DON'T WE ALL
I was parked in front of the mall wiping off my car.
I had just come from the car wash and was waiting for my wife to get out of the crazy mall and finish her Christmas shopping.
Coming my way from across the parking lot was what society would consider a bum. From the looks of him, he had no car, no home, no clean clothes, and no money.
There are times when you feel generous but there are other times that you just don't want to be bothered. This was one of those "don't want to be bothered times." "I hope he doesn't ask me for any money," I thought. He didn't.
He came and sat on the curb in front of the bus stop but he didn't look like he could have enough money to even ride the bus. After a few minutes he spoke. "That's a very pretty car," he said.
He was ragged but he had an air of dignity around him. His scraggly blond beard keep more than his face warm. I said, "thanks," and continued wiping off my car.
He sat there quietly as I worked. The expected plea for money never came. As the silence between us widened something inside said, "ask him if he needs any help." I was sure that he would say "yes" but I held true to the inner voice. "Do you need any help?" I asked. He answered in three simple but profound words that I shall never forget.
We often look for wisdom in great men and women. We expect it from those of higher learning and accomplishments.I expected nothing but an outstretched grimy hand.
He spoke the three words that shook me.
"Don't we all?" he said.
I was feeling high and mighty, successful and important, above a bum in the street, until those three words hit me like a twelve gauge shotgun. Don't we all?
I needed help. Maybe not for bus fare or a place to sleep, but I needed help. I reached in my wallet and gave him not only enough for bus fare, but enough to get a warm meal and shelter for the day.
Those three little words still ring true. No matter how much you have, no matter how much you have accomplished, you need help too.
No matter how little you have, no matter how loaded you are with problems, even without money or a place to sleep, you can give help.
Even if it's just a compliment, you can give that.
You never know when you may see someone that appears to have it all.
They are waiting on you to give them what they don't have.
A different perspective on life, a glimpse at something beautiful, a respite from daily chaos, that only you through a torn world can see.
Maybe the man was just a homeless stranger wandering the streets.
Maybe he was more than that.
Maybe he was sent by a power that is great and wise, to minister to a soul too comfortable in themselves.
Maybe God looked down, called an Angel, dressed him like a bum, then said, "go minister to that preacher cleaning the car, that man needs help."
Don't we all?
Thursday, December 24, 2009
A bell’s not a bell till you ring it,
and a song’s not a song till you sing it,
and the love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay,
love isn’t love till you give it away.
I think that's my new favorite little diddy.
I recently heard a story that portrays the gift of giving pretty well.
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.
Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.
The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.
Moral of the story:
A bell's not a bell till you ring it.
And a song's not a song till you sing it.
And the love in your heart wasn't put there to stay.
Love isn't love till you give it away.
Make sure you share your love this Holiday season.
and a song’s not a song till you sing it,
and the love in your heart wasn’t put there to stay,
love isn’t love till you give it away.
I think that's my new favorite little diddy.
I recently heard a story that portrays the gift of giving pretty well.
Two men, both seriously ill, occupied the same hospital room. One man was allowed to sit up in his bed for an hour a day to drain the fluids from his lungs. His bed was next to the room's only window. The other man had to spend all his time flat on his back.
The men talked for hours on end. They spoke of their wives and families, their homes, their jobs, their involvement in the military service, where they had been on vacation. And every afternoon when the man in the bed next to the window could sit up, he would pass the time by describing to his roommate all the things he could see outside the window.
The man in the other bed would live for those one-hour periods where his world would be broadened and enlivened by all the activity and color of the outside world. The window overlooked a park with a lovely lake, the man had said. Ducks and swans played on the water while children sailed their model boats. Lovers walked arm in arm amid flowers of every color of the rainbow. Grand old trees graced the landscape, and a fine view of the city skyline could be seen in the distance. As the man by the window described all this in exquisite detail, the man on the other side of the room would close his eyes and imagine the picturesque scene.
One warm afternoon the man by the window described a parade passing by. Although the other man could not hear the band, he could see it in his mind's eye as the gentleman by the window portrayed it with descriptive words. Unexpectedly, an alien thought entered his head: Why should hehave all the pleasure of seeing everything while I never get to see anything? It didn't seem fair. As the thought fermented, the man felt ashamed at first. But as the days passed and he missed seeing more sights, his envy eroded into resentment and soon turned him sour. He began to brood and found himself unable to sleep. He should be by that window - and that thought now controlled his life.
Late one night, as he lay staring at the ceiling, the man by the window began to cough. He was choking on the fluid in his lungs. The other man watched in the dimly lit room as the struggling man by the window groped for the button to call for help. Listening from across the room, he never moved, never pushed his own button which would have brought the nurse running. In less than five minutes, the coughing and choking stopped, along with the sound of breathing. Now, there was only silence--deathly silence.
The following morning, the day nurse arrived to bring water for their baths. When she found the lifeless body of the man by the window, she was saddened and called the hospital attendant to take it away--no words, no fuss. As soon as it seemed appropriate, the man asked if he could be moved next to the window. The nurse was happy to make the switch and after making sure he was comfortable, she left him alone.
Slowly, painfully, he propped himself up on one elbow to take his first look. Finally, he would have the joy of seeing it all himself. He strained to slowly turn to look out the window beside the bed. It faced a blank wall.
Moral of the story:
A bell's not a bell till you ring it.
And a song's not a song till you sing it.
And the love in your heart wasn't put there to stay.
Love isn't love till you give it away.
Make sure you share your love this Holiday season.
Tuesday, November 10, 2009
Tributes
Not sure why I am feeling this way today?
But my mind wandered a bit this morning and I thought about men I respect and who have made an impact in my life.Three men, immediately come to mind.
You may never have heard of them, but that makes them no less worthy of tribute from me.
My heroes are not dependent upon your recognition, only the impact they have made on my life.Three men come to mind today, three faithful men.
