A speck of dust and a child’s play

"Don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults— unless, of course, you want the same treatment. That critical spirit has a way of boomeranging. It's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, 'Let me wash your face for you,' when your own face is distorted by contempt? It's this whole traveling road-show mentality all over again, playing a holier-than-thou part instead of just living your part. Wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor.” Matthew 7:1-5

On Wednesday evening we host a Bible study in our home attended by a group of friends. This past week one of our friends brought a three-year old they were watching. The evening was a joy and a blessing as between learning from Ezekiel and each other we all enjoyed the company and the laughter of the very bright and inquisitive thee-year old child.

Later as the weekly cleaning schedule came due I realized that near one unlit candle where the child played rested specks of sand and dirt blown in from our unfinished back yard.

It was then that I grew to appreciate the child like perspective that ignored the specks of dirt and saw only the color and enjoyment found in a sandal shaped candle…

Too often I see the speck of dust and fail to see through the eyes of joy and thankfulness the wonders surrounding me. Too often the pressures of lists, tasks, appointments, and unfinished business push out the joy of living and time for giving and caring fully. And too often that notion of perfectionism hinders me from seeing myself and others in the soft light of full reality.

Sometimes we are too busy doing to appreciate the giving and sharing of each other. We grow so busy that we fail to be truly thankful and our little light of joy diminishes.

The gift of the moment passes by, the clicking of the clock resounds ever so loudly, and the regrets of yesterday haunt our today’s. In the rush of today are we truly living? Are not the faults of others really a speck when we compare them with our own? And isn’t life more enjoyable when like a child we simply enjoy the way others are instead of critically wanting them to change?

Virus

Take a good look, friends, at who you were when you got called into this life. I don't see many of "the brightest and the best" among you, not many influential, not many from high-society families. Isn't it obvious that God deliberately chose men and women that the culture over looks and exploitsand abuses, chose these "nobodies" to expose the hollow pretensions of the "somebodies"? That makes it quite clear that none of you can get by with blowing your own horn before God. Everything that we have-right thinking and right living, a clean slate and a fresh start-comes from God by way of Jesus Christ. That's why we have the saying, "If you're going to blow a horn, blow a trumpet for God." 1 Corinthians 1:26 (The Message)

For the last month or so I've had a terrible time with viruses on one ofour home computers. I asked the smarter people around me, gained their advice, and tried what they told me. I beefed up the defenses, I combed through the hard drive and deleted; I did all kinds of checks and yet still the nature of the beast seemingly prevailed. At last, I started over. I cleaned the slate and started over from scratch. Now the old laptop hums along. Yep, the bells and whistles are gone. No fancy games played on this machine, no hi-def video, not much of anything but what it does suits me just fine-it is a tool that allows me to share these encouragements with you!

You know... we were infected with a virus a long time ago. A man named Adam chose to follow his way of thinking, his natural inclinations, and his nature and he breed little Adams-you and me. As time went by the virus (sin) only got worse. Men and women tried to cover it up, tried to call it different names, or they just gave into it and eventually came to worship it. The lessons of old were forgotten or buried under the deceit of dust and time.

People lived and died, the virus directing their course. (Romans 5:14)

Another Adam came, his name was Jesus and he knew how to rid people of the virus. He told them to start over, start new, and to start with Him. (1Cor. 15:45)

Maybe you've got hard-drive (heart) problems that just won't go away. Maybe you are stuck on religion or too much of it is stuck on you... maybe your world is falling apart and there's no way you can fix it. Or maybe your faith in Christ is like a six year-old virus-filled laptop, clattery and noisy but with very little power or reliability.

For any problem, for every problem Jesus Christ is your answer.

Giants

But the others said, "We can't attack those people; they're way stronger thanwe are." They spread scary rumors among the People of Israel. They said, "We scouted out the land from one end to the other—it's a land that swallows people whole. Everybody we saw was huge. Why, we even saw the Nephilim giants(the Anak giants come from the Nephilim). Alongside them we felt like grasshoppers. And they looked down on us as if we were grasshoppers."(Numbers13:31)

Sometimes our problems look pretty scary. They seem to rise up and grow bigger than we are until... they look like giants and we feel like grasshoppers. I don't know about you but I really dislike that grasshopper feeling. For it means that I'm not in control, that, I don't have a handle onthis situation, and yips... others may know.

There's something about pride that doesn't like reality. For the truth is... if we are living right with God then we will actually feel pretty small at times. We feel small, because we've given up on being something or someone we are not... news flash... we are not giants. We are common, ordinary people that a very unordinary Almighty God got a hold of and is changing.

We are a people with issues. We are a people that are a mess. We've got problems, we are problems, and yet we are forgiven. We are just the type of people that God can use... because through our weakness he demonstrates his glory, his greatness, his mercy, and his great love. So, today maybe the landscape of your life looks pretty ugly. Maybe the giants of fear, anger, selfishness, or greed is looking down at you and ready to knock your teeth in again...

remember... who you are. You are God's kid...not because you are special... but because He is and what God is doing and changing in your life makes you special... makes you royalty! So, don't let the giants get you down. Turn those problems over to God and watch as Christ the giant slayer takes them apart or out of the way and usesthem for your good... and His glory!

When Trouble Comes

God, listen! Listen to my prayer, listen to the pain in my cries. Don't turn your back on me just when I need you so desperately. Pay attention! This is a cry for help! And hurry—this can't wait! (Psalm 102:1 The Message)
Sometimes pain comes. Sometimes trouble comes out of the blue, in an instant, and all without warning. We are stunned, we are overwhelmed, we are shocked and our hearts cry out to God.

