Taking Time to Smell the Roses

 

Friday, June 30, 2023

“Be still, and know that I am God!  I will be honored by every nation.  I will be honored throughout the world.”  Psalm 46:10

Each year at annual conference the several days at Lake Junaluska was enjoyable and inspiring in the mountain setting of Western North Carolina.  There was one opportunity I always loved, and the half-week stay would have been empty if I’d missed walking the half-mile of roses.  

The variety of sizes, colors, and textures, combined with the astonishing mixture of beautiful delicate scents, are always a welcome contrast to the sturdy ruggedness of mountains and lake…you cannot walk that half-mile without stopping to take it in and dwell on the majesty of God’s handiwork.  Breathing-in the crisp morning air, and seeing the dew-kissed petals of God’s creation, is one of life’s wonderful joys.  It’s hardly a mystery why we all know that familiar phrase:  take time to smell the roses!

It's also no surprise to me that today marks an end to the last 18 years serving as a pastor to United Methodist churches, and the 25 years before that as a Baptist minister.  I am retiring from vocational serving, and entering serving for the pure joy of being obedient to He who has been faithful and my Rock every day of my life, including that first nine months when my Mom carried me around.

I have been expecting this day to come, and since it is now here, I can share the mixed emotions that flood my soul, as surely as the beauty and scents of the Junaluska Rose Walk. 

One of those emotions is, of course, sadness.  The many challenges and joys of serving as pastor cannot be placed on a scale to see which outweigh the other.  Despite the hard times, even if they overwhelmed the good and great times, I would not trade loving what God called me to do these last 45 years, ever since a pastor, long overdue for vacation, invited an inexperienced church member to fill his pulpit while he was gone.  I had promised God I would never say “no” to an opportunity to proclaim His word.  It’s been a ride!  And God has blessed, never failing to teach, help, heal, and direct me all along the trail.  The sadness I feel is that this chapter on what I have loved so deeply is now closed.  And that leads me to the second emotion at the other end of the spectrum:  I feel great joy!  That joy isn’t relief from the pressure, or the weight of caring for others 24/7/365; rather it is in knowing, with all my flaws, sermon-flops, missed opportunities, and times of never knowing the next step…God has it all sorted-out.  And, much like Joseph, the 13^th son of Jacob (Israel) who was sold into slavery by his brothers, in the end, faced with either revenge on his evil brothers, or forgiveness, God enabled Joseph to figure it all out just what God had in mind.  Here’s what he said to them:

You intended to harm me, but God intended it all for good. He brought me to this position so I could save the lives of many people.  Genesis 50:20

My joy is that I trusted God for it all, and that trust wasn’t wasted!  He will use all of it, because God’s Word never comes back to him empty-handed![1]

For You Today 

Smelling the roses (for me) is going to mean thinking-back, evaluating, and just plain resting.  There will be a little golf, some aimless mountain roads to drive, just to take-in life along the way, spending quiet time with my bride.  I’m going to be still, and know He is God.  I’m also going to hit the pause-button on publishing Rocky Road Devotion for July, and much of what I have been doing as a pastor these near 5 decades.  Going to smell those roses…be back in August.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day! 

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] It is the same with my word.  I send it out, and it always produces fruit.  It will accomplish all I want it to, and it will prosper everywhere I send it.  Isaiah 55:11

Searching for JOY - Part 5

Thursday, June 29, 2023

And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.  So it is right that I should feel as I do about all of you, for you have a special place in my heart . You share with me the special favor of God, both in my imprisonment and in defending and confirming the truth of the Good News.  Philippians 1:6-7

Being assured of some things in life is a necessity.  Without a certain amount of confidence you cannot function like God intended.  What are you absolutely certain about?  Death and taxes?  Government corruption?  Long Sunday sermons? 

What really important things are you certain about?  You know, stuff that will still matter a hundred years from now.  Paul was convinced about salvation.

