Thanksgiving...at least for us!

Heb 13:3 Don't forget about those in prison. Suffer with them as though you were there yourself. Share the sorrow of those being mistreated, as though you feel their pain in your own bodies.  (NLT)

It's such a joyous time for those of us in America this week.  We share such a bounty with our families and friends that it's sometimes hard to talk about difficult or sad things.  In the middle of the turkey and stuffing and the pleasantries of this wonderful thanksgiving I am still going to  throw a bit of a wrench to keep things in perspective. This week, I got my Voice of the Martyrs calender and it reminded me that we have so much to be thankful for here. 

There is tremendous suffering going on in the world for many people of our faith.  February has a family thrown out of their home for their faith, March shows a young women reading an illegal Bible to her children.  May is so brutal because it shows a young women who suffered severe burns on 40% of her body and face because she wanted to worship Jesus. July tells of a terrified Christian family who was forced to flee their burning neighborhood in Pakistan.  Muslims burned 57 homes in a Christian colony there. (And we are opening the doors for this faith here like they are bring heaps of love and pounds of goodness.) 

I think most of you get the picture that I am trying to paint.  Tim Tebow, a Jesus-loving quarterback for the Denver Bronco's, is always tormented by the "worldly others" because he talks about Christ with such affection and warmth. There is so much to be thankful for if you are at peace right now - wherever you are.  This Thursday, remember that in a world context, we are the very few who really enjoy religious freedom.  There is a reason for that, I think it is called 'the founding fathers.' You know the ones who got the whole thanksgiving thing going in the first place.

sticks

I King 17:10

10 So he arose and went to Zarephath. And when he came to the gate of the city, behold, the widow woman was there gathering of sticks: and he called to her, and said, Fetch me, I pray thee, a little water in a vessel, that I may drink.  (KJV) When Elijah came to this little town, the home of a Gentile women, there was no reason to even imagine that it would become the site of one of his great miracles.  When he came through the gate, the woman was out gathering sticks in order to prepare a dinner for herself and her son. It would be a humble dinner and possibly their last dinner together because of the famine.  All she needed was some kindling and sticks for the fire.  Without those sticks there could be no fire, no last meal, no warmth, or light to enjoy some last simple comforts. She had to have those sticks. The fire and the sticks made everything else happen: dinner, heat, light, cooking.

Aren't we like the sticks this woman at Zarepath was gathering off the ground? In life we grow and become more proficient in things. We learn and acquire more talents and skills. These talents and gifts become our sticks.  Then God comes into our life and finds us out working and doing things of self interest in the world. To Him and His purposes, we are just laying around outside the gates of life. He comes along like the women and gathers us up for His purpose, wanting to use our talents - our sticks.  Just like her sticks are no good without the purpose of the fire, warmth, cooking or heat, so it is with us,  God comes along and begins to pick us up, take our talents and skills - our sticks - and puts the fire of the Holy Ghost in us and we begin to burn for Him and His purposes.  We become kingdom workers, evangelists, preachers, servants, lovers of God and are used by God to get something done.  Go burn bright for Him!

Spiritual Visions....when alone!

"This left Jacob all alone in the camp, and a man came and wrestled with him until the dawn." Gen. 32:22-24 NLT
Jacob was all by himself.  Alone to the world, alone in his fears, alone to family, alone to his thoughts.  It was at this time of being alone that we find such an engaging situation with God; a time when God revealed himself to Jacob.
When Jesus took three disciples up onto the mountain they were....alone, (What was that word again?) it was in this time that He brought them into close communion with Himself.  The disciples 'saw His glory'(Lu 9:32-33), and in Jacob's case, he wrestled with God.  When did all this happen? When they were alone.
Ok, lets do more. Peter is in Joppa, he goes up to the roof top, alone, and God appears to him. One time Jesus took the disciples to Mt Herman but most of the time He spent time with them on those sacred slopes of Mt Olives, "alone together".  Daniel had his "alone time" with God as he kneeled and prayed toward the East in his room amid the wicked living of idolatrous Babylon. Martin Luther found an "upper room" in Witternberg, a place that is still considered a sacred place today. The Apostle Paul found his upper room experience on the Street called Straight in Damascus. Ananias was in his place of meditation, alone, when the Lord visited him and told him to go take care of Paul and release him from his blindness.
In the book, "Streams in the Desert' Nov. 8th there is a reference to a man named Joseph Parker, who was an English Congregational preacher of the nineteenth century. He said "If we, as the church, do not get back to spiritual visions glimpses of heaven, and an awareness of a greater glory and life, we will lose our faith.  Our altar will become nothing but cold, empty stone, never blessed with a visit from heaven." And this is the world's need today-people who have seen their Lord.
I want to urge all my bloggers and all my friends that we must seek a place to come close to God. Maybe He will take you to a mountaintop, or the rooftop, a sunroom, or perhaps by the fireplace, a porch can work and so does the kitchen table - they become our 'upper room'. He took Peter who was stubborn, James and John who were the 'sons of thunder, he met Jacob who was deceitful, a treacherous Jew named Paul.
There is no reason why He will not take you.  They became available because they were in a spot where they were alone and they could hear him.  Find your alone place....and find Him.

Can you do this?

I want us to really be honest with ourselves today.  I'm going to ask you to open up and allow the Lord to point out anything that might be hurtful or dangerous to your life.  We're going to dig into the issue of unforgiveness. 

Before we do, tho, I want to establish the baseline of God’s expectations. As Christians, we're given a high standard when it comes to relationships. Romans 12:18 (NLT) reveals God’s mandate, “Do all that you can to live in peace with everyone.”

Live in peace with EVERYONE? Gee, that doesn't give us much wiggle room.

There is no disclaimer, no exception clause, no loophole, and no escape hatch.  I am to do everything possible to live in peace with everyone. 

One day, Peter, that impetuous disciple, engaged Jesus in a conversation around the topic of forgiveness.  He wanted to know where the boundary is.  When has he met his obligation for mercy and forgiveness?  So, he point-blank asks Jesus, “How many times shall I forgive my brother when he sins against me? Up to seven times?” (Now, Peter thinks he is being super-spiritual and going way past the call of duty to even suggest seven times.)

Jesus, the teacher that He is, comes right back at him with a shocking response, “not seven times, Peter, but seventy times seven.” And, then He launches into a story of timeless relevance about forgiveness.  

But for us today I want to put it in a 21^st century context. Here we have the

story of a huge, multi-billion dollar corporation.  One day the CEO, a very powerful and shrewd businessman gets a memo from the accounting department.  One of their vendors has run up an enormous debt. The CEO wants to know why this wasn’t discovered earlier.  Being the no-nonsense businessman that he is, he wants a meeting with this vendor, like yesterday! When the vendor gets word that the CEO has demanded a meeting, his heart sinks. He panics.  What is he going to do? He doesn’t have a chance of even being able to pay back a fraction of the debt.  He owes bu-ku bucks and his only chance is to plead for mercy.  But CEO’s like this one don’t get where they are by showing mercy. Anyway, he goes to corporate where he is ushered into the big man’s office.  He is immediately handed a folder detailing the run-up of his debt.  The CEO lets him know that this note is due in full....NOW! No more messing around, no more cat and mousing, no more arrears, he wants it.....Today! Immediately!

The big boss man also lets him know that they plan to come after him with the full force of the law.  They will seize all of his assets, liquidate his property and possessions. They will take him to the cleaners to recover as much as possible.  And, then they will prosecute and have him sentenced to prison.

In desperation, the man falls on his knees before this powerful, corporate CEO and he begs for mercy, for more time.  He promises to pay back every dime.  And, then, the unthinkable, the unimaginable, the unbelieveable happens. The Big Cheese is moved with unexpected kindness.  And in a moment of unbelievable compassion, he takes the file and tears up the debt.  He doesn’t grant him more time, he grants him a complete pardon.  I ask you....isn’t that wonderful.  Yeah, your breathing easier and your smiling uncontrollably, Ok enough....You can stop clapping and sit down.

