Appropriate Luggage

 

But when they measure themselves by one another, and compare themselves with one another, they are without understanding.

—2 Corinthians 10:12 RSV

Christian speaker and artist, Joni Eareckson Tada, in her devotional book, Pearls of Great Price, ¹ recounts a thought she had while traveling:

I have been at countless airport carousels, watching as bags innumerable drop from the chute. Some of those pieces are very nice. Smart leather trim. Clean. New. In my daydreams I wonder what would happen if I swapped my old, scuffed-up luggage for one of those fancy pieces? I wouldn’t of course, But if I did, what might I find inside? Elegant clothes that don’t fit. Shoes I don’t like. Makeup that doesn’t match my skin tone. Jewelry that’s clunky and overdone. And what might I lose in this hypothetical deal? I’d lose my speaking notes, my favorite dress jeans, and treasured personal jewelry. I would lose the devotional book I love to read in the morning. In fact, while the bag I took might look better on the outside, it’s a no-brainer that the stuff on the inside wouldn’t be a good fit at all.

It’s easy to look at others and wish we could be like them: to have their talent, or their trim figure, or their jewelry collection, or whatever. And sometimes, all this comparison leads us to commit the sin of covetousness.

God has given each of us our own perfect milieu in which to live our lives. If He has made us to be a stay-at-home mom, He may not have given us the ability to speak in public. If He has made us to speak in public, He may not have given us children. God planned the whole package when He created us.

We must learn to see ourselves as God sees us: a perfect blend of everything He needs us to be. Even those things we consider weaknesses, He can use for His glory. Instead of looking longingly on what He has given others, we need to say with the Psalmist David, as found in Psalm 139:14, 16 NIV:

I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made; your works are wonderful, I know that full well … All the days ordained for me were written in your book before one of them came to be.

Let’s look in the mirror today, and thank God for all He has given us. And, let’s pledge to Him that we will willingly use all our gifts in service to Him! What a joy!

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1 Tada, Joni Eareckson. Pearls of Great Price. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan Publishing Company, 2006. Devotional for September 6th. Please note that in each case, citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Overflowing Blessing

 

“Through the blessing of the upright a city is exalted.”

—Proverbs 11:11

Does God’s blessing overflow to others like a cup overflows into the saucer? Apparently it does. Please note these examples:

Joseph, son of Jacob, who served in Potiphar’s household, was blessed by God with favor and success in everything he did, but God also blessed Potiphar, as recorded in Genesis 39:5:

The Lord blessed the household of the Egyptian because of Joseph. The blessing of the Lord was on everything Potiphar had, both in the house and in the field.

In the life of Daniel, the commander of the king’s guard intended to execute the wise men of Babylon because they could not interpret the king’s dreams. Because God’s blessing rested on Daniel, and because God gave him the answer to the king’s questions, Daniel pled with the commander to not execute the wise men. Instead, as recorded in Daniel 2:24-49, the king put Daniel in charge of all the wise men of Babylon.

The Apostle Paul, on a ship bound for Rome, found himself in a deadly shipwreck. The crew had given up all hope of being saved. In Acts 27:24, Paul announced to them what God had told him:

“Do not be afraid, Paul. You must stand trial before Caesar, and God has graciously given you the lives of all who sail with you.”

As we drive our vehicles throughout the day, we should think about times when God has graciously spared us from an automobile accident. Did He not also spare others whom we didn’t even know? Have we been the recipient of blessing because God had His good hand on an employer of ours, or a public school teacher, or someone else whom God placed in a position of authority over us?

Eugene Peterson, in his book A Long Obedience in the Same Direction, makes this statement: ¹

Blessing has inherent in it the power to increase. It functions by sharing and delight in life.

When Christians live under God’s blessing, those around them enjoy the positive effects of that blessing. As we process the impact of this reality on our lives, let us ask God today for His blessing, and watch to see how He blesses others around us, too!

______________________

1 Peterson, Eugene. A Long Obedience in the Same Direction. Downers Grove, Illinois: InterVarsity Press, 2000. Please note that, in each case, citation of Copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Return to Your Rest

 

“Return to your rest, O my soul, for the Lord has dealt bountifully with you.”

