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!

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: 

       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^©   

Will They Never Learn?

Friday, September 8, 2022

The Lord looks down from heaven on the entire human race; he looks to see if anyone is truly wise, if anyone seeks God.  But no, all have turned away; all have become corrupt.  No one does good, not a single one!  Will those who do evil never learn?  Psalm 14:2-4a

The Psalmist could have inserted my picture as the headline to this Psalm.  He was being kind and discreet, but this has me written all over it.  The evidence is overwhelming, but one incident, in particular, gives the overall sense of stubbornness lodged deep in my soul. 

It happened on a Saturday or Sunday afternoon drive.  There wasn’t much money in our household budget, so a family drive was a major tool to combat hot summer boredom.  This was long before the price of gas reached a zillion dollars a gallon, back when air-conditioning in cars was for the rich.  To keep cool we had “450 air-conditioning” – you opened the car’s 4 windows and drove 50-miles-per-hour!  But, I digress.

On one of those drives down the country lanes and backroads my Dad favored, he half-turned to us boys in the back seat and told us to close our eyes.  Russell did the 10-year-old thing every parent has heard:  Why?  Dad replied:  Just close ‘em; you’ll see.  Russell:  But how can I ‘SEE’ with my eyes closed?  Dad:  Russell Jay Brownworth…just close your eyes.  Russell, (rolling eyes and sighing rather dramatically) But, what if I don’t want to?  Dad:  It’s too late now – just forget it.

Later that day my older brother, Thom informed me the moment I trashed with my attitude was Dad’s attempt to add just a little more excitement to the ride.  He was coming to the “dip” in the road, and was speeding up to get us airborne.  It’s one of those weightless instants when you’re suspended between going up, and then down.  It’s the apex of a hill’s up-and-down that makes your stomach do a loop-de-loop.  We couldn’t afford to go to the carnival rides, so Dad was trying to bring the roller coaster to us.  I wonder how often Dad whispered to himself:  Will he never learn?   

That incident always turns my mind to how my Heavenly Father may have the same thought…not just about Russell – about God’s entire family.  Sometimes our foolish ways are beyond understanding.  We steal moments of selfish pleasure, thinking to enhance our lives and self-esteem, only to find ourselves crumbling on the inside in shame and emptiness.  We kill each other with amazing regularity, playing out Cane’s hatred.  We mock God with our little sand castles of empires and imperialism, and find them washed away with the next tide.  Nothing we build lasts, and little is our self-agrandizement recognized for the childish illusion of life we claim.  In short, like a 10-year-old stuffed with pride, we won’t listen to a single bit of helpful joy.  And God says:  Will they never learn?

For You Today

Willfulness and pride aren’t hard to hold-onto, but they’re the devil to let-go-of.  And their results are harder to swallow than just one spoiled moment on the roller coaster; failing to let go of self, to find oneself wrapped in the everlasting arms of love from Father, is the most costly of all our obtuse ways.  This begs the question unendingly:  Will we never learn?

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: 

When Mercy Outweighs Justice and In the Beginning

[1] Images:  Bing Images (Royalty Free)   Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

When the Heavens are Silent

 

Monday, November 29, 2021

This is my second letter to you, dear friends, and in both of them I have tried to stimulate your wholesome thinking and refresh your memory.  I want you to remember what the holy prophets said long ago and what our Lord and Savior commanded through your apostles.  Most importantly, I want to remind you that in the last days scoffers will come, mocking the truth and following their own desires.  They will say, “What happened to the promise that Jesus is coming again?  From before the times of our ancestors, everything has remained the same since the world was first created.”  They deliberately forget that God made the heavens long ago by the word of his command, and he brought the earth out from the water and surrounded it with water.  Then he used the water to destroy the ancient world with a mighty flood.  And by the same word, the present heavens and earth have been stored up for fire.  They are being kept for the day of judgment, when ungodly people will be destroyed.  But you must not forget this one thing, dear friends:  A day is like a thousand years to the Lord, and a thousand years is like a day.  The Lord isn’t really being slow about his promise, as some people think.  No, he is being patient for your sake.  He does not want anyone to be destroyed, but wants everyone to repent.  But the day of the Lord will come as unexpectedly as a thief.  Then the heavens will pass away with a terrible noise, and the very elements themselves will disappear in fire, and the earth and everything on it will be found to deserve judgment.  Since everything around us is going to be destroyed like this, what holy and godly lives you should live, looking forward to the day of God and hurrying it along.  On that day, he will set the heavens on fire, and the elements will melt away in the flames.  But we are looking forward to the new heavens and new earth he has promised, a world filled with God’s righteousness.  And so, dear friends, while you are waiting for these things to happen, make every effort to be found living peaceful lives that are pure and blameless in his sight.  2 Peter 3:1-14

Peter, ever the blunt, no-nonsense communicator, stated his case right out of the opening gate…he wanted to stimulate wholesome thinking, and remind his flock of what’s coming (judgment), how mocking fools act towards the holy, and how people who would be godly must act.  Peter leaves little wiggle room for waffling.

