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Similes of Our Saving God: Our God Is Like … Our Phones

Similes of Our Saving God: Our God Is Like … Our Phones

I’m on vacation for a few weeks, but I wanted to still share new posts while I’m gone.  However, I didn’t necessarily want to create them while vacationing, so I cheated.  Kinda, anyway.  I pulled the concepts and words from a sermon series I preached a number of years ago and consolidated them into blog posts.  Consequently, these posts are a bit longer than usual.  However, as always, I pray you find them interesting and encouraging.  Dave

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When I was a young boy, my parents had one phone.  Yes, you read that correctly.  My parents owned and used just one phone between the two of them.

The phone was actually fastened to the wall in my parent’s house.  It stayed there … all the time.

They never carried it in their pocket or purse.  And the part of the phone that you listened to and spoke into was fastened to the phone cradle with a cord, and you couldn’t move beyond the length of the cord.

Some of you who are a bit older know exactly what I’m talking about.  It was the same way in your homes.  But some of the younger folks reading this are undoubtedly thinking, “What in the world are you talking about?”  And perhaps, “Where in the world did you live that had such isolated and challenging conditions when a boy?”

Some of you have trouble comprehending a world where there would only be one phone in the house.   Or that said phone would be attached to the wall!  Let me assure you that the phone in my parents’ house was just like the phone in everyone else’s houses at that time.  People only had one or maybe two phones, and they were all permanently connected in one way or another in the homes where they happened to live.

And here’s another thing about the old phones.  You didn’t push numbers on buttons or screens to call someone.  Rather, you had to dial a rotating gizmo.  You stuck your finger in the hole over the correct number on the phone and rotated the dial.  This was called a rotary phone.

Let me further astound the younger readers.  When I was young, my parents’ single phone was connected to a “party line,” as it was called.  Party lines were shared with other people.  We shared our phone line with our neighbors. If the phone rang in a series of one ring at a time, it was an incoming call for my parents.  If it rang twice in quick succession, that was a call for our neighbors. 

Consequently, one would know when calls were coming in for the neighbors, but a person did not know how long that call lasted or when the neighbors happened to be making a call.  Which meant that there were times when a person would pick up the phone off its cradle to make a call, only to hear one of the neighbors already speaking on the line.  At those times, unless it was an emergency, we would have to wait to place our phone call.  And, of course, the ongoing concern was who might be secretly listening in on your conversation.

Pretty weird, huh?  And no, I’m not a hundred years old.  That was the way it was just 50 years ago!

All of these things seem so strange to us today.  It’s hard for many to even comprehend living with a phone system like that.  But here is perhaps the strangest thing of all to the younger readers: back when I was a boy, people used their phones for one thing, and one thing only – to make or receive phone calls.  That’s it!  Fifty years ago phones had just one purpose – to talk with someone.  That’s all!  You didn’t use your phone for anything else.

I’m guessing this is a difficult concept for some to fathom.  To only use a phone to make phone calls seems ridiculous.  Unimaginable.  Preposterous.  Unbearable even!

If you’ve ever been in a public place and looked around, you know how many people are using their phones …and almost constantly!

Here are just a few ways that people use their cellphones today:

Keeping track of time – many people use their phones as their watches

As an alarm clock or a stopwatch

Weather reports … locally or anywhere in the world

Taking pictures and movies

Staying up-to-date by reading the latest news articles

Staying organized – one can put their entire schedule on their phones now

Taking notes – people can even write on their phones these days

For navigation – there’s a GPS on your phone

For tickets – for movies, concerts … even plane tickets

For a personal assistant – instant answers

To purchase items … to scan bar codes … to pay bills … or to deposit money

Calculators – phones come with them now

Magnifying glasses – yup, there’s an app for that too

Playing games – choose your favorite game and you can find an app for it

Watching television shows or movies

Listening to music

Reading books

As a mirror – you can get an app that will provide you with the ability to see yourself on your phone screen

To control functions in your house, like your lights and appliances

To monitor functions in your home – is someone trying to break in?

For unique functions like tuning your guitar … or finding studs in the wall … or as a metal detector … or to measure something

As a recorder

To hold a video conference – to be able to see and talk with someone at the same time

To send instant text messages

Oh yeah.  You can also use your phone to make a phone call

That’s a list of 25 different ways people can use their phones.  And there’s so much more that our phones can do today.  That’s why they are called “Smart Phones.”  And many people … especially younger people … can’t imagine getting along without their phones.

In a very real way, our phones have become like gods to us.  If there is something one needs, the first thing they typically wonder is if their phones can help them. 

Is the information they desire on their phones already?  Often it is!  If not, there’s probably an app that they can get which will allow them to fill whatever need that they have

Have a question about something?  Ask Siri or Google.

Want to know the time?  Need to know the weather tomorrow?  Interested in the stock market prices … or the score in the game?  Check your phone!

Desiring to order a pizza?  Need to burn some time playing a game while waiting?  Interested in a movie for you or your children?  Use your phone!

If the typical person has a need, what’s the first thing they tend to go to for a solution?  Their phones!

People look to their phones as the ultimate life-managing, life-entertaining, life-fulfilling, and even life-rescuing tool.  And honestly, it’s hard not to!  Modern technology has made our phones so extremely useful that it’s very easy to get sucked into the idea that they can provide anything we need.

Which brings us to our simile of the day.  Our Saving God Is like Our Phones … only much better!

We think that we can access the deep pools of wisdom through our phones.  Well, the knowledge on our phones is nothing compared to the wisdom of God.

“Where then does wisdom come from?  Where does understanding dwell? … God understands the way to it and he alone knows where it dwells, for he views the ends of the earth and sees everything under the heavens” (Job 28:20, 23-24).

Furthermore, all the “wisdom” we find through our phones is not necessarily wise.  There’s a lot of human philosophy and anti-biblical thinking that is presented as truth when it really isn’t. 

Remember what Jesus prayed just before his arrest and crucifixion?  Speaking to his Heavenly Father, Jesus said, “Sanctify them (the believers) by the truth; your word is truth” (John 17:17).

So here’s the first thing we should take to heart.  If we need basic information like the weather forecast for tomorrow or the hours when a store is open, by all means we should use our phones. But if we need life answers, we should put our phones in our pockets and open our Bibles.

If we want to know who the true God is, and how he feels about us, and what he has done for us, and how to act towards others, and what to do in different situations, we should search the Scriptures.

If we want to know the answers to anything significant in our lives, we should NOT go to our phones.  Rather we should go to the absolute truth … the Word of God.  We don’t need any extraneous teachings; all we need to learn is what our God tells us.

We don’t need our phones for that, though it’s awesome if you have the Bible on your phones!  If you have the Bible on your phones – and you use it – then at those times your phones actually become wonderful tools for holding the absolute truth.  But otherwise, your phones should be secondary to God’s Word.

And what about our day-to-day needs?  Are our phones the answer?  We are tempted to say “yes,” but the correct answer is “no!”  The true source of provision for what we need in life is much better than our phones.  It’s the Lord!

David makes this clear in Psalm 36: “Your love, LORD, reaches to the heavens, your faithfulness to the skies. Your righteousness is like the highest mountains, your justice like the great deep. You, LORD, preserve both people and animals.  How priceless is your unfailing love, O God!  People take refuge in the shadow of your wings” (Psalm 36:5-7).

Do we need assistance with something?  Do we need provision or protection?  The first place we should approach for our life needs is NOT our phones, but our Lord, who is like our phones, only much, much better!  In fact, the Lord himself tells us unequivocally, “Call on ME in the day of trouble; I will deliver you, and you will honor me” (Psalm 50:15).

And who is hearing and answering our prayed calls for assistance?  The Lord who loves us and who has saved us!  As Paul reminds us, “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:32).

The Lord is so much better than our phones!

If you are skeptical about that concept, give some thought to this: what will happen someday if or when the phone networks crash?  What good will your phones do you then? 

Or maybe something more easily considered.  What happens when our phones stop working?  I’m sure you have been there. It’s horrifying when our phone croaks, isn’t it?  It can absolutely shut down almost every aspect of our lives.  Dead phones can paralyze us.  And sooner or later, every phone gives out, doesn’t it?

