Thanks - Living

Thanksgiving Day 

Thursday, November 23, 2023

“For this is how God loved the world: He gave his one and only Son, so that everyone who believes in him will not perish but have eternal life.  John 3:16

At one time the English poet Rudyard Kipling's writings were so in demand that he was paid 10 shillings (about $1) per word for his efforts.  A group of students thought that was outrageous, and sent him a letter with 10 shillings enclosed.  They asked him (since his words were so expensive) to send them his best word.  He replied, of course, "Thanks!"  

In all of life and human existence our best word is "grace."  Today as we once again celebrate Thanksgiving, we could talk about the many ways God’s loving grace provides for our needs:

·       of food and a roof over our heads 

·       healing and miracles

·       family and friends

·       freedom

But the best word is still grace, and no scripture says it better than John 3:16:

For God so loved the world that He gave His only begotten Son, that whosoever believeth in him should not perish, but have eternal life." 

I'm thankful for grace.

His grace is enough!

His grace is enough to forgive my sin, and make me clean.  That means I will not perish because I'm forgiven. 

A man was considering the purchase of a Rolls Royce.  He asked the dealer some questions about the luxury car, and all were answered, until the man asked how much horsepower the engine had.  The dealer didn't know, and since there was no manual for this hand-crafted vehicle, he sent a telegram to England for the answer, "How much horsepower does a Rolls have?"  Shortly a return message came; there was only one word:  "Enough!"  As much, and as bad as my sins are, Jesus' grace is enough to wash me white as snow.  

His grace is eternal. 

Eternal life is as much quality as quantity.  None of us would care to live forever if it meant the current human condition.  As a child it seemed that I would just go on forever.  I know better now.

·       Bodies wear out, and relationships falter. 

·       There is much suffering and pain in the human family. 

Anything that will last forever has to be the best.  I'm grateful that I will live forever and "for better!"  I have the greatest gift for which to be thankful.  

HOW SHALL I RESPOND?

We are taught from a very young age that, when someone gives you something, you say Thank You.  And, as we also find out, words can be cheapened if we do not back them up with actions that match those words.  To say “thank you” for all God has done is best said by living it out.  So I'm going to live thankfully!  For me, today and every day is "Thanks-living” Day!

For You Today 

I have no great homework assignment to lay on your shoulder today…only a prayer for your day, and your life, that you may find joy, peace, and eternal rest as you live thankfully in our Lord’s presence.

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 Pixabay.com  

Images without citation are in public domain or cited via weblinks.  

Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Bitter Water

Thursday, September 21, 2023

Then Moses led the people of Israel away from the Red Sea, and they moved out into the desert of Shur.  They traveled in this desert for three days without finding any water.  When they came to the oasis of Marah, the water was too bitter to drink.  So they called the place Marah (which means “bitter”).  Then the people complained and turned against Moses.  “What are we going to drink?” they demanded.  So Moses cried out to the Lord for help, and the Lord showed him a piece of wood.  Moses threw it into the water, and this made the water good to drink.  It was there at Marah that the Lord set before them the following decree as a standard to test their faithfulness to him.  He said, “If you will listen carefully to the voice of the Lord your God and do what is right in his sight, obeying his commands and keeping all his decrees, then I will not make you suffer any of the diseases I sent on the Egyptians; for I am the Lord who heals you.”   Exodus 15:22-26

The children of Israel had water issues.  When they were running away from Egypt, they were stuck with too much water, the Red Sea, preventing them from getting to the Promised Land.  The Egyptian storm troopers were hot on their heels, and God parted the waters so they could walk through dust, instead of swimming (and mostly drowning).  Three days later they had the opposite issue – no water.  They complained and Moses led them to Marah…where the water was unhealthy, bitter.  God fixed that by purifying the water.  Further on in the journey they were dry once again, and God brought forth water from a rock. 

I had my own issues with a water valve this week.  The plumber came right away and did another miracle, fixed it, and charged me less than the cost of a Buick!

Normally I write in the early morning hours.  Yesterday was an exception.  I started the day by getting my dog settled with his business, and carrying him to that spot he occupies right next to my desk.  I began to write when dawn was just breaking.  Elizabeth opened the study door and the pitiful sight of my bride in pain was worse than Israel’s drought on the run.  We immediately got in the car and went to the Emergency Room.  Around three o’clock we found out she had pancreatitis, along with a secondary infection.  An hour later she was admitted and settled into a room.  It is now 8:22pm, I’ve just had supper; it’s been a day!

