Troubled Times

Friday, August 12, 2022

Think back on those early days when you first learned about Christ.  Remember how you remained faithful even though it meant terrible suffering.  Sometimes you were exposed to public ridicule and were beaten, and sometimes you helped others who were suffering the same things.  You suffered along with those who were thrown into jail, and when all you owned was taken from you, you accepted it with joy.  You knew there were better things waiting for you that will last forever.  So do not throw away this confident trust in the Lord.  Remember the great reward it brings you!  Patient endurance is what you need now, so that you will continue to do God’s will.  Then you will receive all that he has promised.  “For in just a little while, the Coming One will come and not delay.  And my righteous ones will live by faith.  But I will take no pleasure in anyone who turns away.”  But we are not like those who turn away from God to their own destruction.  We are the faithful ones, whose souls will be saved.  

Hebrews 10:32-39

To say that Christians suffer in troubled times is to understate reality by a country mile.  We face difficult circumstances just as much as every other human on planet earth.  There are some who face little, but others who suffer more than we can bear on our own.  This is why Paul’s advice to remember the early days, when we first accepted Christ, is so encouraging and helpful.  By doing so, we re-center our focus on the joy of being connected to heaven’s great cloud of witnesses, and earth’s heaven-bound family.  But Paul also tells us to look forward to the return of Christ, and how He will change everything in an instant.  If that doesn’t re-light your fire, your wood’s wet, my friend.

It is an easy temptation to fall into, spending all your time looking back to the good ol’ days, or forward to the coming joy of reuniting with loved ones and the reign of Christ.  But – truth be told – that isn’t where you live, is it?  You live in the here and now, political turmoil, climate change, dwindling resources, increasing age issues, inflation, and the ever-present shrinking trust in everything that comes across your screen on social media.  Who wouldn’t want to reminisce about good times of the past, and ruminate on the coming great times of the future?

Paul tells us to not throw away (our) confident trust in the LORD.  He tells us to get a firm grip on patient endurance, the unanxious, present and joyful spirit of faith in Jesus Christ.  And he tells us to live and rest in that, because there are plenty of people you know who will need you to have that ready for them when troublesome times begin to swallow them whole.  It’s then, with a present confidence and spirit of Christ, your helping hand is going to make an eternal difference in another human being’s life. 

For You Today

We are always mindful to pray for First Responders because they are on the scene when people need them most.  Let that describe your life’s mission, a follower of Jesus Christ, First Responder with the Spirit of Hope and Salvation!

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

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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:  Resting in the Connection and Joy in Troubling Times      

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

Intercessor

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Thursday, August 29, 2019

I urge you, first of all, to pray for all people. Ask God to help them; intercede on their behalf, and give thanks for them.  1 Timothy 2:1

The word intercede  is one of those nouns that really screams to be a verb!  To intercede in Bible times meant to plead with the king on behalf of a friend.  In our application, the real sense is to be; it is to be involved, in between, standing in the gap.

The cosmetic world’s Estee Lauder said that most women don’t wear enough perfume.  They always think they should just dab a little on the wrists, and the pulse points.  NOT SO, says the lady.  She says the best way to apply fragrance is to spray the air in front of you and walk into it.  Wearing perfume is a little like loving – you can’t be stingy.  You must use it abundantly.  It just may be that Estee Lauder has given the best illustration of interceding in prayer.  We must fill our entire existence with the presence of God, and the problems which plague the one for whom we pray, and walk in it, abundantly!  

Giving thanks for the ones you pray for is an act of gratitude.  Prayer is active; it’s part of a lifestyle, rather than a ritual.  Part of every believer’s daily (hourly) living ought to be an active, vibrant attitude of gratitude for God and fellow men and women.  

Let’s face it, if we are of the belief that everything happens under the control of God, and He is engineering it for our good ^{(Romans 8.28)}, then we must be thankful for all of it; we must be thankful even when we cannot understand what God is doing in our lives.

There are things I didn’t understand when I was younger.

·      I couldn’t understand how some childhood bullies I knew were not incinerated by lightning for their ways.  How could I be thankful for them?

·      I didn’t understand why my Dad had to work the graveyard shift.  He was working at night when I wanted him home.  But my lack of understanding at that point doesn’t change the fact that it was his love for his family that made him work just to keep food on the table.  I admire him now, understanding his sacrifice.  I admire his being there at ball games to cheer for me when he was probably exhausted from working those late hours.

·      I confess -- it is difficult for me to be thankful for mosquitoes and chiggers, but I will praise Him now (and ask Him why when I get home).

Believers in, and followers of Jesus Christ live a lifestyle of intercession, praying and giving thanks for one another!

For You Today

·      If you are a person who has a relationship with God the Father, because, in faith you asked His Son, Jesus to forgive your sins, and the Holy Spirit has placed you in the body….

·      and you recognize that it is time to get in the battle, and the front of the battle is where you are called, and you’re ready to follow your Captain Jesus wherever He leads…we say,

·      Come…come and die with us; die with us in the prayer room.

·      Come stand in the gap for your brothers and sisters in Christ Jesus.

·      Come stand in the gap as we pray for marriages and children.

·      Come stand in the gap as we storm the gates of Hell against drugs, alcohol and all the habits that enslave and impoverish and kill in our communities.

·      Come stand in the gap for your neighbors, our President and all leaders, and for missionaries around the world.

·      Come stand in the gap against sin, powers of the air, wickedness in high places.

·      Come…intercessor…come stand in the Gap!

