Looking Backward - Looking Forward

Wednesday, May 10, 2023

Jesus said to the people who believed in him, “You are truly my disciples if you remain faithful to my teachings.  And you will know the truth, and the truth will set you free.”  “But we are descendants of Abraham,” they said. “We have never been slaves to anyone.  What do you mean, ‘You will be set free’?”  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, everyone who sins is a slave of sin.  A slave is not a permanent member of the family, but a son is part of the family forever.  So if the Son sets you free, you are truly free.  Yes, I realize that you are descendants of Abraham.  And yet some of you are trying to kill me because there’s no room in your hearts for my message.  I am telling you what I saw when I was with my Father.  But you are following the advice of your father.”  

John 8:31-38

The obvious is sometimes missed in the prejudice.  The difference between what Jesus meant, and what the short-sighted people wanted to know, is that simple! 

·       They looked backward to Abraham, tracing their beginnings to a man; Jesus was pointing for them to look above earthly lineage, forward to the One who had created both Abraham, and everyone else. 

·       They saw things from a point in time, honoring another point in time; Jesus had held both time and eternity in His hands when He created it all. 

·       They were held captive by their backwards-look; He wanted them to be set free to a Kingdom-forward-look of Who was standing in front of them. 

·       They were looking-back, stuck in pride over their Abrahamic heritage; He wanted to free them to see an eternally blessed forever family.

There are two outcomes in this encounter with the people that were following Jesus.  There are those who could not see, because they had never had their eyes opened by living truth.  And there were those who would not see, because they held their eyes shut, despite having the living truth standing in front of them.  And that prejudice makes all the difference between traveling the road lesser taken, and remaining broken in the past.

How do you tell the difference?  Jesus said that some of them (the ones he was speaking to in that moment) were trying to kill him.  That meant the others were truly seeking the truth, not looking for a reason to stifle the truth.  Closing your eyes against the light does not extinguish what truly exists.  And that is the difference of humility, ready to confess ignorance, and receive forgiveness.  It’s how light enters the heart and you see the forever family Jesus came to create.

For You Today 

Whatever point you have reached in life, regarding a relationship with your Creator, the genuineness of salvation (God’s forgiveness of our sins) was/is dependent on confession of our inability to be forgiven, without the shed blood of Jesus Christ.  You do not begin that relationship with prejudice on the side of human strength; it is only available to those willing to surrender their will to God’s divine, unlimited strength!

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:   Words Chiseled in Stone  and  How Was Your Weekend?   

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

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

Spiritual Blindness

Thursday, October 13, 2022

So Paul, standing before the council, addressed them as follows:  “Men of Athens, I notice that you are very religious in every way, for as I was walking along I saw your many shrines.  And one of your altars had this inscription on it: ‘To an Unknown God.’  This God, whom you worship without knowing, is the one I’m telling you about.  “He is the God who made the world and everything in it.  Since he is Lord of heaven and earth, he doesn’t live in man-made temples, and human hands can’t serve his needs—for he has no needs. He himself gives life and breath to everything, and he satisfies every need.  From one man he created all the nations throughout the whole earth.  He decided beforehand when they should rise and fall, and he determined their boundaries.  “His purpose was for the nations to seek after God and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him—though he is not far from any one of us.  For in him we live and move and exist. As some of your own poets have said, ‘We are his offspring.’  And since this is true, we shouldn’t think of God as an idol designed by craftsmen from gold or silver or stone.  “God overlooked people’s ignorance about these things in earlier times, but now he commands everyone everywhere to repent of their sins and turn to him.  For he has set a day for judging the world with justice by the man he has appointed, and he proved to everyone who this is by raising him from the dead.”  Acts 17:22-31

With deference (and no disdain) to the struggles faced by the many who face the challenge of blindness, I wish to point to what Paul described as a universal blindness worse (by far), than not having physical eyesight.  He points to spiritual blindness, a malady so consequential, there is nothing worse in the universe.  Unsighted physically, we might stumble; blinded spiritually, we are a total loss.

As a child I had no clear understanding of God’s image stamped on my soul.  I felt, but could not articulate an inkling of being special – that there was something not-quite-me, yet defining me as unique, but not quite where I was meant to be.  That was a child’s innocent understanding of longing to be connected to God, who created me.  I understand now that was His image and purpose, because of loss.  With each step away from that image it dimmed just a little more. 

The apostle was trying to help the citizens of Athens understand that their  religious “bent” was like a blind man feeling his way to find God.  They knew God was there, but they couldn’t see Him, much like I felt the presence of His image stamped on my soul, but only vaguely suspected it was something holy and good; I was on the verge of spiritual blindness.

