Sunday, August 30, 2020

WHAT IF


What then shall we say to
these things? If God is for
us, who can be against us?

He who did not spare His own
on, but delivered Him over for
us all, how will He not also
with Him freely give us all things?
Romans 8:31,32

I don't think I know of any two words that shows our lack of faith like the two words “What if...” We are living through difficult days that are more than trying. Isolation and masks have become very old. We don't know what to believe from any news reports regarding the Virus. Some report one thing while another channel or newspaper can report another. It's more than frustrating for all of us. However, the two featured words I have noted are not just for these days. They are words through our lifetime we may have used on many occasions. Let me give a few examples:

WHAT IF:
I had been a better parent
I had finished school
the stock market crashes
this virus goes on for another year
my blood tests reveal a dire problem
I have a flat tire on the way to church
I get the virus
and on, and on, and on, and on, etc, etc, etc.

Notice our “what if's” can involve not just a future concern, but can also cause us to look back. When working as a social worker with often very abused children, they usually went through testing and therapy when going into foster care. Still to this day, therapists feel the only way of healing is to cause a person to go back and relive past tragedies or horrible events for healing to take place. Most adults have never gone for any kind of psychological therapy sessions but still put themselves through the torture off and on of looking back with blame and depression. In everything listed above, there isn't one single thing from the past that can be changed. Those that look to the future, at best, aren't worth consideration because of the negative outcomes expected. Through the years, when I look at my “what if's”, in all probabilities, in the 90% area, none of my “what if's” came to pass. Only our Heavenly Father sees our futures and by faith, we know He does all things well. We can't have better assurance than the title verse Romans 8:31.

What's” and “if's” can be positive and encouraging. They can be words of hope and dreams. They are words we mostly say to ourselves and not use in general conversation. God doesn't want to hear “What if I can't do such and such...?.” That's what we have to avoid. Using those words look back at past failures or things we wish we had done differently, shouldn't be a part of forward looking Christians.

A good portion of our “what if's” could be answered with “I can.” Ours is a positive Gospel, positive faith and message in every way. If not careful, we can find ourselves using our “what if's” as we look at God's work or lack of in our lives. “What if God doesn't...” should never cross our mind. We know that always will work all things together for our good. Despite our circumstances, God is the positive in our lives. He will always be our great I AM. With Him there are no “what if's.”

Dear Father, I'm so grateful you are the same yesterday, today and forever...the great I AM. Thank You for the knowledge that You will always do what is in my best interest with no strings attached as the world does things. Thank You for Jesus and Your Spirit who leads and guides in my life. In Jesus precious name...Amen

Monday, August 24, 2020

IT'S A GREAT OFFER


Come unto Me, all who are weary
and heavy-laden, and I will give you
rest.
Take My yoke upon you and learn from
Me, for I am gentle and humble in
heart, and you will find rest for your souls
For My yoke is easy and my burden is light
Matthew 11:28-39

Recently, a friend of mine at my eye doctor's office was sharing with me regarding her recent vacation with her children to Hawaii. I told her the only thing there I would ever want to visit is Pearl Harbor. She began telling me how inspiring everything was from displays to visiting a submarine, ship and of course the Arizona monument. I told her that I was almost three years old when the attack on Pearl Harbor took place. I still remember at a very young age the gloom and doom as well as panic that set in all around me. In those days, we hadn't experienced school shootings, 9/11, terror attacks, political conflict, etc. As a result, that day was a real shaker-upper.

Today, there really isn't much we aren't exposed to as far as negative events are concerned. I feel for very young children who pick up on the fright they see in the adults in their lives with no explanation or comfort. Because of today's cultural and political climate, there isn't much that surprises us, but for me back then, hearing about Peal Harbor was horrible not just for children, but adults alike.

I've been looking today at our church prayer list. I've never seen such a variety of concerns and the list is quite lengthy. There are problems with cancer, dialysis, joint replacements, folks in nursing homes, broken bones, chemo treatments, eye surgeries, brain tumor, and then there is the missionary list with some of them facing real difficulties with illness or government pressures where they are located. 

Even that list doesn't cover the everyday things friends and fellow Christians are facing in their lives. I'm thinking of couples either struggling with their marriages or with children who are breaking their hearts. Some folks are facing financial difficulties or threats of job loss. Many senior citizens who live alone face insecurities and loneliness on an everyday basis. There are school pressures that can be nerve-wracking for students. School also means athletic programs so there is a pressure to perform well on the field or gym. For some students, they may not even be able to attend school right now putting parents in some difficult positions. Top all that with the virus scaring folks, some living in panic and well, for all of us there's nothing worth watching the news.

With all we face, what a comfort the above verses are from the invitation Jesus gives for us to draw near, to accept His comfort and understanding and with His promise to give us the rest we so desperately need. I love His invitation to become yoked up with Him. Yokes in the Bible were used by farmers to hitch a team together to pull plows or whatever needed. The oxen had to work in tandem except when a younger, more inexperienced ox was hooked up with an experienced one. The experienced ox would pull a little extra when the other ox tired out. The yoke required a new ox to go in the same direction with the older one.

Jesus invites you and me to walk in tandem with Him, following where He goes, learning from Him moment by moment. When we become resistant and want to go our own way, Jesus who is our leader and trainer keeps us in step with Him. Straining against His leadership can create problems for us He doesn't intend. We can make the Christian life a very difficult one if we choose to do our own thing and refuse to be teachable; OR we can walk together in step with Jesus. For we Christians, the choice should be obvious.

In our process with Jesus, He has special things to offer us. Recognizing we often carry heavy loads, He wants to give us rest. He offers His gentleness and easing of our burdens. His strength and encouragement are always available. We tend to just want to “plow” on alone, resisting all the benefits God offers to us in times of hardship and difficulty. How foolish of us to keep thinking, “I can handle this.”

Jesus invites...”Come unto me, ALL...” He offers His rest, gentleness and peace no matter the difficulty we face. The problem is that we can resist His wonderful offer and at times may foolishly do just that. God wants to be our burden bearer and comfort. This is an invitation we can't pass up.


Thank You Father for being the Sovereign God You are. You see into our circumstances beyond what we can know. Despite the severity of our difficulties, You always stand ready to be our comfort. May we take advantage of of that comfort. In Jesus' name....Amen 

Monday, August 17, 2020

THIS OLD HOUSE


Therefore, if anyone cleanses himself
from these things, he will be a vessel
for honor, sanctified, useful to the
Master, prepared for every good work.
2 Timothy 2:21

Recently, Brian took me to my hometown for just about 36 hours or a little more for me to revisit some special places that are still meaningful to me. We started with a nearby state park that had been a special place. It was the same for my sister Kay because in our younger years, we visited there often and walked some of the trails. This time, the trek on the trails with my hubby was about 70 years from those days...in a slight rain no less. Thought I would probably meet the Lord there and He'd just take me on Home. The trek got about that desperate.

There were other places...church where I was saved and served, cemeteries where family and friends are interred, city park and so many other places we could drive to. There was one experience I had when five years old when my Mother let me walk by myself from my house to my Grandma Benbrook's house. I asked Brian to drive it to see just how far that was for a little girl to walk alone. It was the way we always went so I had no problem getting myself there.

Along the way, there were friends of my Mother's who would look out and greet me. Later I caught on that it was a set-up on my Mother's part to insure my safety. Tuesday we drove that way I had walked and it turned out to be seven tenths of a mile. Of course, this was back then when children could be out with a great deal of safety.

We drove up a slight hill to view Grandma's house that was just over it. Brian stopped and I took in the view of the house. It's the same house with some of the same features I remembered. We slowly drove to the front of the house...something was wrong. I looked carefully only to see that there it stood, empty. The inside of the windows had that dusty film on them that indicates a lack of care. We drove to the side of the house (It sits on a corner) and the look of the house there was the same. I pointed to the two windows of the living room where my Grandma's casket was placed after her death for the viewing and wake. I viewed the backyard where once was a chicken pen, where I had one time left the gate open and the chickens escaped. There was the yard where Grandma had a huge garden every spring and summer. Now, no life to speak of ...only growing weeds.

Here's my point. At one time, that was an active, loving home where my grandparents lived. They had five children who would come and go for visits. Those family times were full of memories galore and lots of fun. I loved being there at every opportunity. I felt loved there...safe, the calm before the storm of our own immediate family coming into hard times.

The house....old, dirty, not well kept and empty. That wasn't the history of that house, but now, it's different. Many of us are in the aging process or even beyond what we thought we would be in age. Like I read, “Getting old came so quickly.” I guess it did for that house as well. Despite our driving around other places, the picture in my mind of that house stayed with me. I would have loved to see children playing in the yard, a car in the drive and perhaps a big garden in back yard like I remembered. There's no reason it couldn't be like that with some paint and fixing up, but there it sits, looking very sad and alone.

