When God Plants a Vineyard

Friday, October 27, 2023

I will lead blind Israel down a new path, guiding them along an unfamiliar way.  I will brighten the darkness before them and smooth out the road ahead of them.  Yes, I will indeed do these things; I will not forsake them.  Isaiah 42:16

In 1981 Elizabeth and I stood in a chapel service at seminary, along with 1,200 other students and faculty.  The preacher had extended a call to follow Christ in mission without reserve – no matter where it was God wanted us to go, and despite whatever conditions we would encounter.  Even the song we sang was Wherever He Leads, I’ll Go.  We responded to that call, promising to do just that!

Now, it’s great to have a mountaintop experience when you’re headed for the valley; it helps you remember and hold-onto what (and Who) your focus should be.  At that time, our vision of serving Christ as a pastoral family was kind of a Norman Rockwell painting – a snapshot, frozen in time, with pastor, wife and three kids.  Thirty years later we were supposed to still be in the same location, having developed loving relationships with the same people in the same town.  Those plans were  MY plans!  In our naivety, however, we never imagined that the plans and pathway of ministry could change so dramatically and so often!

Fast forward forty-two years, eleven churches, nine grandchildren, and four great-grandchildren….Elizabeth and I are just a few months into full retirement, having completed another first (and only) year with a new church family.  For the last four decades we’ve lived finding out how life turns on a dime!  There have been moments when we felt like the tree in the picture…uprooted, laid-down to rot.  But in those times, as we waited for God to make sense for us out of challenging and changing circumstances, new growth was always the result!

The Lord has led us into different (and unexpected) places, but His Word has never varied, His promises always faithfully-true, and we have been blessed more than if our plans had been followed to the letter.  Truth be told, I’m glad God used His plans instead of mine.

I planned to continue writing this devotional in retirement until God offered a new path on which to grow and serve.  I believe that time is here, and it is time for that new path.  So, to be obedient to our original promise to follow wherever He leads, for us future ministry will be focused in two ways:

1.    Helping in the local church where Elizabeth and I worship

2.    Taking the lessons I’ve learned (and sometimes just survived as they unfolded)…and forming them into some pages that will (hopefully) be an encouragement for pastors who are just starting-out, or looking to refocus for the next season. 

In Isaiah’s words, I feel like blind Israel with God taking me by the hand to show me a new pathway.  But that is the exciting nature of being a follower of Jesus Christ in a changing universe.  Like the tree in the picture, it looks like it is over, done…totally-finished.  But God specializes in bringing new life where death thought it was going to be in charge.  When God plants a vineyard there’s going to be fruit!

For You Today 

If you’re new to Rocky Road, or if you’ve been there since May 7, 2013, when it started, thank you for your interest, prayers, and encouragement to me along the way.  May God bless you to be a fruitful blessing to others is our prayer.

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from a friend’s Facebook page (original source unknown)

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

A Little On the Dumb Side!

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff.  Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe.  Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you.  Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose.  Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”  So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff.  Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant.  When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!  When Moses brought all the staffs out from the Lord’s presence, he showed them to the people.  Each man claimed his own staff.  And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels.  This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”  So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.  Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed!  We are dead!  We are ruined!  Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the Lord dies.  Are we all doomed to die?”  Numbers 17:1-13

If there is one consistent theme in Scripture about the people of God it’s their inconsistency (with a few notable exceptions).  It’s like that New Year’s resolution you make about eating less, working-out more, and avoiding driving past Krispy Kreme; the vow lasts until the next temptation arrives.  And so it goes.

The next temptation for Israel was always grumbling about the way they were led; the target of their grumbling was all about the leader, Moses, a humble man. But over and again God had demonstrated Moses was the leader.  Even with a dead stick budding, blooming, and producing ripe almonds, all in the space of one night[1], demonstrating God’s leadership choice, God’s gracious miracle only produced fear in the hearts of the people.  And fear will destroy any faith!