Paul could help the Athenians because he knew what it was like to be spiritually blind.  He blindly flailed-away at Christ’s church, attempting to stamp out the darkness by persecuting the Son of Light.  When he met the true light on the road to Damascus, Paul’s physical vision ended temporarily, while his spiritual vision was undergoing surgery at the hand of the Great Physician.  When all was said and done, Paul could say, along with John Newton:  Once I was blind, but now I can see.

For You Today

You were created for that which is much greater than any of us experience in this life, complete fellowship with God.  We move in a training ground for 70 or so years, sometimes stumbling in the darkness of a wandering soul.  But Jesus Christ opened to us the bloody pathway to spiritual sight.  His blood cleanses us from sin when we confess His Lordship.  It’s the exchange of our sin for His sight!

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: 

The End of Sacrifices   and   The Patience of God with Spiritual Blindness

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

When God Speaks and Humans Find it Difficult to Listen

Monday, September 19, 2022

This is what the Lord says:  “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom, or the powerful boast in their power, or the rich boast in their riches.  But those who wish to boast should boast in this alone:  that they truly know me and understand that I am the Lord who demonstrates unfailing love and who brings justice and righteousness to the earth, and that I delight in these things.  I, the Lord, have spoken!  “A time is coming,” says the Lord, “when I will punish all those who are circumcised in body but not in spirit—the Egyptians, Edomites, Ammonites, Moabites, the people who live in the desert in remote places, and yes, even the people of Judah.  And like all these pagan nations, the people of Israel also have uncircumcised hearts.”  Jeremiah 9:23-26

Our grandson, Christopher, is getting (alarmingly) close to 30.  He serves in the Air Force, stationed nearly 7,000 miles from home.  He’s a big guy (over 6’), with a big heart, and a ready wit.  As with most parents and grandparents, I tend to think of him as a young boy, riding bicycles, full of giggles and goofiness.  

I have this one scene embedded in my brain from his childhood (and replayed almost every time we talk), where he does his best Robert DeNiro imitation, turning to look at me, and intoning a very New York Taxi-driver[1] personna:  You talkin’ to ME?

God gave a message to Jeremiah that would not have placed him on the top-10 favorite people list in Jerusalem, or anywhere in our current culture.  Whenever God begins a sentence with there is a time coming, eyerolls and choruses of not this again fill the room.  I can just see the words rolling off Jeremiah’s lips on the steps of Jerusalem’s crumbling Temple, as he warns all the religious leaders and the crowd assembled for worship.  They’re right with him when he talks of punishment for Egypt, Amonites, and Moabites….Oh, yeah, God, put the hot irons to those heathen barbarians!  

But then Jeremiah quits preaching, and goes to meddling; he faces the crowd, squints a little like Clint Eastwood’s Dirty Harry character, and says:  uh….yes, even the people of Judah.  And wide-eyed, furious, the people yell:  You talkin’ to ME?

And Jeremiah (still squinting ominiously) says:  Yep…even you, Jerusalem high-brows, have uncircumcised hearts.  (Circumcision was a ritual with which they were quite familiar, a telltale physical sign they’d been born into the right family.)  Jerusalem’s elite imagined themselves as somewhat grandfathered-in when it came to being spiritually correct, and therefore accepted by God.  Jeremiah warned them a physical mark, and all the rituals in the world, didn’t get you any gold stars from heaven, unless a softened, obedient, generous, gracious heart, made your walk line-up with all your talk!

The problem with an “uncircumcised heart” is spiritual blindness.  And that is a hallmark of 21^st-Century culture.  In todays live-and-let-me-do-my-thing world, I may tolerate your racist, gender-insensitive, non-wokeness, as long as you stay out of my face with it….but when you start talking about how I might be included in your God’s torture parade…You BETTER NOT be talkin’ to ME! 

The residents of Jerusalem disliked what the prophet said, and it eventually landed him in prison.  The downturn of events for Jeremiah was painful for him, but the day IS most certainly coming when God will balance those scales!

For You Today

One question the church never has to ask of God is:  Are YOU talkin’ to US?

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: 

An Empty Lament and Stumbling in Broad Daylight

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

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[1] From the 1976 Movie Taxi Driver starring Robert DeNiro

Listen...and Know

 

Wednesday, June 2, 2021

Then Jesus asked them, “Would anyone light a lamp and then put it under a basket or under a bed?  Of course not!  A lamp is placed on a stand, where its light will shine.  For everything that is hidden will eventually be brought into the open, and every secret will be brought to light.  Anyone with ears to hear should listen and understand.”  Then he added, “Pay close attention to what you hear.  The closer you listen, the more understanding you will be given—and you will receive even more.  To those who listen to my teaching, more understanding will be given.  But for those who are not listening, even what little understanding they have will be taken away from them.”  Mark 4:21-25

One of the most memorable advertising icons was the guy who continually asked, Can you hear me now?  That’s somewhat related to what my Dad would say when talking to his youngest son…Russell Jay, are you listening to me?  (Whenever my tall dad with the steel blue eyes used both my first and middle names it was time to sit up and take notice.  If he had to add your last name, the result would not be pretty).

