Reflection

 

When Jesus spoke again to the people, he said, “I am the light of the world. Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life.”

—John 8:12

“You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden. Nor do people light a lamp and put it under a basket, but on a stand, and it gives light to all in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven.”

—Matthew 5:14-16

Have you ever considered how differently the brightness of the moon affects what we can see at night? Driving seems so much easier. And, the distance we can see is so much farther. Nights with a full moon allow us to see so much more than we can see when the moonlight is absent or diminished.

Scientists tell us that the phases of the moon, and the amount of light we observe from the moon, results from how much of the moon’s surface faces the sun and reflects the sun’s radiance. The moon produces no light of its own. It serves only to reflect the glory of the sun.

When we meditate on Jesus’ words in the first Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, where He told is that He is the Light of the World, we must realize that Jesus has given us the same designation that Creator God gave to the moon. As His devoted followers, Jesus expects us to understand that we give divine light to those around us only to the extent that we reflect Him. The more “face time” we have with Him, the more fully we will reflect His powerful light.

In the second Scripture passage at the beginning of this blog post, where Jesus said that we are lights of the world, He used the illustration of a lamp. Even if we shine as lamps in this dark world, we must have oil, or power, from some source other than ourselves. The image of oil in the Bible often refers to the power of the Holy Spirit.

We cannot expect to give off the Light of Christ in this world unless we reflect Him, just as the moon reflects the sun, nor can we shine as lamps without the oil of the Holy Spirit. The divine light must come from outside our own selves.

This question, then, is worth asking ourselves: “Is the ‘light’ I give off coming from the dimly lit bulb of my own selfish glory, or do I truly reflect the glory of my blessed Savior, the Lord Jesus Christ, and the glory of God, my Father in Heaven?”

How we answer that important question makes a difference. And, that difference is like night and day!

 

 

Slaying the Dragon 1

 

	“Resist the devil, and he will flee from you.”
	—James 4:7

David and Karen Mains, in their marvelous children’s book, Tales of the Kingdom,² tell a story of Amanda, a princess, who, despite warnings, takes home a dragon egg, hatches it, and makes a pet of the baby dragon. At first she enjoys playing with the little guy and does everything she can to domesticate it. But, before she realizes it, the dragon has become much too formidable for her to control and she has to kill it to save her own life.

Private sins are like that. We try to housebreak them and keep them under our control. Our secret fantasies, the so-called minor offenses we hide and whitewash, never stay the same. Like the dragon, they grow too large for us. The gossip we share with just one friend becomes too easy to share with many more. The anger we allow to spill out in occasional verbal outbursts at others soon becomes a way of life.

Recently I read this quote from J. C. Ryle in the book, Diamonds in the Dust ³ by Joni Eareckson Tada:

We are too apt to forget that temptation to sin will rarely present itself in its true colors. Never when we are tempted will we hear sin say to us, ‘I am your deadly enemy…I want to ruin your life.’ That’s not how it works. Sin, instead, comes to us like Judas with a kiss. It comes to us like Joab with outstretched hands and flattering words. Sin, in its beginnings, seems harmless enough—like David walking idly on his palace roof which happened to overlook the bedroom of a woman. You and I may give wickedness smooth-sounding names, but we cannot alter its nature and character in the sight of God.

We need to remember that the dragon has a burning breath and a dangerous tail. When we first entertain the idea of letting him near us, or even domesticating him for our pleasure, we need to slam the door on him and flee.

We can never hope to serve God effectively with known sins in our lives. The longer we let them grow, the more attached we become to them, and the harder it gets to slay them.

Please pray with me:

Oh, Lord, give us Your Holy Spirit’s power to recognize the first sign of a deadly sin and flee from it. Help us to stay very close to You, hour by hour, so that we can be protected by Your loving arms and have the power You give us to resist the devil. Amen.

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1 This blog post was originally published on June 16, 2014.

2 Mains, David and Karen. Tales of the Kingdom (Kingdom Tales, Book 1). Elgin, IL: David C. Cook Publishing Company, ©1983, Chapter 10.

3 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Diamonds in the Dust. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing House, ©1993, Devotional for June 8th.

 

 

Little is Much

 

“Your procession has come into view, O God… There is the little tribe of Benjamin, leading them.”

—Psalm 68:24, 27

Jesus understood small things and appreciated their worth. In Luke 21:1-2, He remarked about an incident, barely noticed by anyone else:

As he looked up, Jesus saw the rich putting their gifts into the temple treasury. He also saw a poor widow put in two very small copper coins. “I tell you the truth,” He said, “this poor widow has put in more than all the others.”

Jesus honored the smallest things by pointing them out and using them for His glory. The story recorded in John 6:1-15 of the five thousand plus people who came to hear Jesus speak, points to His use of small things.

These people had come out from nearby towns and had been there many hours listening to Jesus. He told the disciples that they needed to feed them. They brought Jesus all they could find: the small lunch of a little boy that contained five small barley loaves and two fishes. Jesus showed His appreciation and used this small gift by multiplying it to serve all five thousand people present, with twelve baskets of food left over.

