When the Lines are Down

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Well, it happened again.  I was saying something heartfelt and important to someone on my cellphone, not realizing that the connection had died.  After a few seconds of silence, “Hello… hello… Are you there?”  Feels kind of stupid and helpless, talking to a dead phone, right?  Do you ever feel as though your prayers aren’t getting through?  Like you are trying to talk to God and the connection is broken?  Don’t sweat it, it happens to everyone, even to a guy considered to be so good at praying, he wrote many of the prayers in the Bible.

David felt disconnected and cried out,  “Hear, O Lord, and answer me, for I am poor and needy.”  And, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, for I call to you all day long.  Bring joy to your servant, for to you, O Lord, I lift up my soul.” (excerpts of Psalm 86:1-4).

You’ve probably felt like that, too, right?  What do you do then?  (“Who you gonna call?”)  Consider two things David asked God for when he felt that his connection was down:

“Teach me your way, O Lord, and I will walk in your truth; give me an undivided heart, that I may fear your name.” (Psalm 86:11)

David knew God could hear him, even when he felt disconnected.  But he also knew he, David, needed to change in order to “hear” God.  So he asked God to teach him the right way, so he could walk on the path of truth.  David sensed that the disconnect he was feeling happened in part because he had wandered off the path of truth and into the weeds of ideas and attitudes that were not true.

It’s kind of like when an adolescent gets the false idea his parents don’t love him, as so frequently happens, even when they really do.  All their attempts to communicate become disrupted. It is not until he accepts what is true about their love that their relationship can be really restored.  So David says, show me what’s true, show me your way.  Smart man.

But he also asks God to give him “an undivided heart.”  David recognizes his heart goes back and forth between the ways of God and the pull of the world.  Perhaps you, like me, yearn for a heart that is undivided by all the stuff that clamors for our attention in the world.  David knew to ask God to fix his heart, that self-help wasn’t going to work.  When he asks “that I may fear your name,” he doesn’t mean that he will be scared by God’s name.  He means that he will live with an awareness of God and a reverence that keeps their lines of communication intact.

My guess is that David’s prayers were answered on the spot, because one of the next things he says is this:

“For great is your love toward me; you have delivered me from the depths of the grave.” (Psalm 86:13)

Next time you feel as though your prayers are bouncing off the ceiling, try David’s approach.  Ask God to show you where you’ve gotten off the path of truth and the way you should go.  Ask Him to fix your heart so it is undivided.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

Powerfully Gentle

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“He could pick a scab off a baby’s bottom with that thing!”  The guy was talking about a skilled heavy equipment operator on the highway crew where I was working for the summer.  It really was impressive to watch how he controlled the massive power of that giant machine with precision and such a light touch.  In his hands, that great power was gentle.

That sounds like an oxymoron to say powerfully gentle.  We tend to think, powerfully destructive.  The most powerful thing humans have created was anything but gentle.  It was the Tsar Bomba, a nuclear bomb, tested by the Russians in 1961.  It’s power was 1500 times greater than the bomb dropped on Hiroshima.  Anything but gentle.

How much power does God have?  The sun puts out 1800 million times more energy than the Tsar Bomba – every second!  How many other suns are there? Scientists say around 400 billion, billion others.  That’s not a typo.  400 billion, billion suns, millions of times more powerful than the Tsar Bomba.  And that’s just in the observable part of the universe…   The Creator of all that has power surpassing the sum of all of them.  And yet, God controls His power with amazing delicacy, gentleness and precision.

“See, the Sovereign Lord comes with power, and his arm rules for him. See, his reward is with him, and his recompense accompanies him. He tends his flock like a shepherd: He gathers the lambs in his arms and carries them close to his heart; he gently leads those that have young.” (Isaiah 40:10-11)

That’s a description of God’s unlimited power, unleashed with tenderness.  For sure, God has the power to lay waste to whole nations.  He could smash you flat with His fist.  But when we open our hearts to Him, His power is shown to us with gentleness.  If you let Him, God can pick the scabs off your heart with amazing precision and tenderness.

