Pray for Us

Thursday, April 13, 2023

Devote yourselves to prayer with an alert mind and a thankful heart.  Pray for us, too, that God will give us many opportunities to speak about his mysterious plan concerning Christ.  That is why I am here in chains.  Pray that I will proclaim this message as clearly as I should.  Colossians 4:2-4

It was a dramatic personal transformation that changed a man named Saul into Paul.  He met Jesus…and like Frost’s two roads that diverged in the woods, the journey required a choice – and the traveler could not take both – Paul emerged on the road less-travelled.  And that made all the difference for, perhaps, millions of believers down through the centuries.

You can see that change in Paul as he encouraged the Colossian believers to pray, wholeheartedly, alert, and with a thankful heart.  He asked that they include him in those prayers, focusing-on his mission to reach those who needed to hear about the Lord Jesus.  When he was Saul, the man wanted to climb to the top of the popularity and prestige ladder.  Now Paul, he had been commissioned an apostle to dig into the dregs of humanity reaching the lost, least, and rejected, to become his brothers in Christ.  Paul wanted to speak as clearly as possible to anyone who would listen, of the mystery and majesty of the King of Glory.

Taking the road less traveled eventually led Paul to a Roman prison, and the end of nearly all apostles – martyrdom.  The second century Christian historian, Tertullian records that Paul was beheaded at the end of his Roman imprisonment.  Having finished his race, what Paul wrote to the Philippian church came true, living meant living for Christ, and dying was gaining all to be with Christ.

Reflecting on your life is part of praying wholeheartedly, alert to what Christ is doing, and measuring how you have traveled the path, so you can choose wisely those next steps in the journey.  For me reflecting takes longer, having more than 75 years of history to consider.  I’m a lot older than the 8 year old boy who accepted Christ…and a little bit wiser than he was.  Looking back, there are three certainties about the path:

1.    I didn’t always choose wisely

2.    Christ was with me in both the wise and foolish choices, and was faithful in all, and is still

3.    Those who joined me in prayer helped lead me in better choices.

For You Today 

You’ll make choices today, some less important (like what to eat for breakfast), and some more important (like putting aside your fear of witnessing to that friend or co-worker).  One best choice you can make is to pray diligently, wholeheartedly, and enlisting others to pray with, and for you like Paul did.

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

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There are about 2,500 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road Devotions library.  To dig deeper explore some of these:   The Grumpy Christian  and  Stay Alert  

Title Image:  Paul in Prison via Wikimedia Commons   Images without citation are in public domain.

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

Multiplication by Division

Thursday, May 19, 2022

After some time Paul said to Barnabas, “Let’s go back and visit each city where we previously preached the word of the Lord, to see how the new believers are doing.”  Barnabas agreed and wanted to take along John Mark.  But Paul disagreed strongly, since John Mark had deserted them in Pamphylia and had not continued with them in their work.  Their disagreement was so sharp that they separated. Barnabas took John Mark with him and sailed for Cyprus.  Paul chose Silas, and as he left, the believers entrusted him to the Lord’s gracious care.  Then he traveled throughout Syria and Cilicia, strengthening the churches there.  

Acts 15:36-41

There are rules which govern mathematics.  For instance, for an equation to be valid, or true, both values on either side of the “equal sign” must be equal.

1 + 1 = 2

No matter how many times you do this problem, adding two ones will always equal two!  Because of this rule (and others too numerous and increasingly complicated – much too complicated for my brain) division and multiplication are inextricably related.  To do one is to mirror the other.  An example:

2 x 2 = 4   mirrors  4 ÷ 2 = 2

What does this have to do with the Kingdom of God here on earth?  Everything.  In the case of Paul and Barnabas, God divided their opinion about Mark in order to multiply their missionary impact.

It is a common understanding that an argument in church is counter-Christian in nature.  However, that is a far cry from a matter of differing opinion about which way to do something.  The rules governing truth require us to recognize that two contradictory opinions cannot both be right.  Therfore, there only three possible outcomes, relative to truth:

          1.  Party A is right, Party B is wrong

          2.  Party A is wrong, Party B is right

          3.  Party A and B are both wrong.

It is never a matter of victor over loser in God’s Kingdom, but humility to understand God does math more perfectly than human wisdom.  Sometimes He uses the division of thought between believers to create multiplication of His plans for spreading the love He has for us.  It was this way with Paul and Barnabas’ dispute over the usefulness of John Mark on the next road trip.  Instead of one missionary team of three (Paul, Barnabas & John Mark), God had two missionary teams of two each, adding the usefulness of Silas to the mix.