So what does all that have to do with Marah’s bitter water?  Well, I’m glad you asked.  Today’s events were much like Israel’s Marah experience.  When they were back in Egypt as slaves, they could at least count on having water to drink from the beautiful river Nile.  Out in the desert life became uncertain, uncontrollable.  Today reminded me of that…my sweet bride, usually smiley and always on the lookout for our family…now helplessly rubbing her side, and not wanting to do anything but be left alone.  And Russell, helpless, unable to do anything like Superman, leaping tall buildings, stopping speeding bullets; I had no way to take away her hurt.  All I could do was just sit by the bitter water of pain.  I’m not sure how many people prayed for us today; I do know my phone looked like an exhausted little puppy when the battery died.  Tons of people responded to our Facebook post, and the word spread.  When I left Elizabeth’s room at 6:30 this evening she was smiling, and looking forward to coming home tomorrow.  The doc had said, “we’ll see,” but I know that look in the woman’s eye.

So…time to wrap it up and get some sleep.  My day was planned to write.  Pain had other ideas…and like too much water at the Red Sea, too little water in the desert, and bitter water at Marah, I got frazzled and saw my weakness.  But God had the answer…even before I asked.

For You Today 

Whatever you’ve got going on today, remember where the well is located.

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

Go to VIDEO

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

Title Image(s) courtesy of Pixabay.com

Images without citation are in public domain.  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from NLT^©   

Thankful!

Thanksgiving Day, Thursday, November 24, 2022

Be thankful in all circumstances, for this is God’s will for you who belong to Christ Jesus.  1 Thessalonians 5:18

Seven years ago on a rainy August morning, I awoke to find that our little dog Wellie’s hind legs had become paralyzed.  A few hours later I got the call from my brother Thom that our Dad had graduated to the Church Triumphant. 

When big things happen in your life, especially on the same day, you remember that day clearly, and with an intensity of emotion.  I don’t know how more oddly-connected two events could be – the death of my father joined in my memory to a dog’s health issue.  But there are some similarities.

There is pain

While our vet assured us our little fur-beast feels no pain, the look of bewilderment on his little face that morning, and the growing sense of loss was unmistakable.  Perhaps the harsh reality of seeing a little animal suffer helped prepare my heart for what was to come just moments later, when I would hear the words that Dad had passed.

There is also patience

My father was not a patient man.  He could get excited about the prospect of getting something accomplished in an intense way that was so focused, all else had to be put on-hold.  You could see it in his eyes, and it always meant you could get on board or you could stay behind! 

Sometimes it took great patience just to be around my Dad; navigating his energetic ways caused patience to develop in those who knew him well. 

Our little Wellie’s paralyzed legs have forced him to slow down.  I had to re-learn patience as I help him up and down stairs, and do the mundane tasks that were taken for granted before.

There is perseverance

Wellie is not a little dog to be denied!  When it is supper time he lets you know with that stare and incessant barking, right in your face!  He maintains his space, and will not be pushed aside.  

He still plays, loves and licks you on the ear lobe when you pick him up.  He knows the family routines and is always willing to lead the pack when it’s time to go, dragging his little back legs behind.  These are important issues to a dog.

My Dad also paid attention to the important things.  He loved my Mother and his sons fiercely and faithfully.  He loved and served God with whatever lot God placed in his hands.  Even in his nineties Dad could be seen in the halls of the local nursing homes limping along with his cane, visiting (as he called them), the old people, bringing the joke-of-the-day and a smile to each room.

My father was a man of perseverance, overcoming his depression-shortened education with a lifelong thirst for learning.  He would make the most of his annual vacation time by visiting historic sites in the United States. 

Perhaps what I will remember most is Dad’s integrity, a character strength which balanced-out his impatience and perseverance.  Somehow this ordinary man had an extraordinary impact on those with whom he shared this life. 

One story my Mother told me was how Dad worked his way up to be the foreman’s assistant at the aviation plant during World War II.  He supervised a dozen workers.  After the war the need for planes eased up, and with it came layoffs.  One day the boss came to him with the list of people Dad would have to give notice of termination.  One of those men had a large family, and had been a faithful employee for years.  My Father tried to reason with the boss that the man shouldn’t be on the list.  Another employee, a young girl had only recently been hired; it was only right that she be let go, because she was living with her parents, and the economic hardship would be less than someone with so many depending on his paycheck.  The boss refused; Mom said they later learned it was because the boss was pursuing her romantically.  When Dad found this out he refused to fire the man with the family.  The boss said:  you either put his name back on that list, or put your own on there in his place.  And that is exactly what he did!