Well, our God never dies.  Our God never stops working.  He never stops providing for us and protecting us.  He never stops guiding us.  God’s Word never goes out-of-date.  The Lord is always faithful; always reliable.  Long after our phones are discarded, our God is still taking care of us.

How incredibly comforting this truth is!  Our God will always be taking care of us; his truths will always be true.  In that way, our Lord is far better than any phone we have, or any phone we ever will have.

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Finally Done with Learning!

Finally Done with Learning!

It’s graduation season!  It’s that time of year when students, after a lengthy academic journey, formerly move on from elementary school, high school, or college … often reveling in the occasion of finally processing to the swelling sound of “Pomp and Circumstance.”

Many churches also celebrate “Confirmations” in the spring months, which is in essence a spiritual “graduation” of individuals within the Church after learning key truths of the Bible.

In either case, after reaching that point in the educational path, a typical response of the graduate or confirmand is to exult in the idea that he or she is finally done with learning. 

Speaking personally, after four years of Christian high school, four more years of pastor-training college, and then another four years of studying and “apprenticing” through the seminary … I was so done with school!  I definitely rejoiced that my learning seemed to finally be completed.

How wrong I was!  My education was just beginning!

That’s not to say that I didn’t learn during all those years in the classroom.  Rather, that is making the point that practical (and spiritual!) learning continues on a daily basis in the school of real life, the classroom of worship, and the textbook of the Bible.

It’s often been stated that when God is done using us here in this world, he takes us to heaven.  I believe that to be absolutely true.  When we have fulfilled God’s purposes for our lives, he brings us Home. 

In a closely related application, I suspect that when we are done learning … especially spiritually … God transitions us from this world to the next. 

I do understand that sadly sometimes some lose degrees of cognitive ability.  But that doesn’t necessarily affect their soul, or the increase of their spiritual growth.  Especially when faith is rooted in their heart and God’s Word continues to be shared with them.  Who knows what wonderful spiritual insights the Lord is giving them in those difficult days?  Perhaps they are transitioning from a somewhat skeptical mindset back to the childlike faith Jesus praises in Luke 18:17?

When I was a teenager, I rejoiced that I was so much wiser than my father and mother, not only academically, but spiritually as well.  The older I became, the more my ignorance seemed to grow and the smarter my parents seemed to become.  Now I wish with all my heart that my parents’ accumulated knowledge – especially their spiritual wisdom from a long life lived in the Lord – could somehow be transferred to me!  How much wiser I would be!

Are you desiring to be done with learning?  I understand, but please reevaluate!  The wisest man who ever lived devoted the majority of two books in the Bible to the importance of wisdom … not just practical wisdom, but especially spiritual wisdom!

Here’s a good synopsis of Solomon’s point of view and advice: “Instruct the wise and they will be wiser still; teach the righteous and they will add to their learning. The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and knowledge of the Holy One is understanding” (Proverbs 9:9-10).

The wise king also provides the source of ultimate wisdom: “For the LORD gives wisdom; from his mouth come knowledge and understanding” (Proverbs 2:6).  Despite the predominant point of view of much of the world today, there is indeed an absolute truth, and it is found in the Absolute Lord and the words he has provided for us (the Bible!).  Consequently, God’s absolute truth is also the basis for the highest wisdom.

And recognize this: spiritual wisdom isn’t merely academic or intellectual!  Spiritual wisdom goes deeper – to the very heart and soul of a person.  A growing understanding of God’s truths feeds one’s faith and fosters spiritual (and thereby emotional) peace.  Jesus himself states this clearly: “Come to me, all you who are weary and burdened, and I will give you rest. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart, and you will find rest for your souls” (Matthew 11:28-29).

Finally done with learning?  May that never be the case for any of us while we live here in this world! 

No, today is just the first day of spiritual education for the rest of our lives.

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Psalm 78:1-4, 6-7
My people, hear my teaching; listen to the words of my mouth. I will open my mouth with a parable; I will utter hidden things, things from of old — things we have heard and known, things our ancestors have told us. We will not hide them from their descendants; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the LORD, his power, and the wonders he has done … and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands.

1 Corinthians 1:18-25
For the message of the cross is foolishness to those who are perishing, but to us who are being saved it is the power of God. For it is written: “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise; the intelligence of the intelligent I will frustrate.” Where is the wise person? Where is the teacher of the law? Where is the philosopher of this age? Has not God made foolish the wisdom of the world?

For since in the wisdom of God the world through its wisdom did not know him, God was pleased through the foolishness of what was preached to save those who believe. Jews demand signs and Greeks look for wisdom, but we preach Christ crucified: a stumbling block to Jews and foolishness to Gentiles, but to those whom God has called, both Jews and Greeks, Christ the power of God and the wisdom of God.

For the foolishness of God is wiser than human wisdom, and the weakness of God is stronger than human strength.

Colossians 1:9-14
For this reason, since the day we heard about you, we have not stopped praying for you. We continually ask God to fill you with the knowledge of his will through all the wisdom and understanding that the Spirit gives, so that you may live a life worthy of the Lord and please him in every way: bearing fruit in every good work, growing in the knowledge of God, being strengthened with all power according to his glorious might so that you may have great endurance and patience, and giving joyful thanks to the Father, who has qualified you to share in the inheritance of his holy people in the kingdom of light.

For he has rescued us from the dominion of darkness and brought us into the kingdom of the Son he loves, in whom we have redemption, the forgiveness of sins.

Ephesians 1:15-19
For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all God’s people, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers.

I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in his holy people, and his incomparably great power for us who believe.

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Before They Call

Before They Call

“Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.” (Isaiah 65:24)

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The sheer brilliance was blinding.  It radiated from the three thrones; the glory of God emanating everywhere and illuminating everything.  No forms or figures could be discerned at its source; just billions of twirling, multi-colored, needle-sized beams exploding outward while pulsating waves of glory rotated rapidly around the thrones’ inhabitants.

Meanwhile ranks and ranks of angels in tidy rows circled the Lord, barely discernable in the brilliance – sheer shadows of white in the brightness.  They were arrayed in ascending rows, as in a massive amphitheater, though there was no structure beneath them. 

At the Lord’s command, an angel would drop through the “floor” and streak away on the Lord’s task.  Shortly thereafter another would fill its spot, the ranks being continually depleted, resupplied and reshuffled.  Their numbers were beyond count, yet each had a unique name – every angel’s name and current location known by the Lord.

Hundreds of thousands of silent and personal commands were issued simultaneously from the throne, evidenced by the hundreds of thousands of angels simultaneously dispatched.  The entire process presented a dazzling display of heavenly choreography.

While the Lord’s messengers carried out a multitude of different tasks, at least some of them were sent in answer to prayers.  They awaited the King’s commands and carried out his will immediately and perfectly.

“Leonine, Candice’s car broke down in a rough part of town and she has asked me for help.  Go!  Protect and provide for her!”  Leonine uttered a “Yes, Lord!” as she sped away at an unimaginable speed.

“Semptor, Brian has a long drive and a tight timeline to arrive at his destination.  He is praying that all goes well.  Ensure that it does.”  “Gladly!” replied Semptor as he rocketed to the freeway.

“Bronho, Jim is praying for the extra funds to pay for his unexpected vehicle repair.  Make it happen.”  “Of course, Lord!” as he dropped from the “arena.”

“Sosooth, Liz is heartbroken and begging for comfort.  Bring her some.”  “On my way!”

Occasionally the dispatches involved more than lone angels.  Then the discourse sounded more like this: “The entire congregation at Amazing Grace Church is praying earnestly for a revival in their ministry.  Satan is working against them furiously.  Level 4, positions 45 to 245, bring the counter-attack, drive back the demons, and smooth the path for my people there!” “To the battle!” they roared as 200 angels swooped in impressive synchronicity from the arena, their blazing swords already drawn.

But not every situation was quite as straightforward as these.  Sometimes God’s instructions were a bit different.

“Savrath, Tammy is pleading for a certain ‘door’ to ‘be opened.’  Keep it securely closed.  It would be disastrous if she went through it.  We will address her need another way – a better way.”  “Certainly, O King!”

“Aaolor, Sheila continues to beg for an answer to her dilemma.  As you know while awaiting my instruction, she has been praying for weeks now.  She hasn’t yet gained the full insight she needs, and circumstances aren’t quite right yet.  But we are much closer now.  Be prepared to bring her long-awaited answer!” “Absolutely, Lord.”

