The Road Not Taken

Robert Frost's poem, "The Road Not Taken," end with this famous line: "Two roads diverged in a wood, and I---I took the one less traveled by, And that has made all the difference."  The imagery is clear that deciding against taking the path that most everyone else is choosing became a defining moment.  Everything unique in his life, everything worthy of note came to be because he did not follow the crowd.

His poem resonates truth to us because it reflects the truth revealed by God in Scripture.  Jesus himself said, “Enter through the narrow gate. For wide is the gate and broad is the road that leads to destruction, and many enter through it. But small is the gate and narrow the road that leads to life, and only a few find it" (Mt 7:13-14).

The road with the most foot traffic, though easy enogh to travel, does not pay off in the end, it falls short of reaching the goal of life.  The road most traveled instead insures life is not reached, it destroys the possibliity by thriving on banality and mediocrity.  It is not challenging and does not require we step out in faith or stretch to reach something better.

The road with the most foot traffic facilitates one aspiring to less, reaching out for less, having to settle for less.  And, in the end, having missed the opportunity for real life - the life God aspires for you.  And yet, knowing that he crowd always takes the path of least resistance and therefore of least value, the many still choose it.

We begin early on in life whinning back at our parents when they deny us something saying, "But everybody else is dong it!"  Sound familiar?  We eat at chain restaraunts and frequent the same fast food joints even knowing they are sub par.  It seems clear that we have a herd mentality even while we applaud the individualist and fantasize breaking away from the norm.

Why?  Because, contrary to the calling of God to "live by faith and not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7), we tend to want evidence before we move and seeing all the traffic going one way, we are convinced it is the safest and less difficult path.

The truth is that learning comes through the rigors of study, production comes from hard work and achievement of something great requires risking stepping away from the herd and taking the road less traveled.  Jus' Say'n.

All In

My wife and I attended a leadership class last night at our church.  The jist of the class seemed to be to present the direction the new pastor wanted to go and to get buy in from the lay leaders.  To me, the call of the pastor was for all of us to be "all in" as we set in motion the new direction.

Butt what does it mean to be "all in?"  And, can a group of 20 or so people really be expected to be all in at once?  Well, let me say first what "all in" is not.  It is not all in perfect agreement on everything.  I doubt any two people could be in  total agreement on everything.  Are you and your spouse in total agreement on everything?  Not!  But are you "all in" your relationship together?

When you married, did you not vow to live life as a couple, to be "all in" together as you approached life?  And, even though you know that you don't see eye-to-eye on everything, does that mean that you are not all in?  I can tell you that my wife and I are all in as a couple for life.  But I can equally assure you that we do not always see or agree on everything.  We are both intelligent, driven individuals with strong opinions that do not necessarily align.  But we are in it together regardless.

We choose to walk the same path because we love each other and we love the Lord.  Even when we don't see eye-to-eye, we walk hand-in-hand.  Our being all in is a commitment to muddle through life together, whether we are in full agreement or not.  It isn't always easy and it doesn't always look pretty, but it is a beautiful thing we have together because we are both "all in."

Not every marriage lasts.  Not because the couple couldn't agree on everything, but because there was a lack of commitment on one or both's part.  Someone or perhaps both were no longer, if ever, all in.  Do you remember your wedding vows?  Were they "until debt do we part" or "until disagreement" or "until dis-ease"?  No, you promised "in good times and bad...until death do we part."  That's being all in: commitment.

Our group, last night, was not being asked to commit until death but for the next six months.  At that time we can reevaluate and decide if we need to alter the direction or, indeed, can some even continue in the walk together.  The question is, "Can we agree to be all in for six months?"  If not, can we really continue the journey together?  Do two walk together unless they have agreed to do so?" (Amos 3:3).

I can't say I agree with everything I heard.  But, I can say I will try to be "all in" for the next six months.  The fact that I have some misgivings is not the determining factor on whether it is the right direction, "...for a tree is recognized by its fruit." (Mt 12:33).

In six months, we can check the fruit.  It may not be fully ripe and ready to be picked, but we should be able to tell if it's good fruit or bad.  Jus' Say'n.

Show Me Faith

I originally come from the state of Missouri, the "Show Me State" - a state where the early disciples, like Thomas, would have been right at home: “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (Jn 20:25).  They would have to show him before he would believe them.

Of course, Thomas, known as "doubting Thomas," was not really an anomoly among the disciples, his "show me faith" was the rule, not the exception: "Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen" (Mk 16:14).

Their faith, in the beginning, was really not much different than the unbelievers of their day: "Then some of the Pharisees and teachers of the law said to him, “Teacher, we want to see a sign from you" (Mt 12:38).  This weak, "I need visible proof," kind of faith prompted Jesus to rebuke his own disciples saying, "you have so little faith" (Mt 17:20).

He went on to tell them in that passage, that they could do wondrous things if only they "had faith the size of a mustard seed."  Their, the unbelievers and often our "show me faith" is too enemic to accomplish much.  If we have to have a sign, confirming that we will be successful in fulfilling a word from God, we will never begin or finish much - if indeed anything of value.

Faith, the biblical faith God calls us to, does not require a visual confirmation.  As the writer of Hebrews insists, "Now faith is confidence in what we hope for and assurance about what we do not see" (11:1).  Likewise, Jesus told Thomas, “Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed" (Jn 20:29).

The point is that we have God's Word in the Bible, we have the prompting of the Spirit within and we have the testimony of righteous who have gone before us - can we not believe and have faith to move forward in service and ministry to God without some kind of visible proof?  And if God must show me, is that not knowledge more than faith?  Is it not written, "For we live by faith, not by sight" (2 Cor 5:7)?  Jus' Ask'n.

What is Truth?

Ironically, Governor Pilate asked the rhetoric question, "What is truth?"(Jn 18:38), to the one person who actually knew: Jesus Christ.  But Pilate, like so many people today, didn't believe or want to believe in a one, objective truth.

Truth, to many, is a rather flexible thing, more akin to opinion than fact.  It is more popular to say that truth is relative to one's experience and training.  People insist that "perception is reality" and truth, like beauty, is in the eye of the beholder.  The idea Pilate alluded to and so many today seem to live by is that everyone has his/her own truth.

Yeah, no that simply isn't factual.  Truth is that which, in fact, is reality.  Reality exists regardless of one's perception or acceptance - truth is not a sliding scale but rather the gold standard.  Truth exists, with or without our input or acceptance.  1+1= 2 whether you understand arithmetic or not, whether you agree or not - this truth is not open to negotiation.

We can debate what we believe to be true.  We can debate what we accept as truth.  We can debate how much we think truth matters.  But truth is static, it comes to us from an unchanging and unchangeable Source: "Sanctify them by the truth; your word is truth" (Jn 17:17).  Truth comes from God, man has not the right or the power to change it - try as he may.

The Supreme Court can determine that a baby in the womb has no personhood and therefore not a life to be protected but that does not make it truth.  The Bible is clear in saying of John the Baptist "the baby leaped for joy in his mother's womb" (Jn 1:17) when Mary, pregnant with Jesus, approached.