Three Godly men. Three men who answered and followed the call of God despite advertsity, despite the wishes of others, and despite the size or scope of their callings.
Two were not called to large metropolises, not called to large, fertile fields where much grain and large harvests were evident. Two were not called to plant churches where large, thriving congregations would sprout up and national recognition and international opportunity would spring forth from their efforts. But it was where God called them, so they answered the call.
And they planted, and they tilled and toiled, and they built and they built and they built.
And today in each field stands a beautiful monument to God. A church.
One went to a large city and has toiled and built a solid, stable church.
Again not a recognized name among the masses, he didn't build for recognition, he built to answer the call.
Like Paul they toiled so they could build.
One was a school teacher, one a contractor, one a trim carpenter.
As is their character, they excelled at their toil, as they excelled in their ministry.
The school teacher was a department head, the carpenter a craftsman, the contractor, skilled and in great demand.
Quietly they labored in their toil, no fanfare, no advertising their greatness, just toilers. And they toiled. And God saw their faithfulness, and He called them.
And they answered the call of God. One has labored tirelessly in overseas teaching. Two have faithfully dug out, built and pastored the work God called them to. One has dug out, built , pastored, trained and turned over one work, salvaged, rebuilt, repaired breaches, and turned over two others. And he is beginning to feel the tug of God for another.
Three great men.
Three Elders.
Never held any office in the United Pentecostal Church.
Not names some would recognize, but they are heroes of mine.
Floyd Matthews.
Larry Neal.
Nick Seniour
Thank you for rendering faithful service to the Lord.
Thank you for being examples to me.
But my mind wandered a bit this morning and I thought about men I respect and who have made an impact in my life.Three men, immediately come to mind.
You may never have heard of them, but that makes them no less worthy of tribute from me.
My heroes are not dependent upon your recognition, only the impact they have made on my life.Three men come to mind today, three faithful men.
Three Godly men. Three men who answered and followed the call of God despite advertsity, despite the wishes of others, and despite the size or scope of their callings.
Two were not called to large metropolises, not called to large, fertile fields where much grain and large harvests were evident. Two were not called to plant churches where large, thriving congregations would sprout up and national recognition and international opportunity would spring forth from their efforts. But it was where God called them, so they answered the call.
And they planted, and they tilled and toiled, and they built and they built and they built.
And today in each field stands a beautiful monument to God. A church.
One went to a large city and has toiled and built a solid, stable church.
Again not a recognized name among the masses, he didn't build for recognition, he built to answer the call.
Like Paul they toiled so they could build.
One was a school teacher, one a contractor, one a trim carpenter.
As is their character, they excelled at their toil, as they excelled in their ministry.
The school teacher was a department head, the carpenter a craftsman, the contractor, skilled and in great demand.
Quietly they labored in their toil, no fanfare, no advertising their greatness, just toilers. And they toiled. And God saw their faithfulness, and He called them.
And they answered the call of God. One has labored tirelessly in overseas teaching. Two have faithfully dug out, built and pastored the work God called them to. One has dug out, built , pastored, trained and turned over one work, salvaged, rebuilt, repaired breaches, and turned over two others. And he is beginning to feel the tug of God for another.
Three great men.
Three Elders.
Never held any office in the United Pentecostal Church.
Not names some would recognize, but they are heroes of mine.
Floyd Matthews.
Larry Neal.
Nick Seniour
Thank you for rendering faithful service to the Lord.
Thank you for being examples to me.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Do you Look For Jesus
Mark 4:37-39 (King James Version)
37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
37And there arose a great storm of wind, and the waves beat into the ship, so that it was now full.
38And he was in the hinder part of the ship, asleep on a pillow: and they awake him, and say unto him, Master, carest thou not that we perish?
39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
Seems the Disciples learned a lesson early in their travels with Jesus that few of us learn in life.
Seems that they were on the Sea of Galilee traveling across when a storm arose.
I'm not sure what they would have done in a storm before they started following Jesus. Scripture doesn't tell us how they could have reacted.
I know I have seen people, in storms I mean, scatter.
I've ssen them run helter skelter. I've seen them panick.
I've seen them have nervous breakdowns.
I've seen people wring their hands.
I know people who have almost collapsed with grief.
I don't know what the disciples would have done before Jesus entered their lives, but I know what they did once they came in contact with the master of the winds and the waves.
The Bible doesn't say they weren't afraid.
In fact, I believe they were.
"Master, carest thou not that we perish?"
That was their question.
Jesus presence didn't remove every fear from thier carnal nature.
Jesus mere presence on the ship in the storm didn't necessarily calm every fear.
But nobody jumped overboard.
After setting at the feet of the Master, after seeing Jesus in action, after noticing that the Master of the Sea could sleep through a storm, they woke him and called on him in the midst of their storm.
And He calmed it.
39And he arose, and rebuked the wind, and said unto the sea, Peace, be still. And the wind ceased, and there was a great calm.
In the midst of our storms, we need to wake the Master.
He can rebuke the tempestuos winds that blow in our lives,
He can speak and bring a great calm.
It has been said, "His voice can calm a storm."
What do we do in storms?
When storms rise in our lives, do we look for the Master?
When storms arise in my life, I look for Jesus in the bottom of the boat...........
Friday, September 11, 2009
The Real Problem With Self-Righteousness
I learned something else again today.
And....................I learned this while riding my lawn mower, just like the other day.
Perhaps I should cut the grass more often.
I like to cut grass.
I cram my head phones in my ears, turn on my MP3 player and I'm all alone.
Most days, it's just me and God, all alone for about an hour and a half.
You may think I'm a nut, but here's what He told me today about the real problem with self-righteousness.
The real problem with self righteousness is that mine is worse than yours.
I believe that is true.
Yours won't take me to hell, mine will.
Yours won't poison my spirit, mine will.
Here's what the scripture says........
Isaiah 64:6 (King James Version)
6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isaiah said "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags"
He said, ours, not theirs.