“Brixon, Ben is about to experience an accident.  When it occurs, he will be praying for help.  You will go when he calls.”  “I’ll be ready, Lord.”

“Tomtor, Greg is really struggling.  He knows he needs help and is exhausting every avenue he can find, but still hasn’t turned to me.  He should know better, and he will eventually realize he needs assistance that only I can provide.  Stand by.”  “Of course, Lord.  When will he finally pray?  “Two weeks from now.  Be prepared.”

“Zuzang, as promised Amy has finally prayed about her broken relationship.  You have been waiting a very long time to bring some resolution there.  I am finally able to answer her prayer.” “How long have I been waiting, Lord?” “We have both been waiting, Zuzang.  And the answer is 65 years.  Still, you have waited patiently and faithfully.  Now go!”  “At last!” the angel shouted as she finally left her place.

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How does the Lord answer believers’ prayers?  Does he sometimes miraculously intervene from heaven independent of the angels?  Undoubtedly!  Are there other times he utilizes the angels?  Again, I say, undoubtedly.  Can we fully understand the process?  Of course not.  The Lord answers our prayers as he sees fit in his timing and in his manner.

Consequently, I recognize that this story is over-simplistic.  For example, I suspect that when the Lord sends angels to bring answers to his people, he gives them much more specific instructions.  But then, perhaps not.  Perhaps the angels don’t need more details; they already understand what the loving Lord wants done.  Or perhaps the Lord guides their ministrations.  But finally it’s not important.  We trust our trustworthy God to care for us.

The primary point of this presentation is this: Our God is always eager to answer our prayers.  He has commanded us to bring our prayers to him and promised he will answer them.  (Sometimes with a “Yes,” sometimes with “No,” and sometimes with “Wait.”)  But God always answers every prayed prayer! 

How unfortunate that God’s people don’t bring their requests to him more regularly (and more quickly!) so that he can faithfully answer them.  Because he will when we do.  In fact, he already has answers waiting for prayers we haven’t even lifted to him yet. 

So pray, God’s people.  Pray!  And rejoice that the Lord responds to every single request in infinite wisdom, boundless power, and unending love.

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(Psalm 17:6)
I call on you, my God, for you will answer me; turn your ear to me and hear my prayer.

(Psalm 34:15)
The eyes of the LORD are on the righteous, and his ears are attentive to their cry;

(Psalm 62:8)
Trust in him at all times, you people; pour out your hearts to him, for God is our refuge.

(Psalm 145:18-19)
The LORD is near to all who call on him, to all who call on him in truth. He fulfills the desires of those who fear him; he hears their cry and saves them.

(Jeremiah 29:11-13)
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future. Then you will call on me and come and pray to me, and I will listen to you. You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart.

(Jeremiah 33:2-3)
“This is what the LORD says, he who made the earth, the LORD who formed it and established it—the LORD is his name: ‘Call to me and I will answer you …’”

(Matthew 7:7-8)
“Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you. For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened.”

(John 16:23-24)
“Very truly I tell you, my Father will give you whatever you ask in my name.  Until now you have not asked for anything in my name. Ask and you will receive, and your joy will be complete.”

(Philippians 4:6-7)
Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God. And the peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

(1 Thessalonians 5:17)
Pray continually,

(Hebrews 4:16)
Let us then approach God’s throne of grace with confidence, so that we may receive mercy and find grace to help us in our time of need.

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Picking Up Pennies

Picking Up Pennies

I always pick up any pennies I see.

Technically they are not pennies, but cents.  (If you dispute this, look at the back of the coin.  There you will see clearly printed, “ONE CENT.”)  Indeed, numismatists (coin experts) will insist on the proper term, but most people still call them pennies.

Just as most people don’t care what the coins are called, most also don’t care to have them.  If the change after a purchase happens to be pennies, it’s not uncommon for customers to toss the coins in the spare change containers on the store counters, or to tell the clerks to keep them.  If a penny is dropped, many leave it where it falls.  If a penny is sighted on the ground, few will take the effort to bend over and retrieve it. 

At least, that’s my observation from years of picking up pennies in parking lots and retrieving them from the ground with my metal detector.

Why does it make sense to me to retrieve cents?  In short, picking up pennies is always a joyful reminder to me of my faithful God, and of a number of comforting spiritual truths he shares with me in his Word.

The most obvious reminder is actually cast into the coins themselves: “IN GOD WE TRUST.”  Despite an atheist petition to the Supreme Court in 2019 to have the phrase removed from our currency, as well as the current American malaise toward God, the phrase remains stamped into our cents.  (As well as our other currency.)

Yet to someone like me who does trust in God, every penny I pick up is a reminder that I have a loving Lord who takes wonderful care of me.  In fact, almost without fail as I pluck a penny off the pavement, those words flow through my mind … “IN GOD I TRUST.”

Which is a blessing to me, as the Bible attests, “Blessed is the one who trusts in the LORD, whose confidence is in him” (Jeremiah 17:7).

There are actually multiple aspects to this slogan and this concept.  I don’t reflect upon them all every time I retrieve a cent, but I am certainly aware of them.

For example, there are Jesus’ thought-provoking and comforting words, “Are not two sparrows sold for a penny?  Yet not one of them will fall to the ground outside your Father’s care. And even the very hairs of your head are all numbered. So don’t be afraid; you are worth more than many sparrows” (Matthew 10:29-31).

There is also the poignant example of the poor widow and her offering.  Mark records the event. 

“Jesus sat down opposite the place where the offerings were put and watched the crowd putting their money into the temple treasury.  Many rich people threw in large amounts.  But a poor widow came and put in two very small copper coins, worth only a few cents. Calling his disciples to him, Jesus said, ‘Truly I tell you, this poor widow has put more into the treasury than all the others.  They all gave out of their wealth; but she, out of her poverty, put in everything—all she had to live on’” (Mark 12:41-44).

Did the widow trust the Lord?  Implicitly!  Did she give to God gladly and generously despite her poverty?  Absolutely!  Can we be confident the Lord provided for her?  Undoubtedly!

Will he also provide for all his people?  He already has, and he always will!  The Apostle Paul states the obvious: “He who did not spare his own Son, but gave him up for us all—how will he not also, along with him, graciously give us all things?” (Romans 8:31).

Furthermore, I have often recognized this simple truth: little blessings add up to great blessings.  5 pennies equal a nickel and 10 a dime.  And between scanning parking lots and retrieving buried coins while metal detecting, I’ve picked up literally thousands of pennies.  Those add up!

And some of those pennies … even many of those pennies … were worth more than 1 cent.  A few much more.  Seemingly insignificant, often disregarded “trinkets” by many sometimes might be treasures.  Some rare cents found in circulation can be worth hundreds or even thousands of dollars.  So I check my change and I pick up dropped coins.  Even pennies.

Every time I spot another cent on the sidewalk, I consider it just another blessing from God.  An unexpected reminder that God loves me and provides for me.  A beneficial reminder that “my God will meet all [our] needs according to the riches of his glory in Christ Jesus. To our God and Father be glory for ever and ever. Amen” (Philippians 4:19-20).  

So I pick up pennies.  Always have; always will.  They remind me that IN GOD I TRUST!  And that’s always a smile starter and a morale booster.

“Praise the LORD.  Give thanks to the LORD, for he is good; his love endures forever” (Psalm 106:1).

How to Interact on This Blog

To Comment – Please share your thoughts!  (Commenting is the fun part!)  To do so, click on the “Comments” tag under the title.  I, and many others, would love to benefit from your insights!

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Trust Me

Trust Me

“Trust me,” the Lord says.

“I do!” we answer.  But we don’t.  Not really.

Oh, in theory we do.  We think we do.  We certainly intend to; we want to!  In heartfelt words we will attest to our trust in our God.  And to some degree we do lean on the Lord. 

But our actions, our thoughts, our anxiety and our worries betray us.  Our tossing and turning in bed at night and our frantic efforts in the day tell a different tale.  True trust shows itself in mellow minds, peaceful hearts, and calm demeanors.  Those attributes don’t apply to many of us … at least not all the time.  Probably not even most of the time.

Totally trusting God is so difficult to do!

