Something To Ponder

My mother loved instant mashed potatoes. She loved the convenience it provided, the not having to do all the work of regular mashed potatoes. Also, in the mornings, she could not wait for the fresh pot of coffee to be made so she would heat up a cup from the night before (she drank it 24/7) while the new pot was brewing. That used to gross me out! I have to have fresh hot coffee. I’ll wait for the real deal. By the way, I do not like instant mashed potatoes either. I happen to think real mashed potatoes are worth the time and trouble.

I believe people have gotten into a mindset that says I want it now, I want it fast and I want it easy. I want it to be pain and trouble free. We don’t want to pass through times of troubled waters either. We are Christians, after all, we should be walking around in the ‘glow’, a walking billboard of happiness, and joy personified. We want life to be pain and trouble free, too. My question would be, “Why do we think we should have it better than Jesus?”

Dr. Russell Moore said, “The “normal” human life isn’t what is marketed to us by the lives we see projected on movie screens, or, frankly, by a lot of Christian sermons and praise songs. The normal human life is the life of Jesus of Nazareth, who sums up in himself everything it means to be human (Eph. 1:10). And the life of Christ presented to us in the Gospels is a life of joy, of fellowship, of celebration, but also of loneliness, of profound sadness, of lament, of grief, of anger, of suffering, all without sin.

As the Holy Spirit conforms us to the image of Christ, we don’t become giddy, or, much less, emotionally vacant. Instead, the Bible tells us we “groan” along with the persecuted creation around us (Rom. 8:23). We cry out with Jesus himself, experiencing with him often the agony of Gethsemane (Gal. 4:6; Mk. 14:36). And, paradoxically, along the way, we join Jesus in joy and peace (Gal. 5:22). A human emotional life is complicated, and a regenerated human emotional life is complicated too.”

No instant happiness, no pain-free walk through life. We cannot shut our eyes to the pain and hardships in the world around us or the starvation of babies in drought stricken countries or people being killed because they worship differently than those around them. And we certainly do not get to shut our eyes to our own situations and pretend everything is coming up roses. I for one, sometimes would prefer to pretend my life is better than it is, happier than I feel, and less complicated than I know it to be. I would like to project an image for the world to see that hides my pain and reality. Fact is that would make me a great pretender, a seeker of instant happiness, and not at all the Christian that follows in the footsteps of Jesus. Jesus felt the same heart wrenching emotions we feel today. I do not believe His message was to act as if nothing is wrong. It is not the lack of problems that differentiates a Christian from a non-believer but they way in which they walk them out.

Don’t get me wrong, I am not saying we should go around with our bleeding hearts on our shoulders or beating people up with a bloody stump of despair. The key is, as Dr. Moore pointed out, in three little words…all without sin.

Christ felt life of joy without sin, celebration without sin, loneliness without sin, profound sadness without sin, lament and grief without sin, anger and suffering… all without sin. He felt the same emotions we feel today. He didn’t hide His anger in the Temple or grief over the death of His friend, or sadness in the conditions in Jerusalem. He felt it, lived it, and persevered through it. He did not pretend life was easy, instant or rosy. Why, then, do we expect that of ourselves and other Christians? Something to ponder…

Seed of Need

1 Thessalonians 5:11 Therefore encourage one another and build one another up, just as you are doing.

Hebrews 10:23-25 Let us hold fast the confession of our hope without wavering, for he who promised is faithful. And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.

I heard the saddest thing the other day. I forwarded a post of Truth in the Morning to a family I know via email. I had been hearing how life was stressed with long work hours, home remodeling projects and meeting extended family needs. Been there, done that…so I thought a little encouraging word from the Lord might be helpful. I told them, as I tell everyone, if you like, I can add you to the mailing list. They wrote back that they enjoyed the post but didn’t have time for daily encouragement with all the demands on their time. How sad is that?!

