Pass It Down

The biggest regret in my life is that I did not have the personal relationship with Christ I have now when I was raising my kids. I took them to church, taught them to say Grace and bedtime prayers. I was a believer but not submitted to Christ as Lord of my life. I did not model, either the walk or talk of a mature Christian for my kids. When I knew better, I did better. I think, perhaps, the worse of all generational curses is not passing on a strong spiritual foundation. Psalm 78 shows us the wisdom of passing on the knowledge of God to our children and generations to follow. If we don't, who will?

Psalm 78:1-8    

      Listen, O my people, to my instruction; Incline your ears to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth in a parable; I will utter dark sayings of old, which we have heard and known, And our fathers have told us. We will not conceal them from their children, But tell to the generation to come the praises of the LORD, and His strength and His wondrous works that He has done. For He established a testimony in Jacob And appointed a law in Israel, which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, That the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, But keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, A stubborn and rebellious generation, A generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

" A stubborn and rebellious generation…"… that concept has been 

around a long time. We, as a people, are stubborn and rebellious, 

not only to God but to our parents, elders, and authority figures. 

The two quotes below share that notion.

"The children now love luxury. They have bad manners, contempt for

authority, they show disrespect to their elders.... They no longer

rise when elders enter the room. They contradict their parents,

chatter before company, gobble up dainties at the table, cross their

legs, and are tyrants over their teachers."

"The young people of today think of nothing but themselves. They have

no reverence for parents or old age. They are impatient of all

restraint. They talk as if they alone knew everything and what passes

for wisdom with us is foolishness with them. As for girls, they are

forward, immodest and unwomanly in speech, behavior and dress."

Both of those quotes date back to the time of Plato and Socrates, 400-300 BC. They are as true today as they were back then. I know that's a sweeping generalization and there are exceptions, great kids doing powerful works for the Lord. My point is, keeping in mind we are also the younger generation to those before us, people have always been driven by and for the flesh, self-serving and motivated by all that glitters.

My maternal grandfather was a spirit-filled preacher. Father of seven, he never saw the fruit of his labor to instill a spiritual foundation in any of his kids. I asked an aunt once why none of them were church-goers and she said he took them when they were younger but as teens they were heathens (her words, not mine) and wanted to do their own thing. He modeled the life and behavior I didn't see in my parents or show to my kids, yet the call of the world and flesh pulled his kids away. I take no satisfaction in that knowledge.

As parents, we do the best we know to do most of the time. We fail and fall short. Our kids will, too. The best we can do as parents is following the mandate as stated in Psalms 78. God will always do His part; we need be faithful to our part:

   Which He commanded our fathers that they should teach them to their children, that the generation to come might know, even the children yet to be born, that they may arise and tell them to their children, That they should put their confidence in God And not forget the works of God, but keep His commandments, and not be like their fathers, a stubborn and rebellious generation, a generation that did not prepare its heart and whose spirit was not faithful to God.

Mustard Seed

I wanted a simple omelet this morning, so I sautéed a little chopped onion in olive oil. Beating 2 eggs, I added a little spicy mustard to them and poured it over the onion. No muss, no fuss omelet. Delightful. I pretty sure, you do not care what I have for breakfast but I shared because the mustard led my mind to the scripture in Mathew 13:30-32 about faith.

The Mustard Seed

 He presented another parable to them, saying, "The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and sowed in his field; and this is smaller than all other seeds, but when it is full grown, it is larger than the garden plants and becomes a tree, so that THE BIRDS OF THE AIR come and NEST IN ITS BRANCHES."

Matthew 17:20

And He said to them, "Because of the littleness of your faith; for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you.

Mathew, Mark, and Luke all record the message Jesus shared in His teaching. Standing before my omelet, I reached into the spice drawer and pulled out a jar of mustard seed. I don't remember why I have a jar of mustard seed but I do…..hey, I just remembered. Thank you, Lord, for the prompting.

Eight years ago, I started a women's Bible study in our neighborhood. I did a teaching on faith and bought the mustard seed so I could give one to each of the women. I later passed them out to a mission training class. I think I'll use them with my kids at church. Today, I'm sending YOU a mustard seed. It is only this big ( * ). I held the jar up to the computer screen to compare.

We all have issues and situations in our lives that feel very large in our hearts and minds, heavy burdens we carry. We can feel small and weak looking at them looming large over us. It was Jesus, our JESUS, that said, "… for truly I say to you, if you have faith the size of a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain, 'Move from here to there,' and it will move; and nothing will be impossible to you." Our comfort comes in knowing He carries the load for us, we are not required to be bear that burden alone. No matter how insignificant we may feel now staring at our situation, we only need faith the size of a mustard seed "…and nothing will be impossible to you."