Trusting God doesn’t come naturally.  And especially in this world roiling in uncertainties!  If  we only knew in advance how the Lord would handle the situations in our life, we could relax – we would “trust.”  But knowing the answers in advance is not trust.  Rather, trust is knowing that the Lord will provide the answers … even when they are still hidden.

Not many of us excel at true trust.

There are several significant reasons we struggle to rely completely on the Lord’s provision and protection.  First of all, we are physical creatures existing in a physical world.  Consequently, relying upon a spiritual and unseen God to handle events in this physical world is challenging for us.

Secondly, we tend to desire control over the factors influencing our lives.  (After all, only we truly understand what we need and what needs to be done!)  Abdicating that control to God on crucial matters is … difficult.  (Even if he is God!)

The Bible actually provides a lengthy list of things in which people place their trust, but should not.  Specifics mentioned are nations, the number and might of their soldiers and weaponry (Is. 31:1), and their fortified cities (Jer. 5:17).  Leaders or any humans are poor choices as well (Ps. 118:8-9).  Nor should anyone trust in themselves (Ps. 49:13), in their personal wealth (Ps. 49:6) or their personal accomplishments (Dan. 4:30-31).  And certainly no one should place their trust in false gods (Is. 42:17).  Repeatedly these focuses of trust are shown to be empty, and ultimately to lead to destruction.

And repeatedly, the Scriptures urge us to trust in the almighty, all-knowing, and filled-with-love-for-us God, and assure us God will work everything out.  Solomon the Wise urges us, “Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight” (Proverbs 3:5-6).

God’s message to us is, “Trust me!  I created the cosmos in all of its vastness and complexity; I am everywhere and know everything; I control all things.  I have already blessed you abundantly.  And, most importantly of all, I love you so much that I provided for your greatest need by sending my own Son to save you!  So why wouldn’t I care for all your other needs?  (Romans 8:32).  I am worthy of your trust.”

To which we reply, “I want to trust your better and more, Lord!  I need to trust you better and more!  How can I grow in this area?

I’ll offer a few suggestions that might foster greater trust:

1. Examine God’s Word and recognize God’s wonderful promises to provide for you (which are impossible for him to break! – Hebrews 6:18), his encouragements (commands actually) to trust him, and his promises to follow through for you.

2. Realize that all of the Bible is actually one huge training session on trusting God.  His demonstrations of his power, his examples of caring for his people, and his encouragements to his people to trust him, reverberate throughout Scriptures pages.  Faithfully read God’s Word and you will read repeatedly of God’s faithfulness.  The more you read, the more you will trust.

3. Look back on your life and note how wonderfully the Lord has cared for you, guided you, and worked everything out for you to this point.  Especially those times when you seriously wondered what God was doing, only to discover later he absolutely knew!

4. Deliberately pause and take note, mentally and perhaps even physically in a journal, of every new time God works matters out for you yet again.

5. Discuss God’s faithful care with your family or Christian friends. This reemphasizes the truth to you, and shares the truth with them.  Then listen to how the Lord’s faithfulness has impacted their lives as well!

6. Make a “Trusting God” playlist on your iPod or phone, and fill it with songs that remind you that our God is trustworthy. (Mine is 163 songs!  That’s 10 hours and 46 minutes of music about relying on Him!)  Play it when you are struggling to lean on the Lord.

7. Instead of hashing and rehashing situations in your mind, strive to develop mental and spiritual toughness. Deliberately turn the matter over to your God in confidence, and refuse to anxiously dwell on it in your thoughts.  “Give it to God … and don’t grab it back again!”  Then relax and let him handle things.  He is thoroughly capable!

“Trust me,” our loving Lord tells us.  And in both the Old and New Testaments, he describes the blessings he brings us when we do!

“You will keep in perfect peace those whose minds are steadfast, because they trust in you. Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal” (Isaiah 26:3-4).

“May the God of hope fill you with all joy and peace as you trust in him, so that you may overflow with hope by the power of the Holy Spirit” (Romans 15:13).

How to Interact on This Blog

To Comment – Please share your thoughts!  (Commenting is the fun part!)  To do so, click on the “Comments” tag under the title.  I, and many others, would love to benefit from your insights!

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Reflections on the Ukraine Crisis

Reflections on the Ukraine Crisis

Most of the world is shocked and appalled at what is happening in Ukraine.  I feel compelled to share some thoughts on the situation, though I’m not confident I have anything personally profound to pass along.  However, I will also share God’s Word, and that is undoubtedly profound enough.  But perhaps these twelve reflections, and the Scripture included with them, will be a blessing to you.

This post is rather long, but I pray you find reading it is time well spent.

Let me start with perhaps the most unexpected statement.

Many of the Russian people are not necessarily evil

I recognize that as commentators talk about the invasion, they refer to “Russia” and the “Russian soldiers,” which tends to be rather inclusive.  Of course, it is Russia who is sending in Russian military to conquer Ukraine.  And of course, the nation and the soldiers are responsible for the death and destruction they are bringing to innocent people in a free land.

But it seems clear that many Russian citizens, and it sounds like even a fair number of invading soldiers, are opposed to this atrocity.

The nation and the soldiers are embroiled in this situation because their ruthless dictator demands it.  To stand against him often means punishment or even death.  But it is heartening to see so many brave Russians doing that very thing.

(Proverbs 28:15)  Like a roaring lion or a charging bear is a wicked ruler over a helpless people. 

(Proverbs 29:2)  When the righteous thrive, the people rejoice; when the wicked rule, the people groan.

The wicked may seem to prosper now, but God and God’s people will ultimately prevail

It is difficult to observe the seeming prosperity of people who clearly and completely disregard the Lord and his instructions.  They scoff at God and seem to advance in every way.  But they are only tools of the Lord to bring about his will.  (More on this in a moment.)

Here’s the bottom line: God always wins!  Consequently, God’s people always win as well.  If not in this world, then for all of eternity – which is finally the most important victory.  Sadly but appropriately, the wicked have a completely different destination.

(Psalm 73 – selected verses) From their callous hearts comes iniquity; their evil imaginations have no limits. They scoff, and speak with malice; with arrogance they threaten oppression. Their mouths lay claim to heaven, and their tongues take possession of the earth. Therefore their people turn to them and drink up waters in abundance. They say, “How would God know? Does the Most High know anything?” This is what the wicked are like— always free of care, they go on amassing wealth.

When I tried to understand all this, it troubled me deeply till I entered the sanctuary of God; then I understood their final destiny. Surely you place them on slippery ground; you cast them down to ruin. How suddenly are they destroyed, completely swept away by terrors!

Yet I am always with you; you hold me by my right hand. You guide me with your counsel, and afterward you will take me into glory. Whom have I in heaven but you? And earth has nothing I desire besides you. My flesh and my heart may fail, but God is the strength of my heart and my portion forever.

Those who are far from you will perish; you destroy all who are unfaithful to you. But as for me, it is good to be near God. I have made the Sovereign LORD my refuge; I will tell of all your deeds.  

Wars are a reminder that the End is coming

Jesus stated it clearly: warfare is a harbinger of his return.  Sadly, this world has always had wars, and it always will have wars right to the very end.  But every conflict is a reminder that Jesus’ return on the Last Day is nearer now than it ever was.  Wars are horrible; Jesus’ return, however, will be wonderful!  At least for those who love him.

(Matthew 24:6-8)  You will hear of wars and rumors of wars, but see to it that you are not alarmed.  Such things must happen, but the end is still to come.  Nation will rise against nation, and kingdom against kingdom. … All these are the beginning of birth pains [leading to the Last Day]. 

Recent events may be the Lord calling the world back to Him

Things certainly haven’t been easy lately.  In fact, in some ways world and national events seem to be spiraling downhill.  Natural disasters.  Global weather patterns.  Political and civil unrest.  Addictions, homelessness, and crime.  Not to mention COVID and all its ramifications.  The senseless attack by a world power on a neighboring nation.  And now mankind faces another potential world war and/or nuclear annihilation.

In my mind, it seems clear that the Lord is allowing these struggles to occur because the majority of the people in this world have turned away from God and gone their own way.  Just as he did with the Israelites throughout the Old Testament, so the Lord is doing today.  It’s a message from God to the world: “Come back to me!  You are not faring, and will not fare, well on your own foolish path.”

May many heed his urgent call!

