PURE

Friday, July 28, 2023

But the wisdom from above is first of all pure.  It is also peace loving, gentle at all times, and willing to yield to others.  It is full of mercy and the fruit of good deeds.  It shows no favoritism and is always sincere.  And those who are peacemakers will plant seeds of peace and reap a harvest of righteousness.  James 3:17-18

You know some people James describes.  Remember them right now…faces that evoke good memories, calm moments, full of reason and safety.  You know the things they’ve done for you, or someone else who didn’t deserve mercy.  You understand the strength of someone who doesn’t show favoritism, always to be counted upon for sincerity and truth.  You know a peacemaker or two…several if you’re favored with eyes to see.

James issues this descriptive love affair with wisdom, drawing on sweet memories of his older half-brother, Jesus.  James didn’t always recognize it, this wisdom.  Along with his siblings and mother he thought Jesus was a little crazy, what with all this radical preaching about new wine, loving your enemies, and camels squeezing through the eye of a needle.  But there were those other telltale signs of pure wisdom…good deeds, mercy, and gentleness.  Later, after the cross, burial, and resurrection, James began to understand what he’d witnessed.  The way his brother submitted to the powers that be, the nails, the spear in a lifeless side (which James couldn’t understand), these were all revealed to be the seeds of peace.  It was only when the great harvest of Pentecost appeared that James understood what his brother was doing; he finally saw wisdom in its holy purity.

I knew a man who walked like that, filled with wisdom that was gentle and led to peacemaking.  It was at a church I served as pastor many years ago.  He arrived at the church a few years after I got there.  I liked him the moment I saw him.  There was a gentleness about BobbyMac’s way of talking with a genuine unpretentious.  You felt calm next to him.  It wasn’t just me; others saw it too.

I can be deceived…easily.  I tend to trust people until they prove otherwise.  Some people come into your life for a reason.  Why Bobby Mac’s path crossed with mine became evident a few years after we met.  His gift of “peacemaking” in a church with a long history of contentiousness (particularly with firing preachers), was a welcome fresh breath of pure air.  The church was grateful for his presence and he was in leadership roles in no time.  Shortly after that his spiritual gift of sowing peace became necessary.  Some decisions I’d made as pastor stirred some memories of what former pastors had done, and a group within the church decided it was time to stir the pot of “pastor-change”.  It didn’t seem to matter what way I tried to reach out, to meet folks half-way….minds were made up, set in stone.  Enter the peacemaker…Bobby Mac.  Some of the words he used were exact duplicates of some of the things I’d said to try to fix the relationship of pastor and people.  But Bobby Mac said them differently; he sowed mercy with gentleness, and sincerely trusted the truth to plow through any favoritism from either the pastor-change group or my stubbornness.   

I cannot adequately describe just how Bobby did what he did without writing several books, but this one thing I can say:  God was all over that!  I felt like the Roman soldier who was staring at the way Jesus died on the cross:

“This man truly was the Son of God!”  Mark 15:39b

For You Today 

If you want the kind of wisdom that is pure, gentle, unbiased, peace-filled, and generating a harvest of peace-making, it’s available from the same One who is the Author of the peace that passes understanding:

Don’t worry about anything; instead, pray about everything.  Tell God what you need, and thank him for all he has done.  Then you will experience God’s peace, which exceeds anything we can understand.  His peace will guard your hearts and minds as you live in Christ Jesus.  Philippians 4:6-7

Pray for peace that way…and you’ll bump into pure wisdom from above as gently and favorably as Bobby Mac.

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 Devotions library.  

 

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

 

RISK

Friday, July 28, 2023

And why should we ourselves risk our lives hour by hour?  For I swear, dear brothers and sisters, that I face death daily.  

1 Corinthians 15:30-31a

Apostle Paul faced risks many of us would avoid like the plague.  He did it so others might know of God’s Good News, the salvation message of Christ.  Author Leo Buscaglia wrote about risk:

To laugh is to risk appearing a fool,

To weep is to risk appearing sentimental.

