Out of the Darkness

 

When we leave the womb, we begin to face the possibility of isolation, being alone, abandoned.  And, not being created for aloneness, it troubles us.  There have been a number of times in my life, (and it still happens occasionally), that the aloneness of that small and vulnerable newborn child, just out of the mother’s womb, rises up in my soul and proclaims the profoundness of the deep darkness that surrounds and would swallow me up!

How does it happen, that darkness?  It generally comes (at least in my life) when I am isolated, and the memories of other aloneness or rejection haunts my thoughts.  I haven’t been hunted by a deranged king whose army has been given orders to capture or kill me like King Saul after David, the shepherd boy[1].  However, I have had people angry at me, and a few who would have rejoiced if I’d never been born.  But even simple conflict (what we would call “drama” these days), is enough to bring the darkness close and threatening.  It is at times like that I need the comfort of leaving the darkness behind and rejoining the light of God’s goodness.  When it comes to chasing the darkness away, there’s no better choice than the One who is the Author of light – Jesus!

If you recall last Friday’s three important questions in life…Where did I come from, What is my purpose here, and Where am I going…here are all three in a nutshell.  In the days leading up to Jesus’ crucifixion He taught his disciples the profound truth about where He came from, what His mission (purpose) was, and where He was going, and would take those who believe with Him.  He was (and IS) the light, and will lead us out of darkness every time!

Jesus cried out, “The one who believes in me believes not in me, but in him who sent me.  And the one who sees me sees him who sent me.  I have come as light into the world, so that everyone who believes in me would not remain in darkness.  John 12:44-46 ^(CSB)

Did you catch that last phrase about believing in Him and NOT remaining in darkness?  Did it roll around your mind like a healing ointment of calm joy?  That’s what truly worshipping God brings.  Jesus responds to those who worship His Father, the one true, living God, by throwing a floodlight over the gloom of darkness.  And a light soul cannot be engulfed by darkness. 

As the people of God offer genuine, heart-felt worship, darkness is dispelled, chased from our lives.  That is why whenever you don’t feel like coming to church on a given Sunday…and you go anyway…when you leave church that day there is a general sense of lightness; you feel better for having attended – glad you went!  Darkness had to leave when you emptied yourself in the presence of the ONE Who IS light!

For You Today

If there are circumstances on your horizon that threaten dark days, don’t forget where the light is found; He wants to light up your 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 Christian Standard Bible^©   

---

[1]Read the entire fascinating story in 1 Samuel – Chapters 18-26

Three Angels

Friday, November 24, 2023

And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.  “Fear God,” he shouted.  “Give glory to him.  For the time has come when he will sit as judge.  Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.”  Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.”  Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger.  It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath.  And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”  Revelation 14:6-11

Understanding human behavior isn’t simple.  Long ago I learned that the arts reflect humanity, and humanity is influenced by the arts.  An artistically-gifted young man sees a violent act and he reacts to his shock and fear by painting a violent scene in dark mode on the side of some building.  The young artist hopes all who pass-by will be shocked by his four-color screaming.  The shadow lurking behind that hope is to move others to action, to prevent more violence.  Unfortunately the artist’s work isn’t always understood, particularly by the naïve, or those ill-equipped to grasp the art’s intended response.  The art unintentionally  influences human behavior, and creates more violence.

Anyone who has looked at a baby child’s face knows we are born with a hopeful sense of wonder and optimism.  Then comes hunger and diaper-rash, followed by crankiness and sleepless parents.  Those difficult things we experience mold us into the characters we become, entirely different from our Creator’s perfect design.  We have been created to appreciate beauty, warmth, and pleasure; our world, steeped in the ugly darkness of cold hearts, selfishness, and death paints a very different picture.  And the contrast is frightening.  But it’s complicated further when the darkness parades itself as light.  Drugs give pleasure…for a season, but we know how that turns out; the same with alcohol, lust, greed, anger, and on through the seven deadly sins.

In a way, we humans in our sinful behavior, have created a humanity in darkness on the canvas of history…our own screaming fear.  As today’s text so graphically-illustrates, God reacts with judgment to our collective darkness.  Judgment comes via God’s servants, angels who pour-out justice in God’s name.