(Hosea 6:1-3)  “Come, let us return to the LORD. He has torn us to pieces but he will heal us; he has injured us but he will bind up our wounds.  After two days he will revive us; on the third day he will restore us, that we may live in his presence. Let us acknowledge the LORD; let us press on to acknowledge him. As surely as the sun rises, he will appear; he will come to us like the winter rains, like the spring rains that water the earth.”

(James 1:12)  Blessed is the one who perseveres under trial because, having stood the test, that person will receive the crown of life that the Lord has promised to those who love him.

We (and the world) desperately need the true God and his Word

Closely related to the previous point is the simple truth that we need God.  You and I need God.  Everyone needs God. 

We need God for protection and provision; for guidance; for help and hope; for love, forgiveness and salvation.  There isn’t a single aspect of our lives where we don’t need the Lord!

The Lord reveals himself (and his many gracious promises!) in the Scriptures.  Search the Scriptures and one will find God!  As well as all the blessings that God brings! 

Yet the Bible is regarded by many as irrelevant.  It is anything but.

(Romans 15:4)  For everything that was written in the past was written to teach us, so that through the endurance taught in the Scriptures and the encouragement they provide we might have hope.

(Isaiah 40:28-31)  Do you not know? Have you not heard? The LORD is the everlasting God, the Creator of the ends of the earth. He will not grow tired or weary, and his understanding no one can fathom. He gives strength to the weary and increases the power of the weak. Even youths grow tired and weary, and young men stumble and fall; but those who hope in the LORD will renew their strength. They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.

(Psalm 18:1-3)  I love you, LORD, my strength. The LORD is my rock, my fortress and my deliverer; my God is my rock, in whom I take refuge, my shield and the horn of my salvation, my stronghold. I called to the LORD, who is worthy of praise, and I have been saved from my enemies.

The Lord is in complete control

Humans, foolish as we are, like to think that we have things under control.  Or at least some things.  And those things we don’t control yet, we convince ourselves we can and will control someday.

Which is utter nonsense. 

We control nothing.  We can set our plans for the day and proceed to try to follow those plans.  But it doesn’t take much to derail us and send things spinning out of control.

The old expression, “Man proposes, but God disposes” is absolutely true.  The wonderful news is that even though we control nothing, our God controls everything!

And praise be to Him … he has perfect wisdom, complete power, and infinite love.  Which means our lives and our world are in great hands, even when circumstances seem nasty.

(Psalm 115:3)  Our God is in heaven; he does whatever pleases him.

(Isaiah 14:24)  The LORD Almighty has sworn, “Surely, as I have planned, so it will be, and as I have purposed, so it will happen.

(Proverbs 19:21)  Many are the plans in a person’s heart, but it is the LORD’s purpose that prevails.

(Proverbs 16:9)  In their hearts humans plan their course, but the LORD establishes their steps.

Even when we don’t understand his plan, the Lord is always acting in love on behalf of his own

Building off the previous point, the God who controls everything is also a God of boundless love. 

Case and point: no human fully understood God’s plan of salvation before he brought it about.  Yet it was a perfect plan, and God in love implemented it perfectly.  His own Son came to earth at just the right time, fulfilling the multitude of prophecies about him – right up to his redeeming sacrifice on the cross and his glorious resurrection on the third day.

The Lord still operates this way.  He makes his loving plans to benefit his people, and then he proceeds to carry those loving plans out.  Sometimes we recognize what God is doing or has accomplished; many times we won’t fully understand until we are with him in heaven.  Furthermore, what we judge as good isn’t always the different and greater good the Lord is bringing about.

But whether we comprehend or not doesn’t alter that fact that our God always has a loving plan. And thanks and praise be to him that he does!

(Isaiah 55:8-9)  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.”

(Romans 8:28)  We know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

(Jeremiah 29:11)  I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Our trust must be based on our faithful and loving God

This is a crucially important point.  It rides on the back of the previous statements.

When everything hangs in the balance, people desperately want to trust in something.  But where should they go?  Upon what can they rely? 

The list of earthly choices is long, but ultimately empty.  NATO?  World leaders?  Military prowess or firepower?  Diplomacy?  Sanctions?  Fate?  Luck?  Not much guarantee in any of those!

So where do we place our trust?  Where do we rest our confidence in regard to the individuals we know in harms way in Ukraine? Or for the nation of Ukraine?  Or for the decisions of leaders who may be unhinged but possess devastating weapons?  Or for the welfare of the very world itself?  Or for any other matter that may keep us awake at night? 

There is only one source of hope, but it is a great one.  The best one.  The only one!  We place our hope confidently in the Lord who controls all things, and who carefully plans all things.  He is a faithful and loving God.

(Proverbs 3:5-6)  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

(Isaiah 26:4)  Trust in the LORD forever, for the LORD, the LORD himself, is the Rock eternal.

(Psalm 20:7-8)  Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God. They are brought to their knees and fall, but we rise up and stand firm.

(Psalm 118:6-9)  The LORD is with me; I will not be afraid. What can mere mortals do to me? The LORD is with me; he is my helper. I look in triumph on my enemies. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in humans. It is better to take refuge in the LORD than to trust in princes.

(Psalm 25:1-6)  In you, LORD my God, I put my trust. I trust in you; do not let me be put to shame, nor let my enemies triumph over me. No one who hopes in you will ever be put to shame, but shame will come on those who are treacherous without cause. Show me your ways, LORD, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Savior, and my hope is in you all day long. Remember, LORD, your great mercy and love, for they are from of old.

True peace is found in the Savior

There is no real peace when trust is placed in untrustworthy things (i.e. anything in the world).  However, when we truly trust in our God – an absolutely trustworthy source – then peace abounds!  And what a precious gift inner peace is!

The more people in this world who have this spiritual peace, the more worldly peace will prevail.  Own it.  Embrace it.  Share it!

(John 14:27)  Peace I leave with you; my peace I give you. I do not give to you as the world gives. Do not let your hearts be troubled and do not be afraid.

(Philippians 4:7)  The peace of God, which transcends all understanding, will guard your hearts and your minds in Christ Jesus.

God’s gift of prayer is an amazing and powerful gift

Though we may personally lack control of events in this uncertain world, the Lord does not leave us powerless.  Rather, he urges us to access his almighty power by bringing our requests to him in prayer.  And he promises to hear and answer our prayers according to his loving wisdom!

How astonishing is that!

So pray, people of God.  Pray!  You don’t need me to tell you to pray or how to pray.  You already are.  I simply encourage you to continue to do so.

(Philippians 4:4-6)  Rejoice in the Lord always. I will say it again: Rejoice! … The Lord is near.  Do not be anxious about anything, but in every situation, by prayer and petition, with thanksgiving, present your requests to God.

(Isaiah 65:23-24)  They will be a people blessed by the LORD … Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear.

We typically take true treasures too much for granted

It’s simultaneously riveting and revolting. 

Videos abound of rockets bombarding a city, tanks advancing, citizens taking up arms, mothers and children saying sobbing goodbyes to their husbands and fathers as they flee for refuge while others are stuck in bomb shelters.  Watching can’t help but bring a person to reflection. 

Besides the aching empathy and my ongoing prayers for those besieged people, and the profound inspiration Ukrainians are providing to the free world, here’s my greatest takeaway: I am far too apathetic about my abundant blessings, and far too lax in properly prioritizing my life.

Our gracious God has overwhelmed us with his goodness!  Our faith, freedom, and families flow from our faithful God!  Our confidence and comfort in our Savior; our great nation, even with its flaws; our ability to gather for worship when, where or how we see fit; our privilege to publicly register a dissenting opinion or cast a vote; the convenience of making our own decisions in our life, such as where we want to work or if we want to enlist in the military; the gift of being surrounded by family and sleeping peacefully in our own beds each night.  The list goes on and on, and every item on the list is a treasure from a generous God.

God help us to properly appreciate his countless blessings, and to appropriately prioritize our use of them.

(James 1:17-18)  Every good and perfect gift is from above, coming down from the Father of the heavenly lights, who does not change like shifting shadows. He chose to give us birth through the word of truth, that we might be a kind of firstfruits of all he created.

(Ephesians 1:3)  Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us in the heavenly realms with every spiritual blessing in Christ.

(Psalm 103:1-5)  Praise the LORD, my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the LORD, my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems your life from the pit and crowns you with love and compassion, who satisfies your desires with good things so that your youth is renewed like the eagle’s.