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I sent extras…share with others!

Psalm 51

My reading this morning led me to this prayer in Psalm 51. Tap, tap, tap…the Lord's holy tap my shoulder let me know this is what I am to put out this morning. I think David said it all, no need to gild the lily. God thinks we need to see this, here it is.   

Psalm 51

Have mercy on me, O God, according to your unfailing love; according to your great compassion blot out my transgressions.

Wash away all my iniquity and cleanse me from my sin.
For I know my transgressions, and my sin is always before me.
Against you, you only, have I sinned and done what is evil in your sight, so that you are proved right when you speak and justified when you judge.
Surely I was sinful at birth, sinful from the time my mother conceived me.
Surely you desire truth in the inner parts; you teach me wisdom in the inmost place.
Cleanse me with hyssop, and I will be clean; wash me, and I will be whiter than snow.
Let me hear joy and gladness; let the bones you have crushed rejoice.
Hide your face from my sins and blot out all my iniquity.
Create in me a pure heart, O God, and renew a steadfast spirit within me.
Do not cast me from your presence or take your Holy Spirit from me.
Restore to me the joy of your salvation and grant me a willing spirit, to sustain me.
Then I will teach transgressors your ways, and sinners will turn back to you.
Save me from bloodguilt, O God, the God who saves me, and my tongue will sing of your righteousness.
O Lord, open my lips, and my mouth will declare your praise.
You do not delight in sacrifice, or I would bring it; you do not take pleasure in burnt offerings.
The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit; a broken and contrite heart, O God, you will not despise.
In your good pleasure make Zion prosper; build up the walls of Jerusalem.
Then there will be righteous sacrifices, whole burnt offerings to delight you; then bulls will be offered on your altar.

Run Demon, Run!

I was reading the Biblical story of Jesus releasing the demon possessed man and casting the legion of demons into the pigs. It's a short story but is jammed packed with important points and lessons. It raised questions in my mind; I sought answers in reading a few commentaries.

Why did these people have pigs? Jews consider them unclean and would in no way have a herd of pigs. It became clear these were Gentiles. Jesus waged war against demons and won in front of Gentiles. The fact Jesus landed near the tombs, another Jewish no-no, reinforces this. Jews would not go rushing out to an unclean burial ground concerned about unclean pigs. While He was standing in forbidden places, Jesus interacted with the Gentiles, people not following Mosaic Law, people with whom Jews were forbidden to socialize. Jesus does not discriminate.

It was obvious the demons KNEW who Jesus was when they said, "What do you want from me, Jesus, Son of the Most High God? I implore you by God not to torment me." According to Revelation 20:10 Satan and the demons will be cast into a lake of burning sulfur at the end of time. These demons are acknowledging that they knew Jesus and his power. They know what will become of them and who will be in charge of the whole sentencing. 

There is relevance in Jesus asking, "What is your name?" In the day of that culture, having someone's name was personal. By demanding the name, He was showing who was in control. They could have lied but they knew with whom they were dealing.

These are just a few points of the story but look at what we've covered so far. Jesus was walking and interacting with unclean people. He wasn't sitting among Jewish religious leaders when He dealt with authority over the spirit of darkness; He walked among those considered unworthy to hang around. His location was not happenstance. He purposed to go there. Jesus went to the outcasts, and faced the demonic hold head on. By these actions, He is telling us several things. First of all, if the Lord Himself goes against society’s rules to reach those that have been banned, pushed aside, considered outcasts, or not up to par for the culture, why do we stop short in going to them ourselves? How often do we modern day Christians purpose to go to the unclean people walking in darkness?

Jesus demonstrated His power and authority over the evil spiritual realm. He is showing us who is the boss and who the demons answer to. Should we be afraid of them? No. We should be respectful of the power they possess and humble in knowing that we do not have the power in ourselves to defeat them. However, through the Holy Spirit, the name of Jesus, and the presence of God no demonic force can stand against a believer. 

Sadly, the demons do not rush out trembling in fear of the power in every Christian. More Christians walk in fear of the demons, scared to venture into spiritual strongholds. People, we say we are joint heirs with Christ, yet we act like more like the orphans living and hiding in the streets. We need arm ourselves with the Holy Spirit, cast out demons in the name of Jesus confident that we are in the presence of God; there is no power on earth or beyond that stands a chance. Walk in authority, not fear. Look out, demons, here we come!

Let Us Pray!

