Trials turned to gold

During the months of November and December I usually take a couple of detours, departing from my book by book study of the Old Testament. Eventually, I get back on track walking step by step through the entire bible. As we left the book of Deuteronomy, we said goodbye to Moses at the edge of the desert and watched as Joshua takes the reins from Moses and leads the people into the land of Canaan. God fulfills His promise to the patriarch Abraham that the nation of Israel would arrive at the Promised Land; however, the nation of Israel is not completely obedient to God’s direction and therefore suffers the consequences.  The book of Judges, depicts a nation who looks more like a yo-yo, repeating a cycle of being blessed by God through revival, becoming complacent, stubbornly going their own way, suffering trials and tribulations only to cry out to God and start the cycle all over again. This dramatic cycle was completed thirteen times during the leadership of thirteen judges who were to guide Israel for the next 350 years.

The problem was that the inhabitants of the land were idol worshippers who worshipped creation rather than the Creator. They carved wooden idols and set them on the high places, ultimately sacrificing their own children on altars. God knew that if these idol worshippers were not removed from the land, that eventually the foreign women would bring their influence into Hebrew households causing them to turn and worship their gods of wood and stone. In Judges 2:1-4, the Angel of the Lord reprimands the nation of Israel for not obeying His instructions and  gives them over to their own lusts and desires. “But you have not obeyed My voice. Why have you done this? Therefore I also said, ‘I will not drive them out before you; but they shall be thorns in your side, and their gods shall be a snare to you.’”

Have you ever noticed in your own life that, when things are clicking along perfectly, our prayers and worship to God begin to slow down or gradually become nonexistent? We prefer to do things our own way, taking credit for all of our own successes. They are like sand castles that we have built with our own hands standing for only a short time. Its only when the tide begins to turn and the waves begin to pound against our world that we realize our need for God.  When a family member troubles us, a debilitating disease befalls us or a financial calamity hits us, ever notice how quickly we feel the loss of control and cry out to God?

King David is the classic example of this as he would occasionally stumble and sin, fall into trials, only to call upon the name of the Lord who would answer him. Although God always answered him, David would have to carry the heavy burden resulting from his sin. Personal loss, dysfunctional relationships and the loss of his kingdom were just a few results from sin. So why did God refer to David as a man after His own heart? It was David’s habit of always crying out to God for forgiveness and help! In Psalm 51:16, 17 David speaks to God “For You do not desire sacrifice, or else I would give it; You do not delight in burnt offering. The sacrifices of God are a broken spirit, a broken and contrite heart. These, O God, You will not despise.”

When we come to God humbly and ask for forgiveness He always forgives us. When we repent, we choose to turn around from our selfish direction and begin walking with God in the direction He is going. That’s why it is truly all about a relationship with God and not just sacrifice. Just like the nation of Israel, we go through cycles where we sin, cry out for help, receive blessing, walk with God for awhile only to forget Him and begin the cycle all over again. What God really wants from us is our lives in obedience to Him. He wants us to surrender our own will, yielding to His will, thereby allowing the Holy Spirit to guide us through life.

So it truly is our trials and tribulations, passing through the fires of life, that turn us into the most precious gold. It’s also like carbon, when it undergoes extreme pressure and heat turns into a diamond! If you are looking for a short verse to sum it all up how about reading what the prophet Micah wrote in the book by his own name, Micah 6:8 “He has shown you, O man, what is good  And what does the Lord require of you  But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God.” 

Thankfulness

I enjoy the fall season more than any other time of the year. It’s the rich mix of colors provided by nature that dazzle my eyes while the coolness of the weather provides me the opportunity to put on my favorite sweater and relax in the privacy of my own home. Time off for the Thanksgiving holiday gives me a chance to look back over the last eleven months and give thanks to our Great God, almighty Creator and Provider.

 

So as I have had some time to sit, relax and reflect, I have been thinking about what it is that I am thankful for. In a word I am thankful for Jesus!

 

Being consistently in a state of thankfulness does not come very easy for me these days. Sometimes I think I am turning into an ogre. Every time I get near a mirror I’m afraid I might just see a giant green, overly rounded face starring back at me. I’ve noticed my blood pressure rising and hairs falling out as I begin to look and act more and more like Shrek.

