Of Camels and Last Straws

 

Tuesday, March 16, 2021

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.  The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.  And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.  When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.  1 Corinthians 10:12-13

These verses always remind me of the saying, the straw that broke the camel’s back.  It is descriptive of a final added weight which causes a mortal stumble.

The truth of a saying can certainly be found in its long use by many people, but in (too many) cases, public opinion is wishful thinking, not bedrock truth.  The truth of the camel’s poor back is relative to dynamics of physics.  There is a tipping-point at which the strength of a camel’s legs, back, and will to stand cannot support the weight of even one last straw…and he must sit down or fall down.

There is another saying, a cousin to this camel sagacity, God will never put more on you than you can bear.  You hear that in times of trouble.  It’s intended to bring some hope for a cure, solution, or help from some unknown source.  It’s intended as theological wisdom, an appeal to trust in God, the One Who knows your frame, that we are dust, and in His providential care.  But the saying fails for lack of context. 

That context is the apostle’s statement to the Corinthian believers, a group so steeped in superstition and pagan practices, they were their own worst enemies when it came to following Jesus.  Paul was telling them there was hope for their weak stand against the temptations to sexual perversion; there was an answer for their soul’s desire to serve God with pure hearts and lives.  Paul was reminding them that the choice to yield was in their power because God is stronger than any temptation the enemy can devise. 

And so there is a difference between times of trouble, when a loved one dies, or a job is lost, or health goes wanting…and times of temptation, when avarice grows, or desire beckons, or truth slips into the shadows.  The difference is in human control as opposed to surrendering to the will of God.  Jobs or health lost, or a friend dies…these are above our pay grade.  We have no choice for the weightier happenings of life and death.  For these testings we can trust God’s leading, compassion, and, sometimes, miracles.  In temptations it is a reverse setting; this is when God is trusting us to yield on the side of godliness.  Temptation is an opportunity to sin, not another straw heaped on the camel’s back. 

The prime example for our instruction and empowerment is Adam and Eve.  In the Garden of Eden THE tempter offered the opportunity of a lifetime.  The entirety of humanity on earth at that time CHOSE to take what was in front of them, despite God’s provision of choice to say “no”.  It was within Adam and Eve’s power to choose; it wasn’t some overwhelming turn of life, a straw of adversity heaped on an overburdened life.  It was their will, choosing their way, over God’s.

Therein is the rub…and it has always been thus…we can, as the Burger King commercial reminds us, have it our way, or we can do it God’s way; we just cannot have both.

For You Today

Overcoming temptation isn’t a matter of waiting for God to do something about all He’s placed on your back; God is expecting you to say “no” loudly, and clearly. God is expecting you to seek God’s way of fleeing whatever is tempting you.  Just  don’t wait until you hear ol’ Slewfoot approaching in your garden; decide now, in the light of day, that your life, your body, your heart and hands belong to God. 

If you decide that in truth now…you’ll be prepared to escape the temptations that come your way.

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

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

Chained Like Angels

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Tuesday, November 5, 2019

So I want to remind you, though you already know these things, that Jesus first rescued the nation of Israel from Egypt, but later he destroyed those who did not remain faithful.  And I remind you of the angels who did not stay within the limits of authority God gave them but left the place where they belonged.  God has kept them securely chained in prisons of darkness, waiting for the great day of judgment.  And don’t forget Sodom and Gomorrah and their neighboring towns, which were filled with immorality and every kind of sexual perversion.  Those cities were destroyed by fire and serve as a warning of the eternal fire of God’s judgment.  In the same way, these people—who claim authority from their dreams—live immoral lives, defy authority, and scoff at supernatural beings.  But even Michael, one of the mightiest of the angels, did not dare accuse the devil of blasphemy, but simply said, “The Lord rebuke you!”  (This took place when Michael was arguing with the devil about Moses’ body.)  But these people scoff at things they do not understand.  Like unthinking animals, they do whatever their instincts tell them, and so they bring about their own destruction.  What sorrow awaits them!  For they follow in the footsteps of Cain, who killed his brother.  Like Balaam, they deceive people for money.  And like Korah, they perish in their rebellion.  When these people eat with you in your fellowship meals commemorating the Lord’s love, they are like dangerous reefs that can shipwreck you.  They are like shameless shepherds who care only for themselves.  They are like clouds blowing over the land without giving any rain.  They are like trees in autumn that are doubly dead, for they bear no fruit and have been pulled up by the roots.  They are like wild waves of the sea, churning up the foam of their shameful deeds.  They are like wandering stars, doomed forever to blackest darkness.  Enoch, who lived in the seventh generation after Adam, prophesied about these people.  He said, “Listen!  The Lord is coming with countless thousands of his holy ones to execute judgment on the people of the world.  He will convict every person of all the ungodly things they have done and for all the insults that ungodly sinners have spoken against him.”  These people are grumblers and complainers, living only to satisfy their desires.  They brag loudly about themselves, and they flatter others to get what they want.  But you, my dear friends, must remember what the apostles of our Lord Jesus Christ predicted.  They told you that in the last times there would be scoffers whose purpose in life is to satisfy their ungodly desires.  These people are the ones who are creating divisions among you.  They follow their natural instincts because they do not have God’s Spirit in them.  But you, dear friends, must build each other up in your most holy faith, pray in the power of the Holy Spirit, and await the mercy of our Lord Jesus Christ, who will bring you eternal life.  In this way, you will keep yourselves safe in God’s love.  Jude 5-21