The real problem with self-righteousness is I never see mine, I only see yours.
Yours never hurts me, mine will destoy me.
The real problem with self-righteousness is that self righteousness is my problem, not yours.
Maybe you should mow your yard a little more often, it sure has helped me the past two weeks...............
And....................I learned this while riding my lawn mower, just like the other day.
Perhaps I should cut the grass more often.
I like to cut grass.
I cram my head phones in my ears, turn on my MP3 player and I'm all alone.
Most days, it's just me and God, all alone for about an hour and a half.
You may think I'm a nut, but here's what He told me today about the real problem with self-righteousness.
The real problem with self righteousness is that mine is worse than yours.
I believe that is true.
Yours won't take me to hell, mine will.
Yours won't poison my spirit, mine will.
Here's what the scripture says........
Isaiah 64:6 (King James Version)
6But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.
Isaiah said "all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags"
He said, ours, not theirs.
The real problem with self-righteousness is I never see mine, I only see yours.
Yours never hurts me, mine will destoy me.
The real problem with self-righteousness is that self righteousness is my problem, not yours.
Maybe you should mow your yard a little more often, it sure has helped me the past two weeks...............
Sunday, September 6, 2009
What I have learned
I learned a lot today.
Marshall, my grandson rode the mower with me a little today. I learned that even a one year old likes to grab the controls and steer the mower. I learned everyone wants to be in charge. But I know few are willing to pay the price to be a leader.
I built a closet today in the bonus room upstairs. We are converting it to a bedroom for Amber, she's a college girl now and needs some space. the bonus room has enough room in it to be a bedroom/sitting room/study room. It needed a closet to be a bedroom. I learned today that you can never build a cloet big enough to satisfy ANY woman. But I already knew people are hard to please.
Bro Andy helped me today. I needed a trailer and don't have a hitch on my vehicles, so I called him and asked him if he would help me. I can't remember ever asking Andy to do anything that he wasn't willing to do. Andy is a friend, and Andy is loyal. Andy calls me Pastor, but he is my friend. I learned today that friendship doesn't discern ethnic and vocabulary barriers. But I knew a friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.
And as I cut the grass, I thought about something I read somewhere, some time back. Obedience most often precedes understanding. And I thought, I have learned that. Often people become frustrated today because we live in a society that says "Before you accept something, you must first understand it." We disect things, we break them down, we feel we must understand before we can ever obey.
Teachers tell our children that they don't have to obey if parents are overbearing and demanding. Parents shouldn't force their religion on their children. Our elected leaders try daily to get us to understand that they are looking out for us, government knows better than we do.
We should understand the plight of less fortunate people, we should understand that we are not all the same, and we should be willing to overlook our diferences and accept people for who they are. We believe that understanding should come, then acceptance will follow.
But I have learned that sometimes, in fact often, obedience precedes understanding.
I'm no worse for obeying Mom and Dad, even though I never understood why they wouldn't let me go. Now that I have children, I understand. But I didn't when I was told to just obey.
I would like to drive faster. I have always wanted to drive faster. Above the speed limit, that's where I like to drive. I have, on occasion......ok......several times, been pulled over by the police and on occasion, I have been ticketed. I have been told to slow down, take my time, not get in a hurry. I was forced to obey, now that I have driven for a few years, I know why. I have driven by accidents. I have seen death caused by wrecklesss, speeding drivers. I have slowed down, but my obedience had to precede my understanding,
So what's my point?
Man am I glad you asked...... Sometimes, we just have to obey. Even before we understand. God never promised that we would understand every command, every step He told us to take.
He just said if we would, then He would. I've found out that if I will obey Him, even when I don't understand I will recieve my promise. My family has been tested this past year. My wife's father, our immediate family, and we haven't gotten answers to the questions we have asked. I'll be honest. I don't understand. I haven't doubted, but there have been times when I have questioned, "Why God?"
You know what, I still haven't gotten answers to some of my questions, but I've never doubted. And in my trust I have continued to obey. And you know what, I have found a secret. I don't have to understand to reap blessings. I just have to obey. Obedience precedes understanding. And Obedience precedes blessing. Some folks are always complaining that they aren't blessed like somebody else, but the real issue is not that they aren't blessed, it is that they aren't obedient. If you are willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. Doesn't make sense sometimes, but obedience precedes understanding.
So today, I have learned a lot. But long before I ever understood it, I obeyed it.
Obey God, Serve God, Be Faithful to God........
Marshall, my grandson rode the mower with me a little today. I learned that even a one year old likes to grab the controls and steer the mower. I learned everyone wants to be in charge. But I know few are willing to pay the price to be a leader.
I built a closet today in the bonus room upstairs. We are converting it to a bedroom for Amber, she's a college girl now and needs some space. the bonus room has enough room in it to be a bedroom/sitting room/study room. It needed a closet to be a bedroom. I learned today that you can never build a cloet big enough to satisfy ANY woman. But I already knew people are hard to please.
Bro Andy helped me today. I needed a trailer and don't have a hitch on my vehicles, so I called him and asked him if he would help me. I can't remember ever asking Andy to do anything that he wasn't willing to do. Andy is a friend, and Andy is loyal. Andy calls me Pastor, but he is my friend. I learned today that friendship doesn't discern ethnic and vocabulary barriers. But I knew a friend is someone who understands your past, believes in your future, and accepts you just the way you are.
And as I cut the grass, I thought about something I read somewhere, some time back. Obedience most often precedes understanding. And I thought, I have learned that. Often people become frustrated today because we live in a society that says "Before you accept something, you must first understand it." We disect things, we break them down, we feel we must understand before we can ever obey.
Teachers tell our children that they don't have to obey if parents are overbearing and demanding. Parents shouldn't force their religion on their children. Our elected leaders try daily to get us to understand that they are looking out for us, government knows better than we do.
