Living In-Between

 

Wednesday, June 29, 2022

“Look, I am sending you out as sheep among wolves.  So be as shrewd as snakes and harmless as doves.  But beware!  For you will be handed over to the courts and will be flogged with whips in the synagogues.  You will stand trial before governors and kings because you are my followers.  But this will be your opportunity to tell the rulers and other unbelievers about me.  When you are arrested, don’t worry about how to respond or what to say.  God will give you the right words at the right time.  For it is not you who will be speaking—it will be the Spirit of your Father speaking through you.  Matthew 10:16-20

I said “goodbye” this past Sunday to the congregation I’ve served with for ten years; I have not yet said “hello” to the new congregation I’m supposed to serve this year.  I’m in-between.  If you’re between a rock and a hard place, you’re in-between.  If you’re supposed to be as harmless as a dove, but shrewd as a snake, you’re in-between.  If you’re arrested for being good, and you want to scream FOUL, but the one who taught you to wait, instead of trying to force the issue, says to wait for His words…you’re in-between.  There are times when I hate being in-between.  Check that…I hate being in-between ALL the time!

But here I am, and the chaos of life in the in-between times is upon me.  I am neither where I was, nor where I’m headed.  I prefer to have things a lot more planned, clearly-defined, and scheduled.  The good news is that it is just that, planned, clearly-directed and on-schedule; the bad news, for my obsessive-compulsive-disorderly self, is the One who holds the Day-Planner is in Heaven.

I have to remind myself often, that God’s plans, like His ways and thoughts, are on a much grander level than I can even imagine.  And He’s got stuff well in control.  It’s not that I ever doubt that…my perfectionist, impatient, wanna-control gene compels me to try to control what’s going on, and the God who knows exactly what, where, when, who, and (most importantly) why things are going to play-out the way they will…is my LORD.  And it’s something I need to remember…as in front burner…It is He who instructs, commissions, sends, leads, and in every way protects and uses me….not the other way around.

For You Today

One other thing I have to keep tattooed on the inside of my eylids (so I’ll see it often) is that the Christian life is a journey, and I’m always in that in-between place.  I’m not where I was, but I’m being led to where I need to be. 

May the God of grace and peace give you that joyful expectation of this holy journey of life in His plan, His way, and His glory, instead of letting you try to own the cesspool of control, organized materialism, and owning exactly nothing!

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

Go to VIDEO (read by author)

For other posts on this topic:  Shrewd & Harmless and When Faith Leads to Trouble

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

Remembering

Tuesday, March 31, 2020

Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins.  You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world.  He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God.  All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature.  By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.  But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead.  (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!)  For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus.  So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus.  God saved you by his grace when you believed.  And you can’t take credit for this; it is a gift from God.  Salvation is not a reward for the good things we have done, so none of us can boast about it.  For we are God’s masterpiece.  He has created us anew in Christ Jesus, so we can do the good things he planned for us long ago.  Ephesians 2:1-10

Particularly among Evangelicals, the last few verses of this text get the press.  Grace alone was the main thrust of Martin Luther’s reformation.  And, while there is no argument on my part that God’s grace deserves first seat in Christian doctrine and practice, I have a high place in my heart and mind for resurrection; both from the grave, and from the death of what used to be.

The gist of that to which I’m pointing is similar to the history my bride and I share.  We’ve been married a long time.  Occasionally we will just sit together with almost no conversation.  Inevitably, one of us will begin to marvel aloud at the history we have together, and how God has led us through so much.  The marvelous part of it is how we both understand we’d never be on this end of our journey, still together, and still wanting to be together, had it not been for the grace of God providing some pretty awesome strength for that journey; especially during the lean and difficult years.  Life can (and does) test any marriage up to, and beyond, the breaking point!