Such is the point of this account.  Time after time God’s people were in a crisis and God rescued them from danger; each time there was immediate relief, but the return to fear and grumbling (with its accompanying unbelief, or lack of faith) arrived within nanoseconds. 

And so it goes…even today.

This problem is not a particularly Jewish thing; it’s endemic to humanity.  It started with the first sin in the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve took a bite, realized their separation from God, heard the Lord approaching, and they hid!  They hid because of their shame, knowing (as fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil suggests), that they were now less than they were created to be, and had separated themselves from God.  And what were they hiding from?  The Lord, the solution to their problem.  And what did they do about it when busted for their sins?  They offered excuses trying to deflect their responsibility to others:

      Eve:  The serpent tricked me 

      Adam:  Lord, the woman YOU made, gave me that bite.  And so it goes.

For You Today 

The question of the day (and of the ages) is…when we’ve seen how that worked-out for Adam and Eve, why do we join them in that foolishness?  All it produces is more fear and grumbling.  When fear arises, it kills your faith.  Wouldn’t it save a myriad of trouble and heartache to live in faith, and let it destroy your fears?

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] It takes one year after a bush has matured (3-4 years) to produce the first crop – see Nav Athwal article Forbes

GONE!

Tuesday, October 24, 2023

Then a mighty angel picked up a boulder the size of a huge millstone.  He threw it into the ocean and shouted, “Just like this, the great city Babylon will be thrown down with violence and will never be found again.  The sound of harps, singers, flutes, and trumpets will never be heard in you again.  No craftsmen and no trades will ever be found in you again.  The sound of the mill will never be heard in you again.  The light of a lamp will never shine in you again.  The happy voices of brides and grooms will never be heard in you again.  For your merchants were the greatest in the world, and you deceived the nations with your sorceries.  In your streets flowed the blood of the prophets and of God’s holy people and the blood of people slaughtered all over the world.”  Revelation 18:21-24

“Babylon” is more than a once-great city, dynasty, or nation.  Rather its’ legacy is that of what happens to any self-aggrandizing person or group that opposes God.  Ancient Babylon (located near Baghdad in modern Iraq) as a cultural center four thousand years ago, lasted about 30 centuries.  In Daniel and Second Kings we find Nebuchadnezzar, a ruthless, wicked man, who conquered Jerusalem more than once, and who destroyed Solomon’s temple.  He presented himself as the true divine, above every human or their gods.  Daniel, a humble Jew, taken from his homeland to serve Nebuchadnezzar as a slave, interpreted dreams for the king.  Daniel told him the one, true God of all would humble the king, and it happened immediately.  Nebuchadnezzar wandered the hills and surrounding areas of Babylon for 7 years as a wild beast, eating grass.  When he finally came to his senses (because God restored him), he gave honor and glory to Daniel’s God.[1] 

Today’s passage is one of many in Revelation that is used to describe the End Times, when God’s judgment will be poured-out on earth.  Babylon is an accurate symbol (of sorts) for all who opposed God in this life.  In a single name the aged Apostle John records the undoing of humankind’s evil of all time, and the recreating of God’s paradise.  When the judgment comes, portrayed as a huge boulder thrown-down from Heaven, Babylon, the mighty conqueror of all men, is simply….dismissed, no more…GONE!

While there is a great deal of mystery and wonder around Biblical prophecy, there is also a much greater value in the warning which it offers.  Jesus, in detailing for his disciples some of the circumstances which mark the time when God’s judgment would be imminent, tells us it is fruitless to spend our time trying to create a timeline, or set a date for when this will happen.  Jesus said it WILL HAPPEN, and our best response to that is to be ready WHENEVER IT HAPPENS! 

Heaven and earth will disappear, but my words will never disappear.  “However, no one knows the day or hour when these things will happen, not even the angels in heaven or the Son himself.  Only the Father knows.  And since you don’t know when that time will come, be on guard!  Stay alert!  Mark 13:31-33

For You Today 

It would be simple to look around, particularly at the events happening in Jerusalem and Gaza these weary, war-torn days.  There’s more than enough evidence of what Jesus warned would precede His next advent.  But Scripture doesn’t change…we don’t know it’s now…but we don’t know it isn’t.

