Too Good for This World

Tuesday, November 29, 2022

How much more do I need to say?  It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of Gideon, Barak, Samson, Jephthah, David, Samuel, and all the prophets.  By faith these people overthrew kingdoms, ruled with justice, and received what God had promised them.  They shut the mouths of lions, quenched the flames of fire, and escaped death by the edge of the sword. Their weakness was turned to strength.  They became strong in battle and put whole armies to flight.  Women received their loved ones back again from death.  But others were tortured, refusing to turn from God in order to be set free.  They placed their hope in a better life after the resurrection.  Some were jeered at, and their backs were cut open with whips.  Others were chained in prisons.  Some died by stoning, some were sawed in half, and others were killed with the sword.  Some went about wearing skins of sheep and goats, destitute and oppressed and mistreated.  They were too good for this world, wandering over deserts and mountains, hiding in caves and holes in the ground.  All these people earned a good reputation because of their faith, yet none of them received all that God had promised.  For God had something better in mind for us, so that they would not reach perfection without us.  

Hebrews 11:32-40

Paul, well-schooled in the history of God’s people, remembered the saints of ancient times.  He also had a firsthand knowledge of saints who were too good for this world.  Many Old Testament saints and prohets were a powerful force for good, at least temporarily.  By the time of Jesus’ birth there had been an absence of that kind of presence for 400 years.  The new brand of prophet was an outcast; the new brand of saints were sufferers, too good for this world..

Paul ends his comforting message to us with a reminder that, even with no earthly resolution to the difficulties, and even outright persecution we may suffer in remaining faithful to Christ, His plan for us is blessing. 

In the same way Job, who suffered at the hand of the unseen enemy, Lucifer, and, even with the help of wise friends who sat days on end with Job’s suffering, there was never an answer that quite satisfied that question we all have…WHY? 

In the end, we all must face the reality of human condition…we already know why; truth be told, we don’t like the answer, and we anguish in the search for something that lets us down gently. 

The reason for suffering is sin; the reason it hurts so much, is, merely entertaining the notion that we can do something about our problem without God only deepens and strengthens sin’s hold on us.  Paul expressed this frustration in his letter to the Roman church, along with the only answer that truly makes any sense in a sin-darkened world:

Oh, what a miserable person I am!  Who will free me from this life that is dominated by sin and death?  Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.  Romans 7:24-25^a

For You Today  

Remember this day all those who suffered for the cause of faith in God.  Include those who suffer today from the persecution of this world’s evil ones, aligned against heaven in every way.  If you’re among the suffering, take heart, and hold faith tightly – God has something better planned for all saints.

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: 

       Something Better   and   Impossible

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^©   

What Was I Thinking?

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Tuesday, July 23, 2019

Oh, how I love your instructions!  I think about them all day long.  Your commands make me wiser than my enemies, for they are my constant guide.  Yes, I have more insight than my teachers, for I am always thinking of your laws.  I am even wiser than my elders, for I have kept your commandments.      I have refused to walk on any evil path, so that I may remain obedient to your word.  I haven’t turned away from your regulations, for you have taught me well.  How sweet your words taste to me; they are sweeter than honey.  Your commandments give me understanding; no wonder I hate every false way of life.  Psalm 119:97-104

The Edsel was born in 1957 and rolled-out as a mid-size/price family car for the public the following year.  While initial sales were respectable, the 1958 so-called Eisenhower recession turned this high-performance gas guzzler into the most storied flop of all time in the auto industry.  Named after Henry Ford’s only son, who had died 15 years prior, Edsel became the next generation’s nickname for anything that was bound to fail.  When Richard Nixon defeated George McGovern for president in 1972 by 26% of the vote, someone suggested his middle name was probably Edsel!

The author of Psalm 119 is unknown to us.  David authored about half of the Psalms, and it may have been from his early years before the dust-up over Bathsheba.  It makes little difference whether it was David, Moses, Daniel or Heman who put pen on the parchment; God (the ultimate author of all Scripture gave us an incredibly important reminder here of human nature’s ability to be arrogant and spiritual at the same time…all it takes is a little naïveté.

The Psalmist claims wisdom and understanding greater than his teachers, purity of life that is above reproach, and a life that is governed by a heart completely devoted to obeying God’s ways.  King David seemed to have been that for much of his life, but there were times when the duplicity of David’s actions and words would’ve made Adolph Hitler or Joseph Stalin blush.  David could be a spiritual hero; he could also sink quickly to zero!

And such are we all. 

The problem with this Psalm is not in the author; the problem is ours, imagining that God’s ways (sometimes called his rules, regulations, or commandments) can be kept perfectly; frankly, we cannot!  If there was a possibility that humans, any humans could live a life perfectly following devotion to God there would have been no reason for Jesus to take our place on the cross.  But human nature is tainted by sin, and there is no human that lives free from sin.  We are the human version of Edsel, bound to fail to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength![2]

But God does not leave us in the pit of despair, even though we might choose that far country in which to wallow.  As Paul asked in his letter to the Roman believers about his tendency to choose sin…doing the wrong he did so intently want to avoid, and not doing the good to which his soul aspired and longed-for, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?[3]  The answer echoed back that it was Jesus Christ who delivers us from sin.

For You Today

For human sinners Jesus’ death on the cross took away the penalty of our sin and made it possible to blunt its power over those who trust in His gift of atonement. And, there is coming a day when even the presence of sin will be removed.