The Supreme Court can determine that same-sex unions constitute marriage but that does not alter the truth Jesus revealed in saying, “Haven't you read,” he replied, “that at the beginning the Creator 'made them male and female,' and said, 'For this reason a man will leave his father and mother and be united to his wife, and the two will become one flesh?'" (Mt 19:4-5).

While we can form opinions and decide what we want to or will accept as truth, we don't get to create or alter truth.  Truth is what God determines it is.  Our need is not to determine truth but to discover it in the revelation of God as found in His Word whether in the printed pages of the Bible or shouted to us in His creation.

The Lord's challenge is not just for you to decide what you believe to be true.  Instead, you are called on  to "Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth" (2 Tim 2:15).  Jus' Say'n.

Change

Not long after moving to California to  preach in the late 80s, I was at a seminar down in the Silicon Valley.  I went to a local sandwich shop for lunch and noticed a tip jar with sign taped to the outside, which read, "If you are afraid of change, leave it here."

The church where I was preaching was learning and growing and changing at the time, but not without some real resistance.  A very vocal segment of the membership was not on board and even some in the leadership had serious problems with it.  I wouldn't necessarily say they were afraid of it, I think their attitude was a bit like Will Roger's viewpoint on death: "It's not that I'm afraid to die.  It's just that I've been alive for as long as I can remember and I don't like change."

The problem with change is that it is unfamiliar and unpredictable.  It is impossible to say how much different it will look like and what it might lead to in time.  Even for people who are not particularly happy with how things are gong (i.e. church decline) are often not welcoming change (i.e. new growth) as it looks so different that it is unsettling.  Often unhappy people are willing to "deal witth the devil they know rather than face the devil they don't know."

I'm not suggesting that all change is good or that all change is to be accepted.  But I am saying that change happens in any living organism.  If it does not, life come to an end.  The only people  not changing are found in communities know as cemeteries.  If you are doing nothing else, you are growing older.  When you stop dong that, you stop period.

And, growing older comes with change as does all growth.  Some of the aging process is welcome (wisdom) some is not (girth) but change is coming.  But that doesn't mean we are simply pushed along by the forces of change.  We can navigate those changes in ways that are more or less beneficial.

For instance, metabolism slows as we age.  We can continue to eat like we've always eaten and "blossom" as we age.  Or, we could modify the way we eat preventing the middle age spread. Our  mental processes slow down.  So, do we just let the light go out or do we read more, expand our horizons, challenge our precepts?

As churches age, things change as well.  The vibrancy of the beginning gives way to the complacency of the plateau of the managing years, which gives way to the decline of the end.  Churches, like people are born, live and die.  Unless, they are reborn, make a fresh start, speak a new language of a new generation.

Ready or not, willing or not, change will come.  The only question is: Are we going to navigate it or be "like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind" (Js 1:6)?  The sailor doesn't resist the wind, he sets his sail to allow reaching his destination despite the changes in the wind.  As individuals and as church communities, we must do likewise or we will be driven off course by the winds of change and very possibly upon the rocks of our own undoing.  Jus' Say'n.

Broken Jars

As Jesus was nearing the time of his death, he was having supper at the house of a man known as Simon the Leper.  A woman came in and broke open a very expensive jar of perfume, with which she began to anoint Jesus.

His disciples openly rebuked her saying, "Why this waste?  This perfume could have been sold at a high price and the money given to the poor" (Matt 26:8-9).  Jesus, in turn, rebuked them,“Why are you bothering this woman? She has done a beautiful thing to me.  The poor you will always have with you, but you will not always have me.  When she poured this perfume on my body, she did it to prepare me for burial" (vv. 10-12)

This jar of perfume she broke open was not just something she picked up at a local shop on the way over.  It likely represented her savings for the future or, if she were a prostitute, it might well  have been what she had to prepare herself to practice her craft.  In either case, she had broken open a jar that contained her future financial well-being and poured it out on the Messiah.

Her humble and selfless act so moved Jesus that he declared, "wherever this gospel is preached throughout the world, what she has done will also be told, in memory of her" (v. 13).  This was a big deal!  It was big enough that it was ordained to be remembered forever.

Do you think, perhaps then, that there is a lesson in it for us?  Could it be the template for what we are to be doing with our own "treasure in jars of clay..." (2 Cor 4:7)?  Might it suggest that we offer up our best, pour out all we have in service to the King?  Jus' Ask'n.

Thanks Living

Thanksgiving Day is here!  Today Americans will be filling up their bellies and flipping on their tellies.  Our citizenry will be stuffing themselves in the same manner as they've stuffed the traditional turkey, accompanied with enough carbs to put us into a food coma (by the way, it's not the tryptophan, which the body uses to produce serotonin that results in the post-turkey nap - other food contain it as well; it's the combination of so many carbs with the bird).

Nevertheless, carbs and proteins and fats be as they may, in the tradition of our Pilgrim Fathers and according to Presidential Proclamation actually began by George Washington, following a resolution of congress, setting aside Thursday the 28th of November 1789 as a day of "public thanksgiving and prayer."  It is a day for families to come together to celebrate the blessings of God, even in this post-Christian period of our history.  Not everyone will recognize God's hand in our national abundance but many, if not most, still do to one degree or another.

However, there is an ever-growing number of Americans that feel more entitled than blessed.  They feel that food, housing, education, medical care and even cell phones are their right.  As such, rather than thankfulness, they feel denied their fair share of the abundance they see others enjoy.  But, before we point our fingers and cluck our tongues at that subset of our population, we might want to check our thanksgiving factor.

Those who are game-fully employed often grumble at how much taxes are taken for so little return.  Our very system of taxation is set up to encourage us to find ways to pay as little as possible.  And, the more one makes, it seems the more one can get out of paying.  Regardless, it is our very abundance that causes us to be tax-payers.  If we weren't so blessed, we wouldn't be so taxed.  I have to say that it would make it more palatine if our government spending wasn't out of control.

What I am getting to is that, in a country that enjoys a standard of living that cannot even be imagined by mot of the world, we struggle being truly thankful.  And, I believe it is due to the fact that our National Day of Thanksgiving doesn't translate into National Days Thanks Living.  365 days a year, we live in abundance, even the poor among are afforded blessings denied the majority of people living on planet earth.  Yet, so many feel so stressed instead of blessed.

Why?  I believe it is because we are out of focus.  We tend to focus on what we don't have  instead of what we are blessed with.  I grew up poor but I remember my Mother teaching us to "count your many blessings."  She would say there are others who would love to trade with us.  She taught Jesus' truth that "The eye is the lamp of the body.  If the eyes are healthy, your whole body will be full of light" (Mt 6:22).

In other words, if we focus on good things, we will fill blessed and, in turn, we will have a healthy attitude toward life and the Giver of Life.  We will begin to "give thanks in all circumstances" (1 Thess 5:18).  We will be Thanks Living as we continually thank God, living daily trusting him instead of feeling frustrated at what other do or not do.  Jus' Say'n.