At times I have been faced with ethical decisions, and it is my Dad’s integrity, placing faithful commitment to doing what’s right, above career, money or comfort, which helped build in me a moral compass based upon kingdom principles.  Whatever sense of character I possess, my Father was a Godly teacher who led me to the well. 

For You Today  

It’s been more than seven years, and the thankfulness for a man’s impact on a son is still growing.  Thanks,Dad!                                                                             

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: 

       A Gift in the Basket   and   The Passover Connection

This devotional memoir first appeared on Rocky Road Devotions entitled Thanks Dad! August 11, 2016 (updated this date)

Images without citation are either personal property of the author, or in public domain.

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

Can You Give Me a Reason for Suffering?

Thursday, October 27, 2022

All praise to God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ. God is our merciful Father and the source of all comfort.  He comforts us in all our troubles so that we can comfort others.  When they are troubled, we will be able to give them the same comfort God has given us.  2 Corinthians 1:3-4

Paul must have had a reason for praising God in the middle of suffering.  Writing a letter to the church folk at Corinth, that reason for his suffering (and theirs) became transparently necessary to human living, and the cause of Christ.  That may sound like a circular argument without reason…suffering brings God’s comfort, and God’s comforting allows us to bear pain…but even if it appears circular, it is backed-up by sound theological understanding. 

The God-reason behind suffering has to do with living in a fallen world, in which there is no escape from suffering.  God did not create suffering to torture us, or just because we’re evil, and we need to be punished.  Rather, it is because of sin’s nature, and therefore we, in our sin nature, are prone to wander, suffer, and feel the pain of our folly.  We live in relationship with the other 7 billion souls on this planet, and so we are also going to suffer when we’ve not actually done something to deserve the pain.  Let’s face it, you didn’t get the Corona Virus because you stole a dollar from your Mom’s purse, and you don’t get the flu because you had an impure thought.  These are part of living in proximity to those who have the illness.  Sometimes we’re the winshield, and sometimes we’re the bug…stuff happens!

If suffering is unavoidable (and we know that to be true, despite unceasing human attempts to avoid pain at all costs, and at the expense of relationship, rest, fortune, or even reputation), well, what are we to make of God’s part in allowing pain?  Is it just a reminder of how bad we are?  Is it to teach us to behave?  And, if it’s just a capricious thing God does, because God can do it…why would Paul praise a God like that?

Well, lots of questions to be answered; most of the answers are unsatisfactory when your foot is killing you with every step, or your heart is failing, or your spouse just walked out on you, for what he said is the end.  Can you give me any reason or purpose for that suffering, which will give me even the slightest hope of continuing to live with purpose?  I mean, what’s the sense, if there’s no purpose?

The purpose in our suffering is often known only to God.  Paul had wrestled (like Job wrestled) with his thorn in the flesh[1] only to have God tell him he would have to wrestle with it longer…God’s grace would have to suffice for now.  History tells us Paul finally came to terms with his suffering and pain, and even death.  In Paul’s deep reasoning and understanding of God with us, and our need for His presence and purpose, and even our need for suffering, Paul’s letter to the Roman Christians gave the answer in a deeply-personal testimony of God’s answer to our dilemma with pain and suffering:

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 7:24-25a

For You Today

In Paul’s answer about being freed in Jesus Christ, he also points to his former letter to the Corinthians, where he beautifully describes the purpose for the whole process:  Just as Christ came to heal us in our pain of sin-sickness, we, in our suffering, fulfill His ministry to comfort and heal others.

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: 

       Suffering   and   When Pain Speaks

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

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[1] See 2 Corinthians 12

Where is God?

Friday, September 23, 2022

Am I a God who is only close at hand?” says the Lord.  “No, I am far away at the same time.  Can anyone hide from me in a secret place?  Am I not everywhere in all the heavens and earth?” says the Lord.  Jeremiah 23:23-24

There are at least two different ways to interpret the question:  Where is God?  You can be asking about location, in the sense that you want to find God’s presence, either out of curiosity, or, more profoundly, out of need to know you’re not alone in this universe.  The second, and more publicly common way to ask, is the defiance motive…you’re asking about God’s location, or more accurately, his absence during an event that could have been prevented from becoming a tragedy.  It’s asking:  Where was God when my child died?  The first kind of interpretation is a seeker of God; the second is a judge of God.  Truth be told, it could always be both.

