Three Angels

Friday, November 24, 2023

And I saw another angel flying through the sky, carrying the eternal Good News to proclaim to the people who belong to this world—to every nation, tribe, language, and people.  “Fear God,” he shouted.  “Give glory to him.  For the time has come when he will sit as judge.  Worship him who made the heavens, the earth, the sea, and all the springs of water.”  Then another angel followed him through the sky, shouting, “Babylon is fallen—that great city is fallen—because she made all the nations of the world drink the wine of her passionate immorality.”  Then a third angel followed them, shouting, “Anyone who worships the beast and his statue or who accepts his mark on the forehead or on the hand must drink the wine of God’s anger.  It has been poured full strength into God’s cup of wrath.  And they will be tormented with fire and burning sulfur in the presence of the holy angels and the Lamb. The smoke of their torment will rise forever and ever, and they will have no relief day or night, for they have worshiped the beast and his statue and have accepted the mark of his name.”  Revelation 14:6-11

Understanding human behavior isn’t simple.  Long ago I learned that the arts reflect humanity, and humanity is influenced by the arts.  An artistically-gifted young man sees a violent act and he reacts to his shock and fear by painting a violent scene in dark mode on the side of some building.  The young artist hopes all who pass-by will be shocked by his four-color screaming.  The shadow lurking behind that hope is to move others to action, to prevent more violence.  Unfortunately the artist’s work isn’t always understood, particularly by the naïve, or those ill-equipped to grasp the art’s intended response.  The art unintentionally  influences human behavior, and creates more violence.

Anyone who has looked at a baby child’s face knows we are born with a hopeful sense of wonder and optimism.  Then comes hunger and diaper-rash, followed by crankiness and sleepless parents.  Those difficult things we experience mold us into the characters we become, entirely different from our Creator’s perfect design.  We have been created to appreciate beauty, warmth, and pleasure; our world, steeped in the ugly darkness of cold hearts, selfishness, and death paints a very different picture.  And the contrast is frightening.  But it’s complicated further when the darkness parades itself as light.  Drugs give pleasure…for a season, but we know how that turns out; the same with alcohol, lust, greed, anger, and on through the seven deadly sins.

In a way, we humans in our sinful behavior, have created a humanity in darkness on the canvas of history…our own screaming fear.  As today’s text so graphically-illustrates, God reacts with judgment to our collective darkness.  Judgment comes via God’s servants, angels who pour-out justice in God’s name.

I do not want to make this canvass any darker than Scripture has painted; indeed, I couldn’t.  This burning with fire and sulfur, night and day, for eternity, without let-up, is darkness of the ultimate kind, absent of any hope.  It is so dark many people won’t believe it could happen.  You’ve known them; perhaps you’ve even said it yourself – a good God wouldn’t send people to a place like that to suffer.  But the evidence is contrary – if God is good, there must be judgment like that.  Otherwise the suffering of those who humbly worship God would be a farce.  The cross would be murder, and resurrection a fairy tale.  There are only two possible choices – God is either true, and Jesus died for sin, rose from the grave, and will come again to judge those who do not believe – or God is a lie, and doesn’t exist.

For You Today 

The challenge for every human of every era in history, present, or future, is to believe or reject.  How say you?

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Today’s title Image from Wikimedia Commons  

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Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

A Little On the Dumb Side!