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

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

[2] Mark 12:30

[3] Romans 7:24

The Voice of the Lord

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Monday, June 3, 2019

The voice of the Lord strikes with bolts of lightning.  The voice of the Lord makes the barren wilderness quake; the Lord shakes the wilderness of Kadesh.  The voice of the Lord twists mighty oaks and strips the forests bare.  In his Temple everyone shouts, “Glory!”  The Lord rules over the floodwaters.  The Lord reigns as king forever.  The Lord gives his people strength.  The Lord blesses them with peace.  Psalm 29:7-11

I’ve watched more than a few golf tournaments on TV.  It’s a slow process; the typical round of 18 holes takes more than 4 hours.  (My bride swears it’s more like 4 months).  While it is a sport, with some cheering for this player or that one, there is one occurrence that changes everything; when that horn blows because lightning has been spotted the players, spectators, camera operators, officials and groundskeepers run for cover.  Nobody wants to be out in the middle of lightning strikes!  There are some recorded incidents of people surviving being struck, but they are the exception; most people are toast when the lightning finds them.  But, even the small percentage of those who survive are never quite the same again.

The voice of the Lord is a phrase that occurs more than 100 times in Scripture.  In Genesis Adam and Eve heard the voice of the Lord in the Garden.  Moses was called into service by the voice from that burning bush.  Israel heard God’s voice speak multiple times from the cloud and fire as they followed Him in the wilderness.  Isaiah was called into God’s service when God called to him in a vision.  That voice spoke through Isaiah to tell the world to prepare for the coming of Jesus; prepare ye the way of the Lord.

Most often hearing the voice of the Lord meant judgment was on the way for disobedience.  Jeremiah’s lament after the hammer of God’s judgment fell is a familiar theme for those who would ignore the voice:

Let’s lie down in our shame. Let our dishonor cover us, for we have sinned against the Lord our God, both we and our ancestors, from our youth to this very day. We have disobeyed the voice of the Lord our God.”  Jeremiah 3:25(CEB)

Repeatedly this familiar theme and process is heard through Scripture’s store:

·      God’s people are saved from destruction, and they promise to obey

·      God’s people fall back into disobedience to their promises to obey

·      God must save them all over again.

We are no different than Israel.  We cry out to God for forgiveness and receive it.  We do well for a bit, then that old nature begins the full court press and we find ourselves begging for mercy and more forgiveness for slipping off the wagon.  We find ourselves addicted to this behavior or that, and cry out like Paul, who will deliver me from the body of this death?[2]  Thankfully, the answer is still the next breath out of Paul’s pen:  Thank God!  The answer is in Jesus Christ our Lord.

For You Today

If there is one thing in life we can count on it is that the Lord, Who had the first word over this creation will also have the last:

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.”  Revelation 21:5-8

The voice of the Lord is our warning to listen, obey God and be saved from that destructive day!

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

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com  
             Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are from The New Living Translation©

[2] Romans 7:24

A Light Shines in My Heart

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Tuesday, February 7, 2017

The human heart is the most deceitful of all things, and desperately wicked. Who really knows how bad it is?  

Jeremiah 17:9^(NLT)

As a rule old people know more than young people about how much evil can reside in the human heart.  It takes some living and sinning-big to find that out!  The darkness of evil hides truth from being discovered as much as possible…and that includes hiding from our own minds that evil which is belongs to us. 

Hence, the very useful saying:  to thine own self be true!

Paul the Apostle understood this; he faced a daily battle with evil in his life:

As it is written, There is none righteous, no, not one:  Romans 3:10^(NLT)

For all have sinned, and come short of the glory of God;  Romans 3:23^(NLT)

This is a faithful saying, and worthy of all acceptation, that Christ Jesus came into the world to save sinners; of whom I am chief.  1 Timothy 3:15^(NLT)

Yes, Paul understood personal evil and the pain of being separated from God because of his choices.

O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?  Romans 7:24^(NLT)

I know you join me in Paul’s frustration.  After all, who is the person who has not lived through the agony of failed New Year’s resolutions, promises broken to loved ones, and the pitiful guilt you feel over not being more disciplined in a diet. 

If you take it to the natural conclusion you can also say with Paul: 

And I know that nothing good lives in me, that is, in my sinful nature. I want to do what is right, but I can’t.  Romans 7:18^(NLT)

That doesn’t leave much room for hope; almost makes you want to drink the red Kool aide.  But Paul doesn’t leave us there.  See what he wrote to the believers at Corinth:   

For God, who said, “Let there be light in the darkness,” has made this light shine in our hearts so we could know the glory of God that is seen in the face of Jesus Christ.  We now have this light shining in our hearts, but we ourselves are like fragile clay jars containing this great treasure.  This makes it clear that our great power is from God, not from ourselves.  2 Corinthians 4:6-7^(NLT)

A fragile clay pot is what held the oil and wick which, when lit, became a shining light.  Paul’s imagery here is that we are like an empty fragile jar when there’s no oil, wick, or fire.  But, if you take Biblical symbolism seriously you know that oil represents God’s Holy Spirit, as does fire…and then the whole picture makes sense.  God’s Spirit comes when we present ourselves unreservedly, ignites our fragile clay pot lives and light fills our hearts, chasing the darkness.

It’s all a very picturesque way of saying:  we need God; we can’t do it alone!

For You Today

If you recognized all the darkness imagery, but have a little trouble identifying with the light coming on….well, that’s God speaking to you with a little light He is offering to make a great light shine where you used to see only darkness!

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

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NOTES

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[i]  Title image: By Anant Nath Sharma (www.thelensor.tumblr.com), via Wikimedia Commons