Grace enters this conversation Elizabeth and I have about our history because we both understand the power that has seen us through many dangers, toils, and snares, is the undeserved, but unreserved kindness and mercy of God in Christ Jesus.  It is that power which holds all things together; from the molecules he first created eons ago, and then re-formed from chaos into the wondrous order of all we see in the earth and universe, all the way to the forces, events, and even thoughts in our minds…it is prevenient, provident, and beneficent grace that God bestows upon us.  Our lives, even the next breath you take, are an impossibility, except for the hand of Jesus Christ.  I see that in the same way the apostle Paul wrote about it:

Everything was created through him and for him.  He existed before anything else, and he holds all creation together.          Colossians 1:16b-17

For You Today

Take it from a genetic introvert; while you’re stuck at home it’s a blessing you’ll not regret to look back and see how God has held you together through life.  Take a little time today to thank Him for where He’s got you right now!

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

Go to VIDEO 

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

For other posts on Ephesians 2:  see Turn Back...and Live   and  Grace Alone – Part 1 and    Grace Alone – Part 2 and   James the Just – Part 6 The Upward Spiral of Metamorphosis  

Ready to Travel

[i]

Holy Week

Thursday, April 13, 2017

“These are your instructions for eating this meal:  Be fully dressed, wear your sandals, and carry your walking stick in your hand.  Eat the meal with urgency, for this is the Lord’s Passover.   Exodus 12:11^(NLT)

For I pass on to you what I received from the Lord himself.  On the night when he was betrayed, the Lord Jesus took some bread and gave thanks to God for it.  Then he broke it in pieces and said, “This is my body, which is given for you.  Do this in remembrance of me.”  In the same way, he took the cup of wine after supper, saying, “This cup is the new covenant between God and his people—an agreement confirmed with my blood.  Do this in remembrance of me as often as you drink it.”  For every time you eat this bread and drink this cup, you are announcing the Lord’s death until he comes again.  1 Corinthians 11:23-26^(NLT)

Of all the people I’ve ever known, my Dad was the itchy feet king!  He was ready to travel at all times.  His wanderlust[ii] was born of a natural sense of curiosity about what’s beyond the next bend in the road.  He had an intense desire to see America, particularly the historical sights, up-close.  There was a map hung on a cork board in our house that had stick pins at places to which Mom and Dad had travelled over the years.  Strings were tied from one place to another, indicating a planned next trip, or a completed recent trip.  My Dad was always ready to travel!

Through Moses God told Israel the same thing; eat this meal with your shoes on and travelling sticks in hand; be ready to travel!  The Passover is the meal of haste, eaten with the understanding the call to move-out of Egypt might be trumpeted at any time. 

Our Lord’s Supper feast is also fast-food for the Christian church.  With this meal we remember the Passover of Jesus’ last night on earth and, much like the fundamental message of the Passover, where Jews remember the bitterness of bondage in Egypt, we remember the bitterness of sin’s bondage, from which we’ve been released.

There’s an urgency about this call to the table.  In one sense the grace we experience (or should experience) whenever we celebrate this communion is reason enough to hurry to the table.  Who is not in need of God’s grace, pressed-down, shaken-together, and running-over?[iii]

But there is also another reason to keep walking stick and sandals at the ready:  going home.  I recall those road trips with Mom and Dad, and how, because there was no money for motels, we camped.  My brother and I set up the tent every night, slept on the ground in sleeping bags, then broke it down and packed it in the station wagon every morning.  By the time the trip was over our parents had two pooped kids!  (Well, maybe that was their plan). 

But the best part of the trip…always…was arriving back at Holly Lane in Smithtown.  Coming back home, worn-out, full of travel memories, but home…HOME! 

The New Covenant is like that; starting place (in Christ) is also the destination.  Just like we drove away from the little house on Holly Lane on our new adventure the first two weeks of August every year, it was to the little house on Holly Lane we returned.  And it somehow looked different when we got back – so welcoming; so right.

We are walking pilgrims now, having started our journey with, and in-Christ.  The cross is the beginning of that pilgrimage, and we walk by faith towards a real place that is our real home, not one made with hands.  We start in Christ and are always moving towards Him.  The moments on this trail are filled with tests, trials, opportunities and some heartache as we see the tragedies and triumphs of the grandest experiment since creation – the making of a people who will love God and enjoy Him forever.

For You Today

Got your shoes on, walking stick in hand?  Are you ready for that?

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

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

---

 ^I Title image: By MRabe! (Self-photographed), via Wikimedia Commons and By Hysocc (Own work), via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] “Wanderlust” is an intense desire to travel

[iii] Luke 6:38