I know them to be people of faith and it was obvious they were struggling with many issues. Aren’t we all? My issues are probably different from yours but we all have some areas on our lives that weigh on us. God knows every issue we deal with and instructs us, through His word, to encourage one another, to stir one another up to love, and to build one another up. Chances are, if they don’t have time for encouragement, they aren’t making time for seeking God either.

 
Friends, as members of Christ’s family, we need to ask our Brothers and Sisters how they are doing spiritually. It is too easy to get so caught in the things of day-to-day life that we forget to take our own spiritual temperatures. A haggard look may indicate a health issue or lack of sleep but it may also reflect a spiritual life that is being neglected. Expect an awkward moment, maybe even a defensive attitude, but love your family in Christ enough to encourage and inquire. Chances are you may plant a ‘seed of need’ they had not even considered.

I Choose to Love You

John 13:35 All people will know that you are my followers if you love each other.

Well, now…that verse is easier to read than to practice sometimes, isn’t it? Let’s face it; some people are just easier to love than others. Some folks are just downright difficult to be around and ‘liking’ them seems a herculean task, much less loving them! There are days the person looking back at us in the mirror isn’t so pleasant either. With some people/friends/family, we have to love them in spite of themselves. Maybe for you, I am one of those. We all have them in our lives.

How then do we love one another as instructed in this reference verse?

It is a choice. A conscious choice we make when we become aware that God, though not blind to our sins and failings, sees us through the eyes of His Son, Jesus Christ, and our shortcomings are blotted out by His blood. God IS love, yet He cannot tolerate sin. Jesus IS love and stands as our lawyer, counselor, our defender at our time of judgment. Love sent Love to redeem us because He loved us. Our choice is to accept that love or not. How can we accept it for ourselves and then not extend it to others?

Is it easy? Good grief, no! It wasn’t ‘easy’ for Jesus to endure torment and crucifixion on our behalf either but He did. He did to unify all Believers as one family, His Bride. Unity…can we stand in disharmony with others and still walk in unity?

John Maxwell said this about unity in the Christian community; Could it be that unity is the key to reaching the world for Christ? . . .
Nowhere, by the way, are we told to build unity. We are told simply to keep unity. From God’s perspective there is but “one flock and one shepherd” (John 10:16). Unity does not need to be created; it simply needs to be protected.

Perhaps we can better protect unity when we strive to see others more as Christ sees them. Scripture doesn’t toss things out there as suggestions or considerations. Christians come in all flavors and colors and temperaments and personality quirks. Our unifying trait is Jesus Christ and Him in us. It blows my mind sometimes to think about that. As the song says, “We are family…” If showing the love of Christ serves to bring others to the knowledge of Him, then any effort or hardship or inconvenience on my part seems rather trivial and petty!

My prayer for each of us is that we develop ‘eyes of Christ’ and see others as He sees them. None of us are all that delightful in the natural but seeing people as Christ sees them washes them in the same redeeming blood that covers us and it is beautiful!!!

Your Way, Not Mine

Ezekiel 3:10-27 He said to me: Human one, listen closely, and take to heart every word I say to you. Then go to the exiles, to your people’s children. Whether they listen or not, speak to them and say: The LORD God proclaims!

I was struck with a plank of reality this morning when I realized for all intent and purposes, the month of February is all but gone. Daylight Savings Time starts in a mere two weeks, Easter is around the corner, and before we know it another school year will come to an end. For me, that means my two oldest grandchildren will be off to start the next stage of their lives. Time flies by so fast we can get dizzy if we try to watch it.

All that was startling enough, but once that washed over me I felt the pang of disappointment knowing I was not where I hoped to be at this stage of my life. It was almost as if time was passing me by, leaving me behind pedaling as fast as I can to catch up but not really going anywhere. In the other room I have two bicycles. One is a stationary bike for exercise; the other is a real bike for riding on the road. It seems, in my perception, my progress would be measured on the exercise bike more than the bicycle these days.