There is something of that in Jesus’ teaching about listening and understanding.  The meaning is unmistakeable; disciples are not just to hear the words and grasp the connection of what is supposed to be learned.  Rather, it is a matter of listening with the intention of having the message change your behavior.  And the purpose for this can you hear me now moment is also very clear – there are consequences for how we respond.  For those who listen and put into practice what God speaks, there are rewards; skipping this Discipleship 101 class means loss.

So, what are the rewards and losses?  They have to do with what’s going on inside the center of your being, your soul.  For those who develop a listening heart, ready to understand and follow God’s will, it gets easier to hear His voice.  Life, even with all it’s difficulties and complexity, makes more sense; you learn how to be content with God’s ways and will, because you surrendered your will to His.  And when the tough times come you’re not blown off your pins, because you know the entirety of Heaven’s Host has your back…it will be well with your soul!

For those who maintain defiance, desiring little to be a follower, but rather a captain of his own fate and choices, the chances of hearing God’s voice and seeing His blessings in life grow dimmer with each passing year.  The final result is stone cold deafness to the Word of God, and blindness to how empty life can become.

What Jesus was setting up with his disciples is a life principle of surrendering our will to God’s will, so that the unseen God of the burning bush will be speaking, and you will already be un-lacing your sandals to bow at that holy place, because you’ve learned to listen.  Some of that learning was by trial and error…you walked-away, only to find you were lost on your own…but most of it will be because you chose faith in the God you cannot see, but Who sees you, and knows even the intentions of your heart.

For You Today

So, have you made the decision to surrender that inner person to the One who knows every atom in your body, heart, mind, soul, and strength? 

Judson van De Venter wrote about 100 hymns in the 19^th century.  One of his more well-known ones makes the point about this life of surrender:

All to Jesus I surrender, Make me, Savior, wholly Thine;
Let me feel Thy Holy Spirit, Truly know that Thou art mine.

I surrender all, I surrender all;

All to Thee, my blessed Savior, I surrender all.[1]

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

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

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[1] Source:  Hymnary.org

Keeping An Eye On the Ball

 

Monday, March 15, 2021

There was a man named Nicodemus, a Jewish religious leader who was a Pharisee.  After dark one evening, he came to speak with Jesus.  “Rabbi,” he said, “we all know that God has sent you to teach us.  Your miraculous signs are evidence that God is with you.”  Jesus replied, “I tell you the truth, unless you are born again, you cannot see the Kingdom of God.”  “What do you mean?” exclaimed Nicodemus.  “How can an old man go back into his mother’s womb and be born again?”  Jesus replied, “I assure you, no one can enter the Kingdom of God without being born of water and the Spirit.  Humans can reproduce only human life, but the Holy Spirit gives birth to spiritual life.  So don’t be surprised when I say, ‘You must be born again.’    The wind blows wherever it wants.  Just as you can hear the wind but can’t tell where it comes from or where it is going, so you can’t explain how people are born of the Spirit.”  “How are these things possible?” Nicodemus asked.  Jesus replied, “You are a respected Jewish teacher, and yet you don’t understand these things?  I assure you, we tell you what we know and have seen, and yet you won’t believe our testimony.  But if you don’t believe me when I tell you about earthly things, how can you possibly believe if I tell you about heavenly things?  No one has ever gone to heaven and returned.  But the Son of Man has come down from heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.  John 3:1-15

It was 1964, time for spring baseball practice at our high school.  Our coach began the infielder’s practice by having us throw the ball around to each other.  I was positioned at third base, and, from first base on the other side of the diamond, Greg threw the ball to me.  Greg was also a pitcher, so that ball got to me in a hurry.  I stuck out my glove to receive the incoming meteor and felt nothing, except the meteor’s wind path as the ball whizzed past, in-between my glove and left ear.  My first thought was:  If Greg throws that thing at me again there’ll be no place to hide.  My second thought:  Gotta tell Mom to get my eyes checked.

So, what does a 60-year-old memory of high school baseball have to do with Nicodemus?  Well, for starters, he and I had the same problem.  No, he didn’t play shortstop for the Hauppauge Eagles’ baseball team.  But Nic did have a problem with his sight, his spiritual sight.  He got the basics right, figuring out that what Jesus did on a regular basis, healing the sick, blind, and even changing water into wine; these were not your normal things.  He went further, understanding that God was at back of Jesus’ doings.  What whizzed past Nic’s glove and left ear was the point of it all…he failed to see why Jesus was doing what He did.  With each miracle on earth Jesus was pointing to a reality in Heaven.  Jesus was revealing His Father’s loving heart, showing the kind of life that was possible for those who would believe.  Nicodemus saw the miracles; Jesus told him he was blind as a sixteen-year-old third baseman who needed glasses.

