...and EVERYTHING in it!

 

Thursday, July 8, 2021

The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.  The world and all its people belong to him.  For he laid the earth’s foundation on the seas and built it on the ocean depths.  Who may climb the mountain of the Lord?  Who may stand in his holy place?  Only those whose hands and hearts are pure, who do not worship idols and never tell lies.  They will receive the Lord’s blessing and have a right relationship with God their savior.  Such people may seek you and worship in your presence, O God of Jacob.  Psalm 24:1-6

According to King David’s Psalm, there are only two possibilities when it comes to a right relationship with God;  You’re either blessed and IN a right relationship with God, or you’re not.  According to David, the dividing line is bowing to the first two sentences; hear them again:  The earth is the Lord’s, and everything in it.  The world and all its people belong to him.  

In an increasingly pluralistic world it may sound strange to hear such dogmatic utterance…and that may explain the reason why church attendance is waning like the last embers of a fire before it goes out.  Church doctrine and preachers who leave little wiggle-room on letting people choose other than the check-boxes of saved or lost, are written off as antiquated, obtuse, or just not ‘woke’.  Popular opinion demands choices, but God isn’t into popular opinion.  Poet/Rock Star Bob Dylan sang the famous lines in his ‘70’s hit Gotta Serve Somebody:

The bottom line is God is Creator, and that means the keys to everything He created are hanging on His key chain – the earth, and everything in it!

The soul, or core of David’s Psalm is an invitation to enter-into that right relationship with God.  That tells us the most important thing we can dwell on today:   Having a right relationship with God is more than saving the planet He created, or being woke, or rituals, or your bank account.  It’s knowing that a right relationship is possible with God, and God wants it with you as passionately as you want your next breath of life.  Even more!

And while many are willing to bow in the direction of God as some benevolent force who created stuff; more of humankind than not prefer to leave it at that.  It is something of an ok…you gave us a start…we’ll take over now approach.  They want the benefit of 70 or 80, maybe 95 years of life, grabbing for the brass ring, and a little fame, along with their pleasures, but the idea of a relationship which includes all that other stuff of which King David wrote, notably clean hands and heart, telling truth and living truth…well, that’s not for me, so I’ll see you later.  Bob Dylan was never a favorite of mine, but he definitely got that one thought right…everyone who draws breath belongs to the Lord…He is Creator AND Judge.

So, what does it take to be IN a right relationship with He who created us?  If you pick apart the finer points of David’s Psalm (and, by the way, all the rest of Holy Scripture), you’ll find only two things, wanting that relationship, and willing to let go of everything you’ve decided you want more than having that relationship. 

To boil the pot down a little more, it’s a matter of wanting God more than your next breath.  It is bowing-down in humility to the fact that God is indeed Creator, and owns everything, even you.  No wiggle-room; no exceptions!

For You Today

The soul, or core of David’s Psalm is an invitation to enter-into that right relationship with God.  That tells us the most important thing we can dwell on today:   Having a right relationship with God is more than saving the planet He created, or being woke, or rituals, or your bank account.  It’s knowing that a right relationship is possible with God, and God wants it with you as passionately as you want your next breath of life.  Even more!

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^©    Other images by Pixabay.com

 

Getting Angry & Ugly

[1]

Thursday, December 10, 2015

Watch Devotion VIDEO here

In an interview last year theologian N.T. Wright was answering a question about the issue of gay and lesbian rights. His answer included a little history lesson he’d seen on TV the previous night.  

The question’s set-up said that the government is on the (LGBTQ) side, and many people saying if you don’t support it you’re on the wrong side of history.  The question: who said in 1956, ‘History is on our side and we will bury you’?

Wright’s comment was, one of the contestants got the answer right: It was Nikita Khrushchev. When people claim, ‘We’re going with the flow of history,’ that’s just a rhetorical smokescreen. So, that’s where I am.[2]

Increasingly this year’s primary election season is getting more angry and ugly; that is, angrier and uglier than usual.  I’ve never been a fan of political wrangling; I don’t see it as even marginally-interesting, much less an art form. 

But this year is a special kind of ugly!

You can turn on the news channels at any time of day or night, and the lead story (if it’s not about mass-shootings) will be the newest most outlandish thing Donald Trump said, and the backlash from the rest of twelve thousand other candidates.

And most of the vitriolic name-calling has Mr. Trump on one side, and everyone else, including the so-called “objective” news anchors shouting back from the other side. 

And I do mean shouting…all at the same time.  One news show I watched had six political analysts hollering at each other at 120 decibels, sounding like magpies over a road kill.  It hurts my head! 

And still, with all the “shock-and-awe” of political angry-and-ugly, Mr. Trump’s candidacy grows in popularity and momentum.  One set of “reasoning” as to why his popularity grows is Mr. Trump resonates with what the American (Republican-party) voters see as long-overdue pushback against attacks on the Western way of life by Muslims.

For many of the analysts the driving point is that Mr. Trump’s continued ramping-up of the heat and anger in the free-for-all that is American contemporary politics, is the kind of demagoguery that taps into the fear in people’s minds created by the recent flurry of attacks.  Pushback is a powerful motivator, especially if someone else is willing to be the one to do it for you.

Now, this isn’t about Democrats and Republicans – it’s all about what’s in our hearts and minds, and who (or WHO) we are willing to trust.  Do we trust the political analysts, and go with the flow of history….or do we trust God’s view?

When Israel’s first king (Saul) messed up so badly that God sent the prophet Samuel to pick a replacement, Samuel saw David’s brothers first.  The first one he saw looked good to him and he imagined he’d be a great head of state.  This was based on what he saw.

God saw things differently:

But the Lord said to Samuel, “Don’t judge by his appearance or height, for I have rejected him. The Lord doesn’t see things the way you see them. People judge by outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.”   

1 Samuel 16:7^(NLT)

Every election is a spiritual referendum; there are great things at stake.  Not the least of these is whether you will listen to your head, heart or God’s revealed truth (His Word) as you enter the voting booth.

As followers of Jesus Christ none of us can afford to let “angry & ugly” carry even a part of our day.

For You Today

Fear in our hearts will sometimes yell so loudly we cannot hear anything God says; take some time to get away from the yelling, fear and commotion.  Let there be room for the still, small voice.

Chew on that out on the Rocky Road today…and have a great day!

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[1] Title image:  By DonkeyHotey, via Wikimedia Commons

[2] Watch the interview here:  NT Wright on Gay Marriage