PS:  Check out this sermon from Charles Spurgeon, published in 1916: (Click Here)

 

Quotes:  The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Heading Home

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“You call this a honeymoon?”  Bam! Crash!  The paper-thin walls of the “Rest for Less” Motel allowed us to clearly hear the fight in the next room. At 3:00 am!  They should have named that place the Restless Motel.  I used to like staying in motels, but it quickly got old.  Why?  They weren’t “home.”   

Home smells like coffee at 6:00 am.  It sounds like J. J. Cale or Cool Jazz on Pandora.  Home is a place of prolonged, easy hugs.  Home has a chair that fits my back.  My wife’s paintings awaken my memories.  The tools in the shop are worn to the shape of my hands.  Home is where you get homemade bread.  Motels have starched, scratchy sheets, tiny bottles of shampoo and hermetically sealed cups.  When I’m in a motel, my heart is yearning for home.

For the guy who wrote Psalm 84, the home he yearns for is God’s place.

“How lovely is your dwelling place, O Lord Almighty! My soul yearns, even faints, for the courts of the Lord; my heart and my flesh cry out for the living God.” (Psalm 84:1-2)

Maybe you had a favorite grandparent whose home felt especially like home to you.  That’s the way this psalmist felt about God.  It’s not the house so much as the warm embrace.  His life, he felt, was  a journey to God’s home where, he too, would truly be at home.  His mindset of heading home gives him strength through the ups and downs (the cheap motels) of his journey:

“Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage [the journey home to God]. As they pass through the Valley of Baca [which means the valley of tears], they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.” (Psalm 84:5-7 – my explanatory comments)

Because his life is a journey toward home, God’s home, where he can flop down on the couch and kick his shoes off, he has a different attitude toward the occasional “valley of tears.”  He knows that those tough places along the way in life are also where the cool, refreshing springs are to be found.  Maybe it rains a lot there in the Fall, but it’s those same valleys where the swimming holes can be found.  That’s journeying “from strength to strength.”  When you are headed home, you can put up with the Rest for Less Motel.

Did you know that Jesus spoke frequently about making your home in Him?  He said,

“Remain in me [literally, abide, or make your home in Me}, and I will remain [make My home] in you. No branch can bear fruit by itself; it must remain in the vine. Neither can you bear fruit unless you remain in me.” (John 15:4 – my explanatory comments)

Let’s head for home…

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Knowing You Don’t

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The man with the money turned out to be a con-artist and a crook.  And when everything came crashing down, I thought I’d been ruined.  After months of negotiations, we were about to close on the sale of our business.  Mentally, I was already spending the money.  The night before the closing, the whole deal evaporated – in the space of one phone call.  Poof!  Gone!  That happened 30 years ago.  Now, I can look back, grateful for how it worked out. What seemed like a setback actually directed me down the road to a most satisfying and life-changing career.  But at the time?  Ouch!  Would that I had known these words:

” Now listen, you who say, “Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money.” Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, “If it is the Lord’s will, we will live and do this or that.”” (James 4:13-15)

My wife and I have experienced more than one of those sudden detours.  We have figured out how little we truly know or control what tomorrow holds.  In response to that truth, James basically says, understand these two things:

  • There is a God
  • You are not Him

But he also adds this insight: “What is your life? You are a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes.”  Not only do we not know what tomorrow holds, we also don’t know if tomorrow will exist for us!  What do we do in the face of that reality?

“As it is, you boast and brag. All such boasting is evil. Anyone, then, who knows the good he ought to do and doesn’t do it, sins. “ (James 4:16-17)

In short:

  • Be humble
  • Since life is short, instead of building yourself a paradise you can’t keep, do good while you have the chance!

Chew on that…

 

 

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Without a Word

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I had occasion, during my former career as a sound engineer for concerts, to hang out with rock and roll bands backstage.  One extraordinary incident sticks in my mind but not something you might guess.  It had to do with one man’s silent example.  The musicians (who you might recognize) were sitting around between sets, relaxing, when the conversation turned ugly.  It began with a critical remark about someone they all knew.  Then one person after another piled on, and their insults quickly became more vicious.  Each new jibe was received with raucous laughter and backslapping. But one guy, the bass player in the band, did not join in. He never said a word, but quietly stood up and walked out.  I remember the look of sadness on his face to this day.