To reach out to another is to risk involvement,

To expose feelings is to risk exposing your true self.

To place your ideas and dreams before a crowd is to risk their loss.

To love is to risk not being loved in return,

To live is to risk dying,

To hope is to risk despair,

To try is to risk failure.

But risks must be taken because the greatest hazard in life is to risk nothing.  The person who risks nothing, does nothing, has nothing, is nothing.  He may avoid suffering and sorrow, but he cannot learn, feel, change, grow or live.  Chained by his servitude he is a slave who has forfeited all freedom.  Only a person who risks is free.[1]

People take all kinds of risks in life.  There are risks abounding at the casinos in Las Vegas, mountains and valleys to be explored, and (as my daughter did on her 40^th birthday) planes to be jumped-out-of with nothing but a few pounds of silk and string to slow-down your fall. 

Those fun and exciting adrenaline-rush risks are at one end of the spectrum of reasons why one would risk life and limb.  At the other end of the risk-spectrum are more noble and substantive explanations why reasonable people put themselves in harm’s way. 

·       Firefighters run to the fire, while everyone else is running from the fire. 

·       Soldiers strap-on up to 120 pounds of Kevlar flak jacket, munitions, helmet and weapon when they face the risk of enemy fire. 

·       Line repair for the electricity that powers your toaster is done by risk-takers, 30-feet off the ground, daring 13,800 volts of power to behave itself. 

·       The list is endless.

The thin line of risk walked by Apostle Paul was life or death at the hands of those steeped in the kind of power human ego uses to oppress that which threatens their power.  Before he met Jesus, Paul was one of those people.  When he met Jesus his life was turned from oppressing the followers of Jesus, to fugitive-on-the-run to preach Christ’s love and hope.  Those who pursued Paul had him falsely accused of sedition, imprisoned, and eventually executed…martyred. 

Paul was (and is) a study in how to daily abandon self, and lay it all down for the Kingdom of God…or as Jesus put it:  take up your cross daily, and follow me.[2]  That is hardly suicidal…rather it is the invitation to let go of the old life of death, and be introduced to the Grand New Life which only Christ can give. 

For You Today 

In 1945, Pastor Dietrich Bonhoeffer wrote from a Nazi prison, just before facing Adolph Hitler’s hangman:  When Christ calls a man, he bids him ‘Come and die’.  That may seem a bit on the risky side…but it’s guaranteed by the blood of the only Son of the Creator and King of the Universe.

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 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] Leo Buscaglia, Living Loving and Learning, Souvenir Press Ltd, 1983, English Literature & Linguistics

[2] See Matthew 16:24 and Mark 8:34

Morning Prayer

Thursday, July 27, 2023

Your laws are wonderful.  No wonder I obey them!  The teaching of your word gives light, so even the simple can understand.  I pant with expectation, longing for your commands.  Come and show me your mercy, as you do for all who love your name.  Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil.  Psalm 119:129-133

Laws are meant to be broken!  So goes the twisted thinking of the outlaw.  Yet, those who perceive themeselves as uniquely qualified to judge the laws of God and man do not realize (or perhaps they do not care) that by ignoring how the Sovereign Lord has designed life to be a blessing, they are storing up misery for themselves, and anyone who will follow their lead.  Jesus, speaking to religious leaders who were largely hypocritical imposters, said they looked like big shots, parading around in their expensive robes, but on the inside they were lawbreakers; their hearts were set on their own will, not God’s:

 Outwardly you look like righteous people, but inwardly your hearts are filled with hypocrisy and lawlessness.  Matthew 23:28

The “law” the Psalmist characterized as “wonderful” was what we commonly call the Ten Commandments[1].  What makes them so wonderful is the power they contain to make life wonderful and a blessing to all who live within their parameters.  Consider the outcome when we live God’s way:

1.    No other gods – Life is better with focus…not a thousand different gods.

2.    Worship God, not what He has created – again focus…worship only God.

3.    Keep God’s name holy – think of life without Hollywood’s profanity!

4.    Sabbath reserved for worship – we often forget important stuff.  A routine that includes worship guards against slipping-away from good living.

5.    Honor father & mother – what you do is what you’ll also receive…honor.

6.    Do not murder – would our lives be better off with less homicide?

7.    Do not commit adultery – wouldn’t trust be better than constant suspicion?

8.    Do not steal – would life be better if we could do without locks on things?

9.    No false witness – if truth reigned, the courts would be empty.

10. No greed for what’s not yours – would life be simpler if we were people of glad contentment – both for what we have, and glad for what our neighbor has worked for?

Now that’s the short list of benefit tracks that could make life much sweeter.  There could be volumes written on all the side benefits associated with living like God designed it.  But the chief benefit of all is being able to approach God at any time of day with confidence that your prayers will be heard with Heaven’s favor.  The value of having an up-to-the-minute relationship with the King of the Universe is eternal joy.  Knowing He loves you is wonderful, but sensing His presence, because your heart is clean before Him is abundance in all that makes life worthwhile. 

For You Today 

My morning prayer, every morning tracks with the Psalmist’s thought:

Guide my steps by your word, so I will not be overcome by evil.

I want that more than life itself. 

If in this moment it was possible for you to have a house valued at $5-million, and a chauffeur-driven Rolls Royce, $3-billion in the bank, and be elected President of the United States – OR an up-to-the-minute, intimate friendship with God, which would you choose?

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 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] Exodus 20:1-17

Leadership 101

Wednesday, July 26, 2023

“Look at my Servant, whom I have chosen.  He is my Beloved, who pleases me.  I will put my Spirit upon him, and he will proclaim justice to the nations. He will not fight or shout or raise his voice in public.  He will not crush the weakest reed or put out a flickering candle.  Finally he will cause justice to be victorious.  And his name will be the hope of all the world.”  

Matthew 12:18-21  

The religious rulers (Pharisees) were concocting a plot to kill Jesus because he did such horrible things, like heal a crippled man on the Sabbath.  Well, that was the premise – the real reason was Jesus’ popularity with the masses, and the resultant diminishing power of the Pharisees.  Becoming a Pharisee gave one power over others, and there are few who give-up that kind of power once they have it!  (The insurrection of January 6, 2021 ought to be viewed in that light!)

By contrast, Matthew, the former tax collector, holding riches and a fair amount of power over his countrymen, was now a disciple of Jesus.  He looked at the unfolding drama of Pharisees vs. the upstart preacher, and immediately recalled Isaiah’s prophecy.  The ancient prophet said God’s chosen Messiah would not be a power-monger, shouting orders and brawling; he would be the victorious hope of the entire world, in the gentlest of ways[1].  This is one of the most startling, counter-cultural statements one finds in Scripture about true leadership.

By nature, counter-cultural movements are defined by confrontation.  Truth confronts lies.  Darkness confronts light.  Hope confronts despair.  So, wherever counter-culture and presiding-culture intersect, you will also find confrontation.  In the realm of good and evil, it is a spiritual war, fought in the recesses of the mind, and evidenced in behavior we accept, or would even die-for.  In the penultimate war between Heaven and hell, eternity’s finest leader set the pattern for all leaders…meekly hanging on a cross, for the souls of all humankind.

What Jesus enacted on the cross was the shedding of blood for the remission of sins[2], for the whole of humanity, for all eternity.  A side benefit of seeing how he did this, humbly, the quiet sacrifical lamb, offering himself for our lives, is to see the quintessence of true leadership.  It is the embodiment of what God told the prophet Zechariah about the way Zerubbabel would cut a path to Jerusalem to rebuild the Temple:

It is not by force nor by strength, but by my Spirit, says the Lord of Heaven’s Armies…. Do not despise these small beginnings, for the Lord rejoices to see the work begin,  Zechariah 4:6b, 10

The work of Christ on the cross for us was (in the eyes of Rome’s Caesar, and even the apostles, and much of the world today) a small beginning.  And it’s a reasonable thought – one man’s death is hardly noticed by the world.  But the death of one, inhabited and led by the Spirit of God, to do the works of the Father, is that which brings rejoicing in Heaven.