What do we have so little of that we feel God cannot use? Time? Money? Talent? Strength?

In Judges 6-8 we read the account of Gideon in the days when the Midianites invaded the land of Canaan. God called Gideon to save His people. In Judges 6:14-15, God said to Gideon:

“Go in the strength you have and save Israel out of Midian’s hand. Am I not sending you?”

“But Lord,” Gideon asked, “how can I save Israel? My clan is the weakest in Manasseh, and I am the least in my family.”

The story goes on to point out how God chose to use this reluctant warrior. God chose to use Gideon because Gideon was the weakest available: the runt of the litter.

We need to think beyond ourselves, too. Maybe God wants our family, or our neighborhood, or our work department, our school, or our office staff to do something big for Him. Even more, maybe He purposes to use our little church for a big ministry, when it may seem that plenty of mega-churches in our area could do the job so much easier.

God’s voice asks of the prophet in Zechariah 4:10:

“Who dares despise the day of small things?”

Instead of bemoaning our lack of anything, let’s praise God for small things and small strength. He wants to show His mighty power through us. May we submit to His will and watch the blessings follow!

 

 

Stepford Christians

 

“For such men are false apostles, deceitful workmen, masquerading as apostles of Christ. And no wonder, for Satan himself masquerades as an angel of light. It is not surprising, then, if his servants masquerade as servants of righteousness. Their end will be what their actions deserve.”

—2 Corinthians 11:13-15

The 1975 movie, The Stepford Wives, has remained in my memory, not only as a very bizarre story, but as an example of how very like the “Men’s Association” our enemy—the prince of this world, Satan—operates.

The story takes place in the affluent idyllic town of Stepford, Connecticut. A new resident, Joanna, notices how strange all the women seem to appear. They are fawning wives, mindless, and perfect in every way.

What she doesn’t realize is that one-by-one, the husbands of the “Men’s Association,” who make it their mission to completely control their wives, have killed off their wives and replaced them with perfectly engineered robots. These robots look identical to the wives. And, the robot wifes have absolutely no flaws whatsoever.

These formerly very successful professional women, now transformed into robots, think only of pleasing their husbands in every way. Since they are not real, they have given up any resemblance to the actual personhood of each wife they have replaced.

Joanna watched as one of her more “normal” neighbors seemed to go through this metamorphosis. For one thing, her tennis court in the back yard was dug up and replaced with a putting green for her husband. Only when Joanna’s own family becomes victims of the “Men’s Association” does she try to escape in order to protect her own life.

We would all love to be the perfect model of a Christian, not only pleasing to God, but especially pleasing to each other. We study the right “moves” of Christians we admire and try very hard to imitate them. We learn to play the game of “church” and strive to never allow our own sinful natures to become visible. To openly acknowledge sin, to repent, to ask forgiveness takes too much humility. To do that we would have to admit we cannot live the Christian life in our own strength.

While it may seem honorable to overlook faults in others and to look for the best in each other and in our churches, we should never tolerate to just plainly cover-up sin and hide horrific wrong-doing. Christ did not die for people who pretend to be without fault. He died for sinners and welcomes anyone who in reality comes to Him in honest confession.

The world, like Joanna, watches us. Anything that smacks of being phony is clearly evident to them. Why would they want to join a group of perfect people anyway, especially when they know their own hearts?

We glorify God the most when we rely on Him for His grace to live our lives according to His desires and when we willingly acknowledge and repent of our sins. Away with the plastic complexion and the nylon hair, and the mindless play-act!

 

 

The End in Mind

 

“Being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”

—Philippians 1:6

I love the title of Eugene Peterson’s book, A Long Obedience in the Same Direction.¹ In this book, Peterson shares the “Psalms of Ascent.” Pilgrims repeated these Psalms as they traveled up to Jerusalem for feast days. Peterson likens the Christian walk to this pilgrimage.

God sees our lives, beginning to end, and plans to mature, or “complete,” us throughout. I understand the concept.

As a teacher, I can remember the fall when the school system changed my schedule from being an iterant teacher—in two or three buildings—and placed me at one elementary school full time. I could now think of these children as “mine.” And, I could map out what I felt they needed to learn, step-by-step, from kindergarten through the fourth grade. Even more, I could see them grow over these years.

This long view, or “longitudinal” plan, allowed me to plot each year. Then, I could plan each month or season. Finally, I could plan each individual lesson.

God has a longitudinal plan for our lives. Just as I didn’t share the full scope of the curriculum with my second graders, or burden them with constant assessments and adjustments for their growth, neither does God do this with us.

Sometimes, it looks as though God must not have a plan. Or, it appears that we have gotten off track somehow. In Romans 8:28, God assures us that:

…in all things God works for the good of those who love him, who have been called according to his purpose.

Said another way, His plan for us, though it may seem hidden, will weave all the threads together in the end.