I don’t know anything about his beliefs except for what I witnessed that night and on one other occasion when I saw him gently and respectfully refuse an offer by a female fan.  But that guy influenced me with his silent example of kindness.  I suspect he may have been familiar with these words, written by Jesus’ brother, James:

“Brothers, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against his brother or judges him speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” (James 4:11-12)

When kids slander, they call it bullying and it makes headlines.  When adults do it, it’s business as usual on Facebook.  But God is the only One with enough information and insight to judge.  And He, the only Lawgiver, tells us humans, don’t do it.  It’s one thing to take exception to what someone else does, but it’s not our place to judge or condemn the person.

By the way, when this talks of “judging the law,” that’s Bible-speak for the attitude that says, “I know better than God what is acceptable in this situation, so I’m going to do it my way.”  Not a good policy.

That bass player was one of the stepping stones God laid out for me as I drew close to Jesus.  He probably wouldn’t remember what he did.  But I do and I’m grateful.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Teach Your Children Well

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“Don’t forget to put on clean underwear!”  Did your mother ever say that?  “If you get in an auto accident and the medics cut your clothes off, you don’t want to be embarrassed…”  Just saying, but if the situation is that dire, your undies are probably going to be soiled anyway!  But mothers naturally want to pass along important lessons for life.

That being the case, I am troubled when I hear parents say, “I am not going to teach my children about God; I think they should make up their own minds when they are old enough.”  Really?  The problem with that reasoning is that every new generation then has to figure out about God, starting from scratch.  Almost certainly, that means they must find out some important things about life the hard way.  Listen to the wisdom in Psalm 78:

“…what we have heard and known, what our fathers have told us. We will not hide them from their children; we will tell the next generation the praiseworthy deeds of the Lord, his power, and the wonders he has done. He decreed statutes for Jacob and established the law in Israel, which he commanded our forefathers to teach their children, so the next generation would know them, even the children yet to be born, and they in turn would tell their children. Then they would put their trust in God and would not forget his deeds but would keep his commands. They would not be like their forefathers— a stubborn and rebellious generation, whose hearts were not loyal to God, whose spirits were not faithful to him.” (Psalm 78:3-8)

Before my dad let me take the car, he taught me how to drive safely, how to listen for problems, read the gauges, check the oil and change a flat.  Kids are born these days with innate understanding of computers and smartphones, but you have to teach them how to cross the street and what a gas leak smells like.  Teaching them about God and about His instructions for life is even more important.

That is, provided you know about God yourself.  If the god you know is angry and vindictive, bitter and repressive, please don’t tell your children about him.  He’s not the God Who “so loved the world that He gave His One and Only Son,” the Son Who said,

… “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of heaven belongs to such as these.” (Matthew 19:14b)

Perhaps one of the strongest things you can teach your children is what God has done in your own life!  And, by the way?  The part about letting your kids decide for themselves?  You don’t have to worry about that; kids do it anyway. They will decide for themselves about changing their underwear.  But the stakes are much higher when it comes to knowing the Creator and about how He told us to live.  Teach your children well.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Who’s in Charge?

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“Take me to your leader!”  That line conjures up the old, jittery, black and white, alien invasion movies of my youth.  If aliens did land on earth and asked that question today, depending on where they put down, they’d get very different answers.  Imagine if they landed in Iraq, or Yemen, or even Washington D.C.   Who’s in charge here?  Because that question is not clearly answered, because people don’t agree about who is in charge, it’s chaos down here on Earth.  The nations are engaged in a constant struggle to answer that basic question.

According to Matthew, one of the first things Jesus told His disciples after His resurrection was this:

“Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on earth has been given to me.” (Matthew 28:18)

Think about the full meaning of those words.  His authority has no limit.  It extends even to the farthest reaches of Heaven!  And on Earth.  So then, why do we have such global strife?