So…today, whatever happens, don’t wander-around like Nebuchadnezzar eating grass.  Start your day feasting on God’s Word, and give Him all the glory.

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] For a lengthy article on this background see Wikipedia on Babylon

Good Times - Bad Times

Monday, October 23, 2023

O God, you are my God; I earnestly search for you.  My soul thirsts for you; my whole body longs for you in this parched and weary land where there is no water.  I have seen you in your sanctuary and gazed upon your power and glory.  Your unfailing love is better than life itself; how I praise you!  I will praise you as long as I live, lifting up my hands to you in prayer.  You satisfy me more than the richest feast.  I will praise you with songs of joy.  I lie awake thinking of you, meditating on you through the night.  Because you are my helper, I sing for joy in the shadow of your wings.  I cling to you; your strong right hand holds me securely.  

Psalm 63:1-8

If you’ve lived three minutes on this planet you know there is a raging war which cannot be seen.  The battlefield is within, and the fighting is intense every day.  Like the results of a physical conflict, you can see the results of the mental and spiritual battle:  deep furrowed lines on faces, matching the hollowed, empty eyes staring at nothing in particular.  Substances, meant to relieve pain caused by the struggle, have replaced the inner determination to keep breathing, marching, or thinking.  It is survival mode; it is not pretty, a void-like existence…not living. 

There are enough personal stories to illustrate that struggle; we need not point a finger at anyone to understand the reality of abyss-darkness, the place where those who enter must, as Dante penned it, abandon all hope. 

All humans experience fear, loneliness, heartbreak, and grief.  In that internal pain, we tend to dwell on the worst-case scenario…the place where we find ourselves beyond hope, with only the memory of past “good times”.  The memory of “bad times” in the past, drag with them the dread they’ll return.  Strains of the song Never Again play in our head, an unspoken vow of “doing better”.

King David knew, perhaps on the most intense level, both privately and publicly, the heights and depths of both good and bad “times”.  He was a national hero in Jerusalem, favorite to the king, hated and hunted by the same king.  He won battles often, and failed the simple choice of faithfulness, enough to lose a kingdom.  David had known hero and zero in his life, the products of wisdom and foolishness.  He’d been up and down, in and out, and understood the fact that power, riches, pleasure, and pride were (as his son, Solomon would later write[1]) vanity…empty…a languishing, disappearing vapor of hope-turned to despair. 

Now, if this sounds unfamiliar, like it only happens to other people, just hold on; you’re not smarter than Solomon, or better looking and popular than David.  You’ve just not lived long enough, or sinned big enough…yet.  When that time gets here, you don’t have to email or text me about what to do.  David’s inner thoughts, and what he did, how he prayed, and how he depended on God are wiser, better, and stronger than any advice I’d have.  All I would do – all I could do is point you to Psalm 63, and say:  Do what he said!

For You Today 

So-called good times and bad times are part of the human experience. Each person must deal with pain, and enjoy what pleasure God gives us, and leave the balancing of it to Heaven’s lovingkindness and grace.

If you have just come through a night when all you could do is lay awake, opening the painful wounds of your heart to God with tears and that old friend of a question on your mind…WHY, God….Why?...then you’re not far from the kingdom, my friend.  Keep asking, seeking, knocking…His care is near; He’s got you, and His grip is secure!

