INTO THE WILDERNESS

And Jesus, being full of the Holy Ghost,
returned from Jordan, and was led by
the Spirit into the wilderness.
Luke 4:1

As much as I have read about any wilderness, I have no desire to spend a week's vacation in any I know about. I spent one summer in Arizona while in college where that summer, the temperature averaged at 118 degrees. I wasn't in the desert, but sure felt like I was. Just walking out the door, I could hardly catch my breath because of the heat. Loved the people I worked with but not the location.

Wilderness areas don't have much to offer to one choosing to wander though it. Many wilderness areas are dry, hot, sandy and very desert-like. Some wilderness areas are rocky and mountainous but also hot and dry and just as treacherous as a flat wilderness area.

In Scripture, we read of various wilderness areas. The Israelites, of course, had to traverse the wilderness in order to get to the Promised Land. Because of disobedience, their stay in the wilderness was extended in time beyond belief. Even though they started their journey with various types of provision, it didn't take long to go through the food and water they had gathered for the trip. However, God provided manna for them to eat. Manna was provided on a daily basis, gathering for the day's provision. They gathered double prior to the Sabbath. When water ran out, God provided that too from a rock. The people tired of the manna so God provided quail for them. No matter what He provided, the people were never happy for long.

I'm remembering how David and his men lived almost from hand to mouth as they too crossed through wilderness areas. On one occasion, they ate of the bread on the table of shewbread which was against the law but was allowed at that time. They were a hearty bunch of soldiers who needed food and water in abundance but it wasn't always available. The wilderness was not an enjoyable place for them to be.

Right up front in Jesus' ministry, Scripture tells us in the above verse some information regarding Jesus' upcoming wilderness experience. We read that He was filled with the Holy Spirit. That should come as no great surprise to any of us. We learn He was not only filled with the Spirit but was led by Him. This leading was going to take Jesus into the wilderness. Jesus was there forty days where He ate nothing. There waiting for Him was Satan where in that period of time, Jesus was tempted physically, mentally and spiritually by Satan. With each temptation, Jesus rebuked Satan with Scripture.

The best folks we can remember from the pages of Scripture who found themselves in any desert or wilderness can speak to us. I'm thinking of Moses spending years in the wilderness keeping sheep until God's call on his life.

Our wilderness experiences may not be in a certain desert-like location. I've had some wilderness times right in my own living room, in an office where I was employed, in a hospital bed and sometimes sitting in a church worship center. Some of my most difficult dry times were the few weeks after our family would make a move to another location, especially to a different state. You see, I had similar desert feelings as if I was sitting on a rock in the middle of the Sahara Desert. Thus, there are some things to be said for these wilderness wanderings we may experience and the reality of what we experience during those times that are very uncomfortable.

First is the physical effect on us during these dry, disturbing times. Satan tempted Jesus with bread. He knew Jesus hungered and this was the first area of his attack on Him. During our troubling times, we may not even feel like eating...appetite affected. Some may be tempted to over-indulge in food just to calm the spirit more than the stomach. Hopefully, we won't miss the point of our temporary wandering. Jesus said He is the Bread of Life. I may not feel like getting into the Word during this dry time but I must or Satan will be a winner. We need the strengthening of the Holy Spirit's teaching during these times.

Second, Satan approached Jesus with the offer of power and this of course, plays on a person's pride. Jesus refused this offer as well, coming back at Satan with more Scripture.

Lastly, Satan was probably working himself up to this third offer...that Jesus would just bow down and worship him. You see, if Jesus had yielded to this, the cross would have been out of the question. This was the big thing Satan was fighting against all along...the cross. Again, Jesus told him that there was only one person to be worshiped and that is God, the Father. This third attack was a spiritual one and it failed as miserably as the other two.

Satan approached Adam and Even in the same three ways. His tricks and temptations have not changed through the years. When you and I find ourselves in a desert time, whether God has led us there or we are there by our own doing, Satan is there, ready and waiting. He will attack with something physical in nature. He will play heavily on our emotions. When he feels we are already down, he likes to come in for the “kill”. When we may feel at our weakest, Satan will hit us spiritually causing us to question God's love, presence and even our salvation.

I've come to lear even though I tend to be a slow learner, that in my wilderness wanderings, God wants such a time with me, to get my attention, and to perhaps put a new calling on my life much like He did with Moses. I may not lead millions of people across a wilderness, but whatever His leading in my life, it's just as important. As often as I have done it, I have wasted so many of those times with feeling sorry for myself instead of sitting in anticipation of what God has to say. In those times, my desert can bloom because of how God brings forth His beauty in my life during those times.