Think about the movie, “Hoosiers.”  (If you haven’t watched it or can’t remember it, do it today!  That’s your assignment!)  After Gene Hackman takes over as the new coach, he has been given “all authority.”  Trouble is, the members of the team haven’t submitted yet to that authority.  And neither have many of the people in town.  But gradually, firmly, as the story progresses, his authority begins to be established – the authority he already had from the beginning by title.  Jesus has been given (by God the Father) “all authority.”  His authority is gradually being revealed and established, as more and more people have their eyes and hearts opened to it and submit to it.  That was always God’s plan of how to do it.  As He inspired David to write, 3000 years ago,

“The Lord says to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I make your enemies a footstool for your feet.” The Lord will extend your mighty scepter from Zion; you will rule in the midst of your enemies.” (Psalm 110:1-2)

But one day, there will no longer be anything gradual about how the full authority of Jesus is accomplished.  Don’t wait until that day to get it straight in your mind about Who is in charge.

Quotes:  The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

Finished

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The first line is heart-wrenching, but it is what comes next that really blows your mind.  You are familiar with Jesus’ cry from the cross, “My God, my God, why have you forsaken me?”  But hold His horrible crucifixion in mind and ponder these lines from the same psalm He was quoting – Psalm 22:

My God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Why are you so far from saving me, so far from the words of my groaning?” (Psalm 22:1)

“All who see me mock me; they hurl insults, shaking their heads: “He trusts in the Lord; let the Lord rescue him. Let him deliver him, since he delights in him.”” (Psalm 22:7-8)

“I am poured out like water, and all my bones are out of joint. My heart has turned to wax; it has melted away within me. My strength is dried up like a potsherd, and my tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth; you lay me in the dust of death.” (Psalm 22:14-15)

“Dogs have surrounded me; a band of evil men has encircled me, they have pierced my hands and my feet. I can count all my bones; people stare and gloat over me. They divide my garments among them and cast lots for my clothing.” (Psalm 22:16-18)

OLYMPUS DIGITAL CAMERAI wonder if, when Jesus cried out the first words of that ancient psalm He intended for us to think through the whole of it.  It seems likely when you see how specifically it foretells the agony of the cross.  Read through the whole of it and you will be more amazed.  But that possibility becomes more likely when you consider the astonishing and wonderful way that psalm concludes:

“You who fear the Lord, praise him!…For he has not despised or disdained the suffering of the afflicted one; he has not hidden his face from him but has listened to his cry for help.” (Psalm 22:23a & 24)

“The poor will eat and be satisfied; they who seek the Lord will praise him— may your hearts live forever! All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of the nations will bow down before him, for dominion belongs to the Lord and he rules over the nations. All the rich of the earth will feast and worship; all who go down to the dust will kneel before him— those who cannot keep themselves alive. Posterity will serve him; future generations will be told about the Lord. They will proclaim his righteousness to a people yet unborn— for he has done it.“ (Psalm 22:26-31)

“It is finished!!!”

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.
“Father Forgive Them” – Original oil painting by Ann Maree Beaman (www.annmareebeaman.com)

Jesus’ Harshest Criticism

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Jesus knew His time was short and spent His final days delivering His most urgent teachings.  You might have thought He would level His cannons at the Romans, the pagan oppressors of God’s people.  But He ignored them.  Jesus also mostly ignored the crooks and swindlers in Jerusalem.  He didn’t pick on the wealthy or those who seemed lost in sin.  No. Jesus spent most of His final time on earth scolding religious people, especially the highest leaders.

He did not mince words.  He called them “blind guides”, “snakes” and “vipers,” “fools” and, more than any other name, the H-word: “hypocrites.“   Jesus’ most biting criticism was against religious people who tried to look holy on the outside while, on the inside, they were morally and spiritually decaying and dying.  He compared them to tombs, whitewashed on the outside but full of dead men’s bones.

