Arguments!

 

Molly, my sister, and I fell out, And what do you think it was all about? She loved coffee and I loved tea, And that was the reason we couldn’t agree.

—an old Mother Goose rhyme 1

I had a sister close in age, with whom I had plenty of arguments as a child. And, the reasons for the arguments were usually as silly as the Nursery Rhyme above. Much of that arguing promotes a means for a healthy growing up, as siblings learn to negotiate and live with others.

Within the body of Christ, we have been admonished to treat each other as brothers and sisters, and to live in unity. Many a church fight has occurred because Christian-siblings disagree on truly trivial matters. For example: disagreements over the type and color of the carpeting for the church parlor, or whether to hold a full-size brunch after church, or a light reception.

However, not all arguments between brothers- and sisters-in-Christ result from silly juvenile issues. Some come from disagreements over important doctrinal beliefs, or from sinful power plays. These types of problems need genuine spiritual counsel, repentance, or even separation.

However, when matters really don’t require anything but humble submission to one another, confession of prideful selfishness, or a heart-to-heart talk, God expects us to work it out ourselves.

Even in St. Paul’s day, he knew two church women who had locked horns. He wrote in Philippians 4:2-3:

I plead with Euodia and I plead with Syntyche to agree with each other in the Lord. Yes, and I ask you, loyal yokefellow, help these women who have contended at my side in the cause of the gospel.

Imagine what such a schism between sisters does to the unity and peace of the church. Can either give effective service to Christ with such a rift between them? In so many places in Scripture, God shows us His high regard for unity in the body, even saying to Titus through Paul, as recorded in Titus 3:10:

Warn a divisive person once, and then warn him a second time. After that, have nothing to do with him.

Wow! Christ wants His church to demonstrate the same unity that the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit illustrate for us. Through the display of a unity like this—so dissimilar from the world—people will be drawn into the Kingdom.

God help us to not allow the “little foxes to destroy the vines.” (see Song of Solomon 2:15). For indeed, small things have big effect in the Kingdom of God.

 

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1 Wright, Blanche Fisher, Illustrator. The Real Mother Goose. Chicago: Rand, McNally & Company, 1916— Now in the Public Domain. Though this citation is noted to be in the Public Domain, in the case of anyone claiming Copyright protection of this material, please note that in each case, whenever citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Hide and Seek

 

“‘You will seek me and find me when you seek me with all your heart. I will be found by you,’ declares the Lord.”

—Jeremiah 29:13-14

The shout rings out across the neighborhood:

“Ready or not, here I come!”

Most anyone who hears those words will remember playing the game “Hide and Seek” as a child. On warm summer evenings, it was fun to play outside where you could find any manner of wonderful places to wiggle into and get out of sight, while the person who was “it” counted to whatever number the group had set.

If you could stump the person looking for you, you felt quite clever. But, if the search went on too long, you could get bored and you began to wish they would hurry up and find you.

God desires to reveal to us His mysterious and wonderous Person by telling us to seek Him. He is not always readily evident. Yet, He wants us to seek Him until we find Him. The more we seek Him, the better we will get to know Him, and the closer we stick to the truth of His written Word, the easier it will become to find Him.

It was no fun as a child to hide and have no one look for you. It was no fun to desire to play the game and have no one want to play the game with you. That never happens in this “seeking God” game of life.

God delights to be found. When we see God in His written Word, when we seek Him in the life of another person, when God answers a prayer for us, or when He brings us a wonderful surprise, we will surely find Him. In every such time of seeking, we know our finding Him could only come from His loving hand. We will surely rejoice, whenever we have found Him.

The Prophet Isaiah writes these words in Isaiah 55:6:

Seek the Lord while he may be found; call on him while he is near.

God wants us to seek Him. He invites us to do so. He very much wants us to play this amazing “game.” But, we can only find Him when we draw close to Him and search for Him. And, like children, the more we play this special “game,” the more often we will find Him.

Grant me, O Lord my God, a mind to know You, a heart to seek You, wisdom to find You, conduct pleasing to You, faithful perseverance in waiting for You, and a hope of finally embracing You. 1

—Thomas Aquinas

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1 Aquinas, Thomas. “Prayer for a Holy Life” as cited in Bacon, Hannah, Wendy Dossett, Steve Knowles, Editors. Alternative Salvations. New York: Bloomsbury Academic Press, 2000. P. 435. Please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Unusual Kindness

 

Once safely on shore, we found out that the island was called Malta. The islanders showed us unusual kindness. They built a fire and welcomed us because it was raining and cold.