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] “Everything is meaningless,” says the Teacher, “completely meaningless!”  Ecclesiastes 1:2

Leading By Circular Logic

Friday, October 20, 2023

And now, a word to you who are elders in the churches.  I, too, am an elder and a witness to the sufferings of Christ.  And I, too, will share in his glory when he is revealed to the whole world.  As a fellow elder, I appeal to you:  Care for the flock that God has entrusted to you.  Watch over it willingly, not grudgingly—not for what you will get out of it, but because you are eager to serve God.  Don’t lord it over the people assigned to your care, but lead them by your own good example.  And when the Great Shepherd appears, you will receive a crown of never-ending glory and honor.  In the same way, you who are younger must accept the authority of the elders.  And all of you, dress yourselves in humility as you relate to one another, for “God opposes the proud but gives grace to the humble.”  1 Peter 5:1-5

Apostle Peter addresses elders, leaders in God’s church, with instruction on how to lead.  This instruction is mostly about the attitude of a leader.  Note the words the big fisherman uses about the tenderness with which a church leader leads the flock entrusted to him:  care…watch over…lead by example.  And then Peter closes the door on the matter with the fact that humility covers all of it.

There are two caveats we must add to this leadership seminar of Peter’s:

1.    Leaders cannot lead this way unless followers follow this way.

2.    True followers will follow if leaders lead this way.

Every instruction God ever gave is predicated on the truth of God’s creation.  Those upon whom God places His call to lead in the church must respond to God’s call by leading selflessly, caring for the flock without pursuing personal gain.  Those who follow must respond, expecting to follow.  It’s a form of “circular logic” and requires trust (faith) in all directions.

Circular logic (or circular reasoning) is most often defined in a pejorative, or belittling sense.  With those for whom logic is the only acceptable pathway, the idea of faith must never cloud the issue.  That person would say about God, prove to me that God exists.  Believers answer that without faith (defined as a blind-leap without proof) it is impossible.  But if you believe (trust) He is real, you will have all the proof you need.  Another way to express that is from the atheist view:

An atheist says:  I won’t believe in God until I see Him.

A believer responds:  You’ll never see Him until you believe.

This same issue is true in the Leader/Follower issue Peter presented in his epistle:

Skeptical Christian:  I won’t trust or follow unless that leader is proven worthy

God’s Word replies: Have faith and by your faith I’ll make that leader worthy.

For You Today 

Is faith a form of circular logic? 

Absolutely!  

It begins with:  

In the beginning God…

It flows through:  

For God so loved…that He gave…

It ends full circle with:  

Even so, come Lord Jesus…

Circular logic may make the hair stand up on the back of a scientist’s or philosopher’s neck, but faith begins in the heart of a human being, created by God, for His glory and our good.  It won’t float in this world’s view, but for those who respond in faith, they will see God face to face.

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

WHAT?

Thursday, October 19, 2023

Now, dear brothers and sisters, regarding your question about the special abilities the Spirit gives us.  I don’t want you to misunderstand this.  You know that when you were still pagans, you were led astray and swept along in worshiping speechless idols.  So I want you to know that no one speaking by the Spirit of God will curse Jesus, and no one can say Jesus is Lord, except by the Holy Spirit.  1 Corinthians 12:1-3

The church at Corinth was particularly gifted by God; it seems all the gifts of the Spirit were in full-blown operation there, and the church was becoming a seedbed of confusion as to what was acceptable behavior.  So Paul reminded them of the dividing-line between holy and hellish.  On that line stands Jesus Christ.  Those who speak/act with impunity towards even the name of Christ do not belong to the Kingdom.

We can often misread people, and whether they’re on the Christ-side of that line.  We mistake the nature of their gift, and what God has called them to be, or how God has called them to serve.  The Great Generation (my parents were in this group, born in the early 20^th century) gave birth to the Baby Boomers following the second World War.  Both of those generations were as different as can be.  Long hair on guys, holes in jeans, and Rock ‘n Roll didn’t set well with my parent’s generation; bodies covered in tattoos, and gender-neutral/same-sex everything doesn’t set well with mine.  But (as Apostle Paul might say) the gifts and Spirit are unchanging and not up for debate.  We should not miss that!

When I served as pastor at tiny Greenville, Florida, the church gave me a 50th-birthday present, a gift certificate to the local undertakers.  WHAT?  