 

Traffic jams, teenage children and the day to day pressures of life chip away at our countenance until there is little left to give thanks with. Many times I have dangled from the proverbial rope of life trying desperately to hang on with my own strength. It’s in these times when I get a glimpse at my weak, fallen and very selfish nature. Its at this moment when I realize how thankful I am for God’s plan of salvation.

 

You see none of us are good enough to stand before a holy God. The bible says that God exists as light and because of the darkness that is in our hearts, we could never exist in His sinless perfection. In John 3:16 it says “That God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life”

 

So in a word I am thankful for Jesus. Within that one word is the essence of all creation. It’s because of Jesus that we have air to fill our lungs. Its because of Jesus that we have food to eat and a digestive system to process it. When I stop and think about it I am so very thankful for so many things that I have to take a dramatic pause and just give thanks that I am not in control.

 

But the source of my thankfulness lies deeper down at the root of God’s grace and mercy. While the human race remains in a state of falseness and sin God became flesh and blood and chose to be born into our world. He bore all of our sin and nailed them to a cross. The magnificent King of kings would allow the peasants of His own creation to mock, humiliate and brutally execute Him.

 

So this Thanksgiving I’m determined to put a smile on my face. To avoid my flesh, my ugly nature and to reach out to someone with a handshake, smile or help. I have so many things to be thankful for, God has given to me a beautiful, loving wife and three healthy children. He has given to me a few close friends and a job to which I can use my hands to bless my family.

 

Oh, how I am thankful for God’s One and only Son Jesus who as the bible says is the Logos or Word. In that one word is found the source of all blessings. If you have not yet discovered this fact, then ask Jesus to come into your life, heart and become your Lord and Master. He is the Living Water, the Bread of Life and the Way. So if you glance into the mirror and see hideous stranger’s face don’t be alarmed you are in good company, for all of us have sinned and fallen short of God’s glory.

 

The secret to being thankful is surrendering to your own selfish will and allowing God’s love to shine and pour through you. So this holiday season as friends and family are gathered together don’t let the little things get you down. As the casserole burns and the turkey comes out a little dry, brush it off and take in all the wonderful smiles that grace the table at which you sit.

 

Always remember the One Word that God has graced the world with “Jesus” And that at the name of Jesus every knee will bow and every tongue confess that He is Lord! The fact is that God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son that whosoever believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life!

Faith like a river

Have you ever lost faith in someone or something? There are several things in my own life that I have lost faith in; government leaders, stock market stability, Ginsu knives, Fry’s rebates, some friends, military intelligence and even Christians. It’s easy to lose faith in something when all you see and hear are mere promises with little or no action to back up the words.

For illustration purposes suppose I were a car. If I were a car shouldn’t I leave any evidence behind that I had actually traveled through the area?  Did I leave rubber on the road or oil behind in a parking space where I stopped?  Maybe you might notice my skid marks pointing to the fact that I was going too fast and got distracted by another driver. Do I make any kind of an impact at all on the world in which I live? Is there enough evidence to convict me that I am alive, breathing and part of my community?

So what I do know is that faith is trusting in something or someone unseen. We exercise faith every day, like trusting that the chair in the dining room will support our weight when we sit down on it. While we can’t directly discern the wind, we trust it will fill the colorful fabric of a kite sending it high up into the air on a windy day. But why when it comes to an almighty Creator do some people stumble and can’t grab onto faith?

Spiritual faith is the act of trusting in a higher power other than one’s self. Trusting that God, the ultimate Designer and Creator of all I see around me, will carry me through safe to the other side even through dangerous waters. Do you all remember the picture that had two sets of footprints in the sand that suddenly end with just one set of footprints continuing on down the beach?

The caption below the picture said “Jesus, why did you leave me?”

To which Jesus replies “I did not leave you I was carrying you.”

But what if my spiritual faith was like a car’s battery? If my faith is like a battery then I can expect to get about five years of service until it completely drains out and leaves me stranded somewhere along the highway. But faith is not like a car battery that needs to be recharged but rather it’s a force from God that continually flows from Him. God has used the analogy of a rushing river where the water turns, slows and calms down but just as the water flows over rocks in its path we are always surrounded by God’s love. We become the temple of the Holy Spirit as He lives inside of each believer.

Ephesians 1:13 says it this way “In Him you also trusted, after you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation; in whom also, having believed, you were sealed with the Holy Spirit of promise, who is the guarantee of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, to the praise of His glory.”