And I am convinced that nothing can ever separate us from God’s love. Neither death nor life, neither angels nor demons, neither our fears for today nor our worries about tomorrow—not even the powers of hell can separate us from God’s love.  No power in the sky above or in the earth below—indeed, nothing in all creation will ever be able to separate us from the love of God that is revealed in Christ Jesus our Lord.  Romans 8:38-39

Are you that certain of heaven?  If you are, let me remind you that heaven is a place better than any other – and it's yours!  Listen, if that doesn't produce genuine joy in your soul, your joy bone is broken!

There's a certain joy about participating together in kingdom work.  There is a camaraderie that develops when people work together.  Now, there’s no doubt that you can certainly experience cooperative spirit and a family atmosphere in your job, civic work, or helping a neighbor.  But, there is nothing better than kingdom work, sharing in God's vineyard.  The reason is that we not only participate together, we participate together in the grace of God.

This letter to the Philippians:

·       is a call to the community of faith (away from our isolation);

·       it is a call to self-denying serving (away from our selfish ways);

·       it is a call to standing for Christ-likeness and Godly living (despite today's pluralistic trends)…

·       it is a call to respect and cooperation between men and women of God, and all persons – a partnership in the gospel. 

·       and it is, thankfully, a call away from Mudville – a place of no joy, into the matchless joy of the Kingdom of God. 

And there we would find our purpose, our peace, our prayers in partnership, our persuasion, our participation in the gospel, and our joy ...real joy!

For You Today 

Let’s end our time today with a prayer:

Father, often we are so flat and joyless.  That’s so different than what Jesus told his first disciples…that he had come and shared with them so that his joy would be in them, and their joy would be complete. 

Jesus, talk to us like that; place your joy in us – fill us so that it’s bubbling-up from within, and running all over anybody we meet. 

We pray in the Name of the Father, Because of the Son, Cooperating with the Spirit…Amen!

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Searching for JOY - Part 4

Wednesday, June 28, 2023

May God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ give you grace and peace.  Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  

Philippians 1:2-3

We left off yesterday with discovering a sense of purpose for your life.  That is an intregal step to experiencing the joy of peace through prayer.

Here is a marriage Paul performed - the words grace and peace.  Grace is the Greek word, peace is the Hebrew.  The order is theological; grace comes first (from God’s forgiveness), and then the gift of peace follows, flooding our soul with joy. 

If we read our times correctly, many people are looking for peace, but are looking in all the wrong places. 

·       Politicians negotiate treaties, supposing that peace is the result. 

·       We look to police to keep the peace (their title is "peace officer"), supposing that legal order passes for inner peace (joy). 

·       The popularity of drugs shows us the craving for peace, as people attempt to gain escape velocity from the war (within and without) by getting high for a few hours. 

The high that is really needed is grace.  You cannot experience peace until you've known God’s grace; both are a gift from God.  There can never be a friendship with God, peace that passes understanding, until there is a settlement of the wages of sin.  The joy of peace comes after the gift of grace through the cross.  The order is important.  Peace comes after the grace.  That is the prelude to having joy when you pray, because prayer can never be heard in Heaven by those who have not settled the sin issue first.

Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.  Philippians 1.4-5 

The Philippian church had been faithful.  Their gifts, prayers, and encouragement had followed and undergirded Paul throughout his ministry.  It is wonderful to have faithful people who love you, and whom you can count on in the lean times to lift you in prayer to the Father. 

For Paul it was like watching his children grow up and outdo him.  My father came to all my high school football games.  Both Mom and Dad were there at all the important times in my life.  In a way only a person who knows he's loved can understand, I do understand that they rooted for me to be everything God wants me to be.  And they kept me in prayer daily; joy does that.

For You Today 

That’s the partnership in the gospel – the joy of casting your prayers with those you love and work with in Christ’s mission.  Paul's partnership with the Philippian church was joyfully connected at the prayer-joint.  Theirs was a partnership of prayer.  Frankly, there is no other way to serve Him.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Searching for JOY - Part 3

Tuesday, June 27, 2023

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.  And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.  Philippians 1:3-6

There’s a question that must be answered before leaving all the “Mudville” stuff:

Who are the most joyful people?