—Acts 28:1-2

A person doesn’t forget an unusual kindness done for him or her. The missionary Paul, on his way to prison in Rome, spent three months of his journey on the island of Malta because the ship that was taking him to Rome shipwrecked there. Paul either journaled about, or merely remembered, the extraordinary way the strangers on that island greeted this dirty, water-logged group of men. Oh, the kindness!

When Corrie ten Boom recalled the days after her release from the Ravensbrück Concentration Camp ¹ at the end of World War II, she specifically remembered the nurse who led her down gleaming corridors into a room with a steaming bathtub. She stated that nothing ever felt as good as that bath. She also commented on the bed with sheets and how she could not get enough of running her hands over them, as they soothed her swollen feet. Oh, the kindness!

A missionary, Gracia Burnham, had much the same reaction after spending a year running, hiding, sleeping on the ground, and watching her husband die in the wet jungles of the Philippines. ² In her vivid remembrance, she too recalled the spotless sheets and the comfortable mattress. She compared them to the terrifying nights she had spent in the open. Oh, the kindness!

When we imagine this kind of treatment by strangers, especially for those who have lived through horrific circumstances, we realize that the Gift of Kindness comes as a remnant of the image of God in human form. Jesus, too—God incarnate—shows us kindness. His kindness is always beyond our need. His kindness is always beyond our deserving. His kindness always changes us.

Romans 2:4 asks:

Do you show contempt for the riches of his kindness, forbearance and patience, not realizing that God’s kindness is intended to lead you to repentance?

Imagine the Apostle Paul, or Corrie ten Boom, or Gracia Burnham turning down the kindness shown to them! God’s purposes through His kindness lead us to repentance for our “old rags.” God’s kindness offers us fresh, new garments in which He invites us to live. Isaiah 61:3 expresses His kindness this way:

… to grant to those who mourn in Zion—to give them a beautiful headdress instead of ashes, the oil of gladness instead of mourning, the garment of praise instead of a faint spirit; that they may be called oaks of righteousness, the planting of the Lord, that he may be glorified.

Yes! It is so very true that, in His loving kindness, God has a “garment of praise” for us in exchange for the garment of a faint spirit—that is, a spirit of despair. Oh, the kindness!

First of all then, let us praise God for His kindnesses to us in and through the Lord Jesus Christ. These gifts of kindnesses to us should be remembered and told, when we share our stories with others. Secondly, we need to recall the kindnesses that others have shown us—the kindnesses that have led to effect good outcomes in our lives. Thirdly, as carriers of His image, let us show the same kind of transforming kindnesses to others around us.

Let us continually ask ourselves: “This day, to whom is God asking us to bless with unusual kindness?”

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1 Ten Boom, Corrie with John and Elizabeth Sherrill. The Hiding Place. Old Tappan NJ: Revell Company, 1971. p. 228.

2 Burnham, Gracia with Dean Merrill. In the Presence of My Enemies. Carol Stream, IL: Tyndale Book Publishers, Inc., 2010. Amazon Kindle location: 4309.

Please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Scraps and Second Chances

 

This is what the Lord says, “If you repent, I will restore you, that you may serve me.”

—Jeremiah 15:19

I love the way old things can become new and useful again—like scrap quilts, for example. I admire the artistry and creativity put into sewing a beautiful quilt out of scraps of material that individually are hardly large enough to be used for anything else.

Suddenly the old collection of dress fabrics, or Father’s ties, or Mother’s aprons takes on a whole new life and usefulness, with years more of service. You might say that those scraps have become redeemed from the stash.

Think of God as our Redeemer, our Savior, the One who makes new that which was old. In Jeremiah 31:31, He promised a new covenant with the House of Israel. In 2 Corinthians 5:17, Paul reminds us that:

If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; the old has gone, the new has come.

Likewise, God has promised a New Heaven and a New Earth, saying in Revelation 21:5:

I am making everything new.

Throughout the Bible, we read stories of saints who have become redeemed from their past sins to serve God again.