If you’ve ever felt frustrated and flummoxed by the state of moral behavior in the world, you need to let Jude periodically remind you of what it’s like to have a sane, Christlike response to ungodliness.  The sorrow and anguish of holy God’s judgment is more than enough recompense to rebellious people who only follow the needs of satisfying their desires.  God knows what punishment is sufficient; no human attempt to defend God or jump on the bandwagon of punishing evildoers comes close to being righteous.  

Settling the score for those who remain in their sins is God’s purview…we have no business there.  Instead, remember what Paul wrote:

Dear friends, never take revenge.  Leave that to the righteous anger of God.  For the Scriptures say, “I will take revenge; I will pay them back,” says the Lord.  Romans 12:19

When followers of Jesus Christ begin to act like it’s the 12^th century, and the call comes to gather up spears and swords to go on another crusade against the heathen, it’s time to rethink what it means to be a soldier of the cross.  Are we all about conquest and winning, or are we going to act in faith that victory belongs only to God?

For You Today

In ancient times angels followed a warrior who thought he’d take God’s place.  Jude reminds us that they’re now in chains awaiting final judgment.

Don’t make the same mistake.  Err on the side being too peaceful!

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

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

When It's God's Move

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Friday, December 14, 2018

Listen to this, you who rob the poor and trample down the needy!  You can’t wait for the Sabbath day to be over and the religious festivals to end so you can get back to cheating the helpless.  You measure out grain with dishonest measures and cheat the buyer with dishonest scales.  And you mix the grain you sell with chaff swept from the floor.  Then you enslave poor people for one piece of silver or a pair of sandals.  Now the Lord has sworn this oath by his own name, the Pride of Israel:  “I will never forget the wicked things you have done!  The earth will tremble for your deeds, and everyone will mourn.  The ground will rise like the Nile River at floodtime; it will heave up, then sink again.  “In that day,” says the Sovereign Lord,
“I will make the sun go down at noon and darken the earth while it is still day.  I will turn your celebrations into times of mourning and your singing into weeping.  You will wear funeral clothes and shave your heads to show your sorrow—as if your only son had died.  How very bitter that day will be!  “The time is surely coming,” says the Sovereign Lord, “when I will send a famine on the land—not a famine of bread or water but of hearing the words of the Lord.  People will stagger from sea to sea and wander from border to border searching for the word of the Lord, but they will not find it.  Amos 8:4-12(NLT)

Amos was a simple shepherd.  God called him out of a little village called Tekoa in the mountains of southern Judea to go preach to the northern cities of Israel.  (Amos was a good ol’ boy sent up north to preach to the Yankees!)

News traveled slowly back then.  Who knows how much Amos knew of Samaria, Jerusalem and Damascus, even as he journeyed to the north on his mission?  It didn’t take him long to find out, however.  A simple man, Amos had spent his life in the hills, raising sheep.  His days were all about protecting sheep from wolves and other predators.  He could recognize danger.  A simple man can see injustice – and Amos saw clearly; Amos saw a flood of human predators:

·      At Damascus Amos saw God’s own people buying and selling each other at slavery auctions ^{(Amos 1:3-9)}.

·      He saw brothers killing each other in Edom ^{(Amos 1:11-12)}.

·      He saw children ripped from mother’s wombs in Ammon ^{(Amos 1:13)}.

·      He saw pagan worship rituals in Judah, people of God’s own flock ^{(Amos 2:4)}.

·      He saw oppression of the poor and sexual perversion in Israel ^{(Amos 2:6-7)}.