Faith comes by hearing and hearing from the word of God. This is when life starts to get interesting. When we start to live each day trusting, when we lose the fear factor and scales start falling from our eyes we begin to see the world in a new light.

Although today, we are engaged in a great spiritual battle that we cannot see. Our enemy can take many forms which the weapons of this world don't work against. Fear and despair are two of our enemy’s mightiest weapons. These weapons, once released on us, can take their toll, draining our energy and life right out of us. If we don’t surrender to God, we can find ourselves stranded alone somewhere out along life’s dark valley roads.

In the gospel of John, chapter 14 Jesus comforts us as well as attempts to strengthen our faith with these words. "Let not your heart be troubled; you believe in God, believe also in Me.  In My Father's house are many mansions; if it were not so, I would have told you. I go to prepare a place for you.  And if I go and prepare a place for you, I will come again and receive you to Myself; that where I am, there you may be also."

So if faith comes by hearing and hearing by the word of God then we all should be reading our bibles allowing God’s living water to flow into us. Always holding up before us the shield of faith, the word of God, that protects us from the fiery darts of our enemy. And let His peace flow like a river through our lives.

Blue

How would you go about describing what the color blue looks like to a sightless person? Someone who was blind from birth would be unable to understand what blue was. If you were incredibly clever you might get a pan from the kitchen fill it with ice and water and then put the blind person's hand into the cold mixture. This might convey certain aspects of things that might be blue in color but it would not be the complete visual package. Bottom line, you still won’t know what the color blue looks like. 

We actually live in a universe where we can interpret four dimensions. Let's start by saying we exist as one point in infinite space. Now let's add another point to our universe and now we arrive at our first dimension which is "length". One more point added to the mix and suddenly we have our second dimension which is "width". Our next dimension is "height" which gives us our X,Y and Z axis or our three dimensional universe. The last known dimension is "time". What really is time? 

To have "time" in our universe we need to have matter and it needs to be set into motion. If objects are not moving then there is nothing to measure because you have to have time in order to travel distance. If we stood perfectly still somewhere in space and nothing was in motion, we would not feel the passage of time. Also, without motion, we would not have light waves or light particles so wondering what the color blue looked like would be a moot issue. It really would be  mute because we would not have sound waves either. 

Now let's think back to being blind or sightless and wanting to discover the truth about the color blue. What story would you attempt to tell someone to describe the color blue? What props could you use to convey the color blue? Just think about this dilemma. How to pass information from one known dimension to another unknown dimension? This is what I refer to as an extra-dimensional information transmission dilemma. 

Do you believe in a literal place the bible calls Hell?  Jesus did and he spent a lot of time warning us about the dangers of ending up there. Although where it is and what it really is seems a little bit like describing the color blue to a sightless person. Some of the biblical descriptions of hell  include a place where the worm never dies, the lake of fire, a lake burning with fire and brimstone, a place of wailing and gnashing of teeth,

 We are given a word picture of an extra dimensional reality that we cannot yet comprehend because I believe it literally exits in another dimension. Jesus was warning us of a situation so terrible, so wicked that the only reference point He had here on earth was the Jerusalem trash dump located in the valley of Hinnom (Gehenna). This place not only smelled bad, it was always burning with smoke and flame that continually filled the sky. This horrible stench would probably drift into the city and remind people of the dump and all the discarded trash as the wind blew it into town. In older times, child sacrifice to Molech also took place in this area.  

What word picture, from here on earth, would come close to describing such an awesome place? Think about the blind person's hand in the ice water in an attempt to describe the color blue. How would you describe a place void of God’s love? Hell is a real place that is void of God's love, His light, His warmth and His fellowship. No wonder Jesus was warning us not to choose that place.

Choose Jesus now, God has gone through much pain and suffering to keep us out of hell!
Jesus is the “Way” to God. He has said this about Himself; He is the beginning and the end, He was the one who was alive and was dead and is alive for evermore, He alone holds the keys to death and Hades. Let’s look at psalm 9:17-20 “The wicked shall be turned into hell, And all the nations that forget God. For the needy shall not always be forgotten; The expectation of the poor shall not perish forever. Arise, O Lord Do not let man prevail; Let the nations be judged in your sight. Put them in fear, O Lord That the nations may know themselves to be but men.” 

Jesus invites you to come just as you are. The Holy Spirit will draw and seal you, while the cross reminds us of what it cost God to escape the horrors of hell.  You don’t have to go there to believe it exists.