No matter our ages and despite the indwelling of the Holy Spirit in us, there's such a danger like that house of our becoming old in our ways, dirty with sin and no beneficial spiritual life going on in us. The Holy Spirit prompts and tugs at us but we get to the point at times of giving up on ourselves spiritually...cobwebs in the corners, no more light in the windows. It may be that there are times when one may think it's just too much trouble to get up and head for church and Bibles may rest on end tables left unread. The “smallest” of sin can be rationalized while knowing that sin is sin with God and needs to be dealt with. We may draw into ourselves, losing the joy of beneficial contacts with others who may need our touch in their lives. These things can happen for anyone of any age with so much turmoil and worrisome events going on in our day.

My prayer for us is that we wake up to the fact that our bodies are temples for the indwelling Holy Spirit. For we believers who have the Holy Spirit living in us, we have no excuse for becoming run down and of little use spiritually speaking. No matter where we are on life's experience scale, we need to have eyes wide open to the things of God because of time spent in the Word and in prayer. Any cleaning up we need, the Holy Spirit is happy to help us with that Instead of being like an old lonely house, we can be a gleaming and useful temple of the Holy Spirit as God intended for each of us to be

Thank You Father, that in our lives, You are the same yesterday, today and forever. Thank You for the years You have blessed us with, but help us to keep going for You, casting all excuses away from us. Thank You for Your Spirit's prompting, correction and teaching. Thank You for Jesus who came and made our lives so worth living. In His name...Amen 

Monday, August 10, 2020

SELAH MOMENTS

SELAH MOMENTS

Blessed be the Lord, who daily
loadeth us with benefits,even
the God of our salvation. Selah
Psalm 68:19

Through the years we have loved the book of Psalms. We may have had many reasons for this love. Most Psalms are fairly easy to read and understand. Simply said, it is a hymn book with Psalms of varying topics just as our hymn books are. It isn't just a hymn book loved by the Hebrew people of long ago but has become precious to us as well.

We know the Psalms through the leading of the Holy Spirit came to be through the pens of different people. In fact, we know the names or positions of many of the writers who penned the Psalms of different types (Messianic, wisdom, historical, nature, repentance, praise, etc.). There is no end to the possibilities of the Holy Spirit speaking to us through these precious writings no matter the place in life we find ourselves to be.

For many years, I saw the word SELAH at the end of some of the Psalms. ( I am finding some translations, especially study Bibles have left that word out of their printing.) There have been any number of opinions as to the meaning of that word. There are 39 Psalms written by “the choirmaster” and of those, 31 end with SELAH. This has brought folks to believe that SELAH is a musical term, one like our “rest indicator” in music we sing or play. A rest in our music seems to be almost an irritant, necessary for the music to make sense. It may be viewed as an inconvenient interruption. We obey it, but then move on.

Some believe SELAH is more than that. The music rest indicates one to stop singing or playing for the time indicated and then move on. However, SELAH for most is more than a forced stop. It's more of a pause. I've even heard the word interpreted as “pause and take in...think...meditate on what was just read.” However, it's not just the resting or pausing. In that moment we may pause but it's also a time to anticipate what is to come.

In all these years, as often as I read or spent time in the Psalms, I doubt I've paid much attention to that word that is as much a part of Scripture as the verses it follows. It's easy to just read through things giving little thought to what we've read. SELAH seems to suddenly appear but we to gloss over it.

In my own reading whether in Psalms or other areas of Scripture I wonder if I am missing out on some SELAH moments. Those are moments as I read where I should pause and reflect on what the written word has just said to me. These moments don't have to be at the end of reading a chapter. Such a moment might come after ready only one verse or perhaps a cluster of verses. I'm thinking of times the Holy Spirit brings a Scripture to mind and when He does, it's always important to the moment. Do I treat it casually? By that I mean feeling special about the moment, but not parking there to really take in what that verse could/should mean to me.

How often do we just take SELAH moments to meditate and ponder the things of God, to evaluate or even for just a time of praise and contemplation. We live in a day of great evil and negative distractions. We often feel frustrated that leads to discouragement and even depression. God wants to calm our spirits in these days if we really want Him to. He is as near to listening to us as the breath we breathe.

SELAH moments may entail taking a brief time to just sit and unwind, perhaps with reading or working on a puzzle. We, in our day, are missing out on moments to relax if for no other reason than to let our bodies slow down, recuperate from the stressors of life. We almost feel that such SELAH moments are a waste of time or even be misunderstood in their purpose.