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 otherwise noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

Lenten Walk - Part 3

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Monday, February 19, 2018

When the Red Sea saw you, O God, its waters looked and trembled!  The sea quaked to its very depths.  The clouds poured down rain; the thunder rumbled in the sky.  Your arrows of lightning flashed.  Your thunder roared from the whirlwind; the lightning lit up the world!  The earth trembled and shook.  Your road led through the sea, your pathway through the mighty waters—a pathway no one knew was there!  You led your people along that road like a flock of sheep, with Moses and Aaron as their shepherds.  Psalm 77:16-20^(NLT)

We’ve been looking at the Lent pathway via some thoughts my friend shared with me about his family’s recent hiking excursion at Hanging Rock.  You’ve got to trust the path to take you to the high places, and you need a steadying stick to help navigate the soft, shifty places. 

Today Lent is five days-in; five of forty.  Mathematically that’s only 12½^% of the journey, but let’s go to the top of the rock this morning.  My friend, Richard, shared an insight he gleaned from being at the top that is particularly helpful in pastoral ministry. 

When you climb all the way to the top at Hanging Rock, you must have courage to get the best views!  Hmmm…I thought it was courageous just to get to the top; whatever did my friend have in mind?  Well, he said:  You have to get right out to the edge of the rock if you want to look down…straight-down at the best, most breath-taking views! 

I was afraid he was going there.  I love mountains and the grand, panoramic displays of God’s handiwork…from a safe distance.  Although vertigo is not my idea of a good high, Richard’s explanation made sense; not fun, but sense

Incidentally, speaking of sense, of the common variety, a disclaimer here:  I do NOT recommend you go near the edge of Hanging Rock without someone to hold you back after you’ve visited the psychiatrist following your decision to look a mile or two straight down!  Some people’s courage is other people’s craziness!

That being said, Richard was right…the view from hanging over Hanging Rock is the most breathtaking possibility.  Instead of looking straight-out and seeing nothing but tree tops, you get to look down and see the contours of the land, and all the interesting little details a horizontal view misses.  You get scope and clarity when you’re hanging that close to the edge.  Of course, my friend is a pilot/preacher and he’s used to that kind of thing

I got that perspective on a trip to Victoria Falls, Zimbabwe ten years ago.  Way against my better judgment I leaned out, over the edge to get this picture.  My perspective took my breath away; I was certain I was next to heaven, if not on my way TO heaven if my foot slipped.

So what does all this have to do with Lent?  I’m glad you asked.  In pastoral ministry it is important to see the pathway most people would miss.  If you are to be of help to your brother or sister in Christ you must spend time looking and listening from the point that takes courage.  You have to be close and vulnerable, like hanging over a cliff, if you’re going to see the path someone else is travelling.  It’s like dancing, you can’t look at your own feet; if you do, it’s only a mechanical movement, it’s not dancing.  You’ve got to look in your partner’s eyes and feel the music.  You’ve got to trust.

And isn’t that the whole idea of this Lenten season?  You have got to prepare your heart to lean fully out over the edge – to trust the One holding your backpack.  And as you learn to fully place all your weight on He who died for you, you become an incredible value of Christ’s presence to everyone you meet.

For You Today

What will it be…breath-taking leaps in following the Savior…or a safe distance?

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

Road Rescue

Tuesday, September 22, 2014

Sing to the Lord, for he has done wonderful things.  Make known his praise around the world.  Isaiah 12:5 (NLT)

And always be thankful.  Colossians 3:15b (NLT)

I have never lived life hunting for “signs” from the Lord. 

But sometimes they sneak up on me. 

Last Thursday I was driving home after a committee meeting.  My little VW was zipping along SR-42, slicing through the darkness; and, lo, it was very dark!  And when it’s that dark there are things that go “bump” in the night. 

Things went bump in the night! 

A loud noise and that thump, thump, thump….were all too familiar.  I had a flat, and it was raining…hard.  And I was wearing church clothes, and there was rain and mud out there.  Phrases crossed my mind that I would not be proud to list in this devotion.

As I pulled off to the side at a crossroad, my car half-blocking the side road, I thought of an episode of Criminal Minds[1] I’d watched recently where the (really) bad guy clobbers this unsuspecting traveler changing a tire on the side of the road on a rainy night. 

My heart did a few flips.  (That’s actually possible when it’s really dark).

As I was kneeling in the rain, staring at a flat tire (and, lo, it was very flat), I was holding a jack with thing-a-ma-jig attachments I’d never seen before (It’s been a long time since I had a new car).  Then a white pickup truck pulled alongside.  (Insert Criminal Minds music here – did I mention it was really dark?). 

The window rolled down and a voice said – “You need some help, partner?”  Remembering that was the opening line in the Criminal Minds episode, I stammered out, “uh…yeah, I really do,” at the same time noticing how dark the night was surrounding that white pickup.  The “heart flips” began to feel like death rolls.

In a heartbeat, the young man was changing that tire just like he had nothing better to do in the rain and mud on a very dark night.  And while he was on that, the patrol cruiser pulled up; the officer in his crisp, clean uniform joined us in the rain, adding the power of his flashlight and car top flashers to stave off the night’s darkness.

Besides the obvious help – getting me back on the road with that cute little donut tire looking much better than my flat, shredded tire – the deputy and the young man who actually spent all that time and muscle in the mud, made me feel so much at ease. 

What had started out in feelings of fear and frustrated helplessness turned into that sweet warmth of the sense of being totally loved by a God who cares for you through the thoughtful touch of caring people.

John Phillips and Officer Brad, thank you for being instruments of God’s peace last Thursday; you guys are the best!

For You, Today…

It may be changing a tire or a visit with a casserole dish in hand, or maybe just a smile you cast towards someone in need – but you can be a thankful, joyful, caring instrument of God’s peace today.

And by the way – stop watching so much Criminal Minds.

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[1] © CBS Broadcasting