Watching

In Matthew 24, we read of Jesus instructing his disciples not to pay attention to all the claims of the end, that not even the angels in heaven or He himself knew the time.  Concluding his warning, Jesus says, "Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come" (v. 42).

Keep watch, what exactly does that mean?  Are we to spend our days gazing into the sky, looking for the clouds to part and the Lord to descend?  Are we to suspend what is referred to in the medical community as ADLs (activities of daily living)?  Are we not to concern ourselves with the things at hand as we go about watching for the Lord's return?

Although many have suggested such.  Some have cut themselves off from the rest of society in order to keep watch and be ready for the end.  Some have sold everything, dressed up in white robes and simply waited for His return. But is that what Jesus was telling his disciples to do?  Not.

We know it is not because Jesus painted a picture of how it looks: "Two men will be in the field; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding with a hand mill; one will be taken and the other left" (vv. 40-41).  The righteous, along with the unrighteous will be going about their normals daily lives - even though they are to be watching.

Jesus even spells it out in terms of daily activities: “Who then is the faithful and wise servant, whom the master has put in charge of the servants in his household to give them their food at the proper time?  It will be good for that servant whose master finds him doing so when he returns" (vv. 45-46)

So, what is this watching?  Watching, for the Christian, is to live with a view of the Lord's return - to be serving Christ in his/her daily life by doing good, honoring God and seeing to the needs of others as we await our Lord's return.  Far from idly watching for His return, we are to be about our Master's business, ensuring everything is in readiness for his return.  Jus' Say'n.

Just Words

We say things like "words are cheap," "it's only words" or "sticks and stones may break my bones but words will never harm me."  We imply that words have no power, no substance, no weight - that it is actions, not words that matter.

But then we have Jesus saying, "Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will never pass away." (Matt 24:35).  No weight?  No substance?  No power?  No way!  After the earth has passed away, after the sun and moon and stars are no more, his words remain.  There is nothing in all the universe with more substance.

Yeah, but those are the words of the Son of God, our words cannot compare, our words are only expressions of lowly humans, they have limited power and a very limited shelf-life.  Really?  Do you remember any words spoken to you as a child?  I do.  I can remember helpful and hurtful words spoken decades ago, words that still impact my life.

Moses told the Israelites, "These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up" (Deut 6:6-7).  Why?  To impact generations to come after themselves by their words.

David, the Psalmist, proclaimed, "I will sing of the Lord's great love forever; with my mouth I will make your faithfulness known through all generations" (Ps 89:1).  He believed his words would reverberate, impacting people to the end of time.  And, millennia later, they still are.

Word encourage, they discourage.  Words cause wars and words can bring peace.  Words can heal a broken heart or heal a broken spirit.  The pen truly is "mightier than the sword."  And, it cuts both ways, "Those who consider themselves religious and yet do not keep a tight rein on their tongues deceive themselves, and their religion is worthless" (Js 1:26).  Words not only impact others, they impact ourselves.

Their not just idle words, they are expressions of intent, belief, warning, encouragement, trust and an endless reserve of other meanings, capable  of producing enormous outcomes or preventing forward motion.  So then, "be quick to listen, slow to speak" (Js 1:19).  Jus' Say'n - ever so slowly.

Not A Hair

When Jesus warned his disciples about the persecution they would face, he laid out a most interesting dichotomy:  "You will be betrayed even by parents, brothers and sisters, relatives and friends, and they will put some of you to death.  They will hate you because of me.  But not a hair of your head will perish" (Lk 21:16-18).

Betrayed, hated and put to death, but not a hair on their heads will perish.  Of course, I can't help thinking of the old "Happy Days" sitcom character, "The Fonz," who famously would say, "Hey, don't touch the hair!"  The meaning, however, goes much deeper than That.  The loss of a single hair is no loss at all.  The fact that not one hair would perish is to say that they would not perish in the least, regardless of what happens to life and limb.

The very worst that the world could do to them (and to us as disciples) cannot diminish their standing before God.  And, our standing before God as children is life for, "He is not the God of the dead, but of the living, for to him all are alive" (Lk 20:38).  He is (not was) "the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob" (v. 37).  And though they have passed from this life centuries ago, they have not perished, they are not dead.

With all the terrible and even horrific killings perpetuated by the lunatic, fanatical Islamicists today, it is vitally important that we understand this truth: they can bring our living in this world to an end, they cannot end out lives, they cannot even take away a single hair, even if they should cut our heads off.  They are powerless to ultimately harm us.

Jesus put it this way: "I tell you, my friends, do not be afraid of those who kill the body and after that can do no more.  Indeed, the very hairs of your head are all numbered.  (Lk 12:4,7a).  Remember, "not a hair of your head will perish"?  That is because God has numbered each one and he will gather each one, restoring you completely in the Resurrection (this should be particularly good news to many of us men who have been steadily loosing hair throughout the years).

So, what are we to fear?  No one and nothing except God: "But I will show you whom you should fear: Fear him who, after your body has been killed, has authority to throw you into hell. Yes, I tell you, fear him" (Lk 12:5).  And, if we are his children, there is nothing to fear in God for "There is no fear in love. But perfect love drives out fear, because fear has to do with punishment. The one who fears is not made perfect in love" (1 Jn 4:18).  Jus' Say'n.

The Impossible Possible

After a certain ruler turned away from Jesus when he was told he needed to sell his possessions, give the money to the poor and then come follow him, Jesus said, “How hard it is for the rich to enter the kingdom of God! [25] Indeed, it is easier for a camel to go through the eye of a needle than for someone who is rich to enter the kingdom of God" (Lk 18:24-25).

Over the centuries since, scholars have been debating the meaning of that statement, suggesting that he really didn't have in mind the eye of a needle as you and I would understand it for that would be impossible.  They take the part of the statement saying "how hard it is" and suggest that it referred to an entrance way into a barn requiring camels to strain getting low enough to pass under it.

There was such a thing and it was difficult for a camel to pass under, but certainly possible.  So, that could not be what Jesus had in mind for he clear said as he amplified how hard it was by saying, it is impossible.  How hard was it?  Too hard for any man to accomplish.  So, who then can enter the kingdom?  Nobody!  Nobody?  Nobody!  With man it is impossible!

However, Jesus went on to say “What is impossible with man is possible with God" (v. 27).  No more than a camel can pass through the eye of a needle can a man pass through the gates of heaven.  But a camel can be passed through the eye of a needle if the camel dies and is transformed.  How do you think camel hair coats are made?  Seriously?  Seriously!

Humans cannot pass through the gates of heaven unless they die (to self) and are transformed.  The apostle Paul spells this out in Romans 12:1-2, where he tells us that we must become living sacrifices (die to self) and be transformed (new and different) in order to experience God's good will.  Jesus himself affirmed this point to his disciples, "Very truly I tell you, no one can see the kingdom of God unless they are born again" (Jn 3:3).