Some would deny ever being angry with God.  I’m not one of them…now!  I could never quite bring myself to admit it, but there have been those times.  One of those was when my grandmother died.  I loved Grandma Carrie.  She had a kind face, and was not above slipping a cookie in your hand, even just before dinnertime.  She was a patient sort; married to an alcoholic, she had to have the patience of Job.  When cancer took her from us, I cried for weeks.  As a pre-teen, anger was my emotional response to the grief that told me I would never see her again.  A lot older now, and, hopefully, a little wiser, I realize Russell, the child, was asking the defiant kind of question born of pain:  God…where were you when cancer took my Grandma? 

As a child I had to lay the blame for what was wrong in my life on someone.  Just as Adam passed along his guilt onto Eve, making God the culprit of Adam’s sin and failure for giving him that dangerous play toy, God was also to be my whipping boy.  He should have been there…and He wasn’t. 

Now, as an adult, with the blessing of a rearview mirror, the guidance of God’s Spirit through God’s Word, plus a whole lifetime of experience, the question I have no longer focuses on the whereabouts of God.  Life and God’s gentle guidance have taught me of His omnipresence in every moment and place I’ve ever walked.  Now the question is more appropriate:  Where is Russell?  Where is Russell’s mind and heart, in relationship to the God who is everywhere, sees everything, and understands every DNA molecule He used to fashion my body, and stamped on my invisible soul?  Mr. Wesley’s question:  How is it with your soul…is the question I now ask in the mirror every day.

For You Today

If you’ve been through some tough living, and you’re tempted to ask the judging question, it would be better to stand facing the mirror.  But if the pain is too great, go ahead and ask God where He’s been…He’s got big shoulders.  My experience is that He will gently remind you that He’s where He’s always been, right next to you, waiting for you to turn….so He can wrap His arms around you.

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: 

In That Day and The Doily

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

A Covid-broken Heart

 

Monday, February 21, 2022

O Lord, don’t rebuke me in your anger or discipline me in your rage!  Your arrows have struck deep, and your blows are crushing me.  Because of your anger, my whole body is sick; my health is broken because of my sins.  My guilt overwhelms me—it is a burden too heavy to bear.  My wounds fester and stink because of my foolish sins.  I am bent over and racked with pain.  All day long I walk around filled with grief.  A raging fever burns within me, and my health is broken.  I am exhausted and completely crushed.  My groans come from an anguished heart.  You know what I long for, Lord; you hear my every sigh.  My heart beats wildly, my strength fails, and I am going blind.  My loved ones and friends stay away, fearing my disease.  Even my own family stands at a distance.  Meanwhile, my enemies lay traps to kill me.  Those who wish me harm make plans to ruin me.  All day long they plan their treachery.  But I am deaf to all their threats.  I am silent before them as one who cannot speak.  I choose to hear nothing, and I make no reply.  For I am waiting for you, O Lord.  You must answer for me, O Lord my God.  I prayed, “Don’t let my enemies gloat over me or rejoice at my downfall.”  I am on the verge of collapse, facing constant pain.  But I confess my sins; I am deeply sorry for what I have done.  I have many aggressive enemies; they hate me without reason.  They repay me evil for good and oppose me for pursuing good.  Do not abandon me, O Lord.  Do not stand at a distance, my God.  Come quickly to help me, O Lord my savior.  Psalm 38:1-22

David’s self-diagnosed situational distress symptoms parallel takotsubo, commonly known as broken-heart syndrome.[1]  Assaulted by raging fever, exhaustion, and difficulty breathing, the heart, crushed and broken, groans in shock-induced cardiomyopathy; it’s a sad parallel to what modern-day pandemic grief is pushing on the world’s human family.