Dear Jesus, thank You for Your example as to how we should deal with any of our desert wanderings that we all will go through at one time or another. Thank You that we don't have to sit in a helpless state, but can sit in anticipation of what You want to do in our lives. We love You and thank You for all You've done for us. In Your precious name....Amen

BLANK PAGES IN A BIBLE

But let it be the hidden man of the heart,
in that which is not corruptible, even the
ornament of a meek and quiet spirit,
which is in the sight of God of great price.
I Peter 3:4

A few weeks ago, a lady in my church asked if she could look in my Bible. I was only holding it at the time and had a few minutes to spare so handed it to her. Every Bible has some blank pages in the very beginning of the book itself and a few at the very end. Publishers I guess put those in there for note taking if someone would like to do that.

My friend found as she opened the cover that the blank pages in the front of my Bible have become a picture gallery of those people dearest in my life who I love and who I pray for on a regular basis. However, even on those pages and on those at the end of my Bible there are tidbits of sayings and “whatevers” that I have jotted down from time to time.
 

My friend is a regular reader of my weekly blog. She said she thought I should do a blog where I just list some of those things she herself had read. I'm going to take her suggestion and list some of those things hoping there will be a lesson in some of them for you and for me as well as I review them. Even the opening verse you see I wrote down a couple of years ago next to grand-daughter's picture and not sure as to the occasion. I do know that already, I see that meek and quiet spirit in her so maybe that was the reason at the time. So, here's a peek into some personal insights that have come mostly from the wisdom of others that I still enjoy every time I glance at them:

Let God be the Hero of your story.

Don't be a fan of Jesus.
Be a follower of Jesus.

The Spirit always has something to say
to those who listen.

Does God's truth excite me to this day?

Knowledge is knowing what to say.
Wisdom is knowing when to say it.

Greatly blessed
Highly favored
Imperfect, but forgiven
Child of God.
Song from Gaither Homecoming program

We struggle as did Paul with
unsatisfied hunger and unquenched thirst.
We also struggle with:
entitled self vs surrendered soul.

If you never stand for Jesus, you'll never be
held to a higher standard.

What's down in the well comes up in the bucket.

God is mighty big and we treat Him mighty small.

Wherever you are, be ALL there.

I want to slow down and taste life, give
thanks and see God.

What are they doin' in Heaven today?
“It's a beautiful place,” I've been told
Where peace and joy
And a friendly embrace,
Are waitin' to welcome you home.
What are they doin' in Heaven today.
…..Blue Bell Ice Cream TV Advertising song

Biblical revival is always Christ centered.

A Christian without a Bible is a naked Christian.

Courage is being scared to death but
saddling up anyway.
...on my John Wayne mug

Silent and listen are spelled with the same letters.

Thank You Father for the little snippets of inspiration you allow to drop into my heart that teach and bless me along the way. Thank You for those who have blessed me over and over with words of wisdom and encouragement. In Jesus precious name....Amen

CLING LIKE A PEACH PIT

Let love be without dissimulation. (hypocrisy)
Abhor that which is evil;
cleave to that which is good.
Romans 12:9

For years, I have loved fresh peaches. I love when they come in season so I can get that fresh peach taste in my mouth again. Canned peaches just don't do it for me. I like fresh peaches in cobbler, in sweet iced tea (a slice or two), in a dish of fresh fruit or just to eat with the juice running down my chin. There are two types of peach I've come to know....freestone and cling. When fully ripe, ready for cutting into, one finds the two types to be very different. A freestone is easy to cut into and the pit inside is easily released. However, with the ripest of cling peaches when cut, the stone actually clings to the fruit, resistant to let go.

A dictionary tells us there are two types of cleaving which are direct opposites in meaning. One definition tells us that cleaving means to cut or sever much like with a meat cleaver. Cleaving can also mean clinging or hanging onto something. Scripture uses the clinging meaning in some verses more than the severing meaning.

In Genesis, we read God's instruction concerning marriage that a man is to leave his own family and cleave to his wife. When I see that word in that context, I think of our recent visit to our son's home. On one occasion, our three year old grandson came up to Brian as he was walking toward the couch to be seated, and he grabbed hold of Brian's leg. Little children do that sort of thing to adults all the time. He had both arms wrapped as tightly around Brian's leg as his strength would allow. Brian walked some with him attached and then the moment was over. Married couples are to cling/cleave to each other for dear life.

Many of our “cleave” verses in Scripture can be found in the book of Deuteronomy. For instance:

Thou shalt fear the Lord thy God;
him shalt thou serve, and to him
shalt thou cleave, and swear by his name.
10:20

For if ye shall diligently keep all these
commandments which I command you,
to do them, to love the Lord your God,
to walk in all his ways, and to cleave
unto Him;
11:22

That thou mayest love the Lord the God,
and that thou mayest obey his voice,
and that thou mayest cleave unto him:
for he is thy life, and the length of thy days.....
30:20 a,b

In the last two verses there is the phrase, “cleave unto Him.” I wonder with what intensity we cleave, cling to our Lord...to His will and ways we see so clearly in God's Word. As much as I love peaches, either freestone or cling, I appreciate that pit in the cling peach that just doesn't want to let go. Like that little boy clinging to his grandpa's leg, do I hang onto my loving Father like that or do I have a loose hold on Him depending on my mood of the moment.