The impossible with man is possible with God.  We have no hope in securing heaven but God opens the gates to us through the power of the cross - the power of the Spirit release by the sacrifice of the Christ.  We can experience the impossible made possible by grace in accepting Jesus Christ as Lord.  Jus' Say'n.

The Last Hour

In Matthew 20:1-16, we read a parable Jesus told about a landowner who hired workers at different times of the day and when evening came, he paid them all the same wage, which, by the way, was the amount each one had agreed to upon hiring.

The workers who had been there from the beginning of the day to the end were indignant saying, "These who were hired last worked only one hour, and you have made them equal to us who have borne the burden of the work and the heat of the day" (v. 12).  To which the landowner replied, "I am not being unfair to you, friend. Didn't you agree to work for a denarius?....Don't I have the right to do what I want with my own money? Or are you envious because I am generous?' (vv. 13-15).

The obvious take away from this parable is that God will accept us regardless to when in life we come to him.  Whether we give our lives to him when we are very young, serving him for decades, or come to him very late in life, he accepts us and blesses us in the same way.

However, there is a subtext of extreme important that is often overlooked in  the discussion: The workers actually entered into the field, they actually spent whatever time left in service to the owner.  The meaning so  often overlooked is that coming to the Lord, at whatever stage in life, means accepting him as Lord for the rest of your life.

No one came and stood in the line, Jesus talked about, who did not work in the field.  Coming at the last hour of the day doesn't mean waiting for the line to form to jump in at the last moment to receive a blessing from the One you never served.  Coming at the last hour means you've actually turned to the Lord in belief, which will alter the way you think, talk and live.

Can one make a death-bed confession of Jesus and be saved?  I believe so, but it has to be real.  It cannot be just a profession of a belief in Christ for "even the demons believe that--and shudder" (Js 2:19).  It must be the outpouring of a true faith in the Lord, entrusting your life and offering yourself to him.  If that has happened, a turning away from a life of sin to a life of service, then whatever life you have left is his and so are you.  Jus' Say'n.

What One Thing?

A certain man came up to Jesus and asked, “Teacher, what good thing must I do to get eternal life?" (Mt 19:16).  Jesus told him to keep the commandments of God, to which the man replied, "All these I have kept....What do I still lack?” (v. 20).   Jesus answered, “If you want to be perfect, go, sell your possessions and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven. Then come, follow me" (v. 21).

The man went away very sad because he was very wealthy.  Jesus had struck at his core problem, that one thing that would prevent him from having treasure in heaven: not his wealth but his love of money.  He could have used his wealth to bless the poor and, in so doing, make deposits of real treasure in heaven.  But his attachment to his money would not allow him to detach from his wealth to take hold of kingdom riches.

The man's "One Thing" was not something that was so evident as the external keeping of he commandments.  It was inside his very being - a trust in material things instead of faith in the Living God.  In truth, he was breaking the First Commandment, "You shall have no other gods before me" (Ex 20:30).   He worshipped money above God.

His trust, his faith and his very hope of life resided in the amount of money he possessed.  He could not follow Jesus if it meant giving away the very core of his being, the source of his well-being, that in which he placed his trust - money.

The one thing we need to do is to “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind" (Matt 22:37).  The simple fact is, "You cannot serve both God and money" (Matt 6:24).  We have to make a choice as to whether we will trust in the riches God promises or trust in the riches of this world.  Jus' Say'n.

   

Last Days

Just yesterday, another individual was confidently affirming that the Bible clearly predicted these are the last days.  The implication was that the end would be coming very soon.  Perhaps so, but the Bible is anything but clear on the time of the last days.

Just this morning, in my devotional reading time, the words of the Lord spoke clearly in the opposite direction: "I tell you, on that night two people will be in one bed; one will be taken and the other left. Two women will be grinding grain together; one will be taken and the other left" (Lk 17:34-35).

Did you notice that neither the ones left behind nor the ones taken up in glory had any notion that the end had come?  Both the just and the unjust were going about normal daily activities when the end came.

The simple truth is that Jesus is very firm in saying that no one will be able to figure out the time of the end in advance: “But about that day or hour no one knows, not even the angels in heaven, nor the Son, but only the Father" (Matt 24:36).  Unless, of course, one believes he/she has more insight than the angels and the Lord Jesus Christ, none on earth will know when the end will come.

So, if we don't know when the end will be coming, how will we know when to get ready?  I can tell you that.  Get ready now.  Yesterday would have been even better.  Don't wait for tomorrow: "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: (Js 4:14).  Yeah, tomorrow might be too late.

Today, right now, is the time to get ready and stay ready.  This is precisely what Jesus says in light of the fact that we do not know when he will come, we are simply to be prepared always.  “Therefore keep watch, because you do not know on what day your Lord will come" (Matt 24:42).

So, are you?  Are you ready for the Lord to come?  Jus' Ask'n.

Thomas Doubting

You've no doubt heard of Doubting Thomas, the disciple of Jesus, who infamously said, “Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe" (Jn 20:25).  He was the one disciple that lacked faith, the one whose commitment to the Lord was obviously not up to par with the others.  Right?  Not!

To begin with, the others did not believe that Jesus had risen from the dead until they encountered the Risen Lord: "Later Jesus appeared to the Eleven as they were eating; he rebuked them for their lack of faith and their stubborn refusal to believe those who had seen him after he had risen" (Mk 16:14).  Thomas was not singular in his struggle to believe, he was just late to the party: "Now Thomas (also known as Didymus ), one of the Twelve, was not with the disciples when Jesus came" (Jn 20:24).

Thomas' doubting was not a reflection of his weakness of character but a statement of both his and the rest of the disciples' lack of understanding regarding Jesus' role as Messiah.  They had in mind a victorious establishment of a kingdom, not a cruel death on a cross.  They had a hard time wrapping their minds around the thought Jesus would actually die, "Jesus began to explain to his disciples that he must go to Jerusalem and...that he must be killed and on the third day be raised to life.  Peter took him aside and began to rebuke him. 'Never, Lord!' he said. 'This shall never happen to you!'" (Matt 16:21-22).

Thomas' understanding of the Messianic Role was thin, but his commitment to Christ and his trust in him was anything but.  Thomas' devotion and belief in the person of Jesus Christ was actually quite remarkable.  Not understanding why Jesus must "go to Jerusalem and die," Thomas, nevertheless encouraged the other disciples, when Jesus declared he was returning to Jerusalem, "Then Thomas (also known as Didymus ) said to the rest of the disciples, “Let us also go, that we may die with him" (Jn 11:16).

Thomas doubting did show a misunderstanding of biblical prophecy, it may have displayed a weakness of faith, but it did not display a weakness of character or lack of commitment to Jesus.  He wa doing the best he could with with he had.