Wednesday, October 25, 2023

Then the Lord said to Moses, “Tell the people of Israel to bring you twelve wooden staffs, one from each leader of Israel’s ancestral tribes, and inscribe each leader’s name on his staff.  Inscribe Aaron’s name on the staff of the tribe of Levi, for there must be one staff for the leader of each ancestral tribe.  Place these staffs in the Tabernacle in front of the Ark containing the tablets of the Covenant, where I meet with you.  Buds will sprout on the staff belonging to the man I choose.  Then I will finally put an end to the people’s murmuring and complaining against you.”  So Moses gave the instructions to the people of Israel, and each of the twelve tribal leaders, including Aaron, brought Moses a staff.  Moses placed the staffs in the Lord’s presence in the Tabernacle of the Covenant.  When he went into the Tabernacle of the Covenant the next day, he found that Aaron’s staff, representing the tribe of Levi, had sprouted, budded, blossomed, and produced ripe almonds!  When Moses brought all the staffs out from the Lord’s presence, he showed them to the people.  Each man claimed his own staff.  And the Lord said to Moses: “Place Aaron’s staff permanently before the Ark of the Covenant to serve as a warning to rebels.  This should put an end to their complaints against me and prevent any further deaths.”  So Moses did as the Lord commanded him.  Then the people of Israel said to Moses, “Look, we are doomed!  We are dead!  We are ruined!  Everyone who even comes close to the Tabernacle of the Lord dies.  Are we all doomed to die?”  Numbers 17:1-13

If there is one consistent theme in Scripture about the people of God it’s their inconsistency (with a few notable exceptions).  It’s like that New Year’s resolution you make about eating less, working-out more, and avoiding driving past Krispy Kreme; the vow lasts until the next temptation arrives.  And so it goes.

The next temptation for Israel was always grumbling about the way they were led; the target of their grumbling was all about the leader, Moses, a humble man. But over and again God had demonstrated Moses was the leader.  Even with a dead stick budding, blooming, and producing ripe almonds, all in the space of one night[1], demonstrating God’s leadership choice, God’s gracious miracle only produced fear in the hearts of the people.  And fear will destroy any faith!

Such is the point of this account.  Time after time God’s people were in a crisis and God rescued them from danger; each time there was immediate relief, but the return to fear and grumbling (with its accompanying unbelief, or lack of faith) arrived within nanoseconds. 

And so it goes…even today.

This problem is not a particularly Jewish thing; it’s endemic to humanity.  It started with the first sin in the Garden of Eden.  Adam and Eve took a bite, realized their separation from God, heard the Lord approaching, and they hid!  They hid because of their shame, knowing (as fruit from the tree of knowledge of good and evil suggests), that they were now less than they were created to be, and had separated themselves from God.  And what were they hiding from?  The Lord, the solution to their problem.  And what did they do about it when busted for their sins?  They offered excuses trying to deflect their responsibility to others:

      Eve:  The serpent tricked me 

      Adam:  Lord, the woman YOU made, gave me that bite.  And so it goes.

For You Today 

The question of the day (and of the ages) is…when we’ve seen how that worked-out for Adam and Eve, why do we join them in that foolishness?  All it produces is more fear and grumbling.  When fear arises, it kills your faith.  Wouldn’t it save a myriad of trouble and heartache to live in faith, and let it destroy your fears?

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

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There are about 2,600 devotional posts and 400 sermons in the Rocky Road library.

Title Image Pixabay.com  Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©  

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[1] It takes one year after a bush has matured (3-4 years) to produce the first crop – see Nav Athwal article Forbes

A Miracle on Malta

Friday, June 9, 2023

Once we were safe on shore, we learned that we were on the island of Malta.  The people of the island were very kind to us.  It was cold and rainy, so they built a fire on the shore to welcome us.  As Paul gathered an armful of sticks and was laying them on the fire, a poisonous snake, driven out by the heat, bit him on the hand.  The people of the island saw it hanging from his hand and said to each other, “A murderer, no doubt!  Though he escaped the sea, justice will not permit him to live.”  But Paul shook off the snake into the fire and was unharmed.  The people waited for him to swell up or suddenly drop dead.  But when they had waited a long time and saw that he wasn’t harmed, they changed their minds and decided he was a god.  Near the shore where we landed was an estate belonging to Publius, the chief official of the island.  He welcomed us and treated us kindly for three days.  As it happened, Publius’s father was ill with fever and dysentery.  Paul went in and prayed for him, and laying his hands on him, he healed him.  Then all the other sick people on the island came and were healed.  As a result we were showered with honors, and when the time came to sail, people supplied us with everything we would need for the trip.  Acts 28:1-10

Many of us read accounts of healing miracles, and how the power of God was all over Paul’s daily life’s journey….and we think:  I could never do that.  And, for most of us…we’re right.  The chief reason is that God never called us to be Paul, or Peter, or John, healing with a short prayer, walking on water, or feeding a crowd of five thousand with a few loaves and fishes.  I’m relatively certain God never called me to test that whole snake-handling thing.