(Matthew 6:33)  But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well. 

This world will never be heaven

Unfortunately, this current world won’t ever make the cut.  Try as we might, humans will never achieve the utopia they so long to create.  Sin permeates everything and casts it ugly shadow everywhere.

Fortunately, as Christians we recognize that this world is not the end-all-and-be-all.  There happens to be a much better destination in store for those who know their Savior … a place that really is perfect. 

Consequently, we live in this world as best we can, living for and reflecting the love of our Lord and striving to make our little place in the world the best place it can be.  But all the while we long desperately for the wonderful world to come!  Because there we will finally find perfection.

(Romans 8:18, 22-23)  I consider that our present sufferings are not worth comparing with the glory that will be revealed in us. … We know that the whole creation has been groaning as in the pains of childbirth right up to the present time. Not only so, but we ourselves, who have the firstfruits of the Spirit, groan inwardly as we wait eagerly for our adoption to sonship, the redemption of our bodies.

(Revelation 21:1-5)  Then I saw “a new heaven and a new earth,” for the first heaven and the first earth had passed away, and there was no longer any sea. I saw the Holy City, the new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.

And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, “Look! God’s dwelling place is now among the people, and he will dwell with them. They will be his people, and God himself will be with them and be their God. ‘He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death’ or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away.”

He who was seated on the throne said, “I am making everything new!” Then he said, “Write this down, for these words are trustworthy and true.”

I pray these reflections, and especially the passages I shared, have been an encouragement to you.  Finally, our God really is the source of hope and his Word the center of our confidence.

Are there any additional points and passages that come to your mind?  If so, please share them in the comments section below.

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Your Life Plan – A Story

Your Life Plan – A Story

Ethan was struggling mightily.  There was no other way to describe the situation; things seemed bleak at best.  His mind was emotionally distraught; his heart spiritually tumultuous.  His days were spent in a mental fog; his nights in unrest.

Over and over he cried out to the Lord, decrying the circumstances; demanding answers; begging God for help.  He poured over the Scriptures, searching for solutions.  Yet his struggle continued.  He was immersed in one of life’s dark valleys, at a loss on how to ascend to the sunshine of the heights yet pleading for God to lift him there.

Tossing and turning one night in another fitful and largely futile attempt to reach the state of slumber, his sheer exhaustion finally dragged him into a deep sleep.  That’s when the Lord Jesus made his appearance.

It was more than the wild randomness and fluffy illogicity of a dream.  Even in his state of deep slumber, Ethan realized that somehow it was real – all real.  Jesus was real, and everything that transpired with Jesus was real.

They stood over an ornate table, he and Jesus, looking down at what appeared to be a sort of topographical map with the geographic details laid out in contoured formations.  (Kind of like one might see in some national parks, the features and elevations of the park graphically displayed.)  Ethan intuitively recognized already at a glance that this was no normal map.  The landscape elicited the comfort of familiarity and, simultaneously, the discomfort of a different view of the familiar.

Ethan’s mind struggled to grasp what he was seeing.  Then he saw the gold script inset into the top of the topographic table: Your Life Plan.  He gasped as it all became clear.  He was gazing down at a map of his life!

With wide eyes and gaping mouth, he raised his view to Jesus.  The Lord was watching him intently, his hands clasped behind his back, his eyes twinkling and a small smile settled on his bearded face.  “Look closer, Ethan,” Jesus suggested quietly.

So Ethan did.

There below him was blazed a golden line that wiggled its way across the table.  Sometimes the line continued straight and true; but usually it zig-zagged either to the right or to the left of the general direction of the path.

Ethan traced the path back to its beginning.  He noticed the line originated at an X and initially was gray.  He looked up to Jesus questioningly.  “That was when you were conceived” Jesus told him.  Tracing the line further, he noticed another X, this time in gold.  “That was when God’s grace brought you to faith and when I began journeying with you.”  Ethan was stunned.

Then he noticed that the gold line became brighter and more pronounced further along the way.  “As I grew older, smarter and stronger?” he asked.

“No, Ethan.  As you grew stronger in your faith through time in my Word,” Jesus answered.  “Physical strength, mental capacity and earthly accomplishments are unimportant on this map.”  Ethan nodded, the extreme importance of feeding one’s faith starkly revealed.  Jesus continued.  “Sadly, for some their line becomes gold at one point but eventually returns to gray.  For others, their line remains gray their entire lives.”

Jesus moved beside Ethan and wrapped his arm around his shoulder. “But that is not what I brought you here to see.  Look closer still.”

Ethan traced his lifeline with his finger.  The path not only zig-zagged back and forth, but it undulated up and down, climbing up rises and descending back down again – sometimes journeying at length in the heights; sometimes tarrying in the valleys.  “What do you make of the many variations, Ethan?”

Ethan hesitated uncomfortably.  Finally, he whispered in shame, “It seems I’ve often wandered off your path.”

“Yes, well, you do have a sinful nature,” the Lord replied.  “But look even closer at some of those side trips.  Especially some of the longer ones.  What do you see?”

Ethan leaned closer to the golden trail, focusing especially on some of the more extreme horizontal wanderings.  “My gold line was growing dimmer.”  He gasped and drew himself nearer still.  “But there’s golden barricades at the end of those lines!”  He looked back to the Lord.  “Does that mean what I think it does?”

Jesus smiled warmly.  “Yes, Ethan.  Your faith was growing weaker as you wandered your own way, but I blocked you from wandering farther from my path.”  The Lord gestured over the table.  “Now project your path if you had continued down some of those long detours.”

Ethan found some of the longer ones and traced their ultimate destination.  He shuddered.  “They end in destruction!  Spiritual starvation!  Steep cliffs to fall over!  Deep waters to drown in!  Spiritual death!  O, Lord, you preserved me!”

“Yes, Ethan.  Sometimes I pushed you; sometimes I pulled you.  Sometimes I knocked you over.  Sometimes I whispered in your ear through various methods.  Whatever it took to redirect you spiritually.  I love you and want you to be with me forever.”

Jesus eyes shimmered, the tears threatening to escape.  “Sadly, some refuse to listen even to me.  They insist on climbing over my barricades.  It never ends well for them.  But again, that is not my reason for bringing you here.”

The Lord looked intently at Ethan.  “I know you are extremely discouraged right now, so I will give you a special insight.  Put your finger again at the beginning of your life path and trace it slowly.”

Ethan tentatively lowered his index finger to the first X and slid it forward.  The realizations began bombarding him – blessings upon blessings upon blessings all along the path, in both the “good times” and the bad, in the pain and the pleasure.  Some he had recognized at the time; most had been unnoticed and unnoted.  New lessons learned and new insights gained. Experiences that had made him “richer” in a multitude of ways.  And astoundingly, some of the greatest blessings of all had come through the most difficult times in his life!

The magnitude of God’s unending faithfulness and goodness overwhelmed Ethan.  He was speechless.

Once again Jesus pointed to the map.  “Find the last X, Ethan”

He did.  It was easy enough to locate near the end of the line.  “Is this my death, Lord?

“No, Ethan, that is not displayed on this map for you to see.  Look closely at that final X.”

The X was in a deep, dark valley.  And the realization struck Ethan; this was where he was right now in his life!  It was one of the deepest depressions on the entire map.  He couldn’t speak.  Once again he looked back at Jesus.

Again the words came.  “Look closer, Ethan.”

Ethan dropped his eyes to the final X.  He noticed two things: his gold faith-line was brighter here than anywhere else on the map, and he noticed that beyond the X the path began to climb again.

It happened so suddenly he couldn’t have hoped to quell it; Ethan began to sob uncontrollably.  Jesus moved even closer and wrapped both his arms around him, embracing him tightly.  “Yes, Ethan, you are stronger spiritually now than you have ever been.  Which is why I have led you to this place.  You needed to rely on me and my promises more.  This valley has helped you do that.”  Jesus paused, then continued.  “And yes, Ethan, I will lead you back out of it in due time.”

Jesus words came quietly and lovingly.  “I have guided you your entire life, Ethan, and I will guide you home to me one day.  Trust me, Ethan.  Trust me.  I’m handling your life plan.”  And Jesus kissed his forehead.