Perhaps you have a struggle from time to time with your faith, not understanding why things happen the way they do or that death must rule in the life of even Christians.  Perhaps you find yourself doubting your faith and wondering the reality of what you believe.  Take heart, you are in good company.  For even the Doubting Thomas turned out to be a pillar of faith and an example for us all.  Jus' Say'n.

The Prodigal and The Prideful

In Luke 15:11ff., Jesus tells the familiar story of the Prodigal Son.  This son, not caring about his father's wishes, demands his inheritance in advance so he can leave to chart his own course.  Receiving his money, he sets out on a course of "wine, women and son," so to speak, and winds up in ruin.

Coming to his senses and having no money left and no other place to turn, he returns to his father's house with a broken and humble spirit, asking only to be allowed the place of a hired hand in order to begin paying his inheritance back, as impossible as that would be.  Nonetheless, he felt he deserved nothing, not even room and board.

The father, representing our Father in Heaven, accepts him back, rejecting the notion of repayment or allowing his son to be a hired hand, welcomes him back with all the honor and privilege of a son, including a robe, a ring, new sandals and a welcome home banquet complete with the center piece of a fatted calf (reserved for very special occasions).  Everyone rejoices!

Well, not everyone.  The older brother, who had stayed and worked all that time the other played, squandering his inheritance, refused to come to the banquet his father was hosting, refused to honor his father or respect his wishes because of his hurt pride: "Look! All these years I’ve been slaving for you and never disobeyed your orders. Yet you never gave me even a young goat so I could celebrate with my friends. But when this son of yours who has squandered your property with prostitutes comes home, you kill the fattened calf for him!" (vv. 29-30).

Now, in the same vein of his younger brother whom he despised, the older brother pridefully treats his father with the same contempt.  Although he stayed behind and worked while the Prodigal played, it wasn't out of a sense of love for his father, it was out of a sense of self-importance and expectation of special reward.  Like his brother who demanded his inheritance, he believed his father owed him special treatment and reward.

Both the Prodigal and the Prideful sons failed, both needed to repent and change their ways, and especially their attitude toward the Father from whom everything they had came.  Neither were owed anything, both were blessed because their father loved them.

Our Father in Heaven does not owe us anything either.  Whether we have been "God-fearing church-goers" all our lives or lived a worldly and wasteful life up to now, every blessing we have is a gift from God, not a right, not something earned: "For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith---and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God---not by works, so that no one can boast" (Eph 2:8-9).  Jus' Say'n.

Mustard Seeds

Jesus once described the kingdom of God, which grows within us, by the way (cf. Lk 17:21), by saying, "It is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his garden. It grew and became a tree, and the birds perched in its branches" (Lk 13:19).

This mustard seed, which was regarded as "the smallest of seeds" (Matt 13:32a), grew to be a plant that was seen as "the largest in the garden" (Matt 13:32b).  I have read that some have grown so large that a man on horseback could hide behind them.

It would seem then, that if one had the smallest amount of kingdom faith, that he would, in time, have a "mountain-moving kind of faith."  In fact, that is what Jesus said in Matthew 17:20, "Truly I tell you, if you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mountain, ‘Move from here to there,’ and it will move."

So, why work on something like  faith development?  If a mustard seed faith is that great, why concern ourselves with its growth?  Because, like the mustard seed, faith that is not growing is dead. James says, "As the body without the spirit is dead, so faith without deeds is dead" (2:26).

A mustard seed in your hand or lying on a rock, has no vitality - it is dead until it germinates.  It must be planted and watered in order to become a living, growing thing, which produces an abundance of harvest.  It may also require some cultivation, some digging around it, removing weeds and providing nutrient for the soil.

Do you recall what Jesus said about a seed's viability?  Listen to the Master, "Very truly I tell you, unless a kernel of wheat falls to the ground and dies, it remains only a single seed. But if it dies, it produces many seeds" (Jn 12:24).

It's good to have mustard seed (tiny) faith, but don't be satisfied with it, don't keep your seed on the shelf.  Take it down and plant it, water it, cultivate it.  Put your faith to work by stepping out in ministry.  Cultivate it by study of the word, prayer and serving.  Plant your mustard seed faith and develop it until it becomes a tree that provides a blessing for many like the mustard tree and the birds Jesus spoke of in Scripture.   Jus' Say'n.

Light Eyes

Jesus said, "Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness" (Lk 11:34).  So, when our eyes are focused properly (healthy), we see the good (light) that God brings into our lives.  But, when our eyes are improperly focused (unhealthy), we see the bad (darkness) that happens to be around us as well.

At any given moment, there are good things happening in our lives - just the fact that we liven in the US guarantees blessings that most of the world can only dream about.  Think about it: Do you have a roof over your head?  Food on the table?  Shoes on your feet?  The fact that you are reading this tells me that you are in the top 10% of the world's wealthy.  "Me?"  Yes, you!

You may be experiencing a financial setback but 90% of the world would trade places with you in a heartbeat.  Your circumstances may not be ideal, but to the rest of the world, there are ideal parts of your life that make it a dream come true.

Regardless of what bad things you may be dealing with, there are good things you are experiencing at the very same time. You have eyes to read this blog.  You own or have access to a computer, IPad or smart phone.  You have the freedom to browse the Web.  You have opportunities to change your life.  You have people who care for you.  God loves you!  You have so much light in your world, if only you will focus upon it instead of the evil that presents itself.

Paul said, "Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable---if anything is excellent or praiseworthy---think about such things" (Phil 4:8).  The point is: Let your eyes function in a healthy way by looking around at the things of light in your world instead of allowing yourself to focus on the darkness.

You get to choose whether your life will be filled with light or darkness, whether you will feel blessed or cursed.  Your circumstances may not change, but you will.  You get to decide whether your spirit is light or dark.  What do you choose?  Jus' Ask'n.

The Good Shepherd and His Sheep

In the Gospel of John, chapter 10 verses 1 through 16, Jesus identifies himself as the Good Shepherd, the one who knows his sheep and is known by them compared to the Thief, who sneaks in or the Wolf who attacks the flock (similar to Peter's Lion that devours in 1 Pet 5:8).

The Shepherd, Jesus tells us, knows his sheep and they know him.  This is shown by the fact that when he calls to them, they recognize his voice and come to him.  This truth speaks to the fact that there is a relationship between the sheep and the Shepherd.

The sheep aren't just livestock that the Shepherd has purchased and then are left to roam the countryside, foraging for themselves and finding their own way.  The Shepherd and the sheep spend time together.  The sheep become comfortable with him, learn to trust him, become familiar with his voice and follow when he calls to them.

This reminds me a bit of my Air Force TI (training instructor) in basic.  Wherever my flight (group of 50 trainees) might be, he was nearby.  When it was time for us to go somewhere else, he would call out for us and we would immediately head in his direction.  Even though there were other flights in the area with other TI's calling for them, we recognized his call and went to hm.

How was this possible with all the different TI's calling out from different locations, sometimes even quite close together?  We knew his voice because we spent time together daily.  His "bark" (more sounds than words) was clear and distinct from the others because we had a relationship that allowed us to quickly and clearly identity him.

