His Voice

 

Monday, June 5, 2023

The voice of the Lord echoes above the sea.  The God of glory thunders.  The Lord thunders over the mighty sea.  The voice of the Lord is powerful; the voice of the Lord is majestic.  The voice of the Lord splits the mighty cedars; the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon.  He makes Lebanon’s mountains skip like a calf; he makes Mount Hermon leap like a young wild ox.  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!”  Psalm 29:3-9

Long ago I heard for the first time a preacher say these words:  If you’ve never trembled in the presence of Almighty God, it’s because you’ve never really stood in the presence of Almighty God.  He was making the point that we misunderstand a lot of things.  And sometimes we miss God, because we don’t know Him very well.  We hear about something marvellous being discovered – a cure for this disease, or that syndrome, or a new invention like driverless cars, or pilotless planes – and we mis-label a move of God for human inspiration.  We praise the Nobel laureates instead of marveling over Heaven’s gift.

Psalm 29 is attributed to King David.  It’s not hard to understand why; as a boy David spent many nights alone in the desert wilderness keeping watch over sheep.  To this boy, ordained to be the anointed king of Israel, the resounding crackling of lightning bolts were not merely storms, but the sacred voice of JHWH, the burst of almighty God’s love for His creation.  David heard THE Voice.

There are plenty of Biblical references concerning the presence of God, and how we are to enter boldly, to come closer, to dwell-in that presence.  Those are welcoming sounds – words of invitation to be near and experience God’s lovingkindness and majesty.  That is good, and it is right for us to receive those words as true; God means to provoke us to respond.  He wants His family to enter the house, and drink-deeply of His goodness.

But, somewhere, deep-down, within the center of our existential soul, there must be fear; not the kind of fear you might have facing a hungry lion in the wilderness, without a weapon or a place to hide.  Rather it is the awe of a majestic voice that thunders loud enough to split the cedars of Lebanon…trees that have withstood hundreds of years of storms and earthquakes.  This voice can make a mountain jump like a cat that’s been startled from behind.  His voice can strip a forest bare in an instant.  The power of God is limitless and unstoppable.  Scripture tells us that God’s power to rearrange, end, or begin life is without boundary.  He is God; his voice is final!  Apostle John was given a glimpse of that voice, and the finality of how it will preside over that great and final day of the Lord:

And a mighty shout came from the throne in the Temple, saying, “It is finished!”  Revelation 16:17

For You Today 

There is a day of reckoning approaching.  We’ve been advised in Scripture not to set a date, but rather to be prepared to meet that day.  If, as my preacher friend once said, you have never stood and trembled before a holy God, there will come a day when you will.  Better to stand there now in humble prayer, pledging your commitment to Him, and tremble as his thundering voice and loving arms embrace you.  The alternative is to stand before him later to receive judgment.

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:   Joy & Judgment  The Voice of God  

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

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

The Car that Teaches Us to Pray

 

Wednesday, June 9, 2021

Never stop praying.  1 Thessalonians 5:17

As the old saying has it, if I had a nickel for every time that car broke down I’d be a rich man.  More accurately, I’d at least have an extra hundred bucks in my pocket, if you added-in the money saved on repair parts.

It didn’t matter whether it was a Ford, Chevy, or Dodge, it was mine – and it was my first – and I had mobility.  (Well, up until I got at least a mile from home and found myself stranded…again.)

One night that Oldsmobile taught me to pray like an apostle…without ceasing!  I’m fairly certain memory serves me correctly, that I was on my way to work; so this wasn’t a frivolous joy ride.  It was dark, no street lights, and it was that less-travelled road.  The muffler hitting the pavement was the first clue things were happening pretty much in their usual order – leave home, pause, get stuck…again!

A brief look with the flashlight told me this was going to be another day in paradise.  An hour later paradise included three skinned knuckles, elbows aching, shoulders refusing to lift one more time, and a muffler still hanging down on the ground.  It was time for serious help.  So I began praying, Lord, help me with this thing…I don’t like it here in the dark, on the ground, and that thunder in the background is getting closer.  I promise….(well, never mind all the things I promised God that evening – I’m sure I didn’t follow through with most of them).

The prayer was followed by an overwhelming sense of guilt, the kind a teenage boy (or a 74-year-old man) feels when he’s praying for a two-ton car to begin cooperating with his feeble mechanical skills, and the boy (or old man) hasn’t checked-in with God in months…or years.  It’s like remembering that rich uncle when you’re down to your last dollar…you haven’t even called him the past decade, but now you need what he’s got, and you’re ready to get chummy…even downright nephew-ie, as you ask him for a “loan”.  As in a woeful prayer life, you haven’t exactly been nephew-ing without ceasing, but you’re going to ask anyway.