I do not want to make this canvass any darker than Scripture has painted; indeed, I couldn’t.  This burning with fire and sulfur, night and day, for eternity, without let-up, is darkness of the ultimate kind, absent of any hope.  It is so dark many people won’t believe it could happen.  You’ve known them; perhaps you’ve even said it yourself – a good God wouldn’t send people to a place like that to suffer.  But the evidence is contrary – if God is good, there must be judgment like that.  Otherwise the suffering of those who humbly worship God would be a farce.  The cross would be murder, and resurrection a fairy tale.  There are only two possible choices – God is either true, and Jesus died for sin, rose from the grave, and will come again to judge those who do not believe – or God is a lie, and doesn’t exist.

For You Today 

The challenge for every human of every era in history, present, or future, is to believe or reject.  How say you?

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

Go to VIDEO

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

Today’s title Image from Wikimedia Commons  

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

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

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!

Go to VIDEO

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^©   

Liturgy of Light in Dark Places

(originally published August 3, 2017)

Thursday, August 3, 2023

O Lord, hear my plea for justice.  Listen to my cry for help.  Pay attention to my prayer, for it comes from honest lips.  Declare me innocent, for you see those who do right.  You have tested my thoughts and examined my heart in the night.  You have scrutinized me and found nothing wrong.  I am determined not to sin in what I say.  I have followed your commands, which keep me from following cruel and evil people.  My steps have stayed on your path; I have not wavered from following you.  I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.  Bend down and listen as I pray.  Show me your unfailing love in wonderful ways.  By your mighty power you rescue those who seek refuge from their enemies.  Psalm 17:1-7

I’ve often wondered how the people of great reputation in the Biblical accounts could also appear so small, frail, and full of weakness.  But as soon as I begin that pondering, reality rises up in my thoughts, that those people are flesh-and-blood, not icons painted on a wall.  Of course they have moments, even months or years, when they’re not icons of faith; they’re reminders that we all come from small places.

When we leave the womb we begin to face the possibility of isolation, being alone.  And, not being created for aloneness, it troubles us.  David spent months being chased into the wilderness places, hounded by an increasingly insane King Saul, former benefactor and mentor (when your friends turn, the darkness deepens!).  So David spent time hiding in caves to avoid capture and death.  Dark caves, silent places, are places where you have no place; you only exist.  David spent a lot of time crying-out to God for rescue from his troubled existence.

 Did you catch David’s dark weakness when he lifted up his voice to pray?

I am praying to you because I know you will answer, O God.  Bend down and listen as I pray. 

David expressed faith (I know you will answer, O God).  But the next phrase tells just how much David senses his prayers are very disconnected from God:  Bend down…, this is the cry of someone who feels very small and very isolated. 

This is my liturgy of light for dark places.

There have been a number of times in my life, (and it still happens occasionally), that the aloneness of that small and vulnerable newborn child, just out of the mother’s womb, rises up in my soul and proclaims the profoundness of the deep darkness that surrounds and would swallow me up!  It is then I need the liturgy of light! 

Liturgy is something we might connect with a labored, boring responsive reading, or long, drawn-out call and response during the sacraments.  Literally, the word “liturgy” is work of the people, our part in offering worship to God.  As the people of God offer genuine, heart-felt worship, darkness is dispelled, chased from our lives.  That is why whenever you don’t feel like coming to church on a given Sunday…and you go anyway…when you leave church that day there is a general sense of lightness; you feel better for having attended – glad you went! 

The darkness had to leave when you emptied yourself in the presence of light!

For You Today 

Got darkness?  There’s an app for that…liturgy of light!

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

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

 

Title Image:  By Dinesh Valke from Thane, India, via Wikimedia Commons 

Images without citation are in public domain.   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Life's Wider Picture

Wednesday, June 21, 2023

My child, listen to me and do as I say, and you will have a long, good life.  I will teach you wisdom’s ways and lead you in straight paths.  When you walk, you won’t be held back; when you run, you won’t stumble.  Take hold of my instructions; don’t let them go.  Guard them, for they are the key to life.  Don’t do as the wicked do, and don’t follow the path of evildoers.  Don’t even think about it; don’t go that way.  Turn away and keep moving.  For evil people can’t sleep until they’ve done their evil deed for the day.  They can’t rest until they’ve caused someone to stumble.  They eat the food of wickedness and drink the wine of violence!  The way of the righteous is like the first gleam of dawn, which shines ever brighter until the full light of day.  But the way of the wicked is like total darkness.  They have no idea what they are stumbling over.  My child, pay attention to what I say.  Listen carefully to my words.  Don’t lose sight of them.  Let them penetrate deep into your heart, for they bring life to those who find them, and healing to their whole body.  Guard your heart above all else, for it determines the course of your life.  Avoid all perverse talk; stay away from corrupt speech.  Look straight ahead, and fix your eyes on what lies before you.  Mark out a straight path for your feet; stay on the safe path.  Don’t get sidetracked; keep your feet from following evil.  Proverbs 4:10-27

A question which I have always viewed with a little watchful skepticism is: 

Where do you see yourself in 5, 10, or 25 years?

Watchfulness over my answer is a matter of following the instruction my coach in high school gave me about hitting; he said:  keep your eye on the ball!  So my skeptical eye doesn’t have contempt for looking ahead to make plans, but rather objecting to such a short view.  As a life-navigator, I would rather see the end goal…it’s easier to chart a straight course that way.  And to do that for a life-plan you need to step back, get higher in the balcony, and see the bigger picture.

That snapshot of planning a life from the mere wisp of time we are granted on this planet, 50, 60, or 110 years, is way too short a focus.  Planning where and how you want your life to make an impact demands looking down the road for generations to come, even into eternity.  I’d rather start from the longest point from now, and work backwards to the present.

Now, many people would say:  That’s impossible; you don’t know the future.  And I would certainly have to agree that I don’t know the future, but I certainly can plan-for, and step-towards a goal I set for the future.

That is where Solomon’s wise advice comes in.  Wisdom for setting a life’s course begins with developing a worldview based on the light of truth, leaving evil and darkness in the dust behind you.  All else is meaningless (vanity if King James is a “must” for you). 

Only truth will guard your heart from sinking-into, and following evil.  When truth governs your heart, it will keep your mouth from perverse-speak; strength, healing and kindness will be your legacy, and it will last through eternity.

For You Today 

If you will let Solomon’s godly light of truth guard your heart today, and always, then 5, 20, or two-million years from now, your words and life’s impact on all who cross your path, will stand true, while evil is long forgotten. 

Prophet Isaiah has our last word today:

The grass withers and the flowers fade, but the word of our God stands forever.”  Isaiah 40:8

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:   Ears Open - Heart Straight - Eyes on the Road - Sure Foot  and  Small Package - Big Message  and  When the Killing is Done                                        

 

Title Image:  via Pixabay.com   Images without citation are in public domain.

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

Schizophrenic Praise - Part TWO

Wednesday, February 8, 2023

All heaven will praise your great wonders, Lord; myriads of angels will praise you for your faithfulness.  For who in all of heaven can compare with the Lord?  What mightiest angel is anything like the Lord?  The highest angelic powers stand in awe of God.  He is far more awesome than all who surround his throne.  O Lord God of Heaven’s Armies!  Where is there anyone as mighty as you, O Lord?  You are entirely faithful.  You rule the oceans.  You subdue their storm-tossed waves.  You crushed the great sea monster.  You scattered your enemies with your mighty arm.  The heavens are yours, and the earth is yours; everything in the world is yours—you created it all.  You created north and south.  Mount Tabor and Mount Hermon praise your name.  Powerful is your arm!  Strong is your hand!  Your right hand is lifted high in glorious strength.  Righteousness and justice are the foundation of your throne.  Unfailing love and truth walk before you as attendants.  Happy are those who hear the joyful call to worship, for they will walk in the light of your presence, Lord.  They rejoice all day long in your wonderful reputation.  They exult in your righteousness.  You are their glorious strength.  It pleases you to make us strong.  Yes, our protection comes from the Lord, and he, the Holy One of Israel, has given us our king.  

Psalm 89:5-18

I like consistency; I like to know what’s planned, and I like to see things unfold exactly as planned.  Call it O.C.D. (obsessive-compulsive disorder)…but I don’t like surprises.  It was painful to read Psalm 88 yesterday, with its darkness, despair, and questioning.  And now, here I am this morning, reading the unabashed gushing of unwavering faith and praise in Psalm 89. 

If you lay aside the circumstances of these two psalms, the change from valley to mountaintop can make one dizzy!  What a ride!

As settled as I like things and people to be in my life, I am often moody and affected by uneven circumstances and events.  Life is not charted with a straight edge.  Rather, it can be, and often is, messy.  I’ve heard all kinds of advice…

There are Psalm 88 folk who are deep thinkers…go ahead, question God, they say; Brood if you must; God will answer when he’s ready.  It’s a dark way.      Psalm 89 folk are more positive….they say (with a smile):  when you’re bummed, just lift your hands and praise!  God is good; circumstances aren’t important!  Because I’m more of a brooder, I want to smack Psalm 89 folk upside their happy countenance (in a loving, Christian way, of course!).

So, what to do?  As much as I hate to admit it, I always feel better when I praise God in a Psalm 89 burst of praise.  The problem is, the rarefied atmosphere of the mountaintop fades away, and I’m left wondering if God heard anything I said.  When I stay chained to Psalm 88, with its questioning, blood-letting agony of walking God through why His plan doesn’t seem to be working (often winding-up in the woodshed for my trouble), I am also left wondering if thinking this deeply is worthwhile.  So….maybe this is the reason why God had these Psalms put next to each other.  We are supposed to do the gut-wrenching work of Psalm 88, questioning and agonizing with God like Job.  But we’re also meant to frame it all with the praise of Psalm 89!  It’s a two-pronged fork…Probing and Praising!

For You Today  

I’ve found this to be so helpful.  Whether you’re a brooder or a praiser, get out of your rut!  Get in there and wrestle with God like Jacob at the River Jabbok ^{Genesis 32}, but then come out praising Him like a charismatic at a camp meeting!  It’s not schizophrenic – it’s living life close to the vine!

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: 

Worship Smiles  and  Bi-Polar Prayers 

This is an updated version of “Schizophrenic Praise - 2013 published on Rocky Road Devotions August 12, 2013

Images:  Title 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^©   

Awaken, O Sleeper!

Monday, January 23, 2023

Imitate God, therefore, in everything you do, because you are his dear children.  Live a life filled with love, following the example of Christ.  He loved us and offered himself as a sacrifice for us, a pleasing aroma to God.  Let there be no sexual immorality, impurity, or greed among you.  Such sins have no place among God’s people.  Obscene stories, foolish talk, and coarse jokes—these are not for you.  Instead, let there be thankfulness to God.  You can be sure that no immoral, impure, or greedy person will inherit the Kingdom of Christ and of God.  For a greedy person is an idolater, worshiping the things of this world.  Don’t be fooled by those who try to excuse these sins, for the anger of God will fall on all who disobey him.  Don’t participate in the things these people do.  For once you were full of darkness, but now you have light from the Lord.  So live as people of light!  For this light within you produces only what is good and right and true.  Carefully determine what pleases the Lord.  Take no part in the worthless deeds of evil and darkness; instead, expose them.  It is shameful even to talk about the things that ungodly people do in secret.  But their evil intentions will be exposed when the light shines on them, for the light makes everything visible.  This is why it is said, “Awake, O sleeper, rise up from the dead, and Christ will give you light.”  Ephesians 5:1-14

Some Biblical passages require zero commentary, except perhaps, an honest glimpse in the mirror.  The image of people sleeping in all the wrong places is a stark reminder that there is a time to sleep, and a time to wake-up.  We’re not talking about getting up to arrive at work on time, or get the kids off to school.  The “wokeness factor” is about how we approach life’s darker areas.

The apostle Paul reminds the believers at Ephesus that sexual sins (which is any sexual activity outside of marriage), obscenities (language, pornography, etc), and materialistic greed are what people do when they don’t have a clue about God. 

Disciples of Jesus don’t participate in the activities of darkness for two reasons:

1.    Sexual impurity obscene language and foolishness, as well as materialism, lead to the darkness of societal downward-spiral.  It’s destructive!

2.    Because a believer has received Christ, the light of God’s goodness dwells within any disciple of Jesus, and that darker side of life will diminish our view of that for which we were created and saved.

We have, as apostle Peter declared, been called out of the darkness to serve Christ:

But you are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, His own special people, that you may proclaim the praises of Him who called you out of darkness into His marvelous light.  1 Peter 2:9

It is totally inconsistent to be a believer who proclaims the light of Christ from the shadows.  If there is any hope for this generation’s ability to witness of God’s saving and sanctifying grace, it will be for the church of Jesus Christ to walk in that light to which Jesus calls us.

For You Today  

There’s enough darkness…time to stop sleeping through life; believers wake-up, and walk in the light.

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: 

Emptying the Church - Part 1  and  Drunkard Road

Images:  Title 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^©