When we spend time with Jesus, the Good Shepherd, daily in prayer and devotion, we come to know his voice quickly and clearly as well.  When the voices in our heads are clamoring to get us to follow down a path of sin, we know those voices aren't the Good Shepherd's.  We don't have to guess when the Deceiver calls us, we know it is not our Shepherd's voice, not because we are familiar with the Devil but because we are intimately familiar with the Shepherd.

If I walk into a crowded room with people talking and laughing, I can tell you immediately if one of them is my wife or not.  I don't need to know any of the other voices, I just know hers and whether I'm hearing it or not.  If I see a woman from across the room with her back to me, I may not be able to tell you who it is but I can tell you if it is my wife or not.  I know her shape, her stance, the way she holds her head.  Why?  We have that intimate relationship in which we spend time together daily and I know her as she knows me.

Followers of Jesus know him in the same way; spending daily, intimate time with the Shepherd in prayer and devotion.  They read his Word regularly, listen for his voice above the din of so many clamoring to get their attention.  Despite all the noise and distraction of the Evil One in this world, disciples can clearly hear Jesus' call and follow him, not because they are church-goers or religious, but because they are in a relationship.  He is their Shepherd and they are His sheep.

What about you?  Do you know His voice?  Are you spending time with him daily?  Are you in an intimate relationship with Jesus?  Jus' Ask'n.

This One Thing

In John chapter 9, we read the story of the man born blind, who was healed by Jesus one Sabbath Day.  This Sabbath Day work of healing set off the religious leaders and they had the man brought before them, questioning him on who healed him and insisting he disavowed any claim Jesus had to the divine.

The man's response to their accusations against Jesus and their insitance to him taking a stand was very straight forward, "...this one thing I know, I was blind and now I see" (v. 25).  While later he would see Jesus and bow before him in worship, at this point he had not seen him nor had any idea as to what to say about him other than what he knew Jesus had done for him.

Many, as Christtians, hold back sharing their faith because they lack biblical knowledge, don't have a ready supply off Bible verses and facts at their fingertips, haven't worked out all the biblical questions.  Some hold back thinking they simply don't know enough to  begin sharing their faith with others.

And yet, like the blind man, do we not all know what Jesus has done for us.  Don't all have a "This I know" story to share?  Don't you know what your life was like and where it was heading before you accepted Him?  Can't you share what Jesus has done for you?

I know that before I accepted Christ, before I was buried with him in baptism, I felt under the weight of judgment and my life lacked purpose.  Now I feel free and my life is filled with purpose.  Others I have know were drug addicts, criminals and the like before coming to Jesus.

Rather then worry about telling the Gospel with precision and a systematic approach in sharing Bible facts,, why not begin by just sharing your story of what Christ as done for you?  You could begin by saying, "I don't know a lot of Scripture and I haven't got all this theology worked out, but this one thing I know, I was lost and now I am found.  ...I had no vision and now I see my future.  ...I was a prisoner to my passions and now I am free.

Don't fret over not being able to tell people things you don't know about biblical facts or spiritual truth, just tell them what God has done for you, what you believe regardless of how simple it is. You may not understand Jesus' claim on deity, but you know what Jesus means to you.  You may not have a multi-point presentation of the Gospel but you can state with confidence, "This one thing I know..."

Often times I'm asked what do I know for sure.  My response is always the same, "I know God loves me anyway."  Most of the time that is met with a head nod in agreement but sometimes it leads to more conversation about my faith and our God.  All of us can begin with what we know, even if it can be summed up with "This one thing I know."  Jus' Say'n.

Jesus Alone

Peter, James and John went up on a mountain top with Jesus "And there appeared before them Elijah and Moses, who were talking with Jesus. Peter said to Jesus, 'Rabbi, it is good for us to be here. Let us put up three shelters---one for you, one for Moses and one for Elijah.'  Then a cloud appeared and covered them, and a voice came from the cloud: 'This is my Son, whom I love. Listen to him!'" (Mk 9:4, 5, 7).

Three impressive figures, two of them had been dead for centuries, yet there they were.  No wonder Peter was stumbling over himself to show them reverence.  But Peter's adoration was misplaced, Jesus was not one of many, not even one of three.  Jesus is God's Son, not his servant like the others.  It was not to the Giver of the Law nor the Proclaimer of Prophecies that the disciples were to listen, it was to The Son of God, declared the Father on High.

It wasn't that Moses and Elijah weren't important figures in God's plan of redemption.  Quite the contrary, they were giants among men, but they were just that: men.  Each had a part to play and a season in which to serve, but they were only men, they could not save.  Only God's Son, Jesus alone, was to be worshipped, "For in Christ all the fullness of the Deity lives in bodily form" (Col 2::9).

Not Moses, not Elijah, not Muhammad, not Buddha, not Krishna, not anyone else that you have ever heard of or can imagine apart from Jesus, for "Salvation is found in no one else, for there is no other name under heaven given to mankind by which we must be saved" (Acts 4:12).

Am I being narrow-minded or prejudice?  No, I am being factual.  If I say to you that I have one son, whose name is Will, am I being narrow-minded?  Am I being prejudice against all the other young men who are not my son?  No, I am being factual!  I have but one son, his name is Will.  That simply is a fact.

The Father is very clear - He has only one Son: "For God so loved the world that he sent his one and only Son..." (Jn 3:16).  There is no other,  that is simply a fact.  Some may want to claim another, you may want to be inclusive of their faith, but you cannot change the fact that God has but one Son and we are called to listen to Jesus alone.  Jus' Witnessin'.

Why Me?

Recently I sat in a three-person meeting with the Director of the Arkansas Veterans Administration.  Today I am flying to Washington D.C. to attend a a seminar on Veteran Community Partnerships, paid for by the National Hospice and Palliative Care Organization.  Friday I will be representing Arkansas Hospice at the Governor's Proclamation on Hospice and Palliative Care.  I was even asked to write an article for the magazine, Inviting Arkansas, regarding Arkansas Hospice's, Level Four, "We Honor Vets" program.

So, why me?  Who am I to be allowed, much less invited, to be an integral part of something so important as setting the standard of treatment for our veterans who are facing terminal illness?  Aren't there more qualified, more connected, better educated individuals?  No doubt.  So, why me?  I don't know.

I know how my journey into this hub of activity began and the steps along the way that brought me to where I am, but I surely don't know why God allowed it to be me.  I just know that He did.  For reasons that are His alone, God presented me with the opportunity to be a part of something terribly important.  I'm not rich or powerful or particularly important, but I am a part of something that is invaluable and game changing and very important.  Why?  It doesn't matter.

Truly.  Why me is of no concern.  That I have been chosen to serve and that I do faithfully serve is very important.  Whether I feel I am the best for the job or even up to the job is not relevant.  What is relevant is that God has called me to the work at this time, and that I am faithful in honoring Him by serving a segment of our population that deserves our respect and needs our support.