—Psalm 116:7 NKJV

What does the Bible say about the Christian’s customary position? Hebrews 4:9 says:

There remains, then, a Sabbath-rest for the people of God.

I believe that Scripture teaches that Christians should normally live in a “resting” position. This place of rest shows reliance on God, joy, divine peace, and trust in God’s care.

I like the New King James Version of Psalm 116:7 because it uses the word “return.” God’s peace and rest remain our normal position.

In Psalm 116, the Psalmist had been overcome by trouble and sorrow. (His words.) He apparently had come close to death and God had spared him. In response, he speaks to himself and says: “Return to your rest.”

What kinds of things can you recall that have taken you out of your resting position? Maybe it was a deadly disease, a close call, a period of great stress, or the multitude of times when you just don’t know how a problem will turn out. Sometimes these “tempests in a teapot” can cause great strife in our lives.

When we turn to God in these times, more often than not, He hears our prayers, answers us, and “tends and spares us”—as the hymn “Praise My Soul, the King of Heaven” teaches us: ¹

Father-like, he tends and spares us;
   well our feeble frame he knows;
In his hands he gently bears us,
   rescues us from all our foes.
Alleluia! Alleluia!
Widely as his mercy goes.

So, as we experience the turmoil and terrors of daily life, and after asking God in prayer to see Him do some wonderful things, let us remember to praise Him. Let us also meditate on the many times He has answered our prayers. And, let us record in our journals those times in our lives, so we can return and remind ourselves of them in the future.

Then, let us rejoice in His goodness. He will allow our souls to return to their natural position of rest in Him.

______________________

1 Lyte, Henry F. “Praise, My Soul, the King of Heaven.” Public Domain. This Hymn is included in various Hymnals that are copyrighted by the publisher of the particular Hymnal. Please take note that, in all cases, citation of copyrighted material is made on this blog post strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Act of God

 

The Lord said in his heart, … “As long as the earth endures, seedtime and harvest, cold and heat, summer and winter, day and night will never cease.”

—Genesis 8:21-22

With great sadness, we mourn the loss of life whenever a so-called natural disaster strikes anywhere in the world. In our helplessness, we are quick to explain such events as an “Act of God.” Yet, when we look up a legal definition of what some people call an “Act of God,” we find this authoritative definition:

An event that directly and exclusively results from the occurrence of natural causes that could not have been prevented by the exercise of foresight or caution, an inevitable accident. ¹

It’s quite amazing to find that humans think what they call “Acts of God” are actually proclaimed to be inevitable accidents! Yet, when we speak of the four seasons of the earth’s climate that have never ceased since the creation, nor the periods of productive time we call “day and night,” we credit so-called “Mother Nature” for the natural order of things and the way those things should happen.

Is it not more wonderful for humans to observe the absolute regularity of natural things and give appropriate credit to the creative commands of the creator Triune God? I love the entire Psalm 104 that expresses so beautifully the way God has designed the order of things. Here’s a taste from Psalm 104:5-8, 12-14, and 24:

He set the earth on its foundations; it can never be moved. You covered it with the deep as with a garment; the waters stood above the mountains. But at your rebuke the waters fled, at the sound of your thunder they took to flight; they flowed over the mountains, they went down into the valleys, to the place you assigned for them …

The birds of the air nest by the waters; they sings among the branches. He waters the mountains from his upper chambers; the earth is satisfied by the fruit of his work. He makes grass grow for the cattle, and plants for man to cultivate—bringing forth food from the earth: …

How many are your works, O Lord! In wisdom you made them all; the earth is full of your creatures.

