And Then it was Monday

 

                                            Tuesday, November 30, 2021                          

Lord, through all the generations

    you have been our home!

Before the mountains were born,

    before you gave birth to the earth and the world,

    from beginning to end, you are God.  Psalm 90:1-2

Yesterday was an anniversary of sorts.  November 29^th marked forty years since I knelt in First Baptist Church of Crystal River, Florida, and received the blessing of ordination to the ministry of God’s Gospel.  For those who’ve not experienced that, or thought much of it, it’s a high point for anyone called to serve.  On that Sunday night I felt vastly unworthy to the calling, and yet, somehow, unable to object.  The “calling” is an irresistible bubbling-up from within the soul, and who among us can say “no” to God…at least with a straight face?

My pastor and mentor, Rev. L. B. Thomasson, preached the ordination sermon, and I recall the threefold challenge as if it were just a moment ago.  He looked directly at, or more accurately he looked through me and said:

• Russell, I challenge you to stay close to God;
• Russell, I challenge you to stay close to people;
• Russell, I challenge you to bring the two together.

That was Sunday night, a reception, a newly-inscribed commemorative Bible, lots of hugging, well-wishing, and promises of prayer support.

And then, it was Monday.

And with Monday’s dawn, what was laid on my shoulders with hands that believed to bless, came the fright of reality – the ceremony was over; the living of this promise was before us, and only faith in God could sustain so weak a man.

And now, forty years later, those thoughts of inadequacy, unworthiness, and disquiet over my ability to follow God’s leading, have proved 100% founded.  Russell has never been equal to the task.  Whatever has been accomplished is entirely God’s doing; I have merely had a front row seat to watch His miracle unfold. 

I have been patted on the back (at times it was a size 12 shoe rather lower-placed than a back-patting)!  I’ve been congratulated (what a great sermon, pastor), and, like Paul, sometimes I’ve been shown the door and told get out, stay out! 

One unmistakable thread in this forty-years of sermons, hospital calls, funeral homes, and the highs and lows of human relationships, has been the God of all Mondays…the dwelling place – the One who was there before the mountains, and exists as I AM.  In every attempt to serve God faithfully and sometimes (truth be told), attempts to run away from Him and all the responsibilities of being an under shepherd, I AM has been there. 

From beginning to ending, He is faithful.

For You Today

What do you do when you promised God something on Sunday in prayer, and then Monday shows up?  Do you pass it off as, well, that emotional moment?  

Do you start bargaining with God to get off the hook?

Or do you trust God on Monday to fulfill His promises?

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see A Prayer From the Hourglass and Without Beginning-Without Ending

When the Heavens are Silent

 

Monday, November 29, 2021

This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory.  I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.  Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.  They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again?  From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”  They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.  Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.  And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire.  They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.  But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends:  A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think.  No, he is being patient for your sake.  He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.  But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief.  Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.  Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.  On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.  But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.  And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.  2 Peter 3:1-14

Peter, ever the blunt, no-nonsense communicator, stated his case right out of the opening gate…he wanted to stimulate wholesome thinking, and remind his flock of what’s coming (judgment), how mocking fools act towards the holy, and how people who would be godly must act.  Peter leaves little wiggle room for waffling.

Then he used that phrase that has stuck in a lot of minds:  a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day…with the LORD.  It’s clear the flock were constantly bleating about how long their suffering seemed, and questioning the Apostle why it was so.  And why it should be.  And why God was silent on the issue.

And the answer, both in heaven, and to earth, is the same – PATIENCE!  We on earth, whether suffering, or weary, or just plain eager for the coming of the LORD to clean up the mess…should be patient.  On the other hand, God IS patient; He’s long-suffering the sins of the earth, giving all who would be lost time to repent and be saved.  So, it’s not a flaw in God’s compassion – rather the fact that He is patiently withholding judgment is a demonstration of His compassionate grace. 

So Peter, virtually exploding with grace and the compassion of Jesus Christ, booms-forth the message…live godly lives…the judgment is coming, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of history when that hits!  Accept Christ now and be saved.  There’s a life full of righteousness and joy awaiting; don’t miss it!