Carolyn Custis James, in her book, Lost Women of the Bible,² describes those who walk this long walk as theologians. She writes:

The word theologian doesn’t appear in the Bible. Old Testament writers used a warmer, user-friendly expression, describing people who “walked with God.” A theologian takes a long walk through life with God—living in his presence, going his way, learning to see the world through his eyes, and getting to know his character so that trusting him in the dark stretches won’t be quite so hard. The theologian sees God at the center of everything. She lives with a profound confidence that he holds the whole world (including her) in his hands.

Sometimes it seems we are not moving forward. From day to day, things look and feel the same to us. But, when we look back, and we can do this through meditation and through looking at former journal entries we’ve written, we see that, indeed, God has led us, and we have moved closer to His ideal.

While on the pilgrimage, enjoy the sights. Know that God has planned this marvelous journey with a magnificent end!

______________________

1 Peterson, Eugene H. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction 2nd edition. Downers Grove, Illinois: IVP Books, 2000.

2 James, Carolyn Custis. Lost Women of the Bible. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2005. p. 34.

 

 

The Child Proclaims the Parent

 

“Let your light shine before men that they may see your good deeds and praise your Father in heaven.”

—Matthew 5:16

When people observe a male child, we often hear them remark, “He looks so much like his father.” Within a family, we can see, even more closely, the presence of family resemblances. “Aunt Roberta’s hands remind me of Grandma’s.” Or, “I see that Joey is losing his hair at just about the same age as his father did.”

During my years as an elementary and middle school teacher, I heard the comment after colleagues met parents at conference time: “Well, the acorn doesn’t fall far from the tree!” Our children do not only carry the physical characteristics of their parents. They also often carry the personality traits and life styles, as well.

The sentence from Jesus’ “Sermon on the Mount,” stated at the beginning of this blog post, speaks to us in a similar vein. When people see our good deeds, they shouldn’t praise us, but rather they should praise our Heavenly Father.

Do we often think of the loving Creator-Sustainer God when we see His good works in the people that we know? Do we cause people to pause and consider our own behavior, as though Christ Himself is living His life in us and through us?

Dr. D. Martyn Lloyd-Jones puts it this way:¹

The child tells us a great deal about his parents, does he not? The child not merely tells us things about himself, he tells us much more about his parents. As you watch the behavior of a child you are really learning a great deal about the discipline, or lack of it, at home. The child proclaims the parent.

In referring to Matthew 5:43-45, Jesus speaks about loving our enemies, blessing those that curse us, doing good to those who despitefully use us and persecute us. Why should we do all these things? We do these things that we may be children of our Father who is in heaven.

Again, Dr. Lloyd-Jones writes:²

That is why we have to do it, that we may be like our Father, that we may proclaim the family to which we belong… So the next time you are in doubt about some course of action, whether you should do a certain thing or not, do not spend your time arguing with someone as to whether it is right or wrong, simply ask, “Is that sort of thing worthy of my Father’s son [or daughter]? Is it consistent with the family to which I belong, the Father who has put His own name on me and whom I represent among men?”

Parents hope for their children to represent the family well, to make them proud, to have others observe what the years of training, disciplining, and loving have produced. In the same way, our Heavenly Father looks at us and desires that we represent the family into which He has placed us. Out of sheer gratitude, we should apply ourselves to look like Him!

______________________

1 Lloyd-Jones, D. Martyn. God’s Way of Reconciliation. Grand Rapids, Michigan: Baker Book House, 1972. p. 334.

2 Ibid.

 

 

Imitate

 

“Imitate me, just as I also imitate Christ.”

—1 Corinthians 11:1 NKJV

Can you say, “Imitate me?” Can I? I’m not talking about a “Simon Says” game here. This declaration to “Imitate me” comes from the divinely inspired words of the Apostle Paul.

When I held my public school teaching position, I often thought about my “off-duty” persona, my example in the community. I know many teachers who say, “What I do on my own time is my own business!” They give little or no thought about the kind of influence they have on anyone watching them during non-school hours. But we, as Christ’s ambassadors, have a higher calling (2 Corinthians 5:20).

We study God’s written Word to see what God may instruct us about this or that circumstance and how we should live among those who don’t know Him. According to 1 Timothy 4:12 (NKJV), God wants us to:

…be an example to the believers in word, in conduct, in love, in spirit, in faith, in purity.

Even knowing these words of instruction, we constantly fail at this kind of living. But, if we study our own behaviors and stay attuned to the Spirit of Christ—the Holy Spirit—He will prick our conscience when we need His forgiveness and restitution because of our deeds, and when we need a heartfelt turn-around.

We must remember that people watch our lives and either have their negative suspicions about God and the church verified by the way we behave. Or, through our faithful behavior, they come to understand our Savior, as they view His divine Presence in our lives.

In addition to unbelievers, we can be sure that children and new believers in the faith constantly look to us for examples of behavior they should imitate. Whether we present them with good behavior or bad behavior, we have a profound effect on their spiritual growth. Their Christian formation, their language, their reverence for the things of God, their priorities all take on the qualities they see in us.

In a day when young people see popular “models to imitate” in rock stars, celebrities, even political figures, we must attune our hearts and our lives so that we imitate the Lord Jesus Christ in all things. If we do this, we will live our lives in a way that will become worth imitating!