It stands to reason that believers who practice their faith would be the most joyful.  As participating partners in the faith we share together the mystery and splendor of the gospel ... and that produces some things:

JOY OF PURPOSE

Paul called himself a servant.  The word literally means “slave”.  That doesn’t sound too joyful, but in ancient times a servant could come and go as he pleased, within certain limits.  A slave, however, was a lifetime property of his master.  Paul humbly addressed himself as a slave of Jesus Christ. 

It takes a great deal of humility to enslave yourself to another.  What can make a person do something like that?  Paul sensed that being In Christ was greater than anything else life offered.  Paul was a "mainstream mover and shaker" of the highest order!  Then he met Jesus on the road to Damascus, and he discovered all that self stuff was empty – empty – empty!  Paul had been climbing social, political, and personal ladders, but compared to the loveliness of Christ, all that personal fulfillment stuff paled, lost its attractiveness, and faded into oblivion. 

Paul used the phrase In Christ or In the Lord some 150 times in his epistles.  Much like a fish lives in water, Paul could feel the close, comforting, compelling presence of Jesus in every waking moment.  Paul had given himself over to the cause of Christ – it had become his purpose.  There is something unique and joyful about people who are driven from within, in a noble cause that is from above. 

In the novel, The Man Who Lost Himself^[1] a detective is trailing a man in Paris.  He wants to know if the man he was after stopped at a certain hotel.  He went to the clerk at the desk and gave his own name, asking if he was there.  He knew he wasn't registered; he wanted to have the clerk search the register so he could peek!  But, to his surprise, the clerk looked up and said, Yes, he has been looking for you.  He's in room #40; I'll have you shown right up.  What could the detective do?  He followed the clerk to the room, whereupon opening the door, the man came face to face with another man who looked remarkably like himself, just 20 years older.

The story behind that story is that there is a person out there whom you must face someday.  It is the person you're becoming.  How is that happening?  The purpose to which you give yourself will define the person you will become.  Paul gave himself to Christ as Lord and Master – slave for life! 

For You Today 

The spiritual principle is that the slave will do the Master's will, and in the doing, become like the Master.  In Christ, Paul's life was purpose-filled, purposeful; he called it the joy set before him.  A partnership in the gospel gives joy of purpose.  Tomorrow we will look past purpose to peace and prayer.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1]Sitwell, Osbert, THE MAN WHO LOST HIMSELF, (St Clair Shores, Mich, Scholarly Press, 1971)

Searching for JOY - Part 2

Monday, June 26, 2023

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.  And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.      Philippians 1:3-6

We ended yesterday’s thoughts with the question:  Can you really experience joy?  We can all probably agree on the definition of joy; the main question is:  what produces it, and how can we have joy in our everyday life, continuously? 

I want to show you two realities about joy – first, the characteristics of our contemporary culture’s stab at joy; then, tomorrow – the Apostle Paul’s thinking. 

Culture Characteristic #1 – We are ALONE

Philosopher Thomas Wolfe said, Loneliness is and always has been the central and inevitable experience of every man.^[1]  In the contemporary scene we are isolated behind our air-conditioned walls, transfixed moth-to-light-like, to our blaring computer games on Smartphones and DVD players; we are protected from interruption by our straight-to-voicemail.  Isolated from, and insulated against human touch, we find out about ourselves from the nightly news.  And the news is lonely!  There's little joy in that Mudville.

Culture Characteristic #2. We are ASSERTIVE

From the first stamping of little, two-year-old feet that don't want to go where mother said, to the constant mashing of the horn buttons on freeways, assertiveness is the America we've come to know and despise.

 Sacrifice and service have become foreign words in America; corporate raids and takeovers make billions, and no longer does it matter what happens to the person on the assembly line, or the family having to stand in line for a handout.