Yup, that's what the inscribed card said.  So, I went to the funeral home, assuming  I was in for a time of pre-need planning for my early demise, and wondering what the next Deacon meeting would be about.  

When I got to the funeral home, I discovered they not only buried folks, but they also dressed them well.  This was a place of funeral directors and tailors.  A few weeks later I wore a great hand-tailored blazer to preach to those good folks who scared the life out of me!

Now the point of this is the same as that which Paul warned the good folks at Corinth, and what I would like to say about what we see in our day.  We must not let long hair (or short, spikey, multi-colored hair, or any other surprise-hair), nor tattoos, piercings, clothing, shoes (or lack of footwear), or anything else under the sun, interfere with what’s going-on underneath that skin.  I had assumed the worst about the great gift that was given to me; we must not make the same mistake in the Kingdom of God.  What is going on in our day of people opting-out of “traditions” in church, in favor of finding new ways to spread the Gospel of God’s love in Jesus Christ may (or may not) be a move of God…but that is not for any of us who are lower than divine-pay-grade to judge!

For You Today 

Your generation may be (in your humble opinion) the greatest or the worst.  But that is never the issue of importance in Heaven…God will do what He will do. 

The real issue is:  What’s going on with You?  What are you doing to speak the Word of Truth to whatever generation God puts in front of you?

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Shipwrecked Faith

Wednesday, October 18, 2023

Cling to your faith in Christ, and keep your conscience clear.  For some people have deliberately violated their consciences; as a result, their faith has been shipwrecked.  1 Timothy 1:19

Everyone is born with faith; life is a series of faith choices, both good and poor.  When we place our faith in a chair, by sitting on it, we exercise our faith that the chair will hold us up.  If it does, it was well-placed faith.  If we place our faith in a man who whispers to us on the street corner….psst, buddy…you want a great deal?  I got these Rolex watches worth twenty grand each; sell ya one for $75.  Chances are rather strong, our faith in that guy will rust as fast as the watch.

It's one thing to be naïve about the worth of a trinket; it’s quite another matter to allow preconceived notions about God shipwreck our faith.  Faith, in spiritual matters. is supposed to guide our choices towards God’s open arms.  Misplaced trust in anything other than God’s will and way leads to a shipwreck of our faith.  Sometimes we cling to a hope that is ill-founded merely because it sounded good, or real when we first heard it from a friend.  We didn’t run it through the God-filter; instead, we just believed it (placed our faith in it), and couldn’t believe how badly it turned-out.  It’s like the story of the man who worried himself over the question of whether life wasn’t fooling him, and he began to think he was dead.  He started believing it and telling everyone he was dead.  No friend or family member could convince him otherwise.  Finally they got him into therapy.  The psychiatrist had no better result; the man thought he was dead.  Frustrated, the shrink decided on a graphic, undeniable test.  He asked the troubled man:  Do dead men bleed?  The man said:  No, dead men don’t bleed.  With that, the shrink pulled out a pin, pricked the man’s arm with it, and it started to bleed.  The shrink pointed to the man’s arm and asked:  So what do you make of that?  The man, now puzzled, finally offered:  Well, I’ll be durned…dead men DO bleed!

What Apostle Paul was telling Timothy is a stern warning for any one of us to beware of letting our faith settle on anything that won’t pass the blood test.  There is so much heat these days on television news, social media, blogs and vlogs galore, which promote hatred, violence, and rebellion, as well as perversity as a normative good choice, if that’s what you want.  That kind of stuff conflates a small amount of truth about political and sociological problems, with isolated Biblical verses to create a wedge of doubt between your conscience and the good sense given to you by God’s kindness.  We can fall victim to good sounding, but false theories of how to view the world.  We can be like Eve who heard the serpent whisper did God REALLY say that?  Satan even used that tactic, quoting Scripture to Jesus (way out of context, of course); the devil was tempting Jesus to abandon the Father’s mission and serve the darkness of Hell.  In all three of the temptations recorded in Matthew[1], Jesus denied Satan’s offer with Scripture, appropriately interpreted, countering Satan’s use of twisted Scripture.