The Lord doesn't necessarily call the equipped, but he will always equip the called.  If you look at the called from Moses to Peter, the common thread was their difficulty in accepting the fact that they should be called.  They were right in thinking they did not deserve it but wrong to think that God didn't know what he was doing.

The proper attitude to take is that of Isaiah, who believing, "...I am a man of unclean lips, and I live among a people of unclean lip..." (Isa 1:5), nonetheless opened his heart to the Lord saying, "Here I am, send me: (v. 8).  Here I am, such as I am, willing to go and do what you call and send me to do.

Do turn away from an opportunity to do something God honoring just because you don't think you are the best qualified or that you are qualified at all.  Stand up, step up and serve to your best ability, allowing God to equip you and supply what you may be lacking.  When God calls, don't get bogged down wondering "Why me?"  Even if you don't have Nike shoes, "Just Do It!"  Jus' Say'n.

Dogs?

If the PC Police were around in Jesus' day, their heads would have exploded the day he was approached by the Syrophoenician woman, asking him to cast a demon out of her child, and he put her off saying, “First let the children eat all they want, for it is not right to take the children's bread and toss it to the dogs" (Mk 7:27).

"Dogs?  Did we just hear you call that woman's child a dog?" the spinning heads of the PC Police would be yelling in disbelief!  "Racist, bigot, Syrophoenicianphobe!" and any number of other pejoratives would have been hurled at him as their spinning heads reached overload, replicating Mt St Helen.

They would have done so because they would not have understood where Jesus was coming from or where he was going in his ministry.  PC Police are rarely seeking to understand, just bring people into compliance with their vision of polite and acceptable wording and labels.

Jesus' response was parabolic, meant to draw on word pictures - a simple illustration meant to convey a shared meaning. For those open to learn, parables can be quite revealing.  He talked about the understood priority of taking care of your children before taking care of others.  The term "dog" is to highlight the importance of your responsibility to your children, not to diminish others.

The apostle Paul would later emphasize this familial responsibility in saying, "Anyone who does not provide for their relatives, and especially for their own household, has denied the faith and is worse than an unbeliever" (1 Tim 5:8).  Biblically,  there is a strong emphasis on prioritizing family firstt.

That doesn't mean you don't care for or help out others, it simply means you do not neglect your children in helping others, that you see to you own first and then others.  The language is strong for emphasis sake just as when Jesus said, “If anyone comes to me and does not hate father and mother, wife and children, brothers and sisters---yes, even their own life---such a person cannot be my disciple" (Lk 14:26).  We are to put Jesus first, which means choosing him over family at times.

The priority of Christ is seen clearly in Acts 1:8 when the disciples are given their marching orders: "...you will be my witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." So, PC Police, superglue your heads back together, Jesus isn't bigoted, he is prioritized and he calls us to be as well: "Therefore, as we have opportunity, let us do good to all people, especially to those who belong to the family of believers" (Gal 6:10).  Jus' Say'n.

Turning Point

While teaching in a synagogue in Capernaum, Jesus proclaimed himself to be the bread of life that comes down out from heaven and that it was only those drawn by the Father who would eat this bread, this bread that was his flesh.  His teaching got real to his disciples, that he was laying claim to deity, that he was the Source of life, that embracing him was all consuming - an all or nothing proposition (cf. Jn 6:25ff).

On hearing his words, his disciples said, "This is a hard teaching, who can accept it?" (v. 60).  Some could not or would not and, "From this time many of his disciples turned back and no longer followed him" (v. 66).  As a side note, I find it interesting that this place in Scripture of disciples turning away from Jesus, John is 6:66 is the same as the mark of the Beast that John reveals in Revelation 13:18.

Getting back to the point, when this turning point was reached by the disciples, Jesus asked the Twelve if they too were turning back, to which Peter replied, “Lord, to whom shall we go? You have the words of eternal life" (v. 68).  At this turning point, some turned away, others tuned in realizing that there was no other way, there was no other option, that Jesus alone was "the holy One of God" (v. 69).

At some point, Jesus' claim on your life will get real, it will blow past all the religious ritual and jargon and list of things to do or not do.  At some point, Jesus' claim will be seen in it's totality, which is total and complete.  His claim on your life is not something you can wear on Sunday or practice at particular times throughout the week.  His claim in on your whole life.  He is not a way, or an assist in our effort to find our way home, Jesus is "the way, the truth and the life.  No man comes to the Father except through [him]" (14:6).

At some point, we come to realize that following Jesus is not something that we do, it is the thing that we do.  Everything else has to be brought into alignment with that walk or left behind entirely.  Unless, we were to decide that following Jesus is more than we bargained for.  In that case, these words of Jesus become our turning point: "...those of you who do not give up everything you have cannot be my disciples" (Lk 14:33).

Perhaps you've already reached that point and you have decided to follow Jesus no matter what.  Praise God!  Perhaps you've decided to strike out on your own (I hope you will reconsider because, on your own, you will strike out).  Perhaps you are not quite there or are just reaching that point.  If so, I implore you to listen to Peter's words again, "Lord, to whom shall we go?  You have the words of life."  Jus' Say'n.

Consider How You Listen

Jesus told his disciples that they were like lamps.  Lamps, he reminded them were not placed under cover but placed out where they could be seen. And in this analogy, he was suggesting that, as such, they had been placed so that they would be seen, not that they needed to make themselves seen: "For there is nothing hidden that will not be disclosed, and nothing concealed that will not be known or brought out into the open. Therefore consider carefully how you listen..." (Lk 8:17-18).

He was clearly saying that their lives would be seen, that their words and deeds would be witnessed.  Therefore, he warned them to "consider carefully how they listened."  Curious, no?  You will be seen so be careful how you listen instead of what you do or say?  What could this mean?

For one thing, he is affirming that we will be receiving conflicting messages, some messages will resonate with the truth our our place as lamps and some messages denying that truth.  Along with the Lord's encouragement that we are made to shine as lights in the world, the enemy comes along saying that we are dim bulbs that no one pays attention to, that our light is not going to make a difference - what we do won't really matter.  Have you heard that voice?

The voices will  continue, either affirming or denying our purpose and our worth.  The Voice of Truth will affirm our role as a light in darkness, while the voice of the enemy will deny that and insist that our life is our own, that we can do and say what we want.  "It's my life, I can do what I want.  I'm not hurting anyone else."  Really?  No one depends on you for direction or support or encouragement?

The Voice of Truth tells us that we live legacies, that everything we do or say registers somewhere, with someone.  The Lord warns us to be careful how we listen.  Do not listen to the false voices that suggest our life is something of individual concern, no one will be observing, no one will depend on the light you were meant to provide.  Those voices lie!  Be careful how you listen.  Lean in and listen to the Voice of Truth, understand how important your example is.  Jus' Say'n.

Unmarked Graves

Years ago, my brother and I went out to our family cemetery, where my mother and another brother were buried.  When we got there, it took some doing to find their graves as the weeds and saplings had grown up and obscured all the markers.  Years later, a new owner of the land encompassing our cemetery, cleared off that spot, removing all the grave markers.  The result was the same, one could not tell where a grave was or was not.