For You Today 

You may consider yourself inconsequential in the grand scheme of world history.  You may imagine your footprint will be washed-away with the next tide when you draw your last breath.  But, if the Psalmist is right, that thought cannot be right.

Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of his saints.  Psalm 116:15

Lest we forget that the Lord rejoices over the smallest of beginnings in His service;  whatever you have done, led by His Spirit, done in righteousness for His name, will live on as the holy Temple built without human hands.

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 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] Isaiah 42:1-4

[2] Hebrews 9:22

 

The Sins of the Father

Tuesday, July 25, 2023

“The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will greatly increase the human population and the number of animals here in Israel and Judah.  In the past I deliberately uprooted and tore down this nation.  I overthrew it, destroyed it, and brought disaster upon it.  But in the future I will just as deliberately plant it and build it up.  I, the Lord, have spoken!  “The people will no longer quote this proverb:  ‘The parents have eaten sour grapes, but their children’s mouths pucker at the taste.’  All people will die for their own sins—those who eat the sour grapes will be the ones whose mouths will pucker.  “The day is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will make a new covenant with the people of Israel and Judah.  Jeremiah 31:27-31

This text was the focus of study in this past Sunday’s lesson at church.  That phrase about children experiencing puckered mouths because their parents ate some sour grapes became a well-known idiom of that time, largely due to sin’s judgment affecting an entire family.  It was Old Testament law:

I lay the sins of the parents upon their children; the entire family is affected—even children in the third and fourth generations of those who reject me.  Exodus 20:5[1]

But Jeremiah said that was all coming to an end.  God’s special people would be responsible individually for their sins.  No longer would judgment extend to the son for the sins of the father.  The inverse would also be true…no longer could there be an automatic benefit of righteousness because you were born into a household of the righteous.  Each individual would bear the judgment of his or her own actions.  That was welcome news to Israelites born during the Babylonian captivity.  They had been born slaves, due to the sins of their ancestors; now they were to be a restored nation.

In his day Jeremiah delivered mostly unwelcome news, judgment – a message of gloom and doom approaching because of sin.  Often called The Weeping Prophet, Jeremiah’s prophecies were the main reason he spent a good deal of time in jail.  What king likes to hear everything he does is more cause for God to bring the hammer down?

But the ultimate message was one of great news and blessing…there was a new covenant of grace on the rise:

“But this is the new covenant I will make with the people of Israel after those days,” says the Lord.  “I will put my instructions deep within them, and I will write them on their hearts.  I will be their God, and they will be my people.  And they will not need to teach their neighbors, nor will they need to teach their relatives, saying, ‘You should know the Lord.’  For everyone, from the least to the greatest, will know me already,” says the Lord.  “And I will forgive their wickedness, and I will never again remember their sins.”  Jeremiah 31:33-34

That’s the way it is with prophecy; sovereign God does what a sovereign God does, rule over His people.  A loving, grace-filled, mercy-loving God does that which is righteous and best.  He fulfilled that promise on Calvary’s cross.

For You Today 

We live in a sometimes-brutal world, where people experience repressive forms of brutal government.  Those who live in democratically-governed countries know an individual freedom that scoffs at the notion we might suffer judgment for a parent’s sins (or anyone else’s).  Truth-told, we may experience the effect of a parent’s substance abuse, or the weight of a sibling, spouse, or child’s irresponsible or cruel behavior…but God’s hand will never be that.  His Spirit may convict us of our own sins, but never those of our neighbor.

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 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] These words were repeated in Exodus 34:7, Numbers 14:18, and Deuteronomy 5:9