Author Archives: tombeaman

Just Do It

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Technical support workers will tell you most problems with computers could be avoided by following the instructions.  When the manual says to do X and our natural instinct is to do Y, we humans have a tendency to follow our own ideas.  Then our stuff breaks and we call tech support.  After 30 or 40 minutes listening to a recording tell us how important our call is, when the support person answers, most of the time they will lead us through the process of following the instructions.

Same thing applies with following Jesus.  For example, you have a terrible conflict with someone at church and go to your prayer place to “call up Tech Support.”

“This is God; how can I help you?”

“____________ is such an unpleasant person and I can’t get along with them.”

“How did you handle it?  Did you go to them by yourself and discuss it?”

“Well, no, I talked it over with my friends at Bible study.”

“You gossiped?”

“Me, gossip?  Oh, no; it was just explaining the situation for a prayer request.”

“Nope, that’s gossip.  It messes everything up.  That’s why it says don’t do it in the instructions.   How about returning a blessing fot their unpleasant behavior, have you tried that?”

“Are You serious?  A blessing?    How’s that going to help?”

“Give it a shot; it’s in the instructions…”

And so forth…

When people read computer instructions and then ignore them, chances are pretty good they are going to be waiting on hold for a half-hour for customer service to pick up.  It’s just as true with the Bible.  That’s why they should post these words over the exits from the church as a reminder to folks on the way out:

22 Do not merely listen to the word, and so deceive yourselves. Do what it says.  (James 1:22)

What Does God Think?

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Do you order stuff online?  If you do, you trust the process – you place your order and truly expect to see it on your doorstep in a few days.  If not, you probably have suspicions.  Maybe you started to place an order, got everything filled out online and then thought, “I don’t know about this…” and failed to push the “submit” button.  You didn’t trust it completely.  Consequently, nothing is left at your door.

The same principle is true when it comes to asking God what He thinks.  Maybe you are considering a new job.  Or, “Is this the guy for me?”  Should you volunteer for some cause?  Is that what God wants?  When you pray about it, essentially what you are asking is,”God, please tell me what You think.”  If you pray that question but don’t really expect God to answer, you won’t receive it if He does.  It’s kind of like not pushing the “submit” button.  Your request is tentative.  You are not sure the process will work.  But, if you are fully convinced God wants you to know what He thinks, and is eager to share it with you, then your request is wholeheartedly sent off with the full expectation of an answer.  God says, a prayer like that will get answered.  James, talking about getting wisdom in times of trial, shares the principle:

5 If any of you lacks wisdom, you should ask God, who gives generously to all without finding fault, and it will be given to you. 6 But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt, because the one who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind. 7 That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord. 8 Such a person is double-minded and unstable in all they do.  (James 1:5-8)

Look carefully at what that says. The problem is not that God won’t tell you what He thinks.  It’s that you can’t be sure you have really heard from Him.  Your mind goes back and forth on it, wondering if what you heard was really from Him.  But when you are convinced God will show you, He does and you trust it.

Because God’s wisdom is frequently contrary to the ideas of the world, it takes real faith to hear what God thinks.  Hearing what God thinks requires setting aside the ways of the world, listening and trusting.  Do that, and when God speaks you will know.

2 Do not conform to the pattern of this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. Then you will be able to test and approve what God’s will is—his good, pleasing and perfect will.  (Romans 12:2)

 

 

Help

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Nobody know which President said it first, but Abraham Lincoln, at his second inauguration, after taking the oath of office, added, “So help me God.”   I believe we are better served by a President who seeks and receives Divine help.  Especially in bestowing His kind of wisdom.

As you prepare to vote, consider the difference between worldly wisdom and godly wisdom as explained by Jesus’ brother, James:

“Who is wise and understanding among you? By his good conduct let him show his works in the meekness of wisdom. But if you have bitter jealousy and selfish ambition in your hearts, do not boast and be false to the truth. This is not the wisdom that comes down from above, but is earthly, unspiritual, demonic. For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice. But the wisdom from above is first pure, then peaceable, gentle, open to reason, full of mercy and good fruits, impartial and sincere. And a harvest of righteousness is sown in peace by those who make peace.”  (James 3:13-18)

From where I sit, we have weeded out all the candidates open to godly wisdom.  

So help us God.