If you went out to that site, you could just as easily be walking on top of a grave as not.  Without the markers in place and clearly visible, all the land looks the same.  Responding to some Pharisees, he knew to by hypocrites, Jesus said, "Woe to you, because you are like unmarked graves, which people walk over without knowing it" (Lk 11:44).

The thing about a hypocrite is that he/she is intentionally not clearly marked to be an unbeliever.  He/she might look and act like a responsible religious leader but on the inside a scheming, conniving sinner, filled with self-pride and disregard for others.  They/we could appear to have a living faith but in reality be filled with a decayed corpse of a faith.

In our small group meeting last night, we talked about the need of truly following James' instructions "confess your sins one to another so that you might be healed..." (5:16a).  Although we didn't use this imagery last night, we were talking about clearing away the weeds and setting up clear markers of the sins each of us struggles with, being able to open up to each other, fully self-revealing so that we can pray for and encourage each other to overcome not be overcome by our sins.

We would all agree that those old Pharisees had problems with openness and honesty.  They were hypocrites.  But I wonder if we don't bear a resemblance, if we aren't, in some ways, like unmarked graves?  I'm not judging, just inquiring.  You don't need to attempt to clear the weeds and set up marker in other's lives either.  What we all need to do is to take some moral and spiritual inventory of ourselves, particularly in a small group setting so that we can confess to and pray for each other, "...for the prayers of a righteous man (one who opens his/her heart before the Lord and others) avails much" (Js 5:16b).  Jus' Say'n.

Bright Eyes

When someone is depressed, it is normally projected by what is called a "sad affect."  There face looks sad and, in particular, their eyes look dull.  I have never encountered a depressed person with bright eyes, eye upon which light dances.

The dullness comes from a diminished feeling of hope, a loss of the adventurous spirit, an inability to see wonder and excitement.  The eyes are dimmed by the darkness they see in the world around them, in their personal circumstances, in their daily grind.  Light cannot dance as it is absorbed in the black hole of the depressed spirit.

Too often the patients I see have these dull eyes, framed by a sad affect.  My hope is to help bring some light into them, to inspire a feeling of hope, to awaken the spirit of adventure, pointing out a reason for wonder.

I try to share with each of my patients the vision of Christ - a vision that dismisses the darkness and embraces the light:"Your eye is the lamp of your body. When your eyes are healthy, your whole body also is full of light. But when they are unhealthy, your body also is full of darkness. See to it, then, that the light within you is not darkness. Therefore, if your whole body is full of light, and no part of it dark, it will be just as full of light as when a lamp shines its light on you" (Lk 11:34-36).

Our Lord tells us that light and darkness abound in the world around us.  We get to choose which we focus our eyes on.  If we focus on the good (light) things, our whole being is brightened.  If we focus on the dark (bad) things, our whole being is dampened.  We get to choose what we fill our spirit with and therefore whether we have bright eyes or a sad affect, whether we have a spirit that rejoices or retreats.

My mother used to say, "If you think you have it bad, just look around.  You'll find others who have it so much worse."  She was trying to help us internalize the message of the hymn "Count Your Many Blessings."  There are always blessings to count, just as there are losses to tally.  Which we choose to focus on and thereby set the tone of our lives, is up to us.

The apostle Paul urged us, "Rejoice always and again, I will say rejoice!" (Phil 4:4).  Abraham Lincoln, in agreement with Paul said, "A man will be just about as happy as he determines to be."  Jesus said to open our eyes to the wonder of God about us - choose to have bright eyes.  He reminds us that truly "This is the day the Lord has made, rejoice and be glad in it!" (Ps 118:24).  Jus' Say'n.

Sins vs Symptoms

The brother of Jesus instructs and encourages us saying, "Therefore confess your sins to each other and pray for each other so that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person is powerful and effective" (Js 5:16).

The instruction is to confess our sins and pray for each other.  The encouragement is that we will be healed and that we, sinners, are therefore righteous.  Not righteous because we have walked sinlessly but because we have sought the healing of the Sinless One: "If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just and will forgive us our sins and purify us from all unrighteousness" (1 Jn 1:9).

The power we find in confession is indeed great and the ensuing cleansing is amazing.  It is moving to hear someone confess, seeking the healing of the Lord.  But when we witness a Christian, confessing from their heart something they have done, they are rarely revealing a sin, but only a symptom.

I'm not suggesting that the individual is not sincere or that God is not touched by the outpouring of the disciple's heart.  What I am saying is that I wonder if that child of God received healing from a sin for which there was not full awareness.  I am not judging, just wondering.

Let me explain.  If one were to confess taking an extra piece of pie, knowing that each person was only to take one - what was confessed?  In that confession, what would be exposed to be healed?  Nothing!  A symptom was revealed and that could be treated by paying for the extra piece or replacing it.  But, the sin that was only hinted at may continue unabated.

Think with me: Was the piece taken because the individual as greedy?  Was it gluttony?  Was it a faith issue, not trusting God to provide later?  Beneath the obvious symptom, what was the brokenness needing mending so that healing could occur?

If one has headaches, that is not his/her illness - that is the symptom.  Treating the headaches brings some temporary relief but the sickness, the tumor or the ruptured blood vessel or the infection continues to work beneath the surface.  The headaches will return and, in time, death may occur because only the symptom was relieved while the sickness remained.

This is the value of not just confessing, but of confessing "one to another."  If we just own up to what we did, that is good but not particularly healing.  If we confess in a relational way, where we can talk about what is going on, where the struggle is coming from and why it has such a hold on us - then we can begin to focus and pray for the deeper need, the foundation upon which the symptom arises.  Then, healing can happen as we lay this inner, unseen struggle before the Great Physician.  Jus' Say'n.

The Son and The Sabbath

In Jesus' days on earth, the religious leadership had taken the fourth commandment to rest on the Sabbath and created extreme restrictions that would not allow a paralytic, who had just been healed to carry his mat home: "Then Jesus said to him, 'Get up! Pick up your mat and walk.'  At once the man was cured; he picked up his mat and walked. The day on which this took place was a Sabbath, and so the Jewish leaders said to the man who had been healed, 'It is the Sabbath; the law forbids you to carry your mat'" (Jn 5:8-10).

In their extra-biblical code of laws, they put restrictions on even how far you could go for a walk on the Sabbath.  The limit was 1,000 feet.  If your elderly parents lived 1,001 feet away, you'd have to pass on checking on them that day.  If you felt like going to a favorite spot down by the creek, which was a 1/4 mile away in order to pray and commune with God by yourself, forget about it - not allowed!

The religious leadership was very serious about these rules.  Jesus, on the other hand, didn't seem to buy in to them: "One Sabbath Jesus was going through the grain fields, and as his disciples walked along, they began to pick some heads of grain. The Pharisees said to him, 'Look, why are they doing what is unlawful on the Sