethink some things. All is not lost even though sometimes it sure feels that way. God is about the business of taking things away from me in order to replace those things with what is good and real, and true. He will do these things and I won’t know how, but I will know He did. What an amazing God who has said, he will be My son, and I, will be his God.
The world, as hard and brittle as it can be, seems somehow less daunting today. He will wipe away all of my tears and I will be finally complete. I will be as He always intended for me to be. And all I want to do is to be with Him forever.
God is with me in all I face, in all I experience. God is with me in my highs and lows and I needn’t look without for Him, but within. He has made my heart His home, and will arrange it as He intends it to be with all of my deepest desires and pleasures in mind. God will remove what has served a purpose for a time and will replace it with what I need for the eternal day.
No tears, no crying. No mourning, no pain. Amen.
Revelation 21.4 He will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death shall be no more, neither shall there be mourning, nor crying, nor pain anymore, for the former things have passed away. St. John
What a gift that God Himself will do this for His people. He will wipe away every tear from their eyes – the very tears that He created us to shed. Death shall be no more; the limitlessness will take its place. Mourning over loss, crying, and disappointment will be gone. All of these things with which we are so familiar will simply be no more. What a gift. Death will be replaced with life and sin will be gone. Our eyes will be opened and for once we will finally see. I think we’ll realize what it means to be complete.
What moves me, when thinking about all this, is how much God values His children; that He would do all of that. Not every day is emotional for me. But some days are and when they are, they are rough. There is a release that takes place when emotions, having been pent up, are released. It seems to be a freeing of what needs to come out, and there is an accompanying peace…often; not always, but often. Our God understands the way we are made and what it takes to keep us from going stark raving nuts. God so values us and His valuation is complete.
I think too, I am moved that our God, my God wants to be with me. That is a hard thought in these days of tension and turmoil in the world and culture around me. However, that hard thinking about God’s delight in sharing in my life somehow brings me peace as well. He wants to be with me. He designed me to be with Him and one day He will do whatever it takes for me to be complete and free. No more tears. No more tangles.
I am moved today to rethink some things. All is not lost even though sometimes it sure feels that way. God is about the business of taking things away from me in order to replace those things with what is good and real, and true. He will do these things and I won’t know how, but I will know He did. What an amazing God who has said, he will be My son, and I, will be his God.
The world, as hard and brittle as it can be, seems somehow less daunting today. He will wipe away all of my tears and I will be finally complete. I will be as He always intended for me to be. And all I want to do is to be with Him forever.
God is with me in all I face, in all I experience. God is with me in my highs and lows and I needn’t look without for Him, but within. He has made my heart His home, and will arrange it as He intends it to be with all of my deepest desires and pleasures in mind. God will remove what has served a purpose for a time and will replace it with what I need for the eternal day.
No tears, no crying. No mourning, no pain. Amen.
Saturday, September 12, 2015
The Source of Strength
09/12/15
This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel,
says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your
strength, but you would have none of it.” —ISAIAH 30: 15
Most people I know strive. They never seem to have enough
money at the end of the month; they always seem to have too much month left at
the end of the paycheck. The job is rough, the kids are a mess, and life just
seems to be overwhelming. I think it safe to say most everyone is fighting some
kind of fight or another.
But in the midst of all the striving, there are few that
thrive. Adversity and angst don’t seem to be a part of who they are. They seem
to be at peace in the midst of calamity. Their focus seems to be somewhere
beyond all the carnage and wreckage of the world around them. They are at
peace. Or at least they sure seem to be.
Isaiah the prophet had the unpleasant task of telling his
fellow countrymen that their antics with idolatry and oppression were an
offense to the God they called their own and this God they claimed was going to
punish them severely for their sins. Not a popular message then or now.
Sometimes humanity just cannot raise its perspective beyond there here and now
and what’s going to happen today. Humanity is so stuck in the moment.
And Isaiah, told his stuck-in-the-moment people: “This is what the Sovereign LORD, the Holy One of Israel, says: “In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness and trust is your strength, but you would have none of it.” In other words, Guys, quit striving, conniving and just to be surviving and sit quietly with God and learn from Him. Repentance and rest are the things that protect us from angst and living for the moment rather than living in the moment.
Rest and repentance, remarkably, are not inaction, nor
are they reaction: they are true action, and intentional living: there is a
plan and a purpose to the day that I have been given and I am going to
intentionally live it out under the tutelage of God. Period. Repentance is
turning from myself to Him and rest is the happy attitude that all is under His
loving control and care: I have no worries because He has it all under control.
And He never fails.
That’s all that God has ever really wanted from us anyway
is the trust and belief in Him that He has it all under His control…and that He
is always good, and He loves us fiercely and eternally. Living with God in this
manner goes against the grain of most of humanity’s striving to make ends meet
(however that pans out).
Today, if I am going to strive, I am going to strive only in this manner: to cease
from striving and conniving, and to repent and rest in Him. I have a six-hour
drive in front of me and I hope to capitalize on the time to rest and repent
and find the reset of all my defaults in Him.
“In repentance and rest is your salvation, in quietness
and trust is your strength… don’t do what they did…” – God.
Thursday, September 10, 2015
Good and Bad
09/10/15
Lamentations 3.38 Is
it not from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? – Jeremiah,
the prophet
In the Epistle to the Romans, St. Paul wrote the following
benediction: “Oh, the depth of the riches
and wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are his judgments and how
inscrutable his ways! “For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been
his counselor? Or who has given a gift to him that he might be repaid?” For
from him and through him and to him are all things. To him be glory forever.
Amen”
In Lamentations, Jeremiah the propjet wrote: “Is it not from the mouth of the Most High
that good and bad come?” Both Jeremiah and Paul are right. The rub comes,
perhaps, with our interpretation of what we consider good and bad.
Yours truly and his bride are often nuevos; we jump on the train after
it has left the station. My point: we have recently discovered that we like
hummus. Who knew! And so we’re shnackowaving
in the kitchen the other night and yours truly remarks, “Man! I love this stuff!” Really Paul, love!? Hummus might be the in-thing in
our kitchen these days, but is it not
from the mouth of the Most High that good and bad come? I have my
preferences, but God also has His and His override mine.
God is truly a good God. But His choices may not match up
with mine. I may call bad what God intends for my good. Who has known the mind
of the Lord? There seems to be this culture in the Kingdom that has to do with
the end – which is really the beginning. The end of earth is the beginning of
Heaven. The real test for us is our attitude toward God’s doings. And God NEVER
does anything but good.
Well then Turk, how then can you quote a verse that
claims: is it not from the mouth of the
Most High that good and bad come? Because the valuation of good and bad on
earth is measured by us and our good-and-bad-meter is faulty because we are
faulty. That doesn’t mean we’re all reprobate sinners, it just means that
sometimes God does stuff and we don’t understand why. Usually, the
misunderstanding is where we come up with the assessment of good or bad.
Jeremiah witnessed the destruction of His people.
Jeremiah said: “The hands of compassionate
women have boiled their own children; they became their food during the
destruction of the daughter of my people.” We would call that bad. We ought
to! But God dealt with His people because they wouldn’t deal with themselves.
Does God boil children!? Nope. God did, however, invite them over and over and
over again to cooperate with Him and they didn’t. They boiled and ate their
children.
God is faithful. Always. If bad happens to us, then we
can be assured, whether we measure correctly or not, God is faithful. God does
what God does because He is faithful to Himself, His ways, and His will. And He is faithful to His people as
well. Bad isn’t the end; perhaps it’s just the beginning of the good.
Jesus said, “Truly,
truly, I say to you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it
remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit.” Only the Lord knows
the outcome of Bad and Good. And despite how we interpret it, He is always
good.
Monday, September 7, 2015
To Be
09/07/15
2 Kings 25.12 But the captain of the guard left some of
the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen.
What causes a person to be poor? Think about that. What
causes a person to have less than others to the point that society labels them ‘poor’?
And what does it mean to be poor? Does it mean to have less money, less
intellect; or is poverty a matter of more
or less?
Think about this: Jesus said, “Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the Kingdom of Heaven.”
Mother Teresa said, “It is a poverty to
decide that a child must die so that you may live as you wish.” Is poverty
a choice? Is poverty simply bad money management? Is poverty the result of
covetousness gone wild?
Poverty and taking care of the poor seems to be a major
theme of Scripture. It seems to be important to God that we take care of the
poor among us. It seems to be important to God that we share with those who are
less fortunate and help provide for them. Does that cure or enable their
poverty. Jesus said, “The poor you will always have with you…” Sounds like
poverty isn’t going away any time soon.
In America, back in the 60’s, we decided to declare a war
on Poverty. We decided that poverty could be eliminated by government
regulations and by government programs. It seems we haven’t won the war. We declared
war on drugs as well, and drugs haven’t gone away either. The problem with war,
as I understand it, is you can’t win at war without a winning strategy. Shock and awe, shocks and awes; but
there is much more to a strategy than bombing the crap out of things. Sometimes
it’s as simple as giving someone something to do to make them feel useful, and to
become a contributing part of society.
In the ancient days of the collapse of the Jewish nation
and its subsequent exile into Babylonian captivity (circa. 605 BC) the Bible
says: But the captain of the guard left
some of the poorest of the land to be vinedressers and plowmen. What does
it take to get a job? Sometimes, it is the captivity of your nation. Sometimes
it is doing what no one else wants to do.
Jesus didn’t say enable the poor; He said to take care of
them. Maybe the war on poverty would be won if we cared about those who can’t
make it on their own for whatever reason. And maybe it means allowing them a
little ownership and protection so that they can feel useful.
Poverty is both a matter of the heart, and a matter of
circumstances. Sometimes, poverty is a choice and sometimes, it just is.
Sometimes, it feels like the cure for poverty might just be a good caning. But
most of the time it is ignoring the
circumstances, ignoring the
preferences, ignoring the poor
behavior, and just being loving and kind enough to come alongside the broken,
and give them a helping hand. And leaving it at that. I can’t fix you, but here’s twenty bucks.
Maybe kindness and generosity will win out and poverty
one day will be no more… Maybe. In the meantime, what Jesus said is what Jesus
said, and we’ll just have to deal with it. Lord, help me to do what is right and
leave the work of fixing the heart up to You. Amen.
Sunday, September 6, 2015
Employee of the Month
09/06/15
Ezekiel 29.20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God. - Ezekiel, for God
All of us work for somebody; ourselves, our families, our employers, our lifestyle – on and on it goes. Everyone works some way for someone or something. That’s just how it works on the blue/green ball.
Reading the prophecies and oracles of Ezekiel, I am amazed at God’s attitude toward the nations. God is not apart from us, but very near; and for those who may find it uncomfortable, very involved. The evening newscast looks a lot different when we factor God into the picture. God in His infinite wisdom is carrying out His plans and purposes in this world. He hasn’t asked for my help, or anyone else’s; He has all things under His control.
The US, Russia, China, ISIS, Iraq, Iran, are all under God’s control. Yes, even the real great Satan has limits. The catch is this: God is love and because He is, there is nothing done anywhere ever that is apart from the attribute of His love. Now certainly, God is gracious, and merciful, and forgiving but He is, and always will be, love. The deepest, darkest cell in hell is prepared because of His love. Paradox? Perhaps, but I wasn’t consulted when God chose to do what He is doing and as He has done. Not sure my perspective would’ve made any difference anyway, given my track record of living.
I was impressed with all this when I read the verse in Ezekiel 29 today: I have given [Nebuchadnezzar] the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because [Nebuchadnezzar and his men] worked for me, declares the Lord God. Babylon was God’s employee. And for a season, Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) was Employee of the Month.
God gave Ezekiel some inside information to help him help His people to remember, that even in captivity and exile, He, the Lord, was providing for them, and He, the Lord, was using His employees to help them and care for them.
Which makes me ask: God, who (or what) have You employed to help and serve me? You see, if God uses all things for the good of those who love Him and are called by His Name, then those ‘all things’ are His employees to help me in my walk with, and devotion to, the One whose name is Love. I don’t subscribe to the notion that God never gives us more than we can handle (utter nonsense), but I do believe that God brings the right people, places, and purposes to us at just the right time for just the right reason so that we may know Him who is called Love and adores us with an affection that is beyond comprehension.
Oh Lord, may I quit trying to figure it all out and, just. trust. You. Use whom or what You must; just don’t take Your hand off of my life as I walk in my pilgrimage and learn to cooperate with that which You’ve employed to help me make my way home. Amen
Ezekiel 29.20 I have given him the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because they worked for me, declares the Lord God. - Ezekiel, for God
All of us work for somebody; ourselves, our families, our employers, our lifestyle – on and on it goes. Everyone works some way for someone or something. That’s just how it works on the blue/green ball.
Reading the prophecies and oracles of Ezekiel, I am amazed at God’s attitude toward the nations. God is not apart from us, but very near; and for those who may find it uncomfortable, very involved. The evening newscast looks a lot different when we factor God into the picture. God in His infinite wisdom is carrying out His plans and purposes in this world. He hasn’t asked for my help, or anyone else’s; He has all things under His control.
The US, Russia, China, ISIS, Iraq, Iran, are all under God’s control. Yes, even the real great Satan has limits. The catch is this: God is love and because He is, there is nothing done anywhere ever that is apart from the attribute of His love. Now certainly, God is gracious, and merciful, and forgiving but He is, and always will be, love. The deepest, darkest cell in hell is prepared because of His love. Paradox? Perhaps, but I wasn’t consulted when God chose to do what He is doing and as He has done. Not sure my perspective would’ve made any difference anyway, given my track record of living.
I was impressed with all this when I read the verse in Ezekiel 29 today: I have given [Nebuchadnezzar] the land of Egypt as his payment for which he labored, because [Nebuchadnezzar and his men] worked for me, declares the Lord God. Babylon was God’s employee. And for a season, Nebuchadnezzar (Babylon) was Employee of the Month.
God gave Ezekiel some inside information to help him help His people to remember, that even in captivity and exile, He, the Lord, was providing for them, and He, the Lord, was using His employees to help them and care for them.
Which makes me ask: God, who (or what) have You employed to help and serve me? You see, if God uses all things for the good of those who love Him and are called by His Name, then those ‘all things’ are His employees to help me in my walk with, and devotion to, the One whose name is Love. I don’t subscribe to the notion that God never gives us more than we can handle (utter nonsense), but I do believe that God brings the right people, places, and purposes to us at just the right time for just the right reason so that we may know Him who is called Love and adores us with an affection that is beyond comprehension.
Oh Lord, may I quit trying to figure it all out and, just. trust. You. Use whom or what You must; just don’t take Your hand off of my life as I walk in my pilgrimage and learn to cooperate with that which You’ve employed to help me make my way home. Amen
Saturday, September 5, 2015
The Promise of a Happy Ending
09/05/15
Ezekiel 28.26 And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God. – God
In the movie, The Shawshank Redemption (one of my personal fav’s), one of the main characters, Andy Dufresne, shares this thought with the other main character, Red: “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Andy has escaped the horrors of Shawshank prison, where he and Red had been incarcerated, and encourages his friend Red to come and find him in Mexico where they’d be free…
As I read in Ezekiel this morning I thought about hope as I read the last verse in Ezekiel 28. Hope is a tremendous motivator. Hope is the promise that there is, indeed, a happy ending. We all long for a happy ending. On earth we’ll have our fair share of what earth has to offer, but one day, all of earth’s offerings will be consumed by Heaven’s hope.
I can wax cynical thinking, like Ford, saying, no one ever built a good reputation by what he was going to do; but I can hope in what God had promised to do; there’s a huge difference. The difference between hope and good intentions is hope is real; good intentions are often the pavement to hell.
God spoke to His people through Ezekiel telling them, “Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.” That’s hope. That’s what we all need: a promise to believe in no matter the situations and circumstances that scream otherwise. Hope is a grace of God beckoning to us all: Believe in Me.
Israel’s history might cause one to think, perhaps God forgot about them. Hope dispels such thinking. Hope is the healing of a heart that wants to doubt because of what it hears, sees, and feels. The gift of God is hope.
In my day and at my age hope is an ever present reminder that all of the mistakes I have made and all of the doubts I have, have no real bearing in life; the only thing that matters is hope: the promise of a happy ending. God has promised that there will be a happy ending for the one whose hope is in Him.
For me today, that is a motivator to keep on keeping on…
Ezekiel 28.26 And they shall dwell securely in it, and they shall build houses and plant vineyards. They shall dwell securely, when I execute judgments upon all their neighbors who have treated them with contempt. Then they will know that I am the Lord their God. – God
In the movie, The Shawshank Redemption (one of my personal fav’s), one of the main characters, Andy Dufresne, shares this thought with the other main character, Red: “Remember Red, hope is a good thing, maybe the best of things, and no good thing ever dies.” Andy has escaped the horrors of Shawshank prison, where he and Red had been incarcerated, and encourages his friend Red to come and find him in Mexico where they’d be free…
As I read in Ezekiel this morning I thought about hope as I read the last verse in Ezekiel 28. Hope is a tremendous motivator. Hope is the promise that there is, indeed, a happy ending. We all long for a happy ending. On earth we’ll have our fair share of what earth has to offer, but one day, all of earth’s offerings will be consumed by Heaven’s hope.
I can wax cynical thinking, like Ford, saying, no one ever built a good reputation by what he was going to do; but I can hope in what God had promised to do; there’s a huge difference. The difference between hope and good intentions is hope is real; good intentions are often the pavement to hell.
God spoke to His people through Ezekiel telling them, “Then they will know that I am the Lord their God.” That’s hope. That’s what we all need: a promise to believe in no matter the situations and circumstances that scream otherwise. Hope is a grace of God beckoning to us all: Believe in Me.
Israel’s history might cause one to think, perhaps God forgot about them. Hope dispels such thinking. Hope is the healing of a heart that wants to doubt because of what it hears, sees, and feels. The gift of God is hope.
In my day and at my age hope is an ever present reminder that all of the mistakes I have made and all of the doubts I have, have no real bearing in life; the only thing that matters is hope: the promise of a happy ending. God has promised that there will be a happy ending for the one whose hope is in Him.
For me today, that is a motivator to keep on keeping on…
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