For You Today

If you’re human, there’s a tendency to whine to God about how tough things are here.  It’s advisable to bring your troubles to God…but remember Who is the judge, and who needs mercy. 

He’s not silent for no reason…our need of repentance is the reason.

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see A Prayer From the Hourglass

Happy New Year!

 

Friday, November 26, 2021

Seventy years are given to us!  Some even live to eighty.  But even the best years are filled with pain and trouble; soon they disappear, and we fly away.  Who can comprehend the power of your anger?  Your wrath is as awesome as the fear you deserve.  Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom.  Psalm 90:10-12

I’m rather certain wishing someone a “Happy New Year” before we’ve had Christmas is an open invitation to wondering if I belong in therapy.  But yesterday, Thanksgiving, began the new year of the Christian calendar.  And, in case you’re wondering, the sacred is much more important to me than the secular…so, HAPPY NEW YEAR!  In fact, for my two-cents’ worth, there is no such thing as secular.  God created everything we know in the universe, and everything else we can’t even imagine, so everything is sacred. 

This is the essence of what our Psalmist is saying.  As brief as our seventy or eighty years are, compared to millennia and eons, since God created time in the first place…the Psalm-writer asked for wisdom to know how to use that time.  And we humans have been asking that question about using our life wisely, with meaning, every waking moment since the dawn of Eden’s sun on Adam’s face.

It's important, no, vital to get the answer at least going in the right direction.  Rome was just a city, and it wasn’t built in a day…there was (and is) a process to rearrange the landscape and amenities.  The human soul’s life is more important than a city’s layout, and the process is that much more complex and meaningful.

So how do you answer the question about your life, meaning, and purpose?  How should you spend your days?  The Psalmist didn’t leave us wanting for the answer; he has three checkpoints (what preacher doesn’t?):

          1.    Life is short, and then you die (go to judgment), so don’t spend your time frivolously

          2.    God is immense and way above our pay grade, so listen to His voice attentively

          3.    When you feel dumb, you’re on the right track, so ask for wisdom constantly.

For You Today

If you noticed, all three of those checkpoints are starters, course corrections, and the answers on the final exam when you stand before your Creator.  What you do with those are the sum of your epitaph, no matter what they write on your tombstone.

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see A Prayer From the Hourglass

A Gift in the Basket

 

Thursday, November 25, 2021

“So don’t worry about these things, saying, ‘What will we eat?  What will we drink?  What will we wear?’  These things dominate the thoughts of unbelievers, but your heavenly Father already knows all your needs.  Seek the Kingdom of God above all else, and live righteously, and he will give you everything you need.  Matthew 6:31-33

Going to WalMart (or any other store on this planet) is not (as Julie Andrews sang in The Sound of Music) one of my favorite things.  When it comes to the shopping experience I am fiercely-devoted to the getting-in/getting-out principle.  Elizabeth is not that way so much; she can be slow enough to find a bargain, or a better brand of this or that, even with the grinch at her side.

But even in a trip to “Wally-World” you can be blind-sided with a gift in the basket.  This past Tuesday we headed to the dreaded place with my usual grumpy/testy demeanor reserved for such excursions.  I hurried us through the aisles to get the two items that were the reason for this hunting-gathering foray.  Twelve items later we arrived at the self-checkout area.  (This is the one thing I love about stores these days…a machine you alone operate will never squash your bread or break three eggs in the carton because of my surly attitude.) 

I scanned, bagged, and loaded our assorted necessities in our basket buggy.  And with that we made a start towards the exit…a place where the receipt checkers cast a suspicious eye on everything with a demeanor that makes the place so appealing.  (I sometimes think it would be enjoyable to attempt walking out without paying, just to have a more pleasant experience at, say, the police station, where they sweat you in a back-room for hours under a heat lamp.)

