When God Lets the Arrow Fly

Monday, May 8, 2023

When Pharaoh finally let the people go, God did not lead them along the main road that runs through Philistine territory, even though that was the shortest route to the Promised Land.  God said, “If the people are faced with a battle, they might change their minds and return to Egypt.”  So God led them in a roundabout way through the wilderness toward the Red Sea.  Thus the Israelites left Egypt like an army ready for battle.  Exodus 13:17-18

When God directed Moses to lead his children out of bondage in Egypt, it would have been so easy to march them directly to Canaanland, and let the party begin!  That would have been the way I would have planned the trip.  

It’s about 775 miles from Egypt to Israel, so they could have walked straight there in two months.  But they didn’t cross the Jordan river for 40 years.  Evidently there was a lot more to Israel becoming God’s people, than just 10 plagues and a visit by the death angel, before they would be ready for the prosperity of the Promised Land.

There is much I do not understand about how the sovereignty of God, intersects with the free-will of human beings.  However, the Israelite forty-year layover in the desert[1] is a great teacher of how we can navigate being free-will beings created by a sovereign God.  It all comes down to using the free-will we’ve been gifted, to cooperate with the sovereignty of God’s plans, rather than just do what pleases us.  After all, it is God’s sandbox, and we are visitors, whom God wants to adopt as family.  It pays to be on one’s best behavior!

When it comes to how that behavior shapes our relationship with God, I have this image of an archer with a bow, pointed at a target…the arrow flies, released by the archer.  God is the archer; we are the arrows.  The target to which God points each of us, is the place closest to God’s heart.  He wants us to hit the bullseye (so to speak), and lodge there.  The purpose is blessing.  God wants us close to the source of the universe’s wealth of wisdom and well-being.  He wants what’s best for us.  The problem for we arrows, having been released from the bow string, is we have freedom to be blown about by gusts of winds, or objects (all kinds of sins against hitting the target). 

While God’s eye is never off the arrows he releases, our free will is a type of sovereignty over the moments we are granted to live.  We are pointed at the right target; we have free will to choose how we respond to the direction we’re given. That direction is clearly stated in the prophecy of Micah 6:8:

No, O people, the Lord has told you what is good, and this is what he requires of you: to do what is right, to love mercy, and to walk humbly with your God. 

The arrow God releases into this vastness of free will invariably chooses to do what is wrong, love power, and walk arrogantly and selfishly, despising God.  And God allows that.  (Full Stop)

The full weight of sovereignty of humankind over their destination is a gift of God to His loved creation.  But the weight of that gift’s incredible value is the corresponding accountability of consequence for corrupting the gift against the holiness of God.  (Again – Full Stop)  We despise God’s sovereignty with our free will, and the result is spiritual Chernobyl.

For You Today 

You have freedom; choose wisely how to cooperate with God today.

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.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   An Uncertain Path  and  Cloud by Day - Fire by Night   

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] Read all of the Exodus story, from Moses at the burning bush, to the miraculous rescue of God’s people at the Red Sea, and provision of God through 40 years of wandering in the desert.

Made Right

Friday, March 3, 2023

We are made right with God by placing our faith in Jesus Christ.  And this is true for everyone who believes, no matter who we are.  For everyone has sinned; we all fall short of God’s glorious standard.  Yet God, in his grace, freely makes us right in his sight.  He did this through Christ Jesus when he freed us from the penalty for our sins.  For God presented Jesus as the sacrifice for sin.  People are made right with God when they believe that Jesus sacrificed his life, shedding his blood.  This sacrifice shows that God was being fair when he held back and did not punish those who sinned in times past, for he was looking ahead and including them in what he would do in this present time.  God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.  Romans 3:22-26

In many dramas you will hear a character resolutely say:  I’m going to make things right.  He or she lied, or stole something, or in some way offended another person.  The statement is the desire to undo the wrong…to make it right again!  This is the essence of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the making right of all the wrong that’s ever been done, via the cross. 

I am aware that there are still five weeks left until Good Friday, but that is part of Lent…looking ahead to the Good News of forgiveness, being made right with God.  And making things right begins and ends with God’s love.  Paul’s letter to the believers in Rome puts a bow on this concept.  He explains the cross and God’s heart in nine sentences, 158 words…modern preachers could learn that lesson.  Ouch!

It's amazing to entertain that God’s longsuffering put-up with sins in ancient times, looking forward to the forgiveness He would make possible on the cross.  That should alert us to how gracious God is, because that means he was also looking forward to our days in the 21^st century.   He knew we would need forgiveness to be made right with Him.  In fact, you were on God’s mind before Day #1 of creation.

Some years the anticipation of Lent just about overwhelms me.  I want to rush to Good Friday, get the suffering, pain, and blood in the past, and sit, vigil-like by the empty tomb until the Easter dawn, so I can shout with the angels.  But with these thoughts of God’s forgiveness worked-out for time past, present, and future, there is a calmness to my joy, knowing that I have been made right with He who knows me best, and loves me most.

For You Today 

There is, and has been, only one caveat to being made right with God, and that is the leap of faith to believe Jesus died so you could be forgiven; he took the punishment for your sins.  Paul said it clearly in his letter to the Roman believers:

God did this to demonstrate his righteousness, for he himself is fair and just, and he makes sinners right in his sight when they believe in Jesus.   Romans 3:26

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.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

Blush  and  Lenten Walk - Part 6      

Title Image:  Pixabay.com   Images without citation are personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

An Everlasting Love

Wednesday, November 23, 2022

“In that day,” says the Lord, “I will be the God of all the families of Israel, and they will be my people.  This is what the Lord says:  “Those who survive the coming destruction will find blessings even in the barren land, for I will give rest to the people of Israel.”  Long ago the Lord said to Israel:  “I have loved you, my people, with an everlasting love.  With unfailing love I have drawn you to myself.  I will rebuild you, my virgin Israel.  You will again be happy and dance merrily with your tambourines.  Again you will plant your vineyards on the mountains of Samaria and eat from your own gardens there.  The day will come when watchmen will shout from the hill country of Ephraim, ‘Come, let us go up to Jerusalem to worship the Lord our God.’”  

Jeremiah 31:1-6

My Mom and Dad were married for more than 60 years.  Dad was always the one who had a funny line (or corny joke).  One of his favorites was telling how, when they first met, Cecilia wanted nothing to do with Elwood.  Then, Dad, with a telling twinkle in his eyes would smile and say:  Yeah…she didn’t like me, but I chased and chased her until she caught me!  Inscribed on the inside of their wedding rings were just two letters, O.F.  Those engravings were the first letters of the words, Only Forever.  Their marriage was not built entirely on sentimental emotion, but the kind of commitment tied to the very last breath God would give them.  It stuck, and I was blessed to have grown up in a family with that kind of commitment and example.  It was a very present assurance, throughout my life, and to the end of theirs, the knowledge, through thick and thin times, without much of this world’s trinkets or position, we always had each other. 

God’s prophet, Jeremiah, reminded Israel with another two words:  coming destruction. There were incredibly difficult times on their horizon.  Blood would be spilled, and freedom would vanish.  They would be at their captor’s whim, serving as slaves to a heartless and evil despot. 

Then Jeremiah delivered the punchline:  their God loved them with a love that was stronger than any captivity or national disaster!  His love was everlasting, never to fade like fickle passions.  No matter what may come, God would be there, and hope was real.

Jeremiah was part of Israel’s hope.  His presence and faithful ways manifested the love and promises of God all the way through the captivities.  Although the prophet himself never saw another day of liberty in his earthly life, God’s promises he’d shared with Israel became the reality of their eventual freedom.  And that everlasting love still stands for God’s beloved nation…and will stand throughout eternity.

For You Today  

The promises of God are eternal, and without wavering.  Here is one of those promises you can count on, because God’s beloved Son, Jesus offered it:

Then Jesus said, “Come to me, all of you who are weary and carry heavy burdens, and I will give you rest.  Matthew 11:28

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

       Giving Thanks   and   The View of Forever Right Now

Images: Title image Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

All NEW

Monday, November 21, 2022

And the one sitting on the throne said, “Look, I am making everything new!” And then he said to me, “Write this down, for what I tell you is trustworthy and true.”  And he also said, “It is finished!  I am the Alpha and the Omega—the Beginning and the End.  To all who are thirsty I will give freely from the springs of the water of life.  All who are victorious will inherit all these blessings, and I will be their God, and they will be my children.  “But cowards, unbelievers, the corrupt, murderers, the immoral, those who practice witchcraft, idol worshipers, and all liars—their fate is in the fiery lake of burning sulfur.  This is the second death.”  Then one of the seven angels who held the seven bowls containing the seven last plagues came and said to me, “Come with me! I will show you the bride, the wife of the Lamb.”  So he took me in the Spirit to a great, high mountain, and he showed me the holy city, Jerusalem, descending out of heaven from God.  It shone with the glory of God and sparkled like a precious stone—like jasper as clear as crystal.  The city wall was broad and high, with twelve gates guarded by twelve angels.  And the names of the twelve tribes of Israel were written on the gates.  There were three gates on each side—east, north, south, and west.  The wall of the city had twelve foundation stones, and on them were written the names of the twelve apostles of the Lamb.  Revelation 21:5-14

One of the chief benefits of the view from the balcony is that you get a wider perspective on the landscape below.  Many artists throughout the centuries have attempted to present a picture of Heaven.  It’s easy to get lost in details, such as imagining a cube of a city, 1400 miles square, and 1400 miles high, or gates of pearl and the various precious metals of the walls and streets.  You could muse on wonderments like that for years and still miss the wider perspective. 

That wider perspective is the stark divide between what is present in the New Jerusalem, and what is missing.  And this marks the most significant difference between renovation and re-creation.  When humanity envisions “new” we are imagining creation, but are merely rearranging what has already been created by God.  When God makes everything “new” that which was nothing comes into existence. Artists can hardly capture what the mind can’t possibly imagine.

Our life on this planet consists of a struggle to be born, followed by the sparks of trouble flying upward from the fire of everyday cares.  There are moments of joy, spendor, and contentment, and then, our threescore and ten are over in the blink of an eye.  The NEW in God’s re-creation surpasses what we can fathom.

“No eye has seen, no ear has heard, and no mind has imagined what God has prepared for those who love him.”  1 Corinthians 2:9b

So, what do we do in the meantime, awaiting the revelation of New Jerusalem’s glory?  Do we just imagine some ethereal, cloudy, impression of wonder?  Do we forget it like some long, locked-away treasure, or just go to sleep like a good child, awaiting the dawn of Christmas?  I think there’s more for right now. 

The apostle John was given this glimpse/tour of glory in a vision, gates of pearl, precious stone walls, streets of transparent gold.  It was a balcony view, with sights he did not understand, and, therefore could not adequately describe.  But, even with the wider perspective, I’m certain the detail didn’t escape what John saw.  He saw a river and tree of life, and a Lamb’s Book…and, on one of the foundation stones of the new city of Jerusalem, he saw the name inscribed: 

JOHN

For You Today  

John knew his name was written for eternity; and you can know it too!

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

There are about 2,000 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper on today’s topic, explore some of these: 

       When It's God's Move   and   The Cry Heard in Ramah

Images: Title image Pixabay.com Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

 

When the Light has Gone Out

 

Tuesday, June 29, 2021

O Lord, God of my salvation, I cry out to you by day.  I come to you at night.  Now hear my prayer; listen to my cry.  For my life is full of troubles, and death draws near.  I am as good as dead, like a strong man with no strength left.  They have left me among the dead, and I lie like a corpse in a grave.  I am forgotten, cut off from your care.  You have thrown me into the lowest pit, into the darkest depths.  Your anger weighs me down; with wave after wave you have engulfed me. Interlude
You have driven my friends away by making me repulsive to them.  I am in a trap with no way of escape.  My eyes are blinded by my tears.  Each day I beg for your help, O Lord; I lift my hands to you for mercy.  Are your wonderful deeds of any use to the dead?  Do the dead rise up and praise you? Interlude
Can those in the grave declare your unfailing love?  Can they proclaim your faithfulness in the place of destruction?  Can the darkness speak of your wonderful deeds?  Can anyone in the land of forgetfulness talk about your righteousness?  O Lord, I cry out to you.  I will keep on pleading day by day.  O Lord, why do you reject me?  Why do you turn your face from me?  I have been sick and close to death since my youth.  I stand helpless and desperate before your terrors.  Your fierce anger has overwhelmed me.  Your terrors have paralyzed me.  They swirl around me like floodwaters all day long.  They have engulfed me completely.  You have taken away my companions and loved ones.  Darkness is my closest friend.  Psalm 18:1-18

The Psalmist moves from addressing God as JHWH, the LORD who is his salvation, to admitting the only real friend he has is the darkness.  What flows inbetween these two opposites is the crying-out of a soul that has been emptied by life’s harsh circumstances.  This is a man facing the darkness and contemplating embracing it.  Death is on the horizon, and the pain of continuing to live is so filled with the emptiness of admitting his life has been a waste of effort, all he can see is the darkness.  It is the testimony of one who has had hope disappear; all that is left is to turn to the wall and wait, contemplating the moment of relief when death takes over.  It seems so unjust, but the last flicker of hope has been snuffed like a flood of a fire hose against a paper match.

Been there?  Are there?

One of the things I’ve noticed (all too often) is that most people don’t admit to coming close to that darkness occasionally.  That is usually for one of two reasons.  Either the person is of strong faith, and they know the darkness cannot overturn the eternal light God has placed within their soul when they trusted Jesus.  Or, it is when the faith of a person has been assaulted so much, doubt has gotten the upper hand.  In either case, to admit to the darkness is to somehow grant it victory. 

Seemingly.

But that is faulty thinking.  Admitting the darkness, like the Psalmist holds up the darkness as the only thing he’s got left in this life, is the same thing we did when we first came to Christ, admitting we lived in darkness and were, in faith, going to trust the great light God promises.  My good friend, the tax collector, Matthew, understood this as he quoted Isaiah’s prophecy to us about Jesus, the light of the world:  

the people who sat in darkness have seen a great light. And for those who lived in the land where death casts its shadow, a light has shined.”  Matthew 4:16

For You Today

Friend, if your light has gone out like the Psalmists, you may be wondering if God has forgotten your address, or if He ever even knew it, or knew you.  You may feel like Job, having tried his best to do right, live right, be right – and had your life collapse like a house of cards in a windstorm.  You may be singing the Psalmist’s song like Simon and Garfunkel hello darkness, my old friend.  The only truth that will do at a time like that is to know that God’s Light in Jesus Christ has overcome the darkness.  Turn to the light and the darkness must flee for its’ life.

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

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

A New Name

 

Friday, January 29, 2021
“Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  To everyone who is victorious I will give some of the manna that has been hidden away in heaven.  And I will give to each one a white stone, and on the stone will be engraved a new name that no one understands except the one who receives it.”  Revelation 2:17

There are a lot of opinions as to what the new name means.  Whether it is symbolic or literal, it carries deep meaning.  It may be a literal, lingual name, a name which sounds different.  Abram became Abraham.  Saul became the beloved apostle Paul. 

However, I believe that it is more.  I believe the “white stone” is that certain something Jesus places deep down inside us when we are saved.  In ancient times friends sometimes gave each other gifts of small white marble, cut to fit a hand, engraved with words of kindness.  It was something to stimulate the memory of kindness associated with a meaningful relationship.  This is the kind of quiet understanding God’s salvation brings, an assurance, knowing that Jesus is Lord, and you are His.  It is the newness of relationship that you cannot really explain, touch, smell, or know apart from a personal relationship with Jesus.  It is based on more than victorious actions; it is based on every good possibility God already knows about you.  John Wesley described it as his heart being strangely warmed.  

In the days when John wrote Revelation, if a child fell ill and the situation worsened to the point of fearing for life and the doctors could not help, the father would stand over his child and give him a new name.  It wouldn't be just any name, but one of a great and valiant warrior.  It would be the name of a respected and strong individual, one whose name carried authority.  The child would become a new person in that name, and the disease must capitulate.  This is overcoming, allowing Jesus to take complete control of your life at the cross, with His blood, with His love, with His power.  The disease of sin no longer has control.  When you surrender to that power daily, there is nothing the world can do; you are an overcomer in Christ. 

For You Today

If you are a child of God in any true sense of the word, it is because you have been stood-over and a white stone of a new name has been placed within your being.  The blood of Christ, spilled at Calvary’s cross, has been applied to your life. 

And you have accepted that new name, and you bear it gladly. 

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

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy of Pixabay.com   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For another post on Revelation 2 see Getting to the Heart of the Matter   

 

Awakening

 

Monday, December 7, 2020

My heart has heard you say, “Come and talk with me.”  And my heart responds, “Lord, I am coming.”  Psalm 27:8

I’ve seen it often enough in the past forty years of ministry, and experienced it myself, that awakening of the soul.  It’s when that part of you no one else can see, that inner-awareness, awakens to the gentle invitation of God.  And a blossom of faith unfolds in the most unlikely place.  It’s unexpected, unexplainable, and without limit.  It’s when a heart responds, Yes, Lord!

“Yes” and “Lord” – these two words form the outward response generated by the inward call of God’s loving offer to come close, to be loved and held by the everlasting arms. YES

“Yes” is that surrender of the heart, when, despite all the inner fears that you would stand anywhere near the God whose power is infinite, you simply open your heart and soul for Heavenly inspection and resurrection.  It is what John Wesley (and so many others) experienced; at Aldersgate, Wesley’s heart was strangely-warmed by the assurance of divine love and care. 

It is knowing (for the first time) genuine love.

LORD

In the glow of the “yes” comes the realization that there is a corresponding desire to commit your life to He who loved you enough to awaken and warm your heart to love.  It is when you give all that you know about yourself to all you know about Him. 

And that phrase all you know about you and Him, is a confession that there are lots of things you don’t know about yourself and Jesus.  It’s signing a blank check of your life, acknowledging that He will fill-in the blanks. 

Nothing could be more exciting or dangerous.

The “YES” is salvation; saying “LORD” is commitment to a lifetime of serving God with all that you surrender to Him…life, resources, family, energy, reputation, and anything else you can imagine, and watching Him turn that life of yours towards the magnificent, marvelous, impossible, and eternally-useful.  And when that begins to take hold it is as wonderful and refreshing as a flower pushing up through the snow in early spring.  There was some anticipation that something might happen, but you never suspected how beautiful, or different it would be. 

Awakening is the territory of surprise and joy.

For You Today

The odd, and eternally repeated, always validated fact of this awakening is, that it is not open only to monks and Christian superstars, or apostle material; this is the substance of whosoever will, may come. 

The invitation of Christ is for you.  

Has your heart heard him say, come talk with Me?

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

GO TO VIDEO

Title image, Pixabay.com and    W   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on Psalm 27 see:  Lent! and All the Days of My Life