Now, those events described by the Psalmist are truly “Acts of God!” So too are the terrible tsunamis and earthquakes. None of the events that happen in nature can truly be called “an accident.” We have a God who not only created the earth and ordered every aspect of it, including its weather, but we also have a God who sends the storms and knows the boundaries for them. Even as we wipe away our tears of sorrow at the loss of life certain events may cause, relying on the truth God has revealed to us in His written Word, we can exclaim, as the Psalmist does in Psalm 71:16:

I will come and proclaim your mighty acts, O Sovereign Lord;

In His great mercy, grace, and love, may God comfort the families of those who suffer injury and death whenever the disasters of our sin-cursed world occur. And, even as we mourn, may we remember that God’s divine will remains perfect, and that His immutable power reminds us that the Prophet Isaiah declares in 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.”

______________________

1 West’s Encyclopedia of American Law, 2nd edition. Farmington Hills, MI: The Gale Group, Inc., 2008.

 

 

Never "Lost in Translation"

 

“But when he, the Spirit of Truth, comes, he will guide you into all truth.”

—John 16:13

At a public meeting, or on television, have you ever watched one of those interpreters for the deaf and wondered if they were delivering the exact message correctly? If the interpreter had an agenda other than to clearly express what the speaker was saying, it would be quite dangerous, right? Well, we have an enemy, Satan, or the devil, about whom 1 Peter 5:8 says:

Be alert and of sober mind. Your enemy the devil prowls around like a roaring lion looking for someone to devour.

Satan makes it his mission to misconstrue, mistranslate, misrepresent, and otherwise distort the truth, replacing the truth with what often merely looks like truth. The Apostle John, both in his gospel and again in his letters, speaks often about the importance of understanding the truth, and the way in which our enemy likes to derail that truth. In fact, in John 8:44b, the Apostle writes:

He [Satan] was a murderer from the beginning, not holding to the truth, for there is no truth in him. When he lies, he speaks his native language, for he is a liar and the father of lies.

Throughout Christian history, churches and groups of Christians have been led astray from the truth by Satan’s wiles and distortions. They may have been well intentioned, even believing that they were devoted to the Kingdom of God. But, somehow they managed to get taken in by false doctrines that ultimately ruined their faith.

We’ve all heard of cults, whose members have been derailed from the truth by strong and manipulative leaders. Those leaders, much like their father, Satan, have schemed and lied in such clever ways as to persuade a whole group of people to follow in an ungodly direction.

Do we consider how dangerous a distorted interpretation of God’s written Word can be? Do we seek to avoid such distortions as the Apostle John warned? And, how do we keep from getting tricked into believing wrong doctrine and a misinterpretation of the truth?

When Jesus left earth in order to return to heaven, He told His disciples about the Holy Spirit, the “Counselor.” He is the one whom the Father promised to send to us.

Jesus taught, as recorded in John 10:1-21, about the true “sheep” who would know the voice of their true Shepherd. He urged them to listen clearly.

We too, gullible and weak—perhaps even more than the first disciples—need to listen carefully to the Holy Spirit when reading God’s written Word, and when listening to those who claim to preach and teach God’s truth. We need to weigh what we’re being told against the whole counsel of God’s written Word. We need to rely on the Holy Spirit to lead us into all truth.

Oh, Lord God,

Please keep all those of us who truly desire to follow hard after You to know the truth You share in Your written Word. Protect us from error, and help all who teach Your written Word to do so with integrity and clarity.

In the midst of the lies and confusion of our present world, may Your timeless truth come to us in these days with the power and the authority of the Holy Spirit.

We pray in Jesus Name. Amen.

 

 

When God says "No!"

 

He withdrew about a stone’s throw beyond them, knelt down and prayed, ‘Father, if you are willing, take this cup from me; yet not my will, but yours be done.’ An angel from heaven appeared to him and strengthened him.

—Luke 22:41-43

God does miracles in response to prayer! He is able! If you agree, can I get an “Amen”?

Most of us, if we’ve lived long enough, can say that God has performed miracles in behalf of us, or in behalf of people we know. He has spared us against impossible odds. He has come to our rescue with resources we didn’t have, or couldn’t see. He has healed those we love, even after doctors did all they could do and after the results they hoped for didn’t come. As a result of faithful prayers, those miracles came with a resounding “Yes!” answer from the God who loves us.