Ethan’s eyes jolted open.  He was back in his bed.  (Still in his bed?)  His pillow was drenched, but his heart was light.  Loving Jesus was guiding him all the way!  There was no reason to despair.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

God Is Our Guide

Psalm 23:1-4
1  The LORD is my shepherd, I lack nothing. 2  He makes me lie down in green pastures, he leads me beside quiet waters, 3  he refreshes my soul. He guides me along the right paths for his name’s sake. 4  Even though I walk through the darkest valley, I will fear no evil, for you are with me; your rod and your staff, they comfort me.

Psalm 37:23-25
23  The LORD makes firm the steps of the one who delights in him; 24  though he may stumble, he will not fall, for the LORD upholds him with his hand. 25  I was young and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken …

Psalm 48:14
For this God is our God for ever and ever; he will be our guide even to the end.

Isaiah 30:20-21
20  Although the Lord gives you the bread of adversity and the water of affliction … 21  Whether you turn to the right or to the left, your ears will hear a voice behind you, saying, “This is the way; walk in it.”

God Blesses Us Through Adversity

Psalm 119:71
It was good for me to be afflicted so that I might learn your decrees.

Romans 8:28
And we know that in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

2 Corinthians 12:9-10
9  But he said to me, “My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness.” Therefore I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses, so that Christ’s power may rest on me. 10  That is why, for Christ’s sake, I delight in weaknesses, in insults, in hardships, in persecutions, in difficulties.  For when I am weak, then I am strong.

We Don’t Understand Now; One Day We Will

Isaiah 55:8-9
8  “For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the LORD.  9  “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts.

1 Corinthians 13:12
For now we see only a reflection as in a mirror; then we shall see face to face.  Now I know in part; then I shall know fully, even as I am fully known.

We Can Trust Our Loving God Who Has Wonderful Plans for Us

Proverbs 3:5-6
5  Trust in the LORD with all your heart and lean not on your own understanding; 6  in all your ways submit to him, and he will make your paths straight.

Jeremiah 29:11
For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future.

Romans 8:35, 37-39
35  Who shall separate us from the love of Christ?  Shall trouble or hardship or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? … 37  No, in all these things we are more than conquerors through him who loved us. 38  For I am convinced that neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither the present nor the future, nor any powers, 39  neither height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord.

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Totally Out of Control

Totally Out of Control

No, I’m not referring to morality, the crime rate, politics or the party-animals down the street.  (Though those things may indeed be out of control.)  Rather, it’s my fantasy football teams!

I have two.  I began one league many years ago for family members; I began another one a few years ago for fun within our congregation.  I, of course, have a team in both leagues.

Most readers probably have a basic understanding of how fantasy football works.  But for those who don’t, here’s a brief summary: A fantasy football league consists of an even number of teams, each team directed by a different “manager” or “owner.”  There are set positions on the rosters, a certain number of “starters” for each week, and an additional number of players on your “bench.”  The rosters are primarily made up of offensive players (quarterbacks, running backs, wide receivers, etc.), though team defenses are also usually included.  The reason it’s called fantasy football is that the players on a fantasy team actually play on many different NFL teams.

At the beginning of the season, each manager sets his or her draft board, and tries to select the most top-notch players possible.  Then each week, he or she must manage their team, deciding whether to pick up available players on waivers or as a free agent, as well as setting their starting lineup.  The hosting platform for the league (we use Yahoo) has “experts” who will project expected point totals for each player to help the managers make the best decisions on whom to play. 

Perhaps this sounds complicated, but it’s all quite easy actually.  Except for making the right decisions!

If there is any simple exercise that demonstrates uncertainty better, I don’t know what it is.  The “experts” project the expected points each player will earn that week, so in theory setting one’s starting lineup should be easy.  Just plug in the highest projected scorers on your team each week and you are good to go! 

Except that the “experts” are only making educated guesses.  In reality, they have no idea.  Each week some players expected to earn many points actually score only a few or even none, while some players expected to do little rack up huge point days.  Some in your starting roster tank, while some on your bench explode. 

Furthermore, it can happen that some players unexpectedly don’t play in that week’s game, getting pulled from the lineup at the last minute; others get hurt early on and are knocked out of the contest.  And sometimes most of the players on your team have lousy games, which usually results in an “L” for your team.

All of which slots fantasy football into the designation of “totally out of control!”  Not the experts, not the “owners,” not even the actual players, not anyone truly knows what will happen.

There is certainly some expertise involved in doing well in fantasy football.  But in reality, the winners each week and the champions of the league won by sheer good fortune.  They lucked out in their draft, in their players’ good health, in some of their decisions, and through opponents’ misfortune.

Which makes fantasy football a sort of microcosm of life.  Obviously, life decisions are far more important than fantasy football ones.  But the uncertainty in both is the same!

What field should I study for in college?  Which job should I take?  Where should we live?  Where should we send the kids to school?  Which of my many responsibilities is the most important at the moment?  How should we deal with this particular challenge?  How do we capitalize on this unexpected blessing?

Uncertainty is everywhere; unexpected turn of events are frequent. 

For example, two years ago to the day as I write this I had surgery to remove my left kidney, which the doctors expected was cancerous.  (It wasn’t, thanks be to God!)  Regardless, I had no idea that was coming.  In fact, I had never been hospitalized before. 

A year and a half ago the country (the world!) was largely shut down due to a pandemic.  No one saw that looming. 

Shortly after COVID hit, I began this blog.  I never anticipated that twist. 

In just the past six months, my wife has had multiple eye surgeries due to a detached retinue.  That definitely wasn’t on our bucket list of things to do. 

This past week both of my parents were diagnosed with COVID.  That wasn’t expected either.

You have your own drastic personal examples you could list.  It certainly seems that our life, our society, our world is totally out of control.

Well, it IS totally out of OUR control.  But it’s totally IN God’s control.

The Bible tells us, “… In all things God works for the good of those who love him” (Romans 8:28).  Notice the emphasis.  It’s not just in a few things.  Not just in some things.  Not even in most things.  But in ALL things God works for the good of his believers.

That unplanned kidney surgery?  It showed me some health matters of which I need to be aware, and allowed others the privilege of stepping up in ministry in our congregation. 

The pandemic?  As difficult as it has been and continues to be, the Lord is using it to accomplish many positive things – some obvious; others less so but which will be recognized one day. 

The unexpected blog?  Some people actually read it!  And now I use it as the basis for a weekly Bible study in our Wednesday evening services.  (That was totally unanticipated – at least by me.) 

My wife’s eye surgeries?  While always grateful for her sight, she has an even loftier appreciation of the gift of seeing now. 

My parents coming down with the virus?  The blessings aren’t all clear at the moment, but I have no doubt whatsoever that they are coming. 

And then there are the greatest blessings of all when struggling through hardships: God working in us through his Word and drawing us closer to him – helping us recognize how much we need him, how much he loves us, how good he always is … in all things, and how we have a much more wonderful life awaiting us in heaven.

“All this is for your benefit. … Therefore we do not lose heart. Though outwardly we are wasting away, yet inwardly we are being renewed day by day.  For our light and momentary troubles are achieving for us an eternal glory that far outweighs them all.  So we fix our eyes not on what is seen, but on what is unseen, since what is seen is temporary, but what is unseen is eternal” (2 Corinthians 4:15-18 – selected).

Things totally out of control?  Out of our control?  Always.  Out of God’s?  Never!

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Always and Never

Always and Never

The times are certainly changing!  The fall season is upon us.  Vacations are over.  Children are back in school.  The days are shorter, the temps cooler, the rains have returned in Washington, and the leaves are turning.

Fall is certainly a season of dramatic change.  But then we’ve been enduring almost constant change for the past year-and-a-half!

When I was younger, I used to hope that there would be a time in my life when everything would be finally settled, and changes would be behind me.  The concept is appealing … but unrealistic.  There will never be a time when something in our lives isn’t changing.  If you’ve lived a bit, you know this to be true.

But there actually is something that never changes.  (And I’m not referring to death, jobs to do, or taxes!)  The one thing that never changes, that is always the same, is the Lord. 

The Bible informs us that “God, who is enthroned from of old, does not change” (Psalm 55:19).  Furthermore, “the [Heavenly] Father … does not change like shifting shadows” (James 1:17), and “Jesus Christ is the same yesterday and today and forever” (Hebrews 13:8). 