As the debtor walks away from the office, tears are streaming down his face. The stranglehold of his debt has been released. He has a new lease on life and he can start to make plans again.

But the story isn’t over. As he stops to get gas on the way home, he bumps into a client who has been avoiding him because he owes a few hundred dollars and hasn’t paid him back.  So, that sense of relief and freedom of his canceled debt vanish and give way to resentment and anger.  So, with a sense of righteous indignation he demands immediate pay back of the few hundred dollars. And, he demands it now!  The client, caught off guard, begins to beg for more time and promises that he will pay back every dime.  Sound familiar? This guy will hear none of it.  He presses charges and has the client thrown in jail.

 Now, that story sparks a sense of outrage in us.  How could a man who had been forgiven so much not forgive someone who owes him so little? From this powerful story, I want to remind all of us that we enjoy two very powerful realities in our Christian faith. 

First, we have been released from God’s judgment and

Secondly, we are to release others from our judgment.  Someone has to break the cycle. Someone has to have the courage to say enough. All we are gaining is bitterness toward each other.  It is time for some of you to say ‘ENOUGH.” To utter the words “I forgive you, I release you from my judgment.”

"To forgive is to set a prisoner free, and discover the prisoner was you!"

Speak Sweeter

The mosquito has a long mouth called a proboscis.  On the proboscis are sharp cutting tools called stylets.  The stylets purpose is to cut open the victims skin. Then she pushes in her long mouth and injects saliva into the wound to increase the blood flow and sucks the victims blood.  She leaves a small wound that starts to itch within two minutes which is an allergic reaction to the mosquito's saliva.
   Our mouths can be even more hurtful than the mosquitoes.  Our tongues can be very sharp and cut deep like a knife.  The effects can last a lot longer than a mosquito bite and they can hurt much more.

There's a beautiful story of 'Speaking Sweetly,' found in Luke 13:10-17. The Bible says Jesus is teaching in the synagogue one day when He saw a woman sitting in the audience. She had been crippled and bent over for the last 18 years, and was unable to stand up straight. The eyes of Jesus locked with hers and his heart was moved with compassion so He called her forward and reached out to touch her. When He does, the Bible says, she was instantly healed. She stands up straight and begins praising God.  What a wonderful moment.  Yet, in the middle of all the excitement and praise, the leader of the synagogue steps forward and blasts Jesus for healing on the Sabbath. When Jesus defends his actions, he references the woman he had just healed,  but this time when He speaks of that lady he doesn't call her "woman," this time Jesus calls her a "daughter of Abraham." He doesn't see her as an elderly, crippled, woman. He sees her as a child of the great patriarch of the Jewish people, Abraham.

I have this picture of her walking home that day...she is standing up straight, feels ten feet tall, and is seeing things she hasn't seen in years. Going through her thoughts, ringing like the sounds of a bell, are those life and value building words "daughter of Abraham." Those were sweet speaking, life-giving words, Jesus spoke of her. 

Verbal grenades and shrapnel have left multitudes of scars on a lot of people, haven't they? They became like mosquito bites and caused us to hurt. You could still be scratching that irritation even now, maybe, huh?!  

 Jesus lesson in that story is so appropriate for all of us today. He spoke life-giving words to that woman and when He did; when He spoke sweetly, those words brought healing.  Now go and do the same!