Life is not easy nor are the sudden twists and turns it takes us but God is there. God is there for you when you cry out, when you call on his name, when tears are present. But we must cry out, we must call him, we must open our hearts and trust in Him.

Is God real, we might ask? I would counter, has not God proven himself faithful to you? In a time of trouble the balances are set to prove if we believe in God or not. Within us is such a struggle, a struggle of belief, a struggle between doubt and faith, all in times of trouble.

God loves us enough to allow trouble to come. We must grow, we must change and both come during struggle. Trouble is a means to capture our attention and refocus our lives not around the fleeting but to the reality of God.

God loves you and He’s for you. He’s your Heavenly Father and he cares for you deeply, when trouble comes.

A Patriots Thoughts

“For they speak not peace; but they devise deceitful matters against them that are quiet in the land” Psalm 35:20

As with any Patriot of freedom I’m concerned with the direction our country is going. On every hand and seemingly at every turn there is trouble, discord, and disquiet. Deceit is everywhere, on the radio, television, magazine, and published more and more everyday. We live in times of upheaval, fear, and smothered anger.

That’s why months ago I had to disengage. I simply turned off the excessive “noise, noise, noise” to search my heart, to seek the Lord, and to gain perspective.

I learned that I have great need. Not of more information but of righteous information. I learned that progress is often returning to the basics. I learned that I need more of Jesus Christ in my life-more than the entertainment or elements of this world could ever satisfy. I learned that much of the present upheaval is a distraction from my “seeking first the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 6:33) and that such concerns are ultimately set in the plans of the Lord.

Certainly I have obligations as a citizen. Voting is part of this. Obeying the law and paying my taxes are others. A larger and more important part is my attitude-the attitude of my heart. The Bible teaches us to “exhort therefore, that, first of all, supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks, be made for all men: for kings, and for all that are in authority; that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and honesty. For this is good and acceptable in the sight of God our Saviour… that men pray every where, lifting up hold hands, without wrath and doubting” (1 Tim. 2:1-2, 8).

Today, there’s a lot of ‘wrath’ on the airways and much of it is understandable; righteous anger has its place. Yet, I’m concerned as anger can easily turn to hopelessness, despair, and to depression. Unchecked or unbridled anger is not wise (Ecc. 7:9) and does not lead to righteousness (James 1:20).

And so I’m studying to be quiet (1 Thess. 4:11), take care of the business at hand, and live as peacefully as possible. I pray, yet not nearly enough for our leaders and often without thankfulness… I have a ways to go and sometimes I’m overcome with anger but I try and learn from it, grow, and grow up in the Lord.

Looking back

“…forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before. I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus” Philippians 3:13-14

Sometimes we are driving forward while looking in the rearview mirror. We are making some progress but who are we running over in the process; who is our obsession with the past hurting? We are hurting those who love us dearly. We are hurting ourselves…

For the failings, the mistakes, and the pain of the past is only alive when we give it life.

We hold on because: Maybe they are more comfortable there than in the present, maybe the scar never fully healed, or maybe we’ve never forgiven others or ourselves…

The rearview mirror is not a reflection of reality… but a distortion viewed by a child of Christ whose past is washed in the blood of the Lamb, whose history is clear, and who is forgiven…

And though hard to see… our past is not a curse but a blessing. For the experiences of then have helped create the strength of today. Strength shown by compassion, by mercy, by giving, by carefulness, and by longsuffering. Strength to look back and forgive in the given grace of Christ our Lord.

Trust in God

“Who among you fears the LORD? Who obeys the voice of His Servant? Who walks in darkness and has no light? Let him trust in the name of the LORD and rely upon his God.” Isaiah 50:10

Sometimes this walk can get very lonely. At times the path is straight and pretty mundane and at other times filled with switch backs and something kin to excitement or terror. Sometimes, it takes all of our trust just to put one foot in front of another. And at other times God wants us simply to be still and wait on Him, to trust in Him, to lean on Him.

In God’s road of life there are many distractions and many signposts selling their products. There are exits that are only half-truths; flashing lights that give warning and detours that take us on the wrong street and on the other side of the tracks.

With all this then what or who are we to follow or to believe in? Trust in God! Trust in God’s Word!

Make up your mind and your heart that regardless of your circumstances, regardless of how you feel or regardless of how it may be perceived by others that foremost you will trust in God.

That’s a heart decision, a decision of your will, and a sacred trust. It is sacred because-in life-trust in God is all that you might have. And yet, by trusting in Him you possess the map that will lead you to the very heart of God.

Mountains and Trust

“In whose hand are the depths of the earth, the peaks of the mountains are his also. The sea is his, for it was he who made it” (Psalm 95:4-5)

The beauty of the mountains are seen in the high peaks, valleys low, crevices, and scarred ravines. Time and the elements have shaped and defined their grandeur and ruggedness.

They stand open faced towards the creator who shaped them. They run not, they deceive not, they hide not at the forces placed on them. Be that burning sun, cool nights, storms and tempest, or quiet and peaceful mornings; they stand. They trust and melt away at his decree.

We are to stand in the day of struggle and testing. We are not to move or shift or hide. We are not to guard or protect or esteem ourselves highly but rather lowly… rightly, as He sees us, and as He regards us. (Philippians 2:3)

For the creator loves us enough to cause the elements to come against us. They hurt, they scar, they tear away the fragile mask of our deception. The process is ugly, muddy, earthly, and filled with brokenness; our pride is swept away, our nice Christianizes falters and the barrenness of who we truly are comes to light.

We are His creation. We are His work. This that we are, that we see, is His doing. We are but a part of an eternal plan; a thought of mercy, a hope of redemption created before the mountains, before valleys, and before the first morning.