Then he used that phrase that has stuck in a lot of minds:  a day is like a thousand years, and a thousand years like a day…with the LORD.  It’s clear the flock were constantly bleating about how long their suffering seemed, and questioning the Apostle why it was so.  And why it should be.  And why God was silent on the issue.

And the answer, both in heaven, and to earth, is the same – PATIENCE!  We on earth, whether suffering, or weary, or just plain eager for the coming of the LORD to clean up the mess…should be patient.  On the other hand, God IS patient; He’s long-suffering the sins of the earth, giving all who would be lost time to repent and be saved.  So, it’s not a flaw in God’s compassion – rather the fact that He is patiently withholding judgment is a demonstration of His compassionate grace. 

So Peter, virtually exploding with grace and the compassion of Jesus Christ, booms-forth the message…live godly lives…the judgment is coming, and you don’t want to be on the wrong side of history when that hits!  Accept Christ now and be saved.  There’s a life full of righteousness and joy awaiting; don’t miss it!

For You Today

If you’re human, there’s a tendency to whine to God about how tough things are here.  It’s advisable to bring your troubles to God…but remember Who is the judge, and who needs mercy. 

He’s not silent for no reason…our need of repentance is the reason.

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

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

For another post on this text see A Prayer From the Hourglass

Wondering About the Big Stuff

 

Friday, January 1, 2021

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  Your glory is higher than the heavens.  You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.  When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.  You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.  O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  Psalm 8:1-9^(NLT)

When you’re little the big questions always begin with “why”.  Children want to know why they can’t have that whole gallon of chocolate chip ice cream.  They want to know why they must go to bed now.  They want answers!

The questions usually expand with age and curiosity.  If the curiosity continues to grow, and never finds its home in faith, the questions tend to lead down the path to cynicism and despair…and more wrong answers. 

But if faith in the Creator leads anywhere at all, it always comes back to this basic question of WHY; why…me?  Why am I alive: what purpose does this life serve?

The cynics who have come up empty and devoid of faith will say there is no purpose; we are meaningless blobs of protoplasm that have managed to evolve and pollute the earth to the point where it will eventually fold us back into a tangled mess with all the other useless, meaningless beings of all time.  One day this planet will explode or implode; just choose your poison!  

Those who choose to believe this kind of nonsense will also find a way to make a complex answer to every other simple question like two plus two equals seventy-one, unless its Tuesday, in which case I want the answer to be different…I’ll let you know what that answer is if you will just be quiet about God.

But those who have taken the leap of faith will eventually arrive at a more meaningful discovery to the question of “why” – that answer is:  because…God! 

Going back to the beginning of human existence we find the answer to life’s most basic question:

So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them….Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”  Genesis 1:27, 2:18^(NLT)

We are created in God’s image, with a hunger for relationship (the response God hardwired in each of us because He knew it is not good to be alone).  And since that is so, it is also true of the One in Whose image we are created.  This is the portal of understanding for every other question that begins with Why…? 

It takes faith (and a little common sense) to begin with the answer (God) and work back to where your questions live…but that’s the substance of things not seen; the evidence of things hoped for…that’s the magnificent path of discovery you’ll find when you ask God “why” like a Psalmist!

For You Today

If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable with not having the answers, try resting in the purpose for which God created you in the first place…relationship with Him!

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

GO TO VIDEO

[1] Title Image: Courtesy  Pixabay.com

[2] Hebrews 11:1^(NLT)

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

For other posts on this text see Wondering About the Big Stuff - Part 2 and Wondering About the Big Stuff - Part 3  

This devotion first appeared on Rocky Road Devotions Friday, August 28, 2017

 

UnBroken

[1]

Thursday, October 3, 2019

The thought of my suffering and homelessness is bitter beyond words.  I will never forget this awful time, as I grieve over my loss.  Yet I still dare to hope when I remember this:  The faithful love of the Lord never ends!  His mercies never cease.  Great is his faithfulness; his mercies begin afresh each morning.  I say to myself, “The Lord is my inheritance; therefore, I will hope in him!”  The Lord is good to those who depend on him, to those who search for him.  So it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord.  Lamentations 3:19-26[2]

Jeremiah, fierce, sword-wielding prophet, is the author of Lamentations.  He is the one we find wallowing in his suffering and homelessness, grieving over his loss.  Jeremiah’s homelessness is not what we’d picture in our time, sleeping on park benches, begging on street corners, tents in the woods or nights huddled in an old abandoned car.  Jeremiah was in prison; his home and the entire nation was occupied by the enemy.  His was a broken nation.  His conclusion, that it is good to wait quietly for salvation from the Lord was not a spiritual high ground…Jeremiah had no choice. 

Suffering, and what you do with it, have filled libraries of books for generations.  Ever since Job’s loss of his family, wealth, friends, and place in the community, coupled with the boils that covered his body in torment, humankind has searched for the why of suffering, and the what of how to deal with it.

My friend, Bert Cavaletto learned to deal with Jeremiah and Job’s suffering.  Bert was a pilot in World War 2 who spent a long time in a prison camp.  Among a myriad of coping skills developed to ward off despair, Bert constructed a model ship which he completed while hiding it from his captors.  I saw the ship just before Bert died in 2014.  There was such painstaking detail; each plank of the deck, turnbuckle, stanchion and battens were either carved or fashioned with tools that would have been seen as weapons by the guards.  While it was a diversion from the reality of being a prisoner, this ship was also Bert’s sanity project, and the expression of genuine hope in salvation.  Like Jeremiah, who purchased a piece of property while in prison against the day when he might be released to a freed homeland – something which he never got to see, however – Bert’s ship represented the freedom one experiences on open seas.  It was his statement of hope!  It was his unbroken spirit claiming the promise of God that he was not forgotten.

I have come to understand that unforgotten and unbroken go together.  They belong and hold to one another like night frames day, and young meets old.  They are as integral to understanding God’s love as breathing is to staying alive in a prison camp, whether it be a military prison, or the prison of our thoughts and unrequited dreams.

From the mouth of Jesus (by way of John the Revelator) we hear the words of our Creator’s promise that suffering faithfully leads to the strength that only brokenness brings, a crown of life to wear long after a dying world passes away:

Don’t be afraid of what you are about to suffer.  The devil will throw some of you into prison to test you.  You will suffer for ten days.  But if you remain faithful even when facing death, I will give you the crown of life.  “Anyone with ears to hear must listen to the Spirit and understand what he is saying to the churches.  Whoever is victorious will not be harmed by the second death.  Revelation 2:10-11

For You Today

How else can you genuinely face and overcome the brokenness, emptiness, hurt and crushing blows of lost hope, except to trust that God has not lied?  This was the experience of the apostle Paul and my friend, Bert:

We are pressed on every side by troubles, but we are not crushed.  We are perplexed, but not driven to despair.  We are hunted down, but never abandoned by God.  We get knocked down, but we are not destroyed.  Through suffering, our bodies continue to share in the death of Jesus so that the life of Jesus may also be seen in our bodies.  2 Corinthians 4:8-10

This is what it means to be battered, and yet unbroken!

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

Go to VIDEO

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[1] Title Image:  Russell Brownworth photographs     Unless noted, Scripture used from The New Living Translation©

[2] For another post on this text and the topic of grieving see:  Hard Thoughts

 

Wondering About the Big Stuff

[1]

Friday, August 28, 2017

O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  Your glory is higher than the heavens.  You have taught children and infants to tell of your strength, silencing your enemies and all who oppose you.  When I look at the night sky and see the work of your fingers—the moon and the stars you set in place—what are mere mortals that you should think about them, human beings that you should care for them?  Yet you made them only a little lower than God and crowned them with glory and honor.  You gave them charge of everything you made, putting all things under their authority—the flocks and the herds and all the wild animals, the birds in the sky, the fish in the sea, and everything that swims the ocean currents.  O Lord, our Lord, your majestic name fills the earth!  Psalm 8:1-9^(NLT)

When you’re really little the big questions always begin with “why”.  Children want to know why they can’t have that whole gallon of chocolate chip ice cream.  They want to know why they have to go to bed now.  They want answers!

The questions usually expand with age and curiosity.  If the curiosity continues to grow, and never finds its home in faith, the questions tend to lead down the path to cynicism and despair…and more wrong answers. 

But if faith in the Creator leads anywhere at all, it always comes back to this basic question of WHY; why…me?  Why am I alive, and what purpose does this life serve?