Our reality the past two years has developed a worldwide epidemic of languishing in lethargy and misery as a response to the ruin of COVID’s bio-physical symptoms.  It is the essence of King David’s spiritual malaise, his sins have “found him out,”[2] and his life has come to a grinding halt in an overwhelming sense of guilt/grief.  His heart can only stand in shock against the revelation of life’s fragile and tenuous nature.  What looms before him is the very-real possibility of slipping into the darkness; all else, kingdom, family, riches, and even the simple act of breathing, are superfluous compared to getting relief from the approaching darkness.  If it’s truly possible to “languish” in a panic-attack mode…this is it!

David’s reaction to the monster that stands ready to chew him (even the memory of him) to pieces, is confession.  As one who, in his youth, knew the presence of God well, David’s understanding of his guilt brought an outpouring of shame and inner urging to return to the place of forgiveness.  He longed to be clean.  Accepting responsibility for the calamity which now defined his character, David asked God to purge his guilt and shame, and come close.

Perhaps the pan-human response to the takotsubo broken-heart pandemia is a return to God the way David knew was right…confession…owning who we are, and what we’ve done in ignoring our Creator’s way.  That seems to be the only first step in the right direction.

For You Today

Each of us can only take the first step in our own journey.  I cannot take yours, nor can you take mine.  With God, repentance is a singular affair.  Like breathing, air in my lungs does no good in keeping your life afloat.  There are some things each of us needs to do to address that which breaks our Heavenly Father’s heart.

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

[1] Title and other images:  Harvard Health Publishing  Unless noted, Scripture quoted from The New Living Translation^©   

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[1] Harvard Health Publishing

[2] See Numbers 32:23

Of Lament and Longing

 

Thursday, June 24, 2021

From the depths of despair, O Lord, I call for your help.  Hear my cry, O Lord.  Pay attention to my prayer.  Lord, if you kept a record of our sins, who, O Lord, could ever survive?  But you offer forgiveness, that we might learn to fear you.  I am counting on the Lord; yes, I am counting on him.  I have put my hope in his word.  I long for the Lord more than sentries long for the dawn, yes, more than sentries long for the dawn.  O Israel, hope in the Lord; for with the Lord there is unfailing love.  His redemption overflows.  He himself will redeem Israel from every kind of sin.  Psalm 130

It is a well-known fact that we come into this world crying-out in objection to the change of a comfortable womb to the rude awakening of a birth canal and a smack on the backside.  A book I’m savoring at the moment has this in the first chapter:  Every human being has the same opening story.  Life begins with tears.  It’s simply a part of what it means to be human – to cry is human.[1] 

The Psalmist writes to all the Jewish pilgrims of the land as they head to Jerusalem to worship.  He records the deep lament of his own heart as an encouragement to those who come after him to follow his example of crying-out.  But this crying-out is not just wailing in pain; rather it is pain with purpose.  The purpose draws our longing into looking…for God.  The pure fact at the base of our being is that we long for God, and it compels us to search for Him.  

As the ancient church father Augustine has it, we are born with a God-sized hole in our heart (inner being), and cannot be at rest until that void is filled.

The Psalmist takes us deeper than Augustine’s hole-in-the-heart; he shows us the pathway that leads to what to do about that longing – how to open the heart by placing our hope in the Lord even before we understand Him.  The Psalmist proclaims the forgiveness of the Lord for our sins.  This is the hole-in-the-heart problem that every human understands innately, without any prompting from parents, religion, or the culture into which we’re born.  We KNOW we’re sinners because we feel the hole separating us from every part of our Creator, in whose image we were made.  And we KNOW something must be done about that, otherwise the possibilities are only two – we die in shame, or go insane. 

But, if we are to address the problem, God gives us faith that redemption from our sin comes from the unfailing love and mercy of God…Who forgives.  To place our hope and trust in God’s covenant love is the Psalmist’s solution.

If you look for any other solution you will come up dry.  Lament is different than being a victim, or (on the other end of the spectrum) an arrogant mover and shaker victimizer of others, or anything else in-between or different.  Rather, lament is facing the fact that the hole does exist, and it is yours, chosen when you decided to take your will above anything God said. 

God will forgive that, but only when we fully place our hope in Him, and cry-out to Him in faith for that forgiveness.

For You Today

For those who will not lament over the hole-in-the-heart which separates them from God, there is no hope.  But for those who will lament, and seek, and knock, and ask…the door of mercy will swing wide-open.  And, inside God’s place, beyond the door of mercy, there is a mansion of joy!

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

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

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[1] Mark Vroegop, Dark Clouds Deep Mercy (2019, Crossway, Wheaton, Illinois), 25