So, what is the reason for seeing this account in Scripture?  Like  any miracle, God’s reasons are His.  However, we can say that most miracles are for our encouragement, to help our faith understand Who is in control, no matter what the circumstances.  Miracles also teach us that our compassionate God cares about us, and that we ought to care for others.  But the problem is that we fail to connect the dots about our part in the miracles God wants to do.  Hmm….say a little more about that, preacher; glad you asked.

Miracles come in all walks of life, and to people with strong faith, and to people with little faith, or even those who doubt God even exists.  And miracles are entirely a gift which is in God’s hand, not because of some innate power any human being possesses.  The way miracles show up is surprising.  Sometimes it is as private as a prayer at three-o’clock in the morning, when your child has spiked a 104° fever for five hours, and you’re at your wits-end; you’ve prayed half-a night over that child, and she keeps getting sicker.  Suddenly, out of nowhere, that kid wants a hamburger, and her skin is cooled, the temperature is down.  Four hours later she’s on her way to school. 

Your house’s sick heating system needs to be replaced, and the leaves are falling; winter’s on the way, and your bank account is as sick as the furnace.  You never expected to open a manilla envelope at the mailbox, and discover $4,000 in cash, with the unsigned note that said:  Hope this comes in handy.

For You Today 

Bottom line:  You never know when, why, how, or what will be the answer to the dilemma you’re facing…but you can know (very intimately) WHO has the answer.  And when that happens, thank Him, and listen closely for when he wants you involved in somebody else’s miracle.

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:   Signs  and  Killing Two Birds with One Fish and Understanding a Miracle                                        

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

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

Heaven's Promise

Wednesday, June 7, 2023

Judas (not Judas Iscariot, but the other disciple with that name) said to him, “Lord, why are you going to reveal yourself only to us and not to the world at large?”  Jesus replied, “All who love me will do what I say.  My Father will love them, and we will come and make our home with each of them.  Anyone who doesn’t love me will not obey me.  And remember, my words are not my own. What I am telling you is from the Father who sent me.  I am telling you these things now while I am still with you.  But when the Father sends the Advocate as my representative—that is, the Holy Spirit—he will teach you everything and will remind you of everything I have told you.  

John 14:22-26

There is a lot of stuff, even in everyday living, which must be taken by faith.  Start with that chair you sat in…you exercised faith, trusting that the chair would not crumble when you sat on it.  And since you’re still reading, we know you didn’t die in the fall, when the chair violated your trust.  It takes faith (of a sort) to bite into an apple, trusting you will not find half-a-worm afterwards.  It takes faith to turn the key on your car.  You hopefully anticipate the engine will start without an explosion (especially after you watched that mob-violence movie last night)!

For the disciples of Jesus, it wasn’t a business-as-usual, everyday piece of faith Jesus was laying on the table.  They all wanted to know a lot about the way things were going to procede; they wanted to know what the future held for them.  They had all seen people hanging on crosses…they knew talk of Jewish kingdoms meant you were going to get beaten (at least) and Roman nails in your hands and feet at worst.  They’d already seen angry mobs and other followers leaving the pack.  They needed to know.  And Jesus clearly told them…you’ll have to wait…and trust.

You know what that sounds like.  As a kid you asked for a pony; Mom or Dad said ask Santa Claus.  You asked if we were going to the county fair; they said maybe.  You had questions; they said:  Someday you’ll understand.  And didn’t your parent doing the driving growl when you asked that other question from the back seat of the family bus…Are we there yet? 

