Refreshing Reflection

Deuteronomy 6:4-9 (www.lifejournal.cc) was a very pivotal passage in the lives of the Israelites during the days of the Old Testament.  He has continued to be crucial to the lives of Jews, well beyond those early days.   It is called the Shema. Shema is the transliteration of the first word in verse four that is translated "hear".   The passage speaks to the need of God's Word being first and foremost on our minds and in our lives every day.   When I understood its significance (in seminary days), I began leaning on it heavily as well.  I see it has a tremedous challenge and a constant reminder to let the main thing be the main thing every day in all I do.  I am particularly challenged by the passage to parents, v.6- And these words that I command you today shall be on your heart. ⁷ You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, and when you walk by the way, and when you lie down, and when you rise.
When do you have your time to talk about the Lord?  You let Him penetrate into all your life.  You keep Him front and center.  You focus upon Him at the beginning of the day, you steady your mind on Him throughout the day, and you think of Him right before you drift off.   It is not as much about legalistic practices as it is, as Paul says, having the mind of Christ.  It is the makeup of the sanctification process, or the process that makes us more and more like Christ every day.   Let's work today on remaining focused on God and the things of God throughout all the day from the time we rise to the time we lie down.  Instead of constraining, I bet we find it refreshing.  Enjoy!

Open Your Eyes

I have heard it said, " I want to die peacefully in my sleep like my grandfather did, instead of screaming and yelling like the passengers in his car did."  There are times we need to wake up. 
In Mark 13 Jesus begins by speaking of the destruction of Jerusalem and then He weaves the conversation into the last days before His return.  It is a complex passage and some say it is all about the destruction of Jerusalem in 70 AD and some say it is all about the end time.  The reality is: it is somewhere in the middle dealing with both, however, where one stops and the other starts is not easy, so most just do not deal with it.  Either way, before dealing with details so much that you miss the point, let's get the point.  The point is: wake up and open your eyes.  Christ says in Mark 13:33-  Be on guard, keep awake. For you do not know when the time will come.  (www.lifejournal.cc) The reality is that society will spiritually lull us to sleep and not make us sensitive to the movement of God around us.  We may close our eyes to the opportunities to share His Truth, live out His Word, or rest in His promises.  Don't be spiritually adrift.  We don't know what this day holds and we don't even know if we will have tomorrow!  Let's open our eyes and seize the day for the cause of Christ!

Upon His Soldiers

Of the fond memories that I have as a child, one of the very sweet ones is when I remember the times my father put me on his shoulders and carried me around.  Sometimes it was because I was tired.  Sometimes it was so I could see.  Sometimes, I'm sure, it was so he could keep up with me in a busy place.  It is not something that I think about often.  It has mostly come when my children ask me to put them on my shoulders.  One of my children is too big for shoulders now.  The youngest, however, asks several times a week, "Daddy, can you put me on your soldiers?"  When I do, I am quickly and quietly reminded of the times my daddy carried me.  I knew I would not get lost.  I knew I would not get tired.  I knew my Dad had me. 
What a wonderful, reflecting memory that is when I read Deuteronomy 1:29-31 - Then I said to you, ‘Do not be in dread or afraid of them. ³⁰ The Lord your God who goes before you will himself fight for you, just as he did for you in Egypt before your eyes, ³¹ and in the wilderness, where you have seen how the Lord your God carried you, as a man carries his son, all the way that you went until you came to this place.’  (www.lifejournal.cc)
It is a blessing to know that God was willing to carry His People through the difficult times, just as a father carries a child.  It is an even greater blessing to know that He still will carry us when we feel lost, afraid, tired, or we cannot see what is ahead.   As Christ promised us in John 14:18- I will not leave you as orphans, I will come to you.   He is reliable.  He is there.  We can rest in it.
Don't misunderstand me:  we have a responsibility to walk with the Lord.   It sure is a blessing, however, to know that when we are tired, lonely, or need another view, he is able and willing to carry us on his soldiers....I mean, his shoulders!  Rest in that today.

A Literary Insight

I am on a quest...at least of some sorts.  After reading a popular fiction novel in the fall of 2010, I decided that I was going to get more familiar with American classic literature.  I googled 'best American literature', found several lists, and started to compile my own.  Then I started reading....I read 38 of them in 2011 and I have read about 10 more, so far,  in 2012.  I have learned many things.  I learned I don't remember much.  I was encouraged as a student to fill out an index card on a book when I read it.  Now I have narrowed it to a simple one-liner on a compilation page.  One sentence describes the whole book.  I also learned the origin of some of the things we say and do: Did you know that there is a Long John Silvers in Treasure Island?  Did you know that half of Moby Dick is a 150 year old encyclopedia about whales?  The story is intertwined with it.    You may say, 'I didn't know and I didn't care.'  Ok, well, it is an interesting quest for me.  When I took Contemporary American Literature in college, I was the only guy in a glass of thirteen with a wide-eyed liberal woman teaching.  A dozen messy, lazy looking, deep thinking women, one wide-eyed professor, and a  clean cut, religion major would sit in a circle, talk about readingn a short story about yellow wallpaper, and then somehow always play 'bash the preacher boy.'  It was a horrible experience, but I was not dropping a class. I would not let them defeat me.   I came out of there with less than a love for literature. However, now, I read on...whether I like it or not...and most of the time, I do like it.
I have learned something else too:  Early writers wrote a lot more politely.  Their characters, even the bad ones, were not as crude.  The literature left more to the imagination and did not describe everything to every gorey detail.  People had manners a hundred years ago, whether they liked you or not...at least in the writing.  Modern writing is crude, and modern people are crude.  We say mean things.  We tolerate less.  We hold more bitterness.  That may be just a literary analysis, but I bet it is true for society as well. 
If it is true for the world we live in, keep something in mind:  we are influenced by it.  The effects of such crudeness leads to constrained relationships.  Bad relations effects a bunch.  As a matter of fact,  Mark 11:25 tells us that bitterness or lack of forgiveness needs to be dealt with before we can seriously pray. Jesus put it this way- And whenever you stand praying, forgive, if you have anything against anyone, so that your Father also who is in heaven may forgive you your trespasses.  (www.lifejournal.cc)  All this casual spite, bitterness, and ugliness that is so very common in today's world is a tremendous hindrance.  Not only does it destroy relationships, but it seriously hurts prayer. 
Seek to forgive others and seek the face of God.   Mighty things can happen!