If Nic had gotten his spiritual eyes checked, he could have recognized that Jesus was telling him the origin of this miracles and messages fastball, and where it was going after it whizzed past his left ear.  Listen again to the last words Jesus spoke to the curious (but spiritually dull) Pharisee about the meaning of the cross he would bear, and upon which he would bring the greatest miracle:

…the Son of Man has come down from heaven.  And as Moses lifted up the bronze snake on a pole in the wilderness, so the Son of Man must be lifted up, so that everyone who believes in him will have eternal life.

To Nicodemus’ credit he eventually “got it”.  He spoke-up in Jesus’ defense as a voice for reason when the Pharisees started plotting to kill Jesus.  And I’m certain, God used Nicodemus’ words of truth as convicting evidence of the Pharisees’ sin.

Nicodemus finally recognized this was a move of God showing all humanity the pathway home to their Heavenly Father.  And when he realized the truth, he was not ashamed to speak it.

For You Today

When the fastball of truth whizzes past your left ear it’s time for an eye exam.  You can’t stay in this game of life without keeping an eye on that ball.

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

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

When the Light Dawns

 

Thursday, December 31, 2020

Jesus spoke to the people once more and said, “I am the light of the world.  If you follow me, you won’t have to walk in darkness, because you will have the light that leads to life.”  The Pharisees replied, “You are making those claims about yourself!  Such testimony is not valid.”  Jesus told them, “These claims are valid even though I make them about myself.  For I know where I came from and where I am going, but you don’t know this about me.  You judge me by human standards, but I do not judge anyone.  And if I did, my judgment would be correct in every respect because I am not alone.  The Father who sent me is with me.  Your own law says that if two people agree about something, their witness is accepted as fact.  I am one witness, and my Father who sent me is the other.”  “Where is your father?” they asked.  Jesus answered, “Since you don’t know who I am, you don’t know who my Father is.  If you knew me, you would also know my Father.”  John 8:12-19

There is, undoubtedly, a disconnect between knowing about someone and knowing someone.  I know a lot about Abraham Lincoln.  However, despite what my grandchildren think about how old I am, I never knew him.  In the same way, I never knew George Washington, Copernicus, Nero, or Adam. 

This disconnect, between knowing about and the intimacy of knowing is the hinge upon which much misunderstanding hangs, and particularly so in the church of Jesus Christ.  Many people know about Jesus and have read about God.  Less know Him intimately.  The Pharisees were religious leaders and common sense says they should have had an intimate knowledge of God.  Yet, Jesus’ final words to them in this exchange is an indictment of their religion ABOUT God attempting to replace relationship WITH God.  It speaks of the Pharisees’ spiritual blindness., which was at the foundation of why these religious leaders were an ill-fit for their job. 

Everything, literally, in matters of faith, is dependent on knowing God intimately.  You cannot pray, give, work-for, worship, or be a witness in any adequate sense until there is a vital and growing relationship with God.  This is “first base” in having a walk which is worthy of being called a child of God. 

In baseball it is elemental to step up to the plate and be ready for the pitcher to throw the ball in your direction.  Being “ready” means you’re committed to swinging your bat at the ball to hit it onto (or over) the playing field.  That is the first “step” in being a hitter, as surely as it is the basic understanding about stepping up to a relationship with God.  Just as a player makes himself available to enter the game, one who would begin to know God steps up to the place where God throws the ball of relationship.  God did that with Moses, calling from a burning bush; Moses stood on holy ground that day.[1]  God did it with young Samuel, calling him in the middle of the night; Samuel answered, speak LORD, your servant is listening.[2]

All the people we read about in Scripture who got to know God intimately did so because their hearts were open to God’s ways, and their minds focused on staying ready to be used.  Because God does not change in character it is no different today for you and me. 

For You Today

Getting to know God (and not just about Him) is all about starting with Jesus.  He is the one who stands at home plate, waiting for your appearance.  Knowing God comes from investing your life (past, present, and all eternity) in knowing Jesus.  That’s when He who is the light of the world will begin to make sense to your heart and soul.  You won’t be just another Pharisee knowing about God; you’ll know him as one friend knows another.

And here’s the bottom line:  It’s your turn at the plate; are you ready?

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

GO TO VIDEO

Title image:  Russell Brownworth (own work)  W  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©

For other posts on this text see An Uncomfortable Answer from the Whirlwind and Heart's Desire  

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[1] Exodus 3:1-5

[2] 1 Samuel 3:1-10