For You Today 

We must use our faith, nurture our faith, and grow in our faith.  But we must be careful to grow straight, rather than crooked.  To grow straight requires bathing our worldview in the Word of God.  There is nothing about popular worldview opinions that can match the strength of God’s Word to avoid shipwrecking our faith.  Paul gave this advice to his young ministry student, Timothy:

Work hard so you can present yourself to God and receive his approval.  Be a good worker, one who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly explains the word of truth.  2 Timothy 2:15

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] See Matthew 4:1-11

There...In the Darkness

Tuesday, October 17, 2023

“There is no judgment against anyone who believes in him.  But anyone who does not believe in him has already been judged for not believing in God’s one and only Son.  And the judgment is based on this fact:  God’s light came into the world, but people loved the darkness more than the light, for their actions were evil.  All who do evil hate the light and refuse to go near it for fear their sins will be exposed.  But those who do what is right come to the light so others can see that they are doing what God wants.”  John 3:18-21

I should have known better.  It was this past Saturday evening that I stood in front of my wife’s new dresser, my hand full of the pills I take each day.  I’ve never had the best aim, but, good grief, how can you miss a preacher’s mouth from one inch away?  One of those little white pills bounced off my chin, hit my shoe, and devilishly-rolled under the dresser.  I got down on my knees in the dimly-lit room, and regretted it immediately, knowing I’d have to get up, get the flashlight, and ease those aging bones down on all fours a second time.  I laid my aching body level to the ground, right in front of the dresser, praying the bones would let me get up again without calling 911.  The flashlight found the pill…just out of reach! 

It was no surprise about the painful relocation of bones, joints, and marrow, or that I’d have to stretch those arm-bones to lengths they’d never known to retrieve that wayward pill.  What shocked me was the floor under that recently arrived dresser; it was covered in more dust bunnies than you’d see chocolate bunnies at Easter.  Now you need to know one thing – my wife’s middle name is White Tornado.  Our kids dubbed her that, because she does pre-emptive strikes on dirt 32-days in the average week.  She moves furniture every time she dusts to clean the unseen (this despite my theory that bugs unseen are not problematic!).

Call it her blind side, but Elizabeth cannot move that dresser…and the malicious dust-bunnies know it; they go there to hide, reproduce, and plot.  I am convinced the dust bunnies have finally unionized and targeted our home because of my bride’s unflinching commitment to dusticide…defined as the systematic, relentless effort to eliminate all that dusty-particle-scourge from the face of the earth. 

Apostle John holds that we humans know about light and darkness, but we more often choose darkness over the light.  A quick glance at our world’s moral/ethical state, and you have little problem agreeing with John.  We are in a darkness stronghold, more than the dust-bunny situation under the dresser.  (Yeah…get that picture of Elizabeth’s dresser out of your mind; yours ain’t any better!)  But here we’re talking about our moral dresser.  For us, it’s a whole lot easier to live with that puppy in the darkness.  Why is that, preacher?  (For the second day in a row…I’m glad you asked).  We like the darkness, because we really don’t want to find anything…and we know there are those things down there. 

·       Attitudes we should have stifled

·       People we wanted to stifle instead of love

·       Good advice we stifled all too often in favor of the bad stuff we craved

·       Things we shouldn’t have done, including the bad stuff we wanted to do, but never had the time…and the list goes on.

We like darkness…full-stop!  And it’s because that spot under cover of the dresser-bottom’s darkness hides a multitude of stuff you can’t see if you don’t look closely.  That is precisely why Apostle Paul, giving advice about how to come to God in worship says we should examine our lives…use a flashlight if necessary to find that bitter pill among the dust bunnies, and bring it out in the light of confession….and then watch God’s light of grace shrivel it up and blow it away!

For You Today 

The old time Gospel-preaching evangelist, Vance Havner used to put it this way:  

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Russell Brownworth (own “dusty” work) Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©