Well, that night afforded the strangest response from God – two really.  The first was when I picked that car muffler off the ground one more time, and CLANK – it went right back in place.  A few thousand wraps with the roll of wire I kept in the trunk to hold this behemoth Olds-98 together, and there you have it…ready to roll!  The second response from God was when I actually said the words out-loud on the back roads that night…thank you, God.  I really was thankful, but God’s next words were what changed everything for this non-church-attending, sometimes-believing (but never in a fanatical sort  of way), teenager.  I know I didn’t hear the words in an audible way, like Moses at the burning bush, but He seemed to speak directly to my heart without words.  I know it was God, because Russell, as slow on the uptake as he was around God-things, could not have come up with this; the Lord said thus:

It’s all good, son…this time.  But, listen…if you keep practicing prayer like you do maintenance on your car, your voice is going to fade on this end.  Russell, I don’t want our relationship to fall apart like that jalopy…so how about we talk more often?

For You Today

It’s like my late friend Donna used to say, I got so much to talk to Him about, I just never get around to saying ‘Amen’. 

If you haven’t heard from Heaven lately, it may be that jalopy needs a little TLC.  So, maybe it’s time to get with it before the prayer muffler hits the pavement?

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^©

The Difference of Presence

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Friday, December 28, 2018

Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth, for the old heaven and the old earth had disappeared.  And the sea was also gone.  And I saw the holy city, the new Jerusalem, coming down from God out of heaven like a bride beautifully dressed for her husband.  I heard a loud shout from the throne, saying, “Look, God’s home is now among his people!  He will live with them, and they will be his people.  God himself will be with them.  He will wipe every tear from their eyes, and there will be no more death or sorrow or crying or pain.  All these things are gone forever.”  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.  Revelation 21:1-7(NLT)

Elizabeth and I began losing our parents in 1985 when Sofie went to be with the Lord.  Then, seven years later it was her dad, Tony.  Within the last 10 years my parents, Cecilia and Elwood, joined them.  Most of their siblings have also passed, and so our connection with that great generation has also faded into awaiting the great reunion.  Two days after this year’s Christmas festivities we were having our usual breakfast conversation and my bride remarked rather wistfully how different the holidays are without them. 

The difference an absence can make is startling once it settles-in.  You don’t get to ask any more questions, or be reminded of that special smile, or share the intimacy of those inside family jokes or stories.  So, now the responsibility falls to our generation to pass along the connection of past, present, and future.  Of course, it’s hard to improve upon what Scripture does with that; Genesis starts with creation, and Revelation ends with re-creation.  Start at the beginning, march through history, and celebrate what’s coming.  In each of those tenses there is presence!

When I was a young preacher, new in the ministry, there were times, when called to a deathbed, that I spoke too much, and much too quickly.  I’m certain it was nervousness; I didn’t know what to say, and so I spoiled holy moments by speaking well-meaning, but useless platitudes:

·      I’m sorry for your loss

·      He’s in a better place now

·      At least she’s not suffering

·      It was a hard road, but he was ready

I should have waited for the silent presence of the holy to be completely God’s place to speak; I’ve learned to try to be present rather than vocal.

At the most difficult times in my life I have been blessed to be surrounded by presence in the people who care about me, and by their presence and thoughtfulness they leave little question that I am loved.  Presence makes all the difference.  Words are important, but they are no match for that beating heart next to yours. 

During one of those very difficult times, when I had absolutely no clue which way to turn with my life, a dear Christian brother came alongside me.  I respected this friend, father, and honest businessman; his walk matched his talk!  It has been more than 40 years since that day, and I cannot recall a single word he said, because he just sat with me.  His caring presence made the difference in my life, and that presence spoke so loudly and clearly, if there were any words, they were completely unnecessary to his ministry to me.  God’s Spirit spoke for him directly to my heart.

And the Holy Spirit helps us in our weakness. For example, we don’t know what God wants us to pray for. But the Holy Spirit prays for us with groanings that cannot be expressed in words.  Romans 8:26(NLT)

For You Today

It just may be that not every millisecond of eternity has to be filled with noise.  When you’re not certain words will accomplish God’s will, be silent.  God has been known to speak in a whisper, but none of us can hear that when we’re all about the noise.

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

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com