That (other) Judas, the good one, had that kind of question – WHY?  For the disciples, Jesus’ answer was framed around two faith realities:

1.    If you really want to follow me, you’ll have to trust the promise I’ve told you is from Heaven’s throne.

2.    I’m promising you Heaven’s promise is sealed tighter than a Roman legion of soldiers racing to the battle.  If you trust me, do what I’m asking, and nothing will keep God from sending the One who will be on your side…the only side left after the spiritual war has been decided.

For You Today 

Jesus said:  He (the Holy Spirit) will teach you everything you need to know to receive Heaven’s promise, and serve Heaven’s Kingdom.  You can trust.

And that is still the promise.  He’ll be with you today, so open your heart, ears, and life to His leading.  Have faith in God’s promise!

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:   Final Huddle  and  Table Talk

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

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

I Wonder...Me Too!

 

Friday, May 12, 2023

Now we see things imperfectly, like puzzling reflections in a mirror, but then we will see everything with perfect clarity.  All that I know now is partial and incomplete, but then I will know everything completely, just as God now knows me completely.  1 Corinthians 13:12

Everyone wonders about the big questions of life, its purpose, meaning, origin, and where we will go afterwards. Such thoughts lead to one of two conclusions, both typically immersed in more questions than a human brain can entertain in a lifetime.  Those conclusions are either faith or unbelief.  To believe in God is to trust in the unseen.  Unbelief settles for what is in front of you – what you now see, touch, smell, and imagine with sensory gifts (wherever they came from, eh?).

Wayne Dryer, in a book entitled Your Sacred Self, has a delightfully-engaging parable that argues for faith:

In a mother’s womb were two babies. One asked the other: “Do you believe in life after delivery?”  The other replied, “Why, of course. There has to be something after delivery. Maybe we are here to prepare ourselves for what we will be later.”

“Nonsense,” said the first. “There is no life after delivery. What kind of life would that be?”

The second said, “I don’t know, but there will be more light than here. Maybe we will walk with our legs and eat from our mouths. Maybe we will have other senses that we can’t understand now.”

The first replied, “That is absurd. Walking is impossible. And eating with our mouths? Ridiculous! The umbilical cord supplies nutrition and everything we need. But the umbilical cord is so short. Life after delivery is to be logically excluded.”

The second insisted, “Well I think there is something and maybe it’s different than it is here. Maybe we won’t need this physical cord anymore.”

The first replied, “Nonsense. And moreover, if there is life, then why has no one ever come back from there? Delivery is the end of life, and in the after-delivery, there is nothing but darkness and silence and oblivion. It takes us nowhere.”

“Well, I don’t know,” said the second, “but certainly we will meet Mother and she will take care of us.”

The first replied “Mother? You actually believe in Mother? That’s laughable. If Mother exists then where is She now?”

The second said, “She is all around us. We are surrounded by her. We are of Her. It is in Her that we live. Without Her, this world would not and could not exist.”

Said the first: “Well I don’t see Her, so it is only logical that She doesn’t exist.”

To which the second replied, “Sometimes, when you’re in silence and you focus and listen, you can perceive Her presence, and you can hear Her loving voice, calling down from above.”

For You Today 

If Scripture has it right (and I have faith it does), then we ought to let these little children have the lead, and hold it dear until it’s clear!

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:   No More!  and  Say What?   

Title Image:  by Evgeniya Semenova   Images without citation are in public domain.

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

An HONEST Prayer

 

Tuesday, February 14, 2023

How can a young person stay pure?  By obeying your word.  I have tried hard to find you—don’t let me wander from your commands.  I have hidden your word in my heart, that I might not sin against you.  I praise you, O Lord; teach me your decrees.  I have recited aloud all the regulations you have given us.                  I have rejoiced in your laws as much as in riches.  I will study your commandments and reflect on your ways.  I will delight in your decrees and not forget your word. Psalm 119:9-16

There are some images that stay with you for life.  Some are because they were dramatic, or explosive, like a tragic accident, or first experience with death, or birth.  There are other lifetime moments that insidiously sneak up on you. 

One of those sneaky images I have is something I heard in a pastor’s sermon many years ago about why some people don’t believe in God.  A child prays for a pony…his family lives in a city apartment, so we know how that turns out.  Later he prays that big kid in his third grade class who’s been bullying him all year will catch the fever and die.  We know God rarely grants that one.  By the time he’s a freshman in college he’s about had it with God, but he’s got a big math test coming up, so he decides to give the man upstairs (ugh…how I hate that)…just One. Last. Chance.  He stands in the field next to his college dorm and lifts the challenge:  God, if you’re really there, I need a ‘B’ on this test…no, make it an ‘A’.  With that base covered he runs to the bar where he and his fraternity buddies drink the night away.  The next day, he flunks the math test because he didn’t study at all.  His sulking thought:  I knew it; I now have proof:  there is no God!

In comparison to our young friend with the tried that praying to God thing, and it doesn’t work, attitude chip on his shoulder, the Psalmist paints a different picture, of a young person trusting God, not challenging God. 

Notice what he does:

·       He recognizes his weakness, and the need to stay close to God, so he studies God’s ways and commands. 

·       He memorizes those parts that speak warning to his heart so those will be second-nature when the temptations come.

·       He is teachable, even rejoicing while asking God to fix His Word deep in his soul.

The bottom line for this young man is open and honest with his prayers before God.

For You Today  

How’s your prayer life lately?  Is there openness with being honest, teachable, and willing to change as God directs you through His word?

If not, today’s a good day to begin.

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: 

When Words & Deeds Collide  and  Finding Wisdom 

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^©   

 

There Comes a Time...

Thursday, December 22, 2022

Then the angel said to me, “Everything you have heard and seen is trustworthy and true.  The Lord God, who inspires his prophets, has sent his angel to tell his servants what will happen soon.”  Revelation 22:6-7

All faith is birthed from the perch of unbelief.  What that perch seems to an observer, hatred, fear, ignorance, or arrogance, makes little difference; it remains the absence of faith, which is unbelief.

When our oldest grandchild was six, she had a grand time swimming in our pool.  She could not, however, bring herself to plunge into the water.  It was always a baby steps kind of process…toes first, then ankles, shins, and so-on.  The head never got more than half-wet.  Most of my time in the water on those lazy, hot Florida afternoons was spent encouraging her to take a leap into my arms from the pool deck.  There were plenty of false starts.  Five steps back to gain speed, begin the run, and….scrrreeeech to a halt, just short of the pool’s edge. 

But, one day, it finally happened.  Chelsea worked up her courage, threw caution to the wind, and jumped – a perfect cannonball…down to the depths below.  When she bobbed-up to the surface, she shook the water from her eyes and proclaimed like a town-crier:  WELL….THAT was an experience! 

Whether faith comes like an unexpected lightning-bolt, flashing into existence to obliterate all else in its path, or in increments like a hardly-observable changing of the tide, faith must take its first breath at some point.  There comes a time when unbelief becomes trust.  A line is crossed.  False starts become certain leaps.  That which was questioned becomes trusted, and faith is born a reality.

God instructed the beloved apostle John to end Scripture’s revelation with that assurance – what you’ve seen and heard is trustworthy. 

·       All the words of Moses, from Genesis to Deuteronomy,

·       and of the chroniclers of Israel, from the Judges to Kings,

·       and the poets of Psalms and Proverbs,

·       to the prophets of minor and major days,

·       as well as the Gospel and Epistle writers,

·       down to the very final invitation to take the leap of faith in the One who stands at the door, knocking…every bit of it is trustworthy and true. 

And every bit of it will change your life from agonizing unbelief to assurance unlimited.  It simply requires letting go of the perch.

For You Today  

If you’ve taken that leap of faith from the perch of unbelief, you know the strength of the Savior’s arms.  Like Chelsea’s first leap into the water, there were many more to come…with confidence growing each time. 

If you’ve never leaped beyond your belief, you’ve not experienced even the baby steps of the adventure God has planned for your life.  Many starts…many screeches to a halt, just short of getting wet.  What are you waiting for? 

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: 

   Distortion   and   The Importance of Jots and Tittles

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^©