It is important to note that Jesus believed, as we do, that God always heard His prayers. In John 11:41-42, Jesus ended His earnest prayer with these words:

“Father, I thank you that you have heard me. I knew that you always hear me …”

But, while we always look forward to a “Yes!” when we ask God for something in prayer, in contrast, we must clearly understand that if God answered “No!” to what Jesus prayed in the garden at Gethsemane, certainly, we can also expect that sometimes He will most properly—and for our own good—say “No!” to us, as well.

As we watched my sister die of multiple myeloma, we prayed, in faith, fully believing that God had the power to heal her. She prayed that prayer, too. Yet, when we realized that God had said “No!” to our prayers for healing, we watched her—patiently resigned, submissive, and full of grace—bow to His perfect will for her and take her home to be with Him.

Did God still perform a miracle? He did, indeed! The magnificent way in which she endured her suffering and death had a profound effect on countless numbers of people who watched her yield to the perfect will of the God who loved her. Instead of saying “Yes!” to my sister, and to all of us who prayed for the miracle of healing for her, God sent incredible grace, beauty beyond compare, and a witness to all who knew her of the Resurrection power God had given her, and will give to anyone, who trusts in His provision for our sin.

Instead of saying “Yes!” to Jesus in the garden at Gethsemane, God sent angels to minister to Jesus. God gave Jesus power to face death. And, God gave His precious Son, Jesus, the power to shout victory over sin, death, and Satan on Resurrection morning. Through God’s perfect plan, God used the birth, life, suffering, death, resurrection, and ascension of Jesus to bring with that victory the way for all of us to know God and to ultimately triumph over our earthly death.

As recorded in Luke 1:38, the young virgin, Mary—frightened, alarmed, and perhaps even shamed upon hearing about her one-of-its-kind pregnancy—instead of praying to have this burden removed, responded to the angel of God by saying:

“I am the Lord’s servant. May it be to me as you have said.”

We can have the assurance that when God says “No!” to our prayers, in another more perfect sense, He always says “Yes!” to His power to work His perfect will in ways we could never imagine. From Jude 24 we read these words:

To him who is able to keep you from falling and to present you before his glorious presence without fault and with great joy—to the only God our Savior, be glory, majesty, power and authority, through Jesus Christ our Lord, before all ages, now and forevermore. Amen.

 

 

In the Hands of the Master Carpenter

 

In a large house there are articles not only of gold and silver, but also of wood and clay; some are for noble purposes and some for ignoble. If a man cleanses himself from the latter, he will be an instrument for noble purposes, made holy, useful to the Master and prepared to do any good work.

—2 Timothy 2:20-21

I have several articles made of wood that were finely crafted. They are among my prized possessions because of their beauty, even though they each have a useful purpose, as well. I can imagine the carpenter beginning with a rough piece of wood in which he spied some beauty even before he started. As he sawed and chiseled, rubbed, and finished the piece, it took hours of delicate and expert work.

Imagine a fine violin, a carved piano leg, an exquisite jewelry box, and Indian canoe, each built for a “noble purpose.” But, think of what the piece of wood has been through to get to the place of beauty and purpose. Can you see the floor under the carpenter’s bench, full of sawdust and wood shavings? The wood has gone through a complete transformation under the artistic hands of the master carpenter. He has cut out imperfections, chiseled away knots, and rubbed down and smoothed every inch to get rid of splinters. He has covered the piece with a carefully chosen finish.

We Christians resemble a piece of wood, carved and sanded by our Master. Theologians call this process “sanctification.” God sanctifies—or “makes holy”—those of us whom He has already called and justified. He has chosen us, not because of something He sees in us, but because He wants to fashion an instrument for His use out of our rough origins.

The process of sanctification, like the work of a carpenter, appears to us as torment and distress. Sometimes we think God has left more “shavings” on the floor than He has left the remainder of us to use. But, He understands the process much better than we, and can see the finished product: an instrument for noble purposes—His purposes.

Trusting Him in this lifelong process of sanctification, and co-operating with His means to get us there, will yield for Him the person He wants us to be. He will use us in noble and in ordinary ways to glorify Him, our Master Carpenter.