Someday

Maybe the most dangerous word in the English language is the word 'some day.' Many of us here suffer from the "Some day Syndrome."  Some day I'll make things right with my mom or dad.  Someday I'll take that trip.  Someday I'll have more time for the kids.  Someday I'll build or paint or make that whatever. Someday I'll talk to my friend about Jesus.  Someday I'll go back to school.  In fact, why don't you fill in the blank I have provided for you.  Someday I will ___________________.  Ok. I hear you. If you can't think of what you would do 'some day,' just ask a friend, or spouse to fill in the blank for you.  What do you always say you will do some day?   Maybe for years you have been living with the illusion of 'some day." You sincerely plan to get around to it.  The problem with "some day," is that it can rob us of "this day."
We are all prone to procrastinate, aren't we?  There is a web site called procrastination.  If you type in the web address, when the site comes up, all that was there was a flashing sign that said, "coming soon." Well what can you expect from a site about procrastination?
Sometimes we have to live life with a little more urgency.  Living with urgency doesn't mean living faster or busier.  Frantic does not equal urgent!  To live with a sense of urgency means to live with an awareness
that you aren't promised "some day."  It means being alert to the fact that the clock is ticking.  No matter how careful you are; no matter how good your car's safety equipment is; no matter how much you 'play it safe'" or 'cover your tracks', 'touch all the bases,' or 'dot the eyes and cross the t's', there is still no guarentee. You see, life is fragile, uncertain, and in so many ways, it is out of your control. We need to live for today because tomorrow is not promised to us.  Think about it dear one, we asked Jesus into our heart to cover us from our past, (you know BC...Before Christ) and we have to have God's care and providence to cover our future. So, if our past is covered by God's grace and mercy and our future is covered by his care and providence where should we live life? We should live in the NOW.  We should live in the present, because that is really all we can do anything about. So our challenge is not 'some day," our challenge is to 'embrace today,' to seize the gift of this day, to live for the moments, we need to spend every hour with a sense of full appreciation for the time that we have.  And let us all turn the last page of our life and see that immortal fairytale phrase, "and they all lived happily ever after."

Unjustified Reaction

The beautiful thing about the Bible is that it tells the story meant to be told whether it's good or bad, courageous or cowardly, charming or repulsive, gentle or violent.

Two brothers fight and one is murdered; a man rapes a sister and the brothers devise a scheme to kill all the men in the town; a King looks at a women and decides an indiscretion is better then self discipline; a whole army is destroyed in a sea, Samson is a womanizer, bears come out of the woods and tear apart naughty kids.  It is the same in the New Testament, Herod bloodies some babies of Nazareth. A couple steals from the church and they are carried out dead.  I would be remise if I left out the Apostle Peter and how he cut off Malchus’s ear. It was one of the most magnificent miracles of Jesus before His death. It was the last divine surgery performed by Jesus. The event concerning Malchus was the climax of a long series of beautiful and gracious healing miracles; but still it is a very troublesome text.  An example of an unjustified reaction.

When Jesus did his first miracle at Cana, it was in the most joyous surroundings of a wedding but here in the garden of Gethsemane, this last miracle was done in the shadow of Calvary. It was a time and a place of sorrow, travail and anxiety of the soul.

Just like the comment made with his first miracle of turning the water into wine,(“every man at the beginning sets forth good wine, then that which is worse: but you have kept the good wine until now”, the same can be said about the miracles of Jesus.  He kept the best miracle, until the last.

There are four(4) very nice lessons concerning this particular miracle I want you to consider. 

First, when Peter drew his sword it was a violent response to a difficult situation.  It was the wrong thing to do.  Jesus never preached power through a sword!

Second, Peter made a huge mistake with that sword and Jesus had to repair the damage for that wrong. Jesus has been repairing the wrongs done by us, the church, ever since.  We goof up and still today He is making reparations to manage the damage.

Thirdly, it was an example of Christian forgiveness. Now at the end of His ministry, Jesus gave a perfect example of how men ought to love their enemies. The heaviest burden you will ever carry is the burden of an unforgiving heart. When you have an unforgiving heart it is a burden to which you cannot ask God to help you with because it is so contrary to the Spirit of the Lord.

Fourth, in the book of John, Jesus tells his disciples that he was to drink of, 'the cup of His Father'.  In other words, Jesus would do only what His Father's will was. If He would have picked up that sword it would have been His own will and not the heart of God.

So we see that Jesus had a choice to make didn't he?  What did He do? Jesus healed the soldier's ear and continued on in the permissive will of His Father to the cross. 

Which do you choose to use in response to things that happen in your life? A sword or a cup?