It was when we were leaving the self-checkout station the gift happened.  A little brown arm, attached to a five-year-old in her mom’s basket, reached out and grabbed Elizabeth’s arm.  The other arm found my bride’s hand, and clamped on it.  As we both looked at the little face at the other end of those arms, there was a decided change in my next two days…indeed to this very moment.  That little angel had the most disarming, joyful smile.  She cocked her head to one side, pumped Elizabeth’s hand, and announced:  pleased to meet’cha. 

In a day of forbidden “closeness less than 6-feet in any direction”, and certainly no-touching, the last thing on my mind was hand sanitizer.  You don’t think about that when your grumpy shopping demeanor has melted like a snowman in a microwave.  You don’t think about that when someone has offered their joy with such enthusiasm and unbridled generosity.  It was a God-moment; I knew the Father had to be there, even in WalMart; how else can you explain such surprise and joy?

Later, reflecting on that briefest of encounters, I couldn’t help comparing what I’d just witnessed as a stark contrast to the ugly head of racism in our culture, and the division it causes in God’s Kingdom.  A little joy swelling from the heart of the tiniest African-American child, offered to an older white woman, was the juxtaposition of the cross…a gift in a basket…at Wally World.  It was the very picture of grace, the unmerited favor of one so pure, blessing anyone who gets close enough to the arm grabber.

On a pre-shopping-season note, my reflection included something I will think of often – especially today, Thanksgiving.  I am so truly thankful to have lost the ugliness of racism, bias, sad news, age aches, heart catheterizations, and the blues, in an instant, at WalMart...if only for an instant.  I’m hoping it will be the kind of joy I’ll pass around for the rest of my days here on the earthly journey.

For You Today

Well, it’s Thanksgiving Day; are you grumpy or grateful?  If you have a doubt, let me tell you where to find some Kingdom-seeking blessing, even in a dreaded shopping trip.  Get close to someone you never knew.

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see On Point or Paradox; Illusion of the Heart

 

Of Diagnosis and Peace

 

Wednesday, November 24, 2021

“I have spoken of these matters in figures of speech, but soon I will stop speaking figuratively and will tell you plainly all about the Father.  Then you will ask in my name.  I’m not saying I will ask the Father on your behalf, for the Father himself loves you dearly because you love me and believe that I came from God.  Yes, I came from the Father into the world, and now I will leave the world and return to the Father.”  Then his disciples said, “At last you are speaking plainly and not figuratively.  Now we understand that you know everything, and there’s no need to question you.  From this we believe that you came from God.”  Jesus asked, “Do you finally believe?  But the time is coming—indeed it’s here now—when you will be scattered, each one going his own way, leaving me alone.  Yet I am not alone because the Father is with me.  I have told you all this so that you may have peace in me.  Here on earth you will have many trials and sorrows.  But take heart, because I have overcome the world.”  John 16:25-33

When you’re unarmed, exposed to the road ahead where dangers and hardship abound, it’s hard to have peace of mind.  That road is especially daunting, even frightening, if you’ve never travelled that way before.  With the shadow of the cross of Golgotha growing ever closer, Jesus used precious time to prepare His followers for the difficulty of the road they would eventually travel without him.  That road was a combination of trials and sorrows which would not break the peace He was going to give them. 

A few months ago, I sat in my primary care doctor’s office describing the fatigue I felt.  Each step of the day was like extracting my feet from a muddy bog…I was dragging my way through life.  His response was to rule-out the obvious suspects.  My doc sent me for a stress test to find out the load my heart carried. 

A few days later I was laying on a hospital table (not the most comfortable bed, mind you).  I was prepped to have my ticker challenged with a walk on the treadmill to nowhere.  As the test was about to begin, the heart doctor stormed back into the room and stopped the show.  She told me this was the wrong test…my heart wouldn’t stand for it.  As I stood at the checkout desk to schedule the next test, I had a flashback to my days in the U.S. Army…my life was beginning to take-on the flavor every grunt private knows, hurry-up and wait!  