Culture Characteristic #3. We are AMBIVALENT

Ambivalence is a strange development for a land of such passionate beginnings.  America was born in the hearts of people with fire in their bellies.  There was a sense of right and wrong; of good and evil.  Today’s culture is as dependent upon the direction of the prevailing winds, as on any code of morals or values.  A newspaper columnist pointed out how this slide towards ambivalence has made us a nation of orphans where child-guidance is concerned:

We are infinitely more comfortable dealing with each other in the gray vastness of 'how does it feel for you?' than in terms of right and wrong.  One look at the status of our children and we know that what we are doing isn't working.  Children need right and wrong.^[2]

One of the reasons our children take drugs, take little interest in life, and take other students’ lives is that they see no firmness of commitment to an ethic, ideals, or to each other.  Options dominate our thinking. 

·       If I don't like this circumstance I'll change it. 

·       If I can't change it I'll go elsewhere, where it feels better to me. 

I like you alright, but if you do something that displeases me I just might 'option you out' with a .357 magnum – or a divorce -- or an abortion – or some cocaine – or even just a glance.  Hey!  I can take you or leave you, dude! 

For You Today 

Alone…Assertive…and Ambivalent is our culture.  But we were created for better than that; we are hard-wired for community and its’ blessing…more tomorrow.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] Thinkexist.com

[2]Edwards, Drew, Article, VIEWPOINT, (Jacksonville, Fl, The Florida Times-Union, Oct 3,1992)

 

Searching for JOY - Part 1

Friday, June 23, 2023

Every time I think of you, I give thanks to my God.  Whenever I pray, I make my requests for all of you with joy, for you have been my partners in spreading the Good News about Christ from the time you first heard it until now.  And I am certain that God, who began the good work within you, will continue his work until it is finally finished on the day when Christ Jesus returns.  Philippians 1:3-6

The classic poem Casey At the Bat^[1] tells the story of Mudville, a little town at the turn of the 20^th century, where baseball is everything.  The Mudville team is losing by two runs, with two outs, and everyone is dejected.  People start leaving the stands. 

There is little hope because two of the worst players are scheduled to bat next; certainly one of them will make the last out.  But, against all odds, both get a hit, and are safely on base.  They represent runs that will tie the score, and now it is the turn at bat for the local baseball hero and legend, The Mighty Casey!

With every confidence in their man, the people anxiously await Casey’s heroics.  But he lets the first two pitches go by without so much as a wave of his bat.  The next pitch will tell all.  An out would be unthinkable with Casey; certainly it will be a home run and a win for Mudville.  The scene is set…two outs, two on, two runs behind…One pitch will create happiness, joy unrestrained….or…

They saw his face grow stern and cold, 

they saw his muscles strain, 

and they knew that Casey wouldn't let 

that ball go by again.  

The sneer is gone from Casey's lip, 

his teeth are clenched in hate; 

He pounds with cruel violence his bat upon the plate.  

And now the pitcher holds the ball, and now he lets it go, 

and now the air is shattered by the force of Casey's blow.  

     Oh, somewhere in this favored land the sun is shining bright; 

     the band is playing somewhere, and somewhere hearts are light, 

     and somewhere men are laughing, and somewhere children shout; 

     But there is no joy in Mudville –mighty Casey has struck out.

If you ask 100 people what it means to have “joy” you might get about two-billion different viewpoints, everything from Rocky Road ice cream, to balancing the checkbook, or their dog’s latest cute trick.  Most will give you some variation of the dictionary definition, the emotion evoked by well-being….^[2]  That is not far from what Paul said to the Philippian church when he wrote to say he’s praying with joy.  The ancient Greek word he uses is χαρά (kharah'), calm delight^[3] 

Calmly-delighted in the inner man; content, having a sense of well-being!  No matter what storms may blow around me, I am at peace inside!  That is so different from what we see in contemporary culture, where circumstances – your health, friends, position, toys, and affluence –seem to dictate whether you can experience joy, or ever be happy at all.

For You Today 

Well, can you?  Can you really experience joy?  We can all probably agree on the definition of joy; the main question is:  what produces it, and how can we have joy in our everyday life?  Stay tuned…Apostle Paul is going to unfold the answers.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road; have a blessed day!

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  Go HERE to explore and dig a little bit deeper.                                        

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©  

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[1] Ernest Lawrence ThayerÓ

[2] http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/joy

[3] Strong’s Hebrew and Greek Dictionaries© 2003, QuickVerse