The fact that our God doesn’t change, and isn’t changing, and won’t change is incredibly comforting at a time of incredible change – whether that time of change is the fall season or a pandemic or something else altogether.  Though everything in our lives and in the world seems to be in continual flux, God is not! 

And since God is immutable (unchanging), then his “purpose” remains “unchanging” as well! (Hebrews 6:17).  In the same way, his promises won’t change either (Numbers 23:19), and his words are eternally true (Luke 21:33).  Jesus’ redemption of us and his resurrection are also unchanging facts.  As are his love for us, his care, provision and protection of us, and his presence with us.  Best of all, the Lord still has a special home prepared for his children in heaven.  These wonderful truths all remain unchanging!

The Lord’s attributes (characteristics) don’t change either.  The eternal God will always be eternal, and the almighty God always almighty.  He will always be present everywhere; always all-knowing; constantly good; continually faithful; forever merciful, gracious, loving and forgiving.  None of God’s characteristics have ever shifted; nor will they.

Change is constant in our lives.  Some are temporary and cyclical; others are radical, life altering, eye-opening, and unforgettable.  In this constantly changing world, we need some stability.  Thankfully, we have it in our unchanging God.

Everything God has been, he still is, and he always will be.  He is the always-the-same God, the Lord who never changes.  And that’s wonderful news for us who are living ever-changing lives in an ever-changing world!

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Dog-Gone! But Prayer Is Powerful!

Dog-Gone! But Prayer Is Powerful!

The bad news was brought to me by one of my sons.  I was working in my home office when he walked in and said, “Ah, Dad.  Sorry to bother you, but Sisko isn’t in the yard anymore.” 

My heart dropped.  Sisko is the name of the dog we were keeping for some friends and fellow church members while they were visiting family.  He had just arrived the day before for a week-long stay, and now he was gone.

The only escape point in the yard was a gate twice his height.  We’ve had dogs for years … all of them at least a foot taller than Sisko.  Some of them learned to flip up the gate latch, but none of them had leaped the gate.  Sisko cleared it within 24 hours of his arrival.

My wife and I spotted him briefly at the corner of our front yard.  We called his name, only to watch him disappear.  The family immediately mobilized and dispersed in a desperate search – some on foot, some in vehicles.  We looked for him for hours, crisscrossing our neighborhood and calling his name, but never saw him again.  We were all heart-sick.

Finally, I had no choice but to inform Sisko’s owners and request a picture of him to post physically and online.  They were traveling, and the last thing I wanted to do was ruin the first day of their vacation.  But they needed to know.

Then I put in motion an extensive prayer army.  I texted my immediate family, and I emailed our congregation, explaining the situation.  (We routinely send out prayer requests to our people.)  I asked that everyone pray for Sisko’s safety, and for his safe return.

Settling back at my desk to share Sisko’s picture with our neighborhood online group, I heard some commotion down by our street.  I hurried outside, hoping to get word on our missing dog.  And sure enough, I did! 

It turns out Sisko had been hunkered down in some tall vegetation in a yard a few houses away the entire time.  I had walked right by him on the sidewalk, calling his name, but he had stayed hunkered.  A kind neighbor lady had seen him, was concerned about him, and tried to give him some water.  When she got too close, Sisko bolted. 

That set in motion a chain of events that would be hard to believe if I hadn’t witnessed it myself.

Two young men noticed the dog running and had stopped to ask the neighbor lady about him.  That’s when I arrived.  I explained that we were watching the dog for friends, but he jumped our gate. 

Meanwhile a man driving by saw all the commotion and asked if we were missing a dog.  “Yes!” I replied.  He described the dog he had just seen.  “That’s him!” I confirmed. 

“I just saw him two blocks North of here,” we were told.  (Not good; that’s busy 48th Street!)

At that moment another man walked around the nearest block corner and asked if we were searching for a dog.  “Yes!”  He gave us Sisko’s latest coordinates.  He had reversed course and was now a block due East of us but moving to the South.  The two young men hurried after him in their car, located him and faithfully followed him at a distance for the rest of the way.

I quickly recruited my two sons to go after Sisko on foot while I jumped in my truck to attempt to head him off.  Now our runaway was running West.  We spotted him as he crossed our street a block away, the young men carefully tailing him in their vehicle.  But that meant Sisko was heading for the heavily trafficked M Street!  Please, Lord, keep him safe!  I sped down a street paralleling his path and reached M Street just in time to see Sisko dash across, a black and white blur a block over, vehicles speeding past him in both lanes.

I swung left unto M Street and then a block down I turned right.  Several blocks ahead of me was Sisko, trotting down the sidewalk, and the two young men trailing him from behind.  I sped down the street, weaving past a car backing out of their driveway, and fell in behind the young men’s car.  They pulled over to let me pass.  

I drew as close as I could to the panting dog, parked and scrambled out of the truck, but Sisko didn’t slow down, even as I called his name and offered treats.  That’s when yet another vehicle got involved.  A woman driving toward us recognized what was going on and offered to assist.  (My sons had been running the whole way and still hadn’t gotten close enough to help.)  So now there were three vehicles on the street, serving to corral Sisko to some degree on the left, houses on the right, and me on the sidewalk behind him. 

But still the dog jogged on, disregarding my frantic calls.  And then the Lord brought the final essential piece into play.  In the yard directly in front of Sisko appeared a large dog, barking vociferously.  And just like that, Sisko did a 180 and trotted back to me.  I made no quick motions; I simply let him circle me a few times before he came close to me and I curled my fingers around his collar.  “Thank you, dear Lord,” I whispered. 

My sons arrived shortly, and clipped his leash onto his collar for the walk back to our yard, where a piece of plywood had already been installed over the gate to keep our high jumping guest on the ground inside the yard.  Meanwhile, I thanked the woman who had appeared so fortuitously, and the young men who had assisted so selflessly.  I told them that they were God-sends … and they were!

Within an hour of putting out the requests for prayers on Sisko’s behalf, he was back in our yard, eagerly lapping up bowls of cool water.  Not only was he back, against all odds, but he was safe, perhaps against greater odds.  (We heard that he nearly got hit a number of times, and I witnessed myself his close calls dashing across M Street.  I am convinced that Sisko had an angel riding on his back that afternoon.)

Of course, we had been praying ever since we noticed our visiting pooch was missing.  But it is no coincidence that everything fell into place after numerous prayers on Sisko’s behalf began arriving at the Lord’s throne. 

I don’t mean to imply in a superstitious sense that once we got enough prayers going, God finally gave in.  Rather, I believe the Lord was using this situation to impress upon many people the effectiveness of prayer.  45 minutes after the prayer requests were made, a “prayer answered!” notice went out.  Remarkable!

Which emphasizes in rather dramatic fashion the power of prayer.

Jesus summarized the blessings of prayer with his famous words from the Sermon on the Mount.  “Ask and it will be given to you; seek and you will find; knock and the door will be opened to you.  For everyone who asks receives; the one who seeks finds; and to the one who knocks, the door will be opened” (Matthew 7:7-8).

Those are some wonderful promises from our Savior!  I always loved this even more expansive promise from the Lord regarding his people: “Before they call I will answer; while they are still speaking I will hear” (Isaiah 65:24).

All of which goes to show how eager God is to answer our prayers.  So, God’s people, pray!  Pray for other nations and people in crisis.  Pray for our nation.  Pray for our government leaders.  Pray for our service men and women.  Pray for our churches.  Pray for our pastors and teachers.  Pray for our doctors and nurses and first responders.  Pray for healing for the hurting.  Pray for help for the desperate.  Pray for hope for the despondent.  Pray for lost dogs. 

Pray your requests, and then pray words of thanks when the Lord answers those requests.  (We certainly did!)

There are so many people to pray for and things to pray about; the focuses of our prayers are literally limitless and God’s answers always perfect … even if he happens in love and wisdom to answer “No.”  Our Lord knows what is best for us, and always responds accordingly.  (How incredibly comforting this is!)

So remember and rejoice – as demonstrated with Sisko and in so many other situations – prayer is a powerful thing!

How to Interact on This Blog

To Comment – Please share your thoughts!  (Commenting is the fun part!)  To do so, click on the “Comments” tag under the title.  I, and many others, would love to benefit from your insights!

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