The next test was followed by several weeks of that “hurry-waiting” until the next appointment to review the results.  My new heart doctor said two words that rocked my sense of peace, heart failure.  She described a weakened, enlarged blood-pump that was under-performing in passing along that substance which contains life.[1]

Since that time I’ve acquired two new doctors.  It seems this stage of life (in the eighth-decade) collects doctors like my arteries collect platelets and plaque.  I’ve learned much about the stages (progression), and symptoms of heart failure, by listening and reading.  It’s a strange road, and, at least in my case, knowledge is not exactly power.  It is somewhat unsettling.

I’ve been able to identify two positive results in this short (5 month) road trip:

1.    A sense of the peace Jesus promised in difficult journeys is always there

2.    A new appreciation for all the stages of life…from the physically-stronger times when you’re concerned with being relevant and useful…to the (now current) stage, when just brushing your teeth and showering are major accomplishments.

Both peace and struggle are real and palpable ingredients in the stuff of a believer’s life that Jesus gives us.

For You Today

What peace are you willing to surrender to the ferocious struggle you face?  Or is it settled in you that His peace will never bow to any struggle’s growl?  Jesus said that is possible, because He’s overcome the world!

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see Blood White or Peace in the Pandemic

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[1] Leviticus 17:11  for the life of the body is in its blood.

 

Faith vs. Unbelief

 

Monday, November 22, 2021

Then the seventh angel blew his trumpet, and there were loud voices shouting in heaven:  “The world has now become the Kingdom of our Lord and of his Christ, and he will reign forever and ever.”  The twenty-four elders sitting on their thrones before God fell with their faces to the ground and worshiped him.  And they said, “We give thanks to you, Lord God, the Almighty, the one who is and who always was, for now you have assumed your great power and have begun to reign.  The nations were filled with wrath, but now the time of your wrath has come.  It is time to judge the dead and reward your servants the prophets, as well as your holy people, and all who fear your name, from the least to the greatest.  It is time to destroy all who have caused destruction on the earth.”  Then, in heaven, the Temple of God was opened and the Ark of his covenant could be seen inside the Temple. Lightning flashed, thunder crashed and roared, and there was an earthquake and a terrible hailstorm.  Revelation 11:15-19

I am reminded of a lesson on faith one of our seminary professors taught, illustrating it with this thought: 

There are those who say I won’t believe it until I see it.

He then put a cap on unbelief with this thought:

The fact is nobody sees it until they believe it.

Of course my professor was giving the sense of what it tells us in Scripture about having a genuine relationship with God…one that truly results in eternal life:

And it is impossible to please God without faith. Anyone who wants to come to him must believe that God exists and that he rewards those who sincerely seek him.  Hebrews 11:6

The future, contained in today’s portion of Scripture in Revelation, where God finally takes back any of the enemy’s power, and begins His eternal rule, is a hard thing to wrap your mind around – given the thousands of years Satan has used planet earth for his evil playground. 

Many scoff at the idea of the end of times and God’s judgment coming.  But, to trust Scripture at all is to trust entirely.  If any of Scripture is wrong, it’s own claim to trustworthiness is false.   This is where faith’s rubber meets the tough rocks on life’s road.  Faith means trusting completely…or it’s not faith.

For You Today

Will there be a rapture, a time of Great Tribulation, and that Day of the LORD, where God separates the sheep from the goats?  Are we, indeed, accountable to our Creator, and will be held so, according to our deeds.  Will we be judged?

Faith’s answer is yes, Lord, I believe; help me (receive grace) for my unbelief.[1]

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see O Worship the King or Sovereign Means Sovereign

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[1] See Mark 9:24

Eternity from an Earthly Point of View

 

Monday, November 22, 2021

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

I don’t know how this plays out in your mind, but, for me, thoughts of eternity are the ultimate “WOW” moment.  My little earthly brain cannot conceive of the eternal.  Even now, after writing that little sentence I can feel the throbbing building up behind my eyebrows. 