Practice Makes Perfect

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Dad installed a chinup bar in a doorway and used it everyday.  He challenged me to a contest when I was visiting.  I was amazed at his stamina but still beat him – hey, I was 30 years younger.  But now, at the age he was, there’s no way I could measure up to what he did then.  Unless I practiced.  The training regimen of olympic athletes is scary intense.  They punish themselves with every greater challenges til they know they can push through them.

In a similar way, we are encouraged to accept the various trials of life as opportunities to train our faith and develop our capacity to patiently push through.  

Count it all joy, my brothers, when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness. And let steadfastness have its full effect, that you may be perfect and complete, lacking in nothing.  (James 1:2-4)

To test a diving board, you jump on it, tentatively at first but then with greater and greater force.  If you can’t break it then you know it will hold you.  You trust it  Same thing with faith; you jump on it to know if it will hold.  You test faith with trials.  As you learn your faith will hold, you become more able to endure life’s trials with steadfastness.  You become “perfect and complete,” in the sense that you are “good to go” in the faith department.  The faith is not in your own toughness but in Jesus’ ability to hold you safe, no matter what.  Like this:

For I am sure that neither death nor life, nor angels nor rulers, nor things present nor things to come, nor powers, nor height nor depth, nor anything else in all creation, will be able to separate us from the love of God in Christ Jesus our Lord.  (Romans 8:38-39)

Crazy True

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“A question that sometimes drives me hazy: am I or are the others crazy?” -Albert Einstein

Einstein was by no means the first scientist to be accused of losing his mind.  Probably the guy who discovered fire was ostracized at first.  But the more science advances, the more the scientists seem crazy to the rest of us.  They say crazy things like this:  This vast universe came into being with a sudden expansion of an infinitely small and invisible “singularity.”  That’s the ‘Big Bang Theory.”   They actually believe the cosmos, so large we measure it in light years, was originally created from a tiny, invisible speck. It sounds crazy.  

Like this, written almost 2000 years ago:

By faith we understand that the universe was created by the word of God, so that what is seen was not made out of things that are visible.  (​Hebrews 11:3)

Exactly

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Did you know there is a building code for how many inches there must be between the toilet and a bathroom cabinet?  Fact is, there’s codes for everything.  But if you think local building codes are fussy, have a look at the regulations God required for the tabernacle, the precursor to the temple.  You’ll find it in the book of Exodus, starting with this verse:

And let them make me a sanctuary, that I may dwell in their midst. Exactly as I show you concerning the pattern of the tabernacle, and of all its furniture, so you shall make it.  (Exodus 25:8-9)

Back then, you had to know what a cubit was.  And measure precisely.  But why?  Why would Almighty God give the impression that, if they used the wrong dimensions He couldn’t “dwell in their midst?”  God is sovereign; He can dwell anywhere He wants.  So what’s the deal?

Every detail of the design of the tabernacle nonverbally communicates some important truth.  It’s fascinating to consider each part and ask, “What is this teaching?”  But the overall specificity, the requirement that it be built exactly according to God’s instructions, teaches a lesson easily overlooked today.  If you want to connect to God, you do so on His terms, not your own.

God is Who He is, not who we think He ought to be.  His Name is, “I AM WHO I AM.”  We don’t get to decide how to approach God.   In those days, God taught that important lesson in a rudimentary way, using tabernacle dimensions, etc.  But the lesson still holds today:

Jesus said to him, “I am the way, and the truth, and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me.  (John 14:6)

 

Stop, Look and Listen

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Does God really exist?  How do you know?  We have been told by people we trust.  Most people believe in God.  But how do you know?  It’s worth asking that question every so often.  Blind faith, faith not tested by doubt, might slip across the line into weak superstition.

But how can we know?  We cannot see God.  We can’t see gravity, but every time we drop the toast, gravity does its thing.  But God is different, a living Person – not human, but Someone Who operates with mind, emotion and will.  You can’t test a person like you test a force, because he might surprise you.  He might catch the toast.  So how?

Many have found certainty for God’s existence in the complexity and vast scope of Creation.  But, perhaps the best way to know, since God is a living Person, is to do something that does not come easy for most of us.  Quiet yourself.  Shut off all the words inside.  Open the eyes of your soul.  Listen.