I cannot recall how many times I’ve been asked the question about why so many different denominations and doctrines, preacher?  My stock answer has become:  Sisters and Brothers…it’s God-math!

For You Today

In my journey, God took a rebellious teen, who was raised in a northern Congregational church, and later joined a Methodist tribe, moved to a non-denominational fellowship, then moved to the South (Florida) and joined a Southern Baptist church, studied in a Southern Baptist seminary, to pastor Southern Baptist churches, only to wind-up in the United Methodist tribe. 

Now, if you can use a calculator and press the right buttons to figure out what God was accomplishing, you’re on a higher pay grade than I.  But remember, just like God’s Word never returns to him void of the accomplishment He plans[1], so it is with what He does with our days and movements.

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

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

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[1] Isaiah 55:11

God's Ultimate YES

 

Tuesday, February 15, 2022

Since I was so sure of your understanding and trust, I wanted to give you a double blessing by visiting you twice—first on my way to Macedonia and again when I returned from Macedonia.  Then you could send me on my way to Judea.  You may be asking why I changed my plan.  Do you think I make my plans carelessly?  Do you think I am like people of the world who say “Yes” when they really mean “No”?  As surely as God is faithful, our word to you does not waver between “Yes” and “No.”  For Jesus Christ, the Son of God, does not waver between “Yes” and “No.”  He is the one whom Silas, Timothy, and I preached to you, and as God’s ultimate “Yes,” he always does what he says.                         2 Corinthians 2:15-19

It doesn’t take long for a misunderstanding to change the way you say things, or the way you do things.  The higher the stakes the more careful one must be in communicating with people; especially people with whom you share a mission, or goal.  The mission can become “toast” in a hurry when hurt feelings get in the way.

The apostle, Paul, was committed to the young church at Corinth.  They’d been idol worshippers, and hedonistic, simply party-people with no sense of direction.  Paul founded a church there, and God’s Holy Spirit blessed them with a great outpouring of love and giftedness.  Paul was proud of them.  However, in Paul’s absence, they reverted to some of their pagan ways.  They were in danger of becoming a stain on Jesus’ name, the One they’d committed to serve.

In Paul’s first letter to them he named names and the sins that were threatening to blow that church apart.  This second letter was more than just damage control, he was putting cement around the foundation of their relationship, assuring them that his actions, words, and intentions were always going to be unwavering, uncalculating, and from the heart.  That’s good advice for any pastor and people…get it straight, with humility, and trust.

To put an exclamation point at the end of his letter, Paul points to the One Whom God gave as the ultimate YES, Jesus.  That was not a bad simile for speaking plainly, forcefully, and with little chance of obscuring the target.  Certainly the clear message of Christ’s gift of his life on the cross was unmistakeable; that was God’s communication of love for all humanity.

For You Today

Yesterday was Valentine's Day.  We get caught up in gifts of chocolate, special gifts from the jewelry shops, and the Hallmark moments.  All of the well-intentioned communication of joy and devotion to our “loved ones” is good and right.  But, in all of your celebrating, remember Who started it all!  It was the Lord Jesus Christ who gave us the meaning for Valentine’s Day:

“For this is how God loved the world:  He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

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

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

Ricky's Story - Bringing Heaven to Earth

 

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Pray like this:  Our Father in heaven, may your name be kept holy.  May your Kingdom come soon.  May your will be done on earth, as it is in heaven.  Matthew 6:9-10

I met Ricky in the parking lot of the Veteran’s Administration Hospital this Monday.  He struck up a conversation with our dog, Wellie.  (Elizabeth just happened to be accompanying Wellie on his walk while Russell was getting checked out by various medical people on the 3^rd floor.) 

As I walked up to Elizabeth, Wellie, and Ricky’s conversation, I was greeted with a big smile (by Ricky…Wellie hardly ever smiles).  Ricky extended a handshake and introduced himself.  We exchanged a few words of greeting and Ricky began sharing the mission he’d been on ever since God got his attention.  I never heard the exact details of what grabbed this man’s focus and turned it to God, but when you’re in a Veteran’s Administration parking lot, and the guy says he’s on a “mission” you don’t question too deeply. 

It turned out Ricky’s mission was to help bring Heaven down to earth.  And it had to do with the Lord’s Prayer.  What had grabbed my new friend was the fact that, when Jesus taught this way of praying to his disciples, it was the first time it had ever been heard.  He was alluding to the reality that we hear it often in church, have it on bookmarks and bumper stickers, but it’s meant to be a framework for our daily life’s walk, not a mantra to be tacked onto the preacher’s Sunday prayer.

I can’t recall exactly how Ricky explained the mission, but it went something like: Lord, let me be part of bringing Your Heaven down to where it’s needed, here on earth.  Let that Heaven begin to interfere with all the killing, stealing and all the other unkindness we do to each other.  Heaven, here on earth, Lord!

Then Ricky made it personal.  He shared how trustworthy this faithful God is when it comes to working-out our part in this mission.  Ricky’s a truck-owner/driver by trade.  It seems a year or so ago, when this mission was just beginning to dawn on him, he had a mishap with his truck.  He ran into a big fence gate while making a delivery.  It was late in the day and there was no one around, so he just left.  The next day it was like a festering thorn under his skin that he’d left without somehow settling this with the fence’s owner.  So Ricky went back and found the owner looking at that mangled fence.  The man said, Just look at that…some fool just beat my fence all to pieces.  Ricky told me at that point he had tears starting to come down, and he just blurted out, Mister, I’m that one; I ran into your fence.  He promised he would pay for the damages, and gave the owner his contact information for when he got the bill. 

Later, after not hearing from the man, Ricky called him and asked if he’d found out how much it was going to cost; Ricky was ready to scrape together whatever was needed.  The man said, Son, you don’t gotta pay me nothin’.  I got that fence back to where it will open and close, and there’s no need to worry.  You don’t owe me; I’m just so thankful for the way you were honest about it.

That’s when the mission snapped into focus for Ricky; he could have gotten away with the thing, avoided the humiliation of facing someone he’d wronged.  But, he knew God wasn’t that way.  God had loved Ricky enough to die for him, so being honest about the fence was such a little thing.  As it turned out, it made the fence owner’s day, and helped Ricky see what a great God he was serving.  There was just a little bit of Heaven come down to earth that day for a business owner and a truck driver named Ricky.

For You Today

Meeting Ricky was a privilege.  He takes the time to tell what happened to him in an honest, intentional way, giving all credit and glory to God.  His honesty in coming clean with that fence owner reminded me of another friend’s sentence I heard years ago:  There’s never a right time to do the wrong thing, and never a wrong time to do the right thing; so trust God and do right!

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^©

Heart Worship

 

Friday, July 17, 2020

Psalm 86:11-13

Teach me your ways, O Lord, that I may live according to your truth!  Grant me purity of heart, so that I may honor you.  With all my heart I will praise you, O Lord my God.  I will give glory to your name forever, for your love for me is very great.  You have rescued me from the depths of death.

With the exception of miracles, the physical laws God set in place as He created the universe…are indisputable; that is, the rules of how stuff acts cannot be altered.  One of those laws was articulated by Sir Isaac Newton this way:

For every action there is an opposite, and equal reaction.[1]

According to the Psalmist, the idea of heart worship is similar to that; true worship is the extreme response of the heart, mind, and soul to love God, and live in such a manner as to please Him. 

The one fly in the ointment, in saying that our worship of God is an equal and opposite reaction, is the “equal” part.  There is no worship any human can offer that is equal to how God loves us.  God is without peer.  In the same way a watch is not equal to the watchmaker, nor a house greater than its’ builder, no created being is greater, or even somewhat equal, to the Creator.  God is God…and we are not.

And, so, what worship pleases God?  How is it that we give to God worship that is acceptable?  In the New Testament Jesus affirmed to the Pharisees, the answer to that question, found in the words of Deuteronomy 6:5.

Jesus replied, “‘You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your mind.’  Matthew 22:37

Now, with Scripture, there are no words which are insignificant, or without the full force of what God meant.  Both Old and New Testaments affirm that, when it comes to the worship that comes from our heart, soul, mind, and anything else we might have available, the key word is ALL! 

“Proper” worship of God means you offer it with everything you’ve got, strength, words, resources; even the breath in your lungs at this moment, and if God gives you another.  What’s the cost for worship?  Well…what have you got?

Hold on, preacher…you just want me to write a bigger check for the offering.  Well, if you can, then you’ve got a decision; if the smaller check means you’ve worshipped with ALL your heart, soul, mind, and strength, well, then…NO. 

Hold on, preacher…you just want me to give up my vacation to go on some mission trip to help build a school for some third world kids.  Well, if that week at the gambling tables in Las Vegas occupies a bigger place in your mind, heart, and soul, as opposed to the kids that would attend that school…well, then…NO…have a nice trip.