But why, when the city of Jerusalem was overrun with violent soldiers and scoundrels, liars and low-life’s, did Jesus pick on people who had focused their whole lives on being religious?

One reason He gave is that the religious leaders were tying people up with all their do’s and don’ts, keeping people away from God with all the ritual and legalism, when God’s intent is to invite us into a loving, intimate relationship with Him.  He said:

““Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You travel over land and sea to win a single convert, and when he becomes one, you make him twice as much a son of hell as you are.” (Matthew 23:15)

When religious leaders care more about their own authority and controlling people than they do about truly connecting people with God, they are working against God’s purposes.

Another criticism He leveled against them was that they were not living in step with God’s ways.  God does not want us to be prisoners of rules, but champions of grace and love.

“Woe to you, teachers of the law and Pharisees, you hypocrites! You give a tenth of your spices—mint, dill and cummin. But you have neglected the more important matters of the law—justice, mercy and faithfulness. You should have practiced the latter, without neglecting the former.” (Matthew 23:23)

Compare those spankings to what Jesus was teaching His followers just before He died:

“My children, I will be with you only a little longer. You will look for me, and just as I told the Jews, so I tell you now: Where I am going, you cannot come. “A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you, so you must love one another.” (John 13:33-34)

Each of us makes a choice about Jesus, deciding whether He is One we will follow or not.  Too often, the only things we’ve heard about Jesus come from religious leaders who are trying to control us.  How about going straight to Jesus’ own words, before you decide?

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.

 

The Mousetrap Question

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Jesus did something that scared the living daylights out of His critics.  Do you know how?  Was it with a startling miracle?  A demonstration of mighty power?  Neither.  He did it with a question!  Jesus asked a question that frightened them and shut them up for good.  Like all good mousetraps, Jesus’ question seemed safe and simple at first.

“While the Pharisees were gathered together, Jesus asked them, “What do you think about the Christ? Whose son is he?” “The son of David,” they replied.” (Matthew 22:41-42)

This looked like an easy volleyball lob for a return spike.  These guys were experts on the Scripture.  They knew all the answers.  And this one was easy.   They all knew that the Christ would be the son, or the descendant, of David.  You can almost see the cynical and triumphant look on their faces as they easily answered Jesus’ question.

But then Jesus’ trap was sprung!

“He said to them, “How is it then that David, speaking by the Spirit, calls him ‘Lord’? For he says, “ ‘The Lord said to my Lord: “Sit at my right hand until I put your enemies under your feet.” ’ If then David calls him ‘Lord,’ how can he be his son?” No one could say a word in reply, and from that day on no one dared to ask him any more questions. “ (Matthew 22:43-46 – my emphases)

Whap!!!   Question is, what was it about this seemingly innocuous exchange that was so frightening to them?  Maybe this:

  • These self-proclaimed experts in the Scripture suddenly saw that there is more going on in God’s Word than they understood.  They didn’t know all the answers.  The Scriptures were written from God’s vantage point, not the limited and comparatively ignorant vantage point of humans.  To be confronted with this is humbling and frightening.  Especially for “scholars.”
  • Jesus trusted the actual words written in the Bible.  He didn’t pick and choose, as they did, according to what seemed right.  He accepted the words as they were written, even when those words didn’t conform with human, common sense.
  • Jesus knew that when the Scriptures were written, the human authors were “speaking by the Spirit” of God.
  • Because they could not refute what He said, the Pharisees began to suspect that the One with whom they were speaking was:
    • The Lord
    • The Messiah or Christ
    • Qualified to sit at the right hand of God
    • Would ultimately dominate all His enemies

When the rug is pulled out from under the things we think we know, it can be very scary.  Even more so when you cannot explain away the new insights.  The smart thing to do, despite your fear, is to re-evaluate your assumptions, looking carefully and thoughtfully into the things that have frightened you.  Such as what it says in the Bible.  That’s not what Jesus’ critics did.  They decided to kill Him.

Quotes: The Holy Bible : New International Version. 1996, c1984 (electronic ed.). Grand Rapids: Zondervan.