Then, in His ever present way, God placed exactly what I needed to read in front of my eyes. I was measuring my success in serving Him by human standards. I know He placed the calling to serve Him in the mission field on my life long ago. My heart’s desire and expectations were to be serving full time somewhere toward that end. I won’t bore you with details but life and circumstance has made that a far away dream.

Most Christians know that they should be sharing their faith with others, that this is part of what it means to be a disciple of Jesus. I was encouraged and challenged by Ezekiel 3:10-11. In this passage, the Lord told Ezekiel to take His word to heart and then to share it with the Jewish exiles in Babylon, where Ezekiel was himself an exile. God told him to speak, “whether they listen or not” (3:11). In other words, Ezekiel’s calling was to be faithful, not successful.

There’s nothing necessarily wrong with success, whether in life or in serving the Lord. But our chief calling as God’s people is to be faithful to Him, to serve Him with excellence, to obey Him wholeheartedly. If God chooses to bless our efforts with success, that’s great. But many times we cannot guarantee success. We can choose to be faithful, however, to do as well as we can that which God has set before us.

What is being a missionary if not sharing my faith and the Gospel? Isn’t that similar to that of Ezekiel? We are to take to heart God’s Word and then share it with others as truthfully and honestly as we can. To be sure, we should do so in ways that are appropriate and respectful. Yet, we do not have to worry about whether or not we will succeed. That’s God’s business. Ours is to be faithful.

For years, when raising grandchildren, I would say my mission field was in my living room. Now, it is online through Truth in the Morning. My body is not as strong as it once was, but my heart still burns with the same passion for serving Him.

Gracious God, thank you for saving me by your grace through Jesus Christ. Thank you for entrusting to me to good news of salvation, so that I might share it with others. Help me, Lord, to be faithful as your witness. Give me wisdom and sensitivity, so that I might speak in a way that honors you, both in the message and in the delivery. In all things, Lord, may I be found faithful. To You be all the glory. Amen.

Spiritual Perseverance

Psalm 46:10 Be still, and know that I am God.

The scripture above is very short albeit powerful. Here’s the thing, while is says to Be still, it isn’t saying ‘do nothing’ but rather ‘don’t worry, don’t stress or freak out, don’t give up’. Be still may sound like we are being instructed to be passive but let me assure you, there is nothing passive about standing in spiritual perseverance!

Oswald Chambers said, “Perseverance is more than endurance. It is endurance combined with absolute assurance and certainty that what we are looking for is going to happen. Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling. Perseverance is our supreme effort of refusing to believe that our hero (the Lord) is going to be conquered.”

I must admit, when I read the line, ‘Perseverance means more than just hanging on, which may be only exposing our fear of letting go and falling’ I felt a tweak of conviction. I have said, “I’m hanging in there” more often that I care to recall when asked how I was getting through a difficult season of my life. Now THAT sounds passive! I believe with all I have in me that God is in control and if you have ever talked to me at all, you’ve heard me say that. I know I’ve written it over and over. I say it to myself every day, not because I need to be reminded but because it is an absolute in my beliefs. Yet, here I am guilty of saying, ‘I’m holding on’ as if my fingertips were wrapped around a pole somewhere above my head and I am dangling in the void. I will make a point not to say that anymore!

and know that I am God that part of the scripture is the key. There is the call to spiritual perseverance. A call not to hang on and do nothing, but to work deliberately, knowing with certainty that God will never be defeated.

The only reason we can stand in spiritual perseverance is because we KNOW our Lord is GOD. If our hopes seem to be experiencing disappointment right now, it simply means that they are being purified. Every hope or dream of the human mind will be fulfilled if it is noble and of God.

One of the greatest stresses in life is the stress of waiting! God’s word brings a promise to those who wait on Him with perseverance, “because you have kept My command to persevere . . .”

Revelation 3:10 'Because you have kept the word of My perseverance, I also will keep you from the hour of testing, that hour which is about to come upon the whole world, to test those who dwell on the earth.  

I do not think it coincidence that this scripture comes in the last Book of the Bible.