• Think of Moses, whom God called at age 80 to lead God’s people through the wilderness and who had murdered a fellow Israelite (see Exodus 2-3).
  
  
• Or, think of David, the promised king guilty of adultery and murder, whom God cleansed of his sin and continued to use as king (see 2 Samuel 11-12).
  
  
• Or, consider Jonah, whom God called on a special errand to Nineveh and who rebelliously took off in the opposite direction, yet received a second call (see Jonah 1).
  
  
• Or, think of Peter, the leader of the New Testament Church and one of the Twelve, who denied the Lord Jesus, not once but three times, but whom Jesus reinstated after considering Peter’s repentant heart (see John 21:15-19).
  
  

We each may know people in our own lives to whom God has given a second chance. Most often, these people—knowing the mercy and forgiveness of God—go on to serve Him with even more vigor than before. They have a testimony of God’s redeeming grace. They have experienced His ability to rescue, repair, renew, and repurpose.

Perhaps you, too, have offended against God’s holy will, have disobeyed, or have disregarded Him. He waits to redeem your life and restore you, as well. Please take note of Psalm 103:1-5:

Praise the Lord, O my soul; all my inmost being, praise his holy name. Praise the Lord, O my soul, and forget not all his benefits—who forgives all your sins and heals all your diseases, who redeems you 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.

 

 

Slaying the Dragon

 

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, ¹ 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 grown to maturity and has become much too formidable for her to control. She has to kill it to save her own life.

Secret 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 baby 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 quotation from J. C. Ryle in the book, Diamonds in the Dust ² 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 adult dragon of our deadly secret sins has a burning breath and a dangerous tail. When we first entertain the idea of letting it near us, or even domesticating it for our pleasure, we need to slam the door on it 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, God, please give us Your Holy Spirit’s power to recognize the first sign of a deadly secret sin and flee from it. Help us stay close to You, hour by hour, so that we can be protected by Your loving arms, and so we can have the power You give to resist the devil. We pray through Christ our Lord. Amen.

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

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

Please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Sharing the Keys

 

“I will give you the keys of the kingdom of heaven; whatever you bind on earth will be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth will be loosed in heaven.”

—Matthew 16:19

“You may ask me for anything in my name and I will do it.”

—John 14:14

Do you remember, perhaps many years ago when you had just earned your driver’s license, how very grown up you felt? You likely felt carefree and in charge. Whenever your dad or mom handed you the keys to the family car, you knew you were trusted with great responsibility. You knew that you now must be especially careful because of the tremendous confidence your parent had placed in you.

To those us whom God has called to Himself and redeemed through His Son, the Lord Jesus Christ, God has handed us the “keys” to His Kingdom. One of those keys He has given us is His precious Name, that He has given us to use in prayer.

I like what Andrew Murray wrote in his little book, With Christ in the School of Prayer: ¹

What is a person’s name? That word or expression in which the person is called up or represented to us. When I mention or hear a name, it calls up before me the whole man, what I know of him, and also the impression he has made on me. The name of a king includes his honor, his power, his kingdom. His name is the symbol of his power. And so each name of God embodies and represents some part of the glory of the Unseen One … Jesus solemnly gives to all His disciples a general and unlimited power of the free use of His Name at all times for all they desire. He could not do this if He did not know that He could trust us with His interests, that His honor would be safe in our hands. The free use of the name of another is always the token of great confidence or close union.

When I took my father’s car out for a drive, or to attend a meeting, I knew that nearly everyone in our small town knew to whom that car belonged. Would I want people to see me driving recklessly, or parking in a no-parking zone, or parking in front of an establishment my father himself wouldn’t frequent? Of course not!

Again, here’s Andrew Murray: ²

When the Lord Jesus went to heaven, He left His work, the management of His Kingdom on earth, in the hands of His servants. He could not do otherwise than also give them His Name to draw all the supplies they needed for the due conduct of His business … The use of the Name always supposes the surrender of our interests to Him whom we represent.

If my father needed a part for a broken piece of farm equipment, since I was his oldest child, he would often ask me to go to town for that part. Since we lived several miles from town, it would have been useless for him to have asked me to get that part for him and not allow me the use of his car. Likewise, Jesus gives us His work to do in the world. When He ascended to heaven, He equipped us with His Holy Spirit and the power of prayer, using His Name, so that we could do His work.