I was pondering prayer because it is something I am working on with the kids in my class at church. It hit me that we have prayer snobs and they are a danger. Oh yes, as in the day of the Pharisees making a point of praying on the street corners for all to witness, we have prayer snobs that think they are just better 'pray-ers' than others. You can buy books on "how-to" pray, just as easily as "how-to" unclog a toilet. Here's the deal as I see it, if prayer is a systematic methodology one practices, making sure to say all the 'right' things, they might as well be dealing with the clogged toilet. Prayer is personal, communication through relationship man/woman to the Lord, spirit-to-spirit, heart to heart….not a 1-2-3 guideline to follow. It has nothing to do with the size of your spiritual vocabulary, nor the volume of your voice, nor the poetic flow of words…..

Prayer has to mean something or it means nothing. If it is a litany of formulated words, it can be robotic and mechanical. People can and have been intimidated to pray, especially aloud, because they think they are not as good "pray-ers" as the next guy. How sad is that?

When my Honey and I met, he thought my way of praying could be more effective if I prayed more like the women in the prayer group of his church at the time. He was used to extremely adamant women that prayed with intensity at a great volume and stomped their foot. Me, I'm not so loud. I explained that my God was not hard of hearing and did not require volume to know I was sincere. He was used to what he knew; I was used to what I knew. Judgments come when we think our way is the only way. Prayer snobs are birthed on a bed of judgments.

Praying for and with others is scriptural and vital. When our pastor invites people to come up to the altar to pray on their own or with an elder, it seems curious and doubtful that out of the full sanctuary, no one needs to pray. Really? Pfsst! Of course, there are people that need to pray. So why won't they come to the front?

Some do not consider their needs worthy of bothering God (I've been guilty of that in the past), some are embarrassed by their need and don't want anyone at the church to know their issues (Guilty again). Some are too timid, some too ashamed (me again), some feel like they already covered it, so no need to have someone pray with them (I've been guilty of that, too). There is a host of excuses…er, reasons people give themselves for not praying with the brethren of the church. I can sum it up in five words; it's a matter of trust.

This brings us full circle to the relationship aspect of prayer. We need a personal relationship with the Lord in order to trust Him. Everyone says they trust Him but giving an issue over to God and walking away in complete confidence that He will handle without picking it up as you leave the foot of the cross is harder than it sounds. We trust Him, yet we 'help' Him deal with our issues. He doesn't need our help; we are, after all, the ones on our knees in need are we not?

We need a personal relationship with someone we know we can trust before we lay our naked souls out before them. There are 'generic' prayer needs (for lack of a better term) we share with everyone. Pray that I get a job, pray that I receive healing for this cold, etc. You know those, we all have them. THOSE we will share. Then there are the prayers we take to a smaller group, the people we feel comfortable around enough to show them more of our lives and ourselves. Pray for my wayward child on drugs, etc.

The 'inner circle' prayer partners are the only ones we take our deepest fears, sins, and needs to. That circle is a small group indeed. Some people do not have an inner circle of trust, so they sit in the sanctuary week after week in need but never going to the altar or to a prayer partner. Worse yet, out in the world, without a prayer lifeline. This is the saddest situation of all. Maybe they have that close relationship with the Lord and do not feel they need anyone else to pray with them. Isn't that another form of prayer snob? I don't need anyone to pray with me…Didn't Jesus tell us to pray with one another. I'm thinking He knew what He was talking about; do we know more than Jesus?

The Rest of the Story

We are familiar with the story of Jonah and whale and many a reference have I heard made to the lesson on obedience. I think it is advisable to read the entire chapter and any commentary reference on it because that is not the whole story nor only lesson in that Book. Though I read this Book several times over the years, I did not have revelation knowledge of the lesson at the end of the book until this morning. It brought to mind a simple sentence I had read in another genre. The article was about people cutting back in the economic uncertain times.

The writer said, “There are others who always lived on the financial edge and are now truly suffering.”

This financial edge is not like the ‘cutting edge’ of technology, it’s living on a financial cliff from which one could easily take a terrible fall. These two issues came together for me in realizing from the Bible that Jonah was living on the spiritual edge.

Taking a deep sea ride in a whale’s belly with seaweed wrapped around his head was not enough to get through to him. Jonah didn’t want to go to Nineveh because he didn’t think these people were worthy of being saved from God’s wrath. It made him angry God was sending him into the land of lowlifes. He did go, after the scenic route failed to get him off the hook. He did preach repentance to the people and he was so convinced it was pointless, he hung around to watch their destruction from a distance.

He sat in the hot sun waiting to see an entire city of people wiped out. Scripture says God appointed a plant to quickly grow over him for shade. Remember, this is the same God Jonah was angry with. Sitting in the shade God provided made him happy. The next day God appointed a worm to attack the root of the plant at dawn. By day’s end, the plant had withered. The next day, God sent a scorching east wind and the sun beat down on Jonah’s head to the point he became faint and begged with all his soul to die, saying death was better to him than life. God asked him if he had reason to be angry and foolish Jonah said he had good reason to be angry, even to death.“There are others who always lived on the financial spiritual edge and are now truly suffering.”