See?  It isn’t something a preacher, your wife or husband, or some wise man on top of a mountain can answer for you.  It’s all about your heart, your mind, your soul, and the strength God has put in your hands.  Because worship isn’t about what the preacher says in his sermon, or the music coming from the piano and choir.  It isn’t even about perfect attendance ribbons, or positions held, or whether your giving is 5% or 75%...worship is all about your heart, and whether God has full access to every last bit of what you consider yours, finances, strength, time, relationships, habits, and willingness to go where He sends, do what He wants, and readiness to drop everything else when He calls.

That is heart worship.  And it is pleasing to God.

Let’s Pray Together:

Father, so often we refer to MY time, or MY car, or MY family, or My bank account, or so much of what we deem our possessions and entitlements.  We are so much like children who ‘own’ stuff their parents have provided…we think we have earned, and, are therefore entitled.  Teach us to know how that turns worship away from Heaven, and towards us; teach us how that means we’re making ourselves God, and how it makes our lives barren of worship and unoccupied by Your presence.  Lord, in Your mercy…

For You Today

Sir Isaac Newton was an inventor, as well as a mathematician.  One of his valuable discoveries was the reflecting telescope, a system of mirrors that reflects light to project an image.  Let’s let today’s thoughts be trained on our hearts, like that telescope, to see what kind of “worship” is really going on in there.

You chew on that as you hit the Rocky Road today.  Have a blessed day!

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

For another post on this text:  Reaction Time

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[1] Sir Isaac Newton’s Third Law

Above All

Friday, April 3, 2020

For to me, living means living for Christ, and dying is even better.  But if I live, I can do more fruitful work for Christ.  So I really don’t know which is better. I’m torn between two desires:  I long to go and be with Christ, which would be far better for me.  But for your sakes, it is better that I continue to live.  Knowing this, I am convinced that I will remain alive so I can continue to help all of you grow and experience the joy of your faith.  And when I come to you again, you will have even more reason to take pride in Christ Jesus because of what he is doing through me.  Above all, you must live as citizens of heaven, conducting yourselves in a manner worthy of the Good News about Christ. Then, whether I come and see you again or only hear about you, I will know that you are standing together with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.  Don’t be intimidated in any way by your enemies.  This will be a sign to them that they are going to be destroyed, but that you are going to be saved, even by God himself.  For you have been given not only the privilege of trusting in Christ but also the privilege of suffering for him.  We are in this struggle together.  You have seen my struggle in the past, and you know that I am still in the midst of it.  Philippians 1:21-30

Those who have lived long enough to have a sense that their days left on this planet are perhaps much less than the days they’ve already lived, develop one of two outlooks:

1.     Frantic activity to catch-up, to do what has been left undone

2.     At peace with what is, and what will be.

Apostle Paul is a study in the thin space between the two.  He was writing from a Roman prison to a group of people he loved dearly.  He sensed there was still much he could do to help them grow into the Christian force he’d envisioned when first they met.  Yet, Paul was at peace with the understanding that they were in God’s hands always; Paul was ready to see Christ face to face.

The one piece of work left for Paul in his circumstance was to encourage the church to stand with one spirit and one purpose, fighting together for the faith, which is the Good News.  He knew accomplishing this would only come about when believers unreservedly, above all, commit their lives to the faith.  The mission was in WHO Christ had called them to be, and HOW Christ had called them to live.  It was all about Christ…never about Paul.

I’m one of those people with a lot less days ahead.  Truth be told, I tend toward the frantic, frenetic worry that things are undone.  But I have (at least) learned that is a distraction.  The call to mission is never sounded with fearfulness.  The real mission is always just ahead, no matter how many days that may be.  It is always the next breath, next step, next person who crosses my pathway. 

Like Paul, I’m enthusiastic about finally coming face-to-face with Christ; like Paul, I’m also content here, living each day in communion with Him, and fellowship with all who are Christ’s, and the possibility of ministry to all who need to grow closer to He who is ABOVE ALL! 

Paul called on the Philippian believers to remember to honor Jesus with the way they lived their lives.  His word calls to us also, because, in this way we demonstrate to anyone who has eyes to see what it’s like to trust Christ completely.  That is our above all mission!

For You Today

The old Gospel song is our final word today on Paul’s wake-up call:

I am satisfied, I am satisfied, I am satisfied with Jesus,

But the question comes to me, As I think of Calvary,

Is my Master satisfied with me?

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

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

Other posts on Philippians 1 see What to Do and Confrontation with God                                                        and Ambivalence with Confidence