Once my father asked me to go on an errand, I never decided to take his car and, rather than doing that errand, chose instead to hang out with my friends. No! I knew the purpose for which I had been given the keys. Likewise, we should clearly know the purposes for which God has given us His precious Name. We need to stay in constant touch with our Father and, relying on the leading of the indwelling Holy Spirit, ascertain truthfully His will through our study of His written Word and through our prayers. The more we understand God’s purposes, the more readily we will pray for that which He wills.

Let us intentionally remember the responsibility of “the keys” to His Kingdom that God has given us. And, let us take that memory to heart every time we go to God in prayer. As we pray, we should ask ourselves:

• Am I praying for that which my Father would have me pray?
  
  
• Do I represent my Father in this prayer?
  
  
• As led by the Holy Spirit, have I determined that what I am asking matches His divine will in this particular situation?
  
  

As God’s grown up children, we need to understand the grave nature of prayer. And, we must use that power to do His work in the world to the glory of His matchless Name.

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1 Murray, Andrew. With Christ in the School of Prayer. Old Tappan, NJ: Fleming Revell Co., 1953. Pp. 133-134.

2 Ibid.

Please note that, in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.

 

 

Wrestling

 

Then Jesus told his disciples a parable to show them that they should always pray and not give up.

—Luke 18:1

I know very little about the sport of wrestling. I do know, however, that wrestlers must struggle from the beginning to the end of their match. In another sport, such as when a basketball team has 30 points more than their opponent, wrestlers can’t ever say: “OK. I’m ahead now, so the rest should be easy.” Until the very end of the match, wrestling requires persistence, perseverance, use of every muscle, and the application of every tactic that a wrestler knows.

In Genesis 32:24-32 we read the story of Jacob, terrified of the danger that lay ahead, for its effect on him and his family. First, Jacob prayed and asked God to protect him and his family. Then, he strategized a way to approach his estranged brother, Esau, with humility, represented by various gifts borne by Jacob’s servants.

The text then tells us that having sent his servants and family on ahead, Jacob remained where he was, waiting on an answer to his prayer. The answer came in the middle of the night. Suddenly, Jacob found himself wrestling with a man that he later learned was actually an angel of God. They wrestled all night in answer to Jacob’s prayer. In fact, even after daybreak came and the angel suggested they end the struggle, Jacob said to him: “I will not let you go unless you bless me.” Jacob wouldn’t stop until his adversary both blessed him and dislocated Jacob’s hip. Jacob strained every muscle until he received the blessing for which he had prayed.

In a New Testament passage found in Luke 18:1-8, Jesus took up a similar theme. He told the parable of a woman who kept coming to a judge who could care less about her case. She bothered him and struggled against his apathy until he gave in and gave her the justice for which she was asking.

The accounts of these kinds of prayers strengthen our faith and encourages us that in our persistence we, too, will receive victory from God in response to our prayers. God, unlike the apathetic judge, is not unjust, nor bothered by our persistence in coming to Him in prayer. But, sometimes, God withholds His blessing until we learn to how to wrestle with all that constrains us.

Andrew Murray, in his book, With Christ in the School of Prayer, dedicates a chapter to this parable of the Persistent Widow. He writes the following: ¹

The husbandman does indeed long for his harvest, but knows that it must have its full time of sunshine and rain, and has long patience … And it is the Father, in whose hands are the times and seasons, who alone knows the moment when the soul or the Church is ripened to that fulness of faith in which it can really take and keep the blessing. As a father who longs to have his only child home from school, and yet waits patiently till the time of training is completed, so it is with God and His children.

When we compare this kind of waiting to wrestling, we begin to see how we need the exercise of the struggle, the straining of every spiritual muscle, and the perseverance of all our human modalities—heart, soul, mind, and strength—to win the victory.

When we pray, we often must wait for an answer much longer than we at first expected. But, in response, we must take Jesus’s admonition to “pray and not give up!” If we do, He will come and will come “quickly” in accordance with His perfect will for us.

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1 Murray, Andrew. With Christ in the School of Prayer, Old Tappan N.J.: Fleming Revell Company, 1953. Pp.88-89. Please note that in each case, whenever a citation of any Copyrighted material is made within a post on this blog, such a citation is made strictly for Educational Fair Use illustration purposes only. All Rights Reserved by the original Copyright Holder.