Christians often say that the Bible isn't clear and hard to understand. In the above verses, I don't find it hard to see what is involved in the clinging to God process. In these verses I see we are to:

have a fear of God
serve Him
swear by His name
keep God's commands
love the Lord
walk in His ways
obey His voice

Many of those things overlap but they are things God charges us to do if we are to cleave to Him, clinging for all we're worth. Scripture tells us the result of all of this is that we will find that He is our life. I must ask myself, “Is Jesus my life...am I clinging/cleaving to Him for dear life.” The result will be the sweetest of experiences when we taste and see His goodness.

Father, thank You for how You draw me to Yourself through the wooing of Your Spirit. Forgive my slackness at times in my obedience to You. Help me to cling to You for dear life, for You are that important to me. In Jesus' precious name....Amen

THE SPIRITUAL MIND

Let this mind be in you, which
was also in Christ Jesus...
Philippians 2:5

In a recent Bible study, when we came to Philippians 2, we found ourselves in one of my favorite passages. The lead-in to the passage is our opening verse. If anyone really wants to know who Jesus was/is, that passage gives a wonderful list of some attributes of Jesus that would be worthy of us emulating. Such attributes cannot be a matter of pretense, but they must be incorporated into our lives through a sincere walk with the Lord that would be a worth while goal for any of us.

In the last twenty-five years, I heard of a former fellow social worker who was in a hospital on life support.. I learned there had been a tragic automobile accident. My friend was the dearest of Christians and a young mother. She had died almost instantly in the wreck. Her family agreed to organ donations although they never dreamed such a prospect would come so soon to any family member, let alone one so young. My friend was taken immediately to the hospital where she was put on life support that kept her body viable for the purpose of organ donating.

Should one have walked into my friend's room, the scene would have been surprising. Except for bandaging on the head of the patient, one would have thought my friend was just asleep. Of course, there were tubes and machines all over the place. Machines were breathing for her. The skin color of the patient was pink and healthy looking. It would seem as though my friend should be able to get up and walk. Minus machines and a bandage on the head, any patient under similar circumstances might look in many respects as if they were still alive.

In each case of this kind, it falls to the leading physician to speak with the family members, telling them that after much testing, they found there were no brain waves present in their loved one. Once brain waves are not found (and these measurements are precise) the victim of an accident is usually declared to be deceased. Denial generally sets in on heart broken family members and as they look at their loved one, it would seem there is life. That life appears real because of all the equipment keeping the body itself alive, physically speaking. You see, the mind is what and who we are. It is seated in the brain, yes, and the physical body functions because the brain/mind is working as it should.

What about our spiritual bodies? As Christians, we can put on such a front that other Christians think we are alive and well spiritually. After all, we appear to be doing all of the proper things that make us appear to be spiritually thriving. Perhaps we sing in the church choir, teach or attend a Sunday school class faithfully, pray good prayers before others, dress appropriately, and speak in pleasant tones. We may assure others of our prayers and carry a well-worn Bible. However, as good as things may look our being alive and well spiritually, we can fool folks. Inside of such ones, be they me, you or others, with all of the necessary “attachments” we may still be dead or near death spiritually, but no one can tell the depth of one's spiritual condition. I'm not speaking of a loss of salvation but of a loss of spiritual energy and even influence.

Putting on all the fronts of having a healthy and vibrant spiritual mind can take a lot of time and energy. Acting is time consuming and strength-sapping even if it does seem worth the effort to look good spiritually. Such pretenses have nothing to do with the mind of Christ. There wasn't a pretentious bone in the body of Christ. He was genuine, real with no effort of pretense to a sin fallen world. His only hook up was to His Heavenly Father, the same one who keeps you and me going, spiritually speaking. However, before a Holy God, we must approach Him in Spirit and truth. We may be able to make believe before others, but not before our all-knowing Father. We are to get eyes off of self and onto Him. To have a viable walk with our Lord means putting Him first, making Him the main focus of our lives. With that focus, we will do all in our power to be like Jesus with Holy Spirit power functioning in and through us.

I have asked myself in recent days, how much I want to have the mind of Christ. Am I willing to be a servant, to not strive for fame or all else Jesus was as He walked this same earth as I walk. To have His mind will be costly in that dying to self will never be comfortable. We are facing summer months when many take vacations even from the Lord. However, with the mind of Christ, we will keep going for Jesus no matter the time of year. You see, a big part of having the mind of Christ is consistency. Jesus died at Passover time, one of the most celebrated special times on the Jewish calendar. He could have said, “Not now...it's a “holiday”...but He didn't. He died a horrible death for you and me with no thought of personal timing. With His mind, we will be willing to die to self and to all else that would take our focus off of the One who paid it all for you and me

Dear Father, there is nothing about this Christian life I can manage on my own. I pray for Your power in my life not for the sake of pretense, but because I want a living, loving relationship with you. Thank You for all You have done in my life. In Jesus' precious name, Amen.