We should understand the plight of less fortunate people, we should understand that we are not all the same, and we should be willing to overlook our diferences and accept people for who they are. We believe that understanding should come, then acceptance will follow.
But I have learned that sometimes, in fact often, obedience precedes understanding.
I'm no worse for obeying Mom and Dad, even though I never understood why they wouldn't let me go. Now that I have children, I understand. But I didn't when I was told to just obey.
I would like to drive faster. I have always wanted to drive faster. Above the speed limit, that's where I like to drive. I have, on occasion......ok......several times, been pulled over by the police and on occasion, I have been ticketed. I have been told to slow down, take my time, not get in a hurry. I was forced to obey, now that I have driven for a few years, I know why. I have driven by accidents. I have seen death caused by wrecklesss, speeding drivers. I have slowed down, but my obedience had to precede my understanding,
So what's my point?
Man am I glad you asked...... Sometimes, we just have to obey. Even before we understand. God never promised that we would understand every command, every step He told us to take.
He just said if we would, then He would. I've found out that if I will obey Him, even when I don't understand I will recieve my promise. My family has been tested this past year. My wife's father, our immediate family, and we haven't gotten answers to the questions we have asked. I'll be honest. I don't understand. I haven't doubted, but there have been times when I have questioned, "Why God?"
You know what, I still haven't gotten answers to some of my questions, but I've never doubted. And in my trust I have continued to obey. And you know what, I have found a secret. I don't have to understand to reap blessings. I just have to obey. Obedience precedes understanding. And Obedience precedes blessing. Some folks are always complaining that they aren't blessed like somebody else, but the real issue is not that they aren't blessed, it is that they aren't obedient. If you are willing and obedient, ye shall eat the good of the land. Doesn't make sense sometimes, but obedience precedes understanding.
So today, I have learned a lot. But long before I ever understood it, I obeyed it.
Obey God, Serve God, Be Faithful to God........
Friday, July 10, 2009
This Week
So I guess my blog doesn't always ahve to be spiritual stuff.
Today I woke up, went for my walk, ate my yogurt breakfast and read my inspirational quote for the day:
By daily dying I have come to be. ~Theodore Roethke
And I added.......
My prayer today is that I die again so that I can live again
I work for a large HVAC company in Indianapolis and am blessed to have a great job, a great boss and the flexibility to be able to juggle the pleasure I get from sales and the passion I have for ministry. Every week "The Boss" sends us an e-mail and always ends it with a statement about his desire for us to be "The Best of The Best."
A couple of weeks ago I had an attack off appendicitis. And I don't mand saying the surgery scared me. The horror stories you hear about muffed surgeries the things that reall go on in surgery rooms...............I was scared.
So the surgery went well, the surgeon was great, the nurses were excellent, the chief of surgery came by to see me, my wife pulls big strings :) , and I got out and went home on time. But my recovery seemed to me to go slow. And I spent a lot of time setting. And I am not much for setting, but this time gave me time for reflection. Inward and outward, and I realized that I am almost 50 years old, and I have lived more life than I have left to live. ANd I suddenly awoke to the fact that the way I take care of myself physically really is imortant.
Sooooooooooo, I started walking every day last Saturday, and not dieting, but watching what I am eating and how much of it that I eat.
And then I read my daily quote today. By daily dying, I have come to be.
And it got me thinking. How much farther could I have been in my life if I had learned early in life to die daily? And today I prayed, "Dear God, help me to die every day, so that I can come to be."
It's a bibleical principle.
Paul said in I Corinthians 15: 30 & 31
30And why stand we in jeopardy every hour?
31I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
31I protest by your rejoicing which I have in Christ Jesus our Lord, I die daily.
Clearly he stated without a daily death, we stand in jeopardy of losing life eternal.
Minor surgery, yes. But surgery none the less, and the realization that had I "worked through" the pain, had I shrugged it off and just thought it was the flu, it could have spread poison through my body that could have ended my earthly life. A realization that life is fleeting, death is eminent and eternal life is mine to gain if I die daily came once again to me.
So today, I thanks God for another day. Another day to live, and another day to die so that I may live.
Just some thoughts running through my head..............................
Wednesday, April 22, 2009
The Night Guest and the Morning Caller
Psalms 30: 5
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
There’s a song from an old musical called Oklahoma that goes like this:
Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I've got a wonderful feeling,
Everything's going my way.
We tend to regard happiness in that light. "When everything's going my way, I'll be happy." It's like being on a treadmill. We can run all our life but we'll never reach the point where everything's going our way. The truth is…there is no possibility in this life that everything WILL go our way. Psalm 2:11 says "Happy are all who take refuge in God". This means that genuine happiness is the inalienable right of all who trust in God…when everything's going their way AND when everything's NOT going their way.
This verse of scripture is one of the most well known in all Christianity. In fact, the “B” clause is quoted in churches around the world almost every Sunday morning. “Weeping may endure for a night; but JOY cometh in the morning!”
As Christians, we use this scripture verse as a sort of pacifier for our crying soul…when things are not going our way. We spread it like a balm on our burning hearts when life deals us unexpected blows. But despite our fondness of this verse, it may be one of the most misunderstood verses of scripture in our memory’s repertoire. So today I want to take a moment to expose the truth…not in part…but the WHOLE truth revealed in this precious verse…a Word from God that paints a wonderful picture of hope in the midst of despair.
The first thing we notice is that there are two double comparisons made in this verse. There is the comparison between anger and favor, moment and lifetime; and there is the comparison between night and morning, and joy and sorrow. In the first double comparison, the Psalmist says that anger lasts but a moment, but favor is life. The word LIFE means LIFETIME. In other words, the Psalmist is saying that God’s anger lasts for a moment; but His favor lasts a lifetime!
In the second double comparison…we see the words weeping and night, in conjunction with joy and morning. But despite their differences, both of these double comparisons suggest substantially the same thought – the persistence of JOY, and the transitory nature of SORROW. It records the succession of emotions we all experience as we struggle to cope with life, and it records the comfort we find in the assurance of God’s Divine intervention.
The Psalmist is obviously commemorating his deliverance from some affliction, probably an illness. The illness is long past, and the tears that it caused have long since dried up, but his immortal shout of JOY has lasted all these centuries, until this moment in our lives, when we once again read his testimony of victory. And as we read it, we can’t help but wonder – How will the world read OUR testimony in centuries to come? Will they read it with cheerful confidence and be able to sense the same victory in our own lives?
You can’t live without experiencing joy AND sorrow. There is a portion of joy and sorrow in each of our lives, whether we like it or not. But if we take a calendar and mark off the days of our sorrow, we would draw the quick conclusion that sorrow is transitory. Sorrow is like the thunderstorms that come crashing through on a hot summer day…they may disrupt things for a time, but they’re brief; and as tempestuous as they seem, in the end they bring forth sunshine and calm.
Sorrow, then, is transitory, but JOY is continuous…for behind every cloud, there is the sun.
If we are honest, we will have to admit that we have a better memory for sorrow than we do for joy. Sadness seems to cling to our psyche, and if we let it, it will color the WHOLE of our being…like a drop of dye in a vat of water. The prick from a rose is felt longer than the fragrance in our nostrils. We have long memories for pain. Wise counsel, then, would be to try NOT to magnify and prolong our grief, or we will end up minimizing our joy. Those who surround themselves with persistent gladness can better handle the thick folds of enveloping sorrow. Emotions like cheerfulness, courage, thankfulness and resolution are able to overwhelm the shadows of disappoint, grief, pain and sorrow.
So we realize that sorrow MUST come as part of life; but JOY is ever present. But what of anger? This verse begins by reminding us that God’s anger is for a moment. Is God’s anger a necessary part of life as well? And the answer of course is YES. Just as the circle of life includes all moments, the circle of God’s love includes His anger. God’s favor holds anger within itself. The wrath of God is a necessary aversion of His perfectly pure and holy love. And though the two…favor and anger…may be set against each other, the reality is that they are ONE. Anger is the mode by which God manifests His favor. God’s anger is proof of His love.
To better understand this, think of your own motivation when you chastise a disobedient child. Do you do it out of hate, or out of love? An irate parent is not an unloving parent. If there were no love, there would be no anger. It is the same with God. His love manifests itself in both anger and favor. His love may manifest itself in anger and correction, but His love expands itself in favor and blessings!
Whether God is angry with us, or showing us His favor, in both instances He is displaying His love!
And the same is true of joy and sorrow. Just as anger is MASKED love, sorrow is MASKED joy. Our deepest sorrows and our bitterest tears create wounds that penetrate deep into our bleeding hearts, but they all come from the same motive…and they are directed to the same end…JOY. Our finite minds may be temporarily blinded by its pain, but IN THE MORNING…
Two guests come into our lives. One is robed in darkness or night; the other in the bright garment of light or morning. Weeping only SEEMS to persist, because of the night’s oppressive nature. But JOY comes in the morning.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made…and no heart, however wounded, continues to always bleed. The roughest edges are smoothed over time. God’s recuperative powers come to dull the cutting edge of our pain. The night guest…Sorrow…slips away, and before we know it, another guest sits in her place…the morning guest, JOY!
Some people actually try to fight against that merciful redemptive process. Somehow they get the idea that there is merit in continuing to experience pain, however artificial it may be, and they spend a lifetime in treason from God. They prefer to blame God, rather than let His morning guest…JOY…arrive on their doorstep.
But not the Psalmist! He allows the transformation of his evil experiences to give way to a radiant form of Joy. For the Psalmist, sorrow is JOY disguised. JOY is like a prince disguised in rags, who comes at night to the aid of a poor man, and in the morning, slips off his outer garment of sorrow to reveal his true nature. If the guest is welcomed in the night…if we allow sorrow to draw us closer to God…then the transformation from sorrow to Joy is SURE to come.
This joy is not like what the world calls joy. The world can’t give it to you. It’s not loud or boisterous, ringing with temporary frivolous laughter! Instead, it is pure, deep, sacred and permanent. Sorrow’s experience gives way to fertile JOY. The most beautiful vegetation grows on the slopes of a volcano; and all our troubles…big and small…are converted into gladness if we accept them as God meant them. To illustrate this truth, consider that there is in the Worcester Cathedral an ancient slab, which bears the solitary inscription 'Miserrimus' (most miserable). But down in the catacombs—those vast underground chambers of the dead where early Christians hid from their fierce persecutors—a stone bears this beautiful engraving, 'Felicissimus' (most happy).
I know some of you are right now saying, “Pastor, there are two kinds of sorrow; the kind that can be cured, and the kind that cannot.” You’re willing to gamble that your pain is unique and immeasurable. To you God says this; “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye SHALL go forth…(Malachi 4:2). If you carry a load on your aching back…a load that you cannot release…remember that when your night is far spent, and your day of eternal reckoning is at hand…God WILL reveal to you that He has turned every one of your raindrops in your life into a beautiful rainbow.
The Psalmist’s testimony is clear…a life spent in God’s favor, must also be spent in God’s fear. If we trust Him, the voices that have been raised in weeping will be heard in gladness, and sorrow shall be turned into joy. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
The night guest is just that…a guest. When the night is over, he is gone. But the morning caller comes to stay. He is Joy IN THE MIDST of our sorrows. This is no ordinary joy…the Psalmist is speaking of a “joyful shout”! This voice that briefly wept is once again caught up in exultant praise. Sorrow’s experience has not been erased. He still harbors the memory of the past. But sorrow’s memory has been softened by the JOY of the morning caller! And he can’t help but shout “Hallelujah!”