Get Up!

I was blessed this morning to reflect on the wonderful opportunity of salvation that each Christian has grasped and that each individual can be blessed with.  The reflection came from a passage of healing.  In Mark 10 there is a blind beggar that is hoping to be healed.  He hears that Jesus is coming by and he begins to request Him.  Mark 10:46-50 -... Bartimaeus, a blind beggar, the son of Timaeus, was sitting by the roadside. ⁴⁷ And when he heard that it was Jesus of Nazareth, he began to cry out and say, “Jesus, Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁸ And many rebuked him, telling him to be silent. But he cried out all the more, “Son of David, have mercy on me!” ⁴⁹ And Jesus stopped and said, “Call him.” And they called the blind man, saying to him, “Take heart. Get up; he is calling you.” ⁵⁰ And throwing off his cloak, he sprang up and came to Jesus.
As I read that, I cannot help but think that is the opportunity for salvation as well.  Folks, take heart.  Get up and come to Jesus.  Not only did He live for you, die for you, rise again for you, ascend for you, intercede for you, prepare a place for you, but He is coming back for you.  Get Up and come to Jesus!  He is calling you!
What a life-changing message!  Celebrate it by sharing it today!

Moving Mountains

There is an interaction in our passage (www.lifejournal.cc) this morning that means a bunch to me.  The reason it means a bunch to me is....I can relate.  A demon has caused a boy to have awful seizures.    Some believe that it was only disease that caused it, however, Jesus addresses a demon when he heals the boy.  If Jesus thinks its a demon, I know it is one.  Jesus asks the father of the boy questions and in his response to Christ, he asks for help.  Mark 9:22-24 records the conversation- ".....if you can do anything, have compassion on us and help us.” ²³ And Jesus said to him, “‘If you can’! All things are possible for one who believes.” ²⁴ Immediately the father of the child cried out and said, “I believe; help my unbelief!” 
Now what I love about this is the honesty of the guy.  He did not have perfect faith.  He had been watching his boy suffer with this for too long.  He probably wasn't sure there could ever be hope and he was surely scared to death that the episodes would gonna kill him.  He was grasping...looking for hope.  He could have easily answered Christ, "yea, man, I believe...I am putting all I got in you."  Instead he basically said, "I don't have much."
I can relate....I don't have perfect faith.  Before you shame me too much, you don't either.  We haven't arrived yet.  When we do arrive, we won't need it because will see what we have been imperfectly believing face to face.   Christ said in Matt. 17:20 that if we had faith of a very small seed, mountains could be moved.  Several ways to understand that, but one message I get is that we don't have near enough faith in the one that holds it all in your hand.
So what are you fretting about?  What has you worried?  Not only does worrying not add a day to your life (as Christ said) but doctors tell us the stress is taking days away from us.  Notice that Jesus took care of the boy's problem, even when his Daddy admitted his faith was less that perfect.  We would do much better today to admit that our faith isn't perfect and strive to believe Him more.   Just be honest about where we are and then believe more.  
It's about time we see some mountains moved, you bunch of seedling faith, earth dwellers!! 
I am with you on the journey! let's trust Him today! 

The One that Matters

It is not popular to be an outspoken Christian today.  Those that do speak out for Jesus or honor Him openly among those in the world are often poked out and prodded about their fanatical faith.  Denver Broncos quarterback Tim Tebow, for instance, has received a lot of ribbing lately, including some straight out criticism for kneeling in prayer on the sidelines of ballgames and mentioning Christ often.   I received an email from Franklin Graham yesterday in which he was talking about political correctness.  He said political correctness was the inability to say anything critical or to speak against any religion....except Christianity.   However, such response to Christ is not new; remember, they killed Him.   Before they killed Him and after He ascended, they continued to make His Proclamation as Lord an issue.   The Sanhedrin, the religious council rooting against Christ,  had as their greatest concern His announcement that He was the Christ, the Messiah that the people had waited for.  They did not like his statements about being the only way, the same with the Father, and his teachings that implied such truths.   After He ascended, they stoned Stephen, crucified Peter, and imprisoned Paul over the same issues.  Today, people don't mind if you say that you have chosen Christ in your life as your personal decision.  However, if you tell them He is the only way and that they need Him, it is a whole other matter.
I like the way Jesus addresses this in Mark 8.  He asks the disciples about people's impression of Him- who do people say that I am? After telling him some popular opinions, He asked the pivotal question in Mark 8:29- ...“But who do you say that I am?” Peter answered him, “You are the Christ.”  (www.lifejournal.cc)   I love that question because, you see, when it comes down to you and your relationship with Christ, it really does not matter what other people say about Christ.  What really matters in your relationship with Christ is what do you say and live and share about Christ? Live for Christ, whether it is the popular trend or even if you are the only one...live for Christ.