Amos saw then and there, what we see here and now in America!  It is hard to deny that we live in a land where the tide has turned from a safe-haven for Godliness and moral living to seeing the worst humanity has to offer.  We have seen the depravity of humankind on display, approved by the Supreme Court, and covered live on CNN.

In Jerusalem Amos couldn’t believe his eyes; in the midst of all the flagrant sinning, the total disregarding of God’s commands, the people of Israel were still holding their worship services and rituals…and God said through the prophet, I cannot stand what I see…it doesn’t matter how many prayers you send up here…I’m not having any of it…you get your lives straightened out, and do it now!^[2] 

It is amazing how the people were going to worship, praying, and counting on God to answer and provide for them, all the while not giving the slightest attention to doing right, or being obedient.  Things have not changed!

God was not amused in Amos’ day, and He still isn’t.  In so many ways the people to whom Amos preached were the stereotypical “Sunday-morning Christians”.  They were out hustling in the world during the week, cheating on the stock market, short-changing an employer, embezzling like an Enron specialist from 9 to 5.  After hours and on Saturday nights they populated the bars, brothels and honky tonks.  Come Sunday morning they were filling the pews at 11am, smiling and “Amen-ing” with the best of ‘em.  If ever a house-cleaning was needed; it is no wonder God wanted justice to roll-down like a Tsunami over that bunch…and maybe over America as well.

And while politicians the world over plot their strategies and move the chess pieces of armies, trade embargoes, tariffs, border walls and more, the voice of God’s Word hangs heavy over humanity:  The time is coming!

For You Today

Heavy stuff here from Amos.  What can a mere mortal do?  The simple answer from a simple prophet from Tekoa – be obedient, worship God, love your neighbor and do right; continue to pray for revival in our land…because when it’s God’s move, the game is going to be over!

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

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[1] Title Image:  Pixabay.com

[2] Amos 5:21-23 my paraphrase

Lenten Walk - Part 19

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Tuesday, March 13, 2018

If you think you are standing strong, be careful not to fall.  The temptations in your life are no different from what others experience.  And God is faithful. He will not allow the temptation to be more than you can stand.  When you are tempted, he will show you a way out so that you can endure.  

1 Corinthians 10:12-13^(NLT)

Paul’s wild-child in the faith was the Corinthian bunch, a church planted in a garden that was a rampant sinful culture; it was sexually-charged, superstitious, arrogant and unrestrained.  That certainly sounds like the 21^st century in the good ol’ USA! 

The letters Paul wrote to the church at Corinth were heavy on correcting their wrong ideas about how to live the life of a disciple of Jesus Christ.  And in these three short sentences we find some of the greatest (and sometimes most misunderstood) advice to any believer endeavoring to live the life in-Christ when residing in a culture that is a moral cesspool.

There is a caution: 

Paul says that human nature is now what it has always been; what is written in Scripture about those who fell into sin is there to teach and remind us of just how powerful and insidious moral failure can be.  In the current day we should not need such words; our culture would probably make 1^st century Corinthians blush!

There is a reminder: 

Paul reminds his fellow believers that God is faithful, and will not allow a temptation in your life greater than you are able to withstand.  This is one of those verses that is so-often misunderstood.  Sometimes temptation comes that is way over our pay grade.  That doesn’t mean God has laid-down his faithfulness; it usually means we have wandered off the straight path and gone looking for forbidden fruit.

There is a light:  

Notice Paul didn’t write in his letters to the believers IF you are tempted; he used the more definite WHEN you are tempted.  Temptation is a little like trials and tribulations.  You’re either in the middle of one, just come out of one, or, brace yourself because you’re about to bump-into one. 

The great reformer Martin Luther analogized temptations as the picture of birds circling overhead.  His teaching was that you cannot help it if they land on your head, but you certainly have something to say about them building a nest up there.

Temptation is a fact of life in the fallen human race.  But Paul points to the light that God will always provide a sure path to defeat temptation.  The light Paul offers in his advice to the Corinthians is equipped with the switch, so-to-speak, that is in our hands.  God will show you the way out IF you’re ready to cooperate with the Spirit and do the right thing.  If you’re pre-disposed to claiming victim status – that you can’t resist – the temptation is too strong, what you’re really saying is that Christ in you is a lie, and God’s promise is untrue.