“Be still, and know that I am God…”  (Psalms 46:10a)

Guard your steps when you go to the house of God. To draw near to listen is better than to offer the sacrifice of fools, for they do not know that they are doing evil. Be not rash with your mouth, nor let your heart be hasty to utter a word before God, for God is in heaven and you are on earth. Therefore let your words be few.  (Ecclesiastes 5:1-2)

If we really listen for God’s voice, really pay attention to Him with a readiness to respond, He has no problem demonstrating the reality of His existence.  Listening to Him comes with a reward.  Jesus said:

“It is written in the Prophets, And they will all be taught by God.’ Everyone who has heard and learned from the Father comes to me—  (John 6:45)
And… “Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever believes has eternal life.”  (John 6:47)

Fitting it Together

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Pick up a piece of a jigsaw puzzle and it is usually beautiful to look at.  Better yet, what happens when you fit it together with the other pieces. Same thing with the Bible.  There are people who memorize and quote individual verses of the Bible.  But the ones who get the most from their time in the Bible are those who see how it all fits together, from beginning to end.  The more time you spend digging into God’s Word, the more amazing it becomes as you see the astonishing connections.  Check it out: look at the first page or so and then read the last couple pages.  You’ll see…  And all throughout, on many different levels, it all fits together.  

But it’s not simply a matter of curiosity.  The more you see those connections, the more you understand the heartbeat of what has been written, the stronger you are for everything life throws at you.  Check it out.  You’ll see…

“…for everyone who lives on milk is unskilled in the word of righteousness, since he is a child. But solid food is for the mature, for those who have their powers of discernment trained by constant practice to distinguish good from evil”.  (Hebrews 5:13 – 14)

Ice Cream

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Despite how your GPS led you down a dead ended dirt road, the day is coming when cars will know how to take you from Albuquerque to Alberta.  Or to the store to pick up milk.  But automated controls on cars will be no substitute for what happens when you go for a drive in the country.  Computers won’t be able to spontaneously pull over at an ice cream stand, or slow down to enjoy a view.  That kind of driving takes a real person behind the wheel, one who can think and feel and decide.

That’s what makes God’s decision to change how He directs our paths so exciting.  He began by telling us His laws, His rules..  But rules are clumsy guides.  Think of the toy car that heads in some random directon until it runs into an obstacle, turns and heads out in another direction.  A life lived by rules resembles that.  You crash into some “thou shalt not,” dust yourself off and change course.  But God’s new arrangement is to come live within us and interactively steer us.

And I will give you a new heart, and a new spirit I will put within you. And I will remove the heart of stone [i.e. a dead, unresponsive heart]  from your flesh and give you a heart of flesh [one that is alive and responsive]. And I will put my Spirit within you, and cause you to walk in my statutes and be careful to obey my rules. (Ezkiel 36:26-27  with my explanations added)

When God’s Spirit is behind the wheel, instead of robotically going from point A to point B in life, we can stop for ice cream, so to speak.  We can spontaneously enjoy the ride while safely remaining in the center of His will. As Paul wrote in Galatians 5:18,  “But if you are led by the Spirit, you are not under  [you don’t need to be controlled by] the law.”

How did God accomplish this new system of control?  Through Jesus.  He came and did everything necessary to install God’s Spirit in us.  Trust Him and enjoy the ride!

Draw Near

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Direct deposit of your paycheck is convenient, but it lacks the personal touch between you and your boss.  Imagine how different it would be to stand before him and have him ask how things are going and then open his wallet, pull out a few twenties and settle up with you. That would feel different.  How would it feel to ask your boss to pay you for work that you had not done – perhaps you had gotten sick or maybe just couldn’t accomplish what he wanted?   You go stand before him and ask him to please pay you anyway.  There are some things about that interaction – both awkward things and good things – that could not happen by direct deposit.  

It strikes me that when it comes to receiving mercy and grace from God, it’s not a matter of direct deposit into our accounts.  It’s not impersonal.  God invites us to draw near to Him in the throne room.  Not hesitantly or fearfully, but confidently.

Let us then with confidence draw near to the throne of grace, that we may receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need.  (Hebrews 4:16)
It’s personal, this mercy thing.  Face to face.  It’s not, “Check’s in the mail” or, “You don’t need to ask, I’ve got you on autopay.”  It’s, “Come on in, I’m glad to see you.  Let’s talk about how you are doing.”  That’s a bit of why you hear people say, “God is so good…”