Jesus took His SELAH moments, often going to one side to pray. He found rest in talking with His Father. We're often told we are to be like Jesus. Yes, He was and is God but He also came to us in human form. He had the same needs as do we. He was a Man of the Word as evident in the ways He often quoted Scripture. If nothing else, in those two ways, we can be more like Him, taking advantage of SELAH moments. Such is desperately for all of us in these days of concern. I'm not talking about our devotional times necessarily. That's a given. Those moments we need to just pause and even meditate on the right things that will renew and refresh us. It can't hurt to give it a try. We'll be the better for it.

Father, thank You for Jesus' example in every area of our humanity. Thank You too that You are always present in those SELAH moments of ours and are concerned for Your children that we be healthy in every way. Help us to take more advantage of those “green pasture” moments You lead us to. In Jesus name....Amen

Sunday, August 2, 2020

NOT ME...REALLY?


Do not fear, for I am with you;
do not anxiously look about you,
for I am your God. I will
strengthen you, surely I will
help you, surely I will uphold
you with My righteous right hand.
Isaiah 41:10

A doctor I saw today at an appointment in general conversation, said, “We are sure in the most difficult of times.” That was putting it mildly and he knew that. We are troubled on every side seeing things going on in our country we never thought possible. It's easy to see things and take on a judgmental spirit toward others, refusing to look at our own sinful ways.

A few days ago, there was a chapter of Scripture that kept crossing my mind. I knew what the chapter contained and to be honest, just didn't want to go there. I knew, however, that the Holy Spirit was prompting me to go to that place, so I did.

The chapter is Psalm 51...a prayer by David seeking God's pardon for sins that had just been pointed out to him by the prophet Nathan. David found himself in a place he never thought he would be in...much like us with our own sin. David was a good boy, son and man. No one would have believed the depths of sin to which David stooped beginning with being out of God's will. David, as king, was supposed to go to war with his army like kings did in that day. This time he stayed home. In that process, he sought out a beautiful woman he spotted across the way bathing. We know what it all led to...lust, adultery, murder of the woman's husband that ended up with the death of his own newborn son. David was a good man, weak for many days, susceptible to sin like we all are. To this we would say perhaps to ourselves, “That would never happen to me.” Really?... be careful.

David, however, when approached by Nathan regarding his sin, didn't deny any of it. He took responsibility unlike in our day when someone is caught in crime or sin of some sort. The whole thing was so heartbreaking for David. He knew he had disappointed God and in Psalm 51 confesses his sin, shame and repentance for those things.

We look around today and see people dressed in black as well as high up people in their fine clothes rioting, plotting, and lying through their teeth just to keep our country torn up. We can become pretty judgmental of them all and yet every yelling, screaming, destructive person is of concern to our Heavenly Father. He wants to save them, bring them to Himself even though we don't understand it.

In this Psalm, David prays some things that appear in very short in words. Looking , especially at the first 14 verses we see parts of Davids prayer: Be gracious to me, Blot out my sin, Wash me, Cleanse me, Purify me, Restore, Sustain me, Deliver me. David put himself out there before God in sorrow and repentance.: He says in verse 4

Against You, You only, I have sinned
and done what is evil in Your sight,
so that You are justified when you
speak and blameless when You judge.

As strange as it may seem, we cannot sin against another person. However, he recognized that his sin wasn't toward those he had hurt, but against God. Sin is anything that goes against the principles and will of God. We can hurt people and it can at times cause far reaching damage, but sin will always be toward God. David wasn't covering his wrong doing, but knew he first had to go to God.

Nestled in the middle of David's prayer is verse 10, a precious, priceless prayer he prayed with a repentant and sincere spirit. It's not a group prayer...it's a very private one and the result was clearly seen in the changed life of David.

Create in me a clean heart, O God,
and renew a right
spirit within me.

This is a prayer we all could pray frequently. There's a lot going on in our country, a lot that seems even beyond the bounds of wrong doing. It's easy to look at ourselves and feel pretty self satisfied because we aren't like the rest. God hates our sin and wrong doing just as much as in those bent on destruction, perhaps more because we know better, or should.

If we are wanting revival in our country, it's going to have to begin in you and me individually. We believers need to get real and transparent with God...praying for His grace, forgiveness and deliverance. May we look into the mirror of God's Word with a yielded spirit. In addition, may we be people of prayer like never before. It can't be a one time “Now I lay me down to sleep” kind of prayer. It can't be one or two-time prayers. We must pray like warriors digging in the trenches because prayer still changes things.

Dear Father, forgive me for being judgmental toward others. May I be a person more of love toward others, knowing in their wrong doing, they need You in a huge way. Help me to keep short accounts with You when it comes to my own sin. Renew a right spirit in me. In Jesus name...Amen