The cynics who have come up empty and devoid of faith will say there is no purpose; we are meaningless blobs of protoplasm that have managed to evolve and pollute the earth to the point where it will eventually fold us back into a tangled mess with all the other useless, meaningless beings of all time.  One day this planet will explode or implode; just choose your poison!  Those who choose to believe this kind of nonsense will also find a way to make a complex answer to every other simple question like:  two plus two equals seventy-one, unless its Tuesday, in which case I want the answer to be different…I’ll let you know what that answer is if you will just be quiet about God.

But those who have taken the leap of faith will eventually arrive at a more meaningful discovery to the question of “why” – because…God! 

Going back to the beginning of human existence we find the answer to life’s most basic question:

So God created human beings in his own image.  In the image of God he created them; male and female he created them….Then the Lord God said, “It is not good for the man to be alone. I will make a helper who is just right for him.”  Genesis 1:27, 2:18^(NLT)

We are created in God’s image, with a hunger for relationship (not good to be alone).  And since that is so, it is also true of the One in Whose image we are created.  This is the portal of understanding for every other question that begins with Why…? 

It takes faith (and a little common sense) to begin with the answer (God), and work back to where your questions live…but that’s the substance of things not seen, the evidence of things hoped for[2]…that’s the magnificent path of discovery you’ll find when you ask God “why” like a Psalmist!

For You Today

If you’ve ever felt uncomfortable with not having the answers, try resting in the purpose for which God created you in the first place…relationship with Him!

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

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[1] Title Image: Courtesy  Pixabay.com

[2] Hebrews 11:1^(NLT)

Punishment Island

[i]

Wednesday, August 17, 2016

The people are like the dead branches of a tree, broken off and used for kindling beneath the cooking pots.  Israel is a foolish and stupid nation, for its people have turned away from God.  Therefore, the one who made them will show them no pity or mercy.  Yet the time will come when the Lord will gather them together like handpicked grain.  One by one he will gather them—from the Euphrates River in the east to the Brook of Egypt in the west.  In that day the great trumpet will sound.  Many who were dying in exile in Assyria and Egypt will return to Jerusalem to worship the Lord on his holy mountain.   Isaiah 27:11-13^(NLT)

----------------------

"Punishment Island" is a feature documentary about a tiny island in remote Uganda where women were abandoned for getting pregnant before marriage.[ii]  The premise of why this place exists is heartbreaking; not only are the women abandoned, but obviously so are their unborn children.  It is an ignorant and harsh punishment.

But can we lump all “punishment” into that category?  There are some forms of consequence that belong with aberrant behavior.  Murder is a prime example; there must be some consequence, otherwise the import of that victim’s life is blunted.  Theft robs both the victim of his property and the thief’s self-respect.  The need for recompense and turning things right-side-up is immutable.

I unearthed the notes I saved from my very first sermon ever preached.  It was for evening worship at a little Baptist Church on June 7, 1978. The title was “Chastisement”.  (I do have a copy of the audio, but hardly have the nerve to listen to it!) 

While most of the sermon was a cross between a topical Bible study and an apology for taking up people’s time, there was actually a little meat to be had for understanding one of the elephant-in-the-room questions:  WHY?  Why must we be held accountable for our actions and disciplined?

It’s certainly much easier to describe WHAT discipline looks like – a rule gets made, broken, and recompensed.  There is punishment, discipline.  That’s legalism.

But, WHY must it be this way?  Why can’t we just forget about it all?  That is a question that moves past the legalism of what must be done, and travels into the realm of WHY God does what only God does…LOVE!

The apostle Paul gives us the redemptive reason behind all God’s judging:

Yet when we are judged by the Lord, we are being disciplined so that we will not be condemned along with the world.   1 Corinthians 11:32^(NLT)

God’s purpose in chastising, disciplining, even punishing is to save us from ultimate condemnation – the death of our souls.

In a children’s time message this past week I showed the children my old house slippers, broken and worn-out.  And I showed them the rubber soles which could be recycled.  Even if the shoes were past useable for me, they were not past having a purpose.  And then we ended with this statement:

Remember in those times when you feel broken and used-up, you don’t have to stay that way; let God recycle you.

For You Today

Even when you feel like you’ve been abandoned to Punishment Island, God is right in the middle of your circumstances.  Keep praying; His hand may be heavy at the moment, but His love is still working.

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

Go to VIDEO

NOTES

[i] Title Image:  By Edirisa assumed (based on copyright claims)., via Wikimedia Commons

[ii] From the documentary website