On the coast of Pascadero, California, there is the famed Pebble Beach. On that beach, the waves dash with a ceaseless roar and thunder among the stones on the beach. Nearby, there is a towering cliff that breaks the force of the dashing waves. In the quiet cove, sheltered by the cliff, is an abundance of stones. These stones are rough and angular, because they have escaped the turmoil and the beating of the waves. But the stones on the beach are pounded by the merciless waves, which repeatedly toss and grind the stones together and hurl them against the rugged cliffs. Day and night, the wearing down of THOSE stones continues unabated. Tourists from all over the world gather the beautiful, round, polished stones for ornaments on their mantels.
Like those polished stones on Pebble Beach, the tempest waves of our sorrow and trouble polish and refine us, and give to us the opportunity to prove the genuineness of the Savior's comforting and healing words. Our waves of discontent are no match for the Savior’s love! There may be someone here who is cowering in the cave of disappoint and grief. Life may have sharpened your anger and toughened your exterior. Maybe it’s time to come out and venture into the healing waters…
Maybe its time for you to let God smooth out the rough edges of your past sins;
Maybe its time for you to let God liberate you from the penalty of sin.
Maybe its time to say goodbye to the night guest, and experience the JOY of the morning caller!
Maybe its time for you to come home.
Psalms 30: 5
For his anger endureth but a moment; in his favor is life: weeping may endure for a night, but joy cometh in the morning.
There’s a song from an old musical called Oklahoma that goes like this:
Oh what a beautiful morning,
Oh what a beautiful day,
I've got a wonderful feeling,
Everything's going my way.
We tend to regard happiness in that light. "When everything's going my way, I'll be happy." It's like being on a treadmill. We can run all our life but we'll never reach the point where everything's going our way. The truth is…there is no possibility in this life that everything WILL go our way. Psalm 2:11 says "Happy are all who take refuge in God". This means that genuine happiness is the inalienable right of all who trust in God…when everything's going their way AND when everything's NOT going their way.
This verse of scripture is one of the most well known in all Christianity. In fact, the “B” clause is quoted in churches around the world almost every Sunday morning. “Weeping may endure for a night; but JOY cometh in the morning!”
As Christians, we use this scripture verse as a sort of pacifier for our crying soul…when things are not going our way. We spread it like a balm on our burning hearts when life deals us unexpected blows. But despite our fondness of this verse, it may be one of the most misunderstood verses of scripture in our memory’s repertoire. So today I want to take a moment to expose the truth…not in part…but the WHOLE truth revealed in this precious verse…a Word from God that paints a wonderful picture of hope in the midst of despair.
The first thing we notice is that there are two double comparisons made in this verse. There is the comparison between anger and favor, moment and lifetime; and there is the comparison between night and morning, and joy and sorrow. In the first double comparison, the Psalmist says that anger lasts but a moment, but favor is life. The word LIFE means LIFETIME. In other words, the Psalmist is saying that God’s anger lasts for a moment; but His favor lasts a lifetime!
In the second double comparison…we see the words weeping and night, in conjunction with joy and morning. But despite their differences, both of these double comparisons suggest substantially the same thought – the persistence of JOY, and the transitory nature of SORROW. It records the succession of emotions we all experience as we struggle to cope with life, and it records the comfort we find in the assurance of God’s Divine intervention.
The Psalmist is obviously commemorating his deliverance from some affliction, probably an illness. The illness is long past, and the tears that it caused have long since dried up, but his immortal shout of JOY has lasted all these centuries, until this moment in our lives, when we once again read his testimony of victory. And as we read it, we can’t help but wonder – How will the world read OUR testimony in centuries to come? Will they read it with cheerful confidence and be able to sense the same victory in our own lives?
You can’t live without experiencing joy AND sorrow. There is a portion of joy and sorrow in each of our lives, whether we like it or not. But if we take a calendar and mark off the days of our sorrow, we would draw the quick conclusion that sorrow is transitory. Sorrow is like the thunderstorms that come crashing through on a hot summer day…they may disrupt things for a time, but they’re brief; and as tempestuous as they seem, in the end they bring forth sunshine and calm.
Sorrow, then, is transitory, but JOY is continuous…for behind every cloud, there is the sun.
If we are honest, we will have to admit that we have a better memory for sorrow than we do for joy. Sadness seems to cling to our psyche, and if we let it, it will color the WHOLE of our being…like a drop of dye in a vat of water. The prick from a rose is felt longer than the fragrance in our nostrils. We have long memories for pain. Wise counsel, then, would be to try NOT to magnify and prolong our grief, or we will end up minimizing our joy. Those who surround themselves with persistent gladness can better handle the thick folds of enveloping sorrow. Emotions like cheerfulness, courage, thankfulness and resolution are able to overwhelm the shadows of disappoint, grief, pain and sorrow.
So we realize that sorrow MUST come as part of life; but JOY is ever present. But what of anger? This verse begins by reminding us that God’s anger is for a moment. Is God’s anger a necessary part of life as well? And the answer of course is YES. Just as the circle of life includes all moments, the circle of God’s love includes His anger. God’s favor holds anger within itself. The wrath of God is a necessary aversion of His perfectly pure and holy love. And though the two…favor and anger…may be set against each other, the reality is that they are ONE. Anger is the mode by which God manifests His favor. God’s anger is proof of His love.
To better understand this, think of your own motivation when you chastise a disobedient child. Do you do it out of hate, or out of love? An irate parent is not an unloving parent. If there were no love, there would be no anger. It is the same with God. His love manifests itself in both anger and favor. His love may manifest itself in anger and correction, but His love expands itself in favor and blessings!
Whether God is angry with us, or showing us His favor, in both instances He is displaying His love!
And the same is true of joy and sorrow. Just as anger is MASKED love, sorrow is MASKED joy. Our deepest sorrows and our bitterest tears create wounds that penetrate deep into our bleeding hearts, but they all come from the same motive…and they are directed to the same end…JOY. Our finite minds may be temporarily blinded by its pain, but IN THE MORNING…
Two guests come into our lives. One is robed in darkness or night; the other in the bright garment of light or morning. Weeping only SEEMS to persist, because of the night’s oppressive nature. But JOY comes in the morning.
We are fearfully and wonderfully made…and no heart, however wounded, continues to always bleed. The roughest edges are smoothed over time. God’s recuperative powers come to dull the cutting edge of our pain. The night guest…Sorrow…slips away, and before we know it, another guest sits in her place…the morning guest, JOY!
Some people actually try to fight against that merciful redemptive process. Somehow they get the idea that there is merit in continuing to experience pain, however artificial it may be, and they spend a lifetime in treason from God. They prefer to blame God, rather than let His morning guest…JOY…arrive on their doorstep.
But not the Psalmist! He allows the transformation of his evil experiences to give way to a radiant form of Joy. For the Psalmist, sorrow is JOY disguised. JOY is like a prince disguised in rags, who comes at night to the aid of a poor man, and in the morning, slips off his outer garment of sorrow to reveal his true nature. If the guest is welcomed in the night…if we allow sorrow to draw us closer to God…then the transformation from sorrow to Joy is SURE to come.
This joy is not like what the world calls joy. The world can’t give it to you. It’s not loud or boisterous, ringing with temporary frivolous laughter! Instead, it is pure, deep, sacred and permanent. Sorrow’s experience gives way to fertile JOY. The most beautiful vegetation grows on the slopes of a volcano; and all our troubles…big and small…are converted into gladness if we accept them as God meant them. To illustrate this truth, consider that there is in the Worcester Cathedral an ancient slab, which bears the solitary inscription 'Miserrimus' (most miserable). But down in the catacombs—those vast underground chambers of the dead where early Christians hid from their fierce persecutors—a stone bears this beautiful engraving, 'Felicissimus' (most happy).
I know some of you are right now saying, “Pastor, there are two kinds of sorrow; the kind that can be cured, and the kind that cannot.” You’re willing to gamble that your pain is unique and immeasurable. To you God says this; “But unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in his wings; and ye SHALL go forth…(Malachi 4:2). If you carry a load on your aching back…a load that you cannot release…remember that when your night is far spent, and your day of eternal reckoning is at hand…God WILL reveal to you that He has turned every one of your raindrops in your life into a beautiful rainbow.
The Psalmist’s testimony is clear…a life spent in God’s favor, must also be spent in God’s fear. If we trust Him, the voices that have been raised in weeping will be heard in gladness, and sorrow shall be turned into joy. “For our light affliction, which is but for a moment, worketh for us a far more exceeding and eternal weight of glory!” (2 Corinthians 4:17)
The night guest is just that…a guest. When the night is over, he is gone. But the morning caller comes to stay. He is Joy IN THE MIDST of our sorrows. This is no ordinary joy…the Psalmist is speaking of a “joyful shout”! This voice that briefly wept is once again caught up in exultant praise. Sorrow’s experience has not been erased. He still harbors the memory of the past. But sorrow’s memory has been softened by the JOY of the morning caller! And he can’t help but shout “Hallelujah!”
On the coast of Pascadero, California, there is the famed Pebble Beach. On that beach, the waves dash with a ceaseless roar and thunder among the stones on the beach. Nearby, there is a towering cliff that breaks the force of the dashing waves. In the quiet cove, sheltered by the cliff, is an abundance of stones. These stones are rough and angular, because they have escaped the turmoil and the beating of the waves. But the stones on the beach are pounded by the merciless waves, which repeatedly toss and grind the stones together and hurl them against the rugged cliffs. Day and night, the wearing down of THOSE stones continues unabated. Tourists from all over the world gather the beautiful, round, polished stones for ornaments on their mantels.
Like those polished stones on Pebble Beach, the tempest waves of our sorrow and trouble polish and refine us, and give to us the opportunity to prove the genuineness of the Savior's comforting and healing words. Our waves of discontent are no match for the Savior’s love! There may be someone here who is cowering in the cave of disappoint and grief. Life may have sharpened your anger and toughened your exterior. Maybe it’s time to come out and venture into the healing waters…
Maybe its time for you to let God smooth out the rough edges of your past sins;
Maybe its time for you to let God liberate you from the penalty of sin.
Maybe its time to say goodbye to the night guest, and experience the JOY of the morning caller!
Maybe its time for you to come home.
Friday, March 6, 2009
My Thoughts on a Friday...................
....................................... ??????????????????????????????????
Hahahaha
Just having fun.
Do you ever have those days? No bad thoughts, not hectic adversity, not pressing needs that absolutely have to be done today? Not very often, right?
It seems we live in a world today where everything is and has to be immediate. We have, with microwave popcorn and instant mashed potatoes, created instant need and instant gratification.
We don't want to wait for much. Some rock star sings a song, I want it all, I want it all and I want it now. Welcome to life in the 21st Century.
Some things are just better if we learn to wait a little. My wife has a slow cooker. You can put food in it in the morning and let it slowly cook all day long, and if you can be patient and wait, it produces unbelievable meals. I like red beans & rice. Sometimes she will cut up some smoked sausage, add some red beans, onions, salsa and some other secret spices and throw all that in the slow cooker in the morning. We can leave the cooker alone. we don't have to be there to watch it, stir it, add anything, turn it up or down. We just put all the ingredients in, turn it on and trust it to do it's job. In the evening when we return home, and open the door.....as soon as the door is open we can tell that our patience has paid off.
There in the slow cooker taking care of itself is
the delicious meal that my wife prepared,proper ingredients, right amount of heat
and time and leaving the slow cooker to do
it's job has produced a meal that I waited
on all day long.
I think sometimes that life might be better if we
could learn to take time, let all the ingredients of life
"cook" in us and let our experience with God work for us.
I'm sure you could throw the sausage, beans and other stuff in a microwave bowl and whip it all up in a few minutes, but you would lose the savor in the meal.
I think sometimes when we want instant gratification, instant satisfaction, instant everything and we don't wait on God to work in our lives, we lose the Saviour in our lives too.
We lose strength when we fail to wait. We lose our ability to rise above struggles in life when we lose patience. We lose the power of endurance when we seek instant gratification. We can't wait on our marriage and our personal lives to mature, we want gratification or we want out. NOW.
We lose the ability to just walk through life and enjoy the little things that make a life happy when we seek instant justification. We tire of simple pleasures way too fast.
This morning in my reading, I was in Isaiah and I began the 40th chapter out of the discipline of doing my daily reading. Hurrying because I had to go to the license branch, I had to stop at the church this morning, I have to make sure the vans are gassed up and ready to go to the rally, I have to take everybody's paycheck to them, I have to get the bent rim fixed from the chuck hole, oh, I have to post my blog. :)
I have so much to do that I need to hurry through my reading so I can get everything done right away.
But as I read quickly, I got to that old familiar part at the end of Isaiah 40......here. let me show you........
Isa 40:29 He giveth power to the faint; and to them that have no might he increaseth strength.
Isa 40:30 Even the youths shall faint and be weary, and the young men shall utterly fall:
Isa 40:31 But they that wait upon the LORD shall renew their strength; they shall mount up with wings as eagles; they shall run, and not be weary; and they shall walk, and not faint.
and as I sat in my favorite chair, the Lord quickened to my mind that He is my strength, He is my hope, he gives me the ability to rise above the everyday, mundane struggles of life. He is the enduring power that allows me to have hope..........hope here and now, but also hope beyond this life.
So, you know what? Today I'm gonna throw some smoked sausage in my slow cooker, I'm gonna put some red beans and salsa, some onions and secret spices in the pot. I'm gonna allow life to just come as it may. I'll get some of the "stuff" done that needs to get done today, but today I live life because He has given me strength.
Today, I'm waitin' on God. Others may faint today, and that is sad, some may get weary and fall.
But today, I'll let God lift me on eagles wings, I'll walk with God today. I took the time to read chapter 40 again.
Sometimes we just need to slow down, wait on God. Let His ingredients in our lives, along with the right amount of heat and time create in us a savor that only the Saviour can cook up. Life is a process, it is not achieved in a day, a week, a month or a year.
Let Jesus have the time He needs to create in you what He wants to create.
Oh, by the way, in your busyness this week, plan a little time for God.
SEE YOU SUNDAY!!!!
Saturday, January 17, 2009
Finish Strong
http://www.maniacworld.com/are-you-going-to-finish-strong.html
If I was a bit smarter, I would have figured out how to embed the video above on my blog. Guess you'll just have to take a minute and go to it. Click on it now, and come back to my blog after you have watched it.
First I want to apologize for not updating this as regularly as I'd have liked to. I can't tell you how many times I sat down and thought, "Man, I should do my blog."
I love doing it. I like to write. I have been told I am not half bad at expressing myself in the blogosphere. So, through the course of blogging, I haven't been as consistent as I should have been, but it's not always how you do in the middle..................................if you finish strong.
Now I know scripture says in Matthew 24:13 But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.
Most of the time we use this scripture as almost an excuse for us to not be consistent in our race. "I'm not the fastest"
"I don't pray as much as I should."
"I'm not as faithful right now......"
Jesus didn't give us an excuse not to try in the middle of the race, and we can't quit in the middle of the race, but thank God the race isn't over in the middle. The race doesn't end when I am at my weakest point. I may not have started with the biggest bang. There may have been a time in my walk with God that I wasn't always where I needed to be, but thank God the race didn't end in the middle.
Thank God I get an opportunity to finish. And how I finish makes all the difference. Micah 7:8 Rejoice not against me, O mine enemy: when I fall, I shall arise; when I sit in darkness, the LORD shall be a light unto me.
Micah 7:8 may never have come to life for me before like it did when I saw this fella in the video I posted. "If I try 100 times........" How many times have you said, "I'm gonna try to do better." "I am going to go to church." "I am going to live for God." only to fall down again and again and again.
Well friend, I have good news for you, the race doesn't end in the middle. He that endureth to the end, the same shall be saved. Terry Long translation: Get up, and try this thing again, 'cause it's not how you start that matters, and it's not how tired you get in the middle of the race that matters, and it's not if you even failed somewhere along the line that really matters. What really matters is how are you going to finish. I can't help but think of the plane crash on the Hudson River this week as I write this. Wow, did that pilot have a bad day or what? They said it was geese that brought down a 47 ton jet, and the poor guy had three choices, Uptown Manhatten, Long Island or the freezing Hudson River. Not a good start, not a good middle, but everyone survived because he was determined to finish strong.
Are you sure he was Pastor? Absolutely, why else would he have gone through that plane two seperate and distinct times to make sure no one on his watch died inside that plane when help was outside, on the way. He was determined to finish strong.
Hey Samson, you're a failure. You lost your Nazarite vow, you succumbed to a philistine harlot, and now you're grinding wheat in a grist mill. You are the laughing stock of the people God called you to deliver Israel from. You had a great start, but somewhere along the road, you got lost. But wait a minute friend, you almost ended the story in the middle, because Samson talked to God before the story ended. And he finished strong. In fact, he finished stronger than he had ever been in all of his life.
I can't help but think that if a guy with no limbs can do what looks to be physically impossible. See, he isn't "equipped" with all the faculties to get up. God has equipped me and He has equipped you. Romans 8:29-31 (King James Version)
29For whom he did foreknow, he also did predestinate to be conformed to the image of his Son, that he might be the firstborn among many brethren.
30Moreover whom he did predestinate, them he also called: and whom he called, them he also justified: and whom he justified, them he also glorified.
31What shall we then say to these things? If God be for us, who can be against us?
I'm pretty sure that means God has set us up to finish strong.
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