There are several reasons for this; chief among the factors is my tendency to dwell on the here and now, rather than eternal.  Now, that’s not aw-shucks humility; it’s simply human nature.  We humans trust much more in what we can see, than that which requires faith.  Just entertaining even the idea of God is too immense and overpowering to hold in perspective.  David wrote that he would lie awake entire nights dwelling on thoughts of God, while his soul reminded him how parched he was longing for the presence of the Sovereign Lord.

The other driving fact (for me) that eternity is above my pay grade is that Scripture tells me God has created me with eternity in mind.  That which rolls around my insides like an indwelling combination of thoughts, platelets, sinew, bone, and fleshly organs, is an eternal soul, created by the Almighty, with the purpose of eternal fellowship and joy…with He who is eternal and sovereign.  Beloved, if that does not start a holy revival fire of praise and thanksgiving in your soul, your worship-wood is wet!

Saving the best for last, David writes that God’s ultimate strength[1] is reserved for holding us close to Him.

What a delight!

For You Today

Many philosophers, pundits, and seekers contemplate eternity as if there is an unknowable pathway to successfully navigating some unknowable purpose.  But David, the poet, king, and man after God’s own heart put it right in the middle of this Psalm:

Your unfailing love is better than life itself;

Want a leg-up on figuring out why God put you on this planet?  Learn to sing from under the shadow of His wings…it’s the place of unfailing, unending love!

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see Protected - November 9, 2020

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[1] In ancient times the right (sword) hand was considered the strongest, most important of a warrior’s tools

Foundation Issues

 

Friday, November 19, 2021

But in fact, Christ has been raised from the dead. He is the first of a great harvest of all who have died.  So you see, just as death came into the world through a man, now the resurrection from the dead has begun through another man.  Just as everyone dies because we all belong to Adam, everyone who belongs to Christ will be given new life.  But there is an order to this resurrection:  Christ was raised as the first of the harvest; then all who belong to Christ will be raised when he comes back.  After that the end will come, when he will turn the Kingdom over to God the Father, having destroyed every ruler and authority and power.  For Christ must reign until he humbles all his enemies beneath his feet.  And the last enemy to be destroyed is death.  For the Scriptures say, “God has put all things under his authority.”  (Of course, when it says “all things are under his authority,” that does not include God himself, who gave Christ his authority.)  Then, when all things are under his authority, the Son will put himself under God’s authority, so that God, who gave his Son authority over all things, will be utterly supreme over everything everywhere.  1 Corinthians 15:20-28

I’ve got some foundation issues.  A man arrived at our house the other day to look at a crack in the foundation.  Just the sight of a crack in the wall that has our bedroom on the other side of it robs me of sleep.  It’s like living in an earthquake zone; you never know what’s going to come crashing down.  We are getting the thing fixed, but that kind of assurance doesn’t come cheaply!

This part of Paul’s message to the Corinthian believers is just one of many that offer the wonderful assurance of resurrection and God’s authority.  What is so reassuring about these thoughts is how they’re backed by Scripture’s unwavering message of the nature of God’s being…all truth, and all righteousness.  To have a sovereign who rules with absolute authority, fidelity, and compassionate kindness means the end of injustice – the enthronement of eternal goodness.  That is the foundation with no crack in the construction! 

Like the peace of mind I will experience when the steel rods that will hold my house’s foundation are secured, anchored to the bedrock of the earth’s crust, Scripture’s assurance of my faith’s eternal foundation also comes at great cost.  Paul tells us Jesus’ resurrection is the first in an unbroken line of untold millions.  All those who are in-Christ, (those who place their entire trust in the sacrifice of His blood for us), will follow Him in resurrection.  Short story…Jesus died a real death, and was resurrected from that death…the grave couldn’t hold Him.  And He said we could too!

For You Today

What is the foundation of your faith?  Being born into a Christian family?  Having an uncle who was once a preacher?  Doing good stuff – being a good guy – not being a bad guy?  If it’s any of these, or anything other than the blood sacrifice that stained a cross on Golgotha, and the evidence of an empty tomb, you’ve got foundation issues.  I know a guy who can fix that!

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

[1] Title and Other Images:  Pixabay.com  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

For another post on this text see The Last Enemy - April 22, 2014