Jonah 4:10-11 Then the LORD said, "You had compassion on the plant for which you did not work and which you did not cause to grow, which came up overnight and perished overnight. Should I not have compassion on Nineveh, the great city in which there are more than 120,000 persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand, as well as many animals?"

The phrase ‘persons who do not know the difference between their right and left hand’ was a term used in that day signifying very young children who had not reached the age of accountability, not capable of making moral decisions. God was trying to show him that ALL people are His and He cares for them. This shows clearly that the Lord is God of all nations, not just Israel, and that He is concerned with all mankind.

Jonah, like so many others in his day and now, felt a spiritual superiority (his spiritual edge) and was angry God was showing compassion for people of different mindsets, different faith practices. God was giving them a chance for redemption and they took it. Jonah had more concern for a plant that brought him physical comfort than an entire city of people, rather self-serving and single-minded. Later prophets, like Isaiah, tried to expand the people’s vision by looking forward to the day when God’s message would reach all nations, and Jesus’ great commission assured that this would indeed take place.

We need monitor our hearts and thinking to make sure we do not adopt a Jonah mentality when confronted with people that do not think, look or practice faith as we do. God places value on all people. Our spiritual mission is to reach out with a message of repentance, not condemnation.

Walking Through the Shadow

If we are not careful to guard our hearts and minds, we can wake up one day finding ourselves in a place we did not intend. Today is one of those days for me. Physically, I am in the safe comfort of my home. Emotionally, I feel beat up. Spiritually, I feel ineffective. Mentally, I want a break from my own mind, to sit and not think at all. Pretty lousy place to be, especially for a Christian writer. I have been here in front of my computer since 5am, that's 4 hours and 17 minutes at this moment in time. Nothing much 'spiritual' about anything has come to me to write. Why? I refer you to the above descriptions of the place I find myself today.

If I gave in to the pressure to write something, anything, to get this blog out, I would be cheating everyone concerned. Apparently, 4 hours and 17 minutes of sitting here have not convinced me to do that. There would not be any integrity in my work if I did so. Therefore, in the name of integrity and transparency, I decided to share my heart and mind knowing it it shows you a side of me that is not flattering.  

I am tired to the core of me. I walked through my normal God time as usual. I read my Bible and the words felt flat, no pearls of wisdom jumping off the page at me today. God's Word hasn't changed, I know that, it is me. I tried to pray...emphasis on 'tried'. I know all the right words to say but words are just that, words. Prayer is not about words, it's about connecting with God, spirit to spirit. I prayed in my prayer language, trusting the Holy Spirit in me was doing it's job, connecting for me. I would be deceiving you if I said I felt it was. I did not "feel" anything, that's why it is so important to "know" and trust and believe the Word of God as it is written.  That is what will get me through this day.

I know everyone of us have days like this. I anticipate it coming to an end soon, this shadow time. I know I stand in the company of Moses, Abraham, Jacob, Joseph, David, Paul, Matthew and even Jesus in my desert experience today. People, as Christians we deal with the same issues non-believers struggle with. Our fates have already been determined and we are not sentenced to live in the state, though we walk through it from time to time. I think Christians are perhaps the least likely to say, admit aloud to others, especially other Christians, "I am struggling. I need you to be my Aaron and help hold up my arms today." It is easier to paste on a phony smile and act as if we didn't have a care in the world than risk feeling spiritually naked in front of those most able to stand in the gap for us and with us. Who does it benefit? No one.  

That being said, I am asking you to stand in the gap with me. I am asking you to pray for the 5 R's for me. They are "renovate," "renew," "restore," "refresh," and "rejuvenate"; all mean to make like new.

 

"Renovate" suggests a renewing by cleansing, repairing, or rebuilding. 

 

"Renew" implies a restoration of what had become faded or disintegrated so it is new again.

 

"Restore" suggests a return to an original state after depletion or loss. 

 

"Refresh" implies the supplying of something necessary to restore lost strength, animation, or power. 

 

"Rejuvenate" suggests the restoration of youthful vigor, powers, or appearance.

 

I know my journey through this valley in the shadow of death is a temporary state, I know my Lord has me in His hand always and I know my heart will be made new again. I know Jesus walks beside me even when I do not see or feel Him. I know Christians need to pray with and for one another when we feel like we can't pray or do not know how to pray when our hearts are weary. This is me saying, "Today, I am weary. I need you, Friend."