My dear Christian friends, save the cards, letters, and emails about the power of addictions and the pitiful nature of those with poor genetic inheritance; temptation is an offer of sin against Almighty God, whom you have promised to worship and obey.  Like you, I have a carnal nature within that feels the pull of temptation.  I also have the Spirit within fighting against that nature.  Which is going to win that spiritual war going on?  The answer is much like the owner of two fighting dogs – the dog that is equipped to win is the one the owner feeds.  Feed your temptation/addiction/genetic-disposition with its cravings…or feed your spirit that which dwells on a higher plane.

For You Today

God has promised to provide a pathway through, around, or over the temptations that come your way.  The choice comes down to the straight and narrow, but sometimes really hard way…or the one our culture offers.  The choice is always ours!                         

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

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[1] Title Image:  Courtesy of Pixabay.com

Shattered Beyond All Hope of Repair

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Thursday, January 18, 2018

This is what the Lord said to me: “Go and buy a clay jar.  Then ask some of the leaders of the people and of the priests to follow you.  Go out through the Gate of Broken Pots to the garbage dump in the valley of Ben-Hinnom, and give them this message.  Say to them, ‘Listen to this message from the Lord, you kings of Judah and citizens of Jerusalem!  This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:  I will bring a terrible disaster on this place, and the ears of those who hear about it will ring!  “‘For Israel has forsaken me and turned this valley into a place of wickedness.  The people burn incense to foreign gods—idols never before acknowledged by this generation, by their ancestors, or by the kings of Judah.  And they have filled this place with the blood of innocent children.  They have built pagan shrines to Baal, and there they burn their sons as sacrifices to Baal.  I have never commanded such a horrible deed; it never even crossed my mind to command such a thing!  So beware, for the time is coming, says the Lord, when this garbage dump will no longer be called Topheth or the valley of Ben-Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter.  “‘For I will upset the careful plans of Judah and Jerusalem.  I will allow the people to be slaughtered by invading armies, and I will leave their dead bodies as food for the vultures and wild animals.  I will reduce Jerusalem to ruins, making it a monument to their stupidity.  All who pass by will be astonished and will gasp at the destruction they see there.  I will see to it that your enemies lay siege to the city until all the food is gone.  Then those trapped inside will eat their own sons and daughters and friends.  They will be driven to utter despair.’  “As these men watch you, Jeremiah, smash the jar you brought.  Then say to them, ‘This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies says:  As this jar lies shattered, so I will shatter the people of Judah and Jerusalem beyond all hope of repair.  They will bury the bodies here in Topheth, the garbage dump, until there is no more room for them.  This is what I will do to this place and its people, says the Lord.  I will cause this city to become defiled like Topheth.  Yes, all the houses in Jerusalem, including the palace of Judah’s kings, will become like Topheth—all the houses where you burned incense on the rooftops to your star gods, and where liquid offerings were poured out to your idols.’”  Then Jeremiah returned from Topheth, the garbage dump where he had delivered this message, and he stopped in front of the Temple of the Lord. He said to the people there, “This is what the Lord of Heaven’s Armies, the God of Israel, says:  ‘I will bring disaster upon this city and its surrounding towns as I promised, because you have stubbornly refused to listen to me.’”  Jeremiah 19:1-15^(NLT)

There are some parts of Scripture which, beyond setting the context, need very little comment; Jeremiah preached a very clear sermon that day.  When a nation stubbornly digs its heels in the sand, refusing to follow God, all hope for that nation is empty.

Jerusalem had entered the no-hope zone.  The shattering nations of the North were gathering on the horizon and God’s people were still offering incense to statues and burning their children on the town garbage heap.  Having become a world power because the hand of God had strengthened them against all enemies, Jerusalem was about to be broken to pieces like so many discarded clay pots.  And, despite the reality that was threatening utter destruction, they were as proud as an emperor wearing an invisible suit of clothes to the parade.

America:  superpower, a nation under ONE God?

          ·       Our diversity of conflicting faiths says not

          ·       Our aborted babies strewn on the law books proclaim otherwise

          ·       Our obsession with sex laughs at terms like adultery

          ·       Our preoccupation and love of money and power are hardly Godly

This list is only the tip of a sordid, shameful iceberg. 

We need to take a lesson from Jeremiah! 

For You Today

Many who call themselves Christian stand quickly to reverence the flag, which is simply due respect for one’s homeland.  However, in the larger picture, it is getting more difficult for a committed disciple of Jesus Christ to honor a nation that lives like the Jerusalem of old – shattered pots on the garbage heap. 

So, where does your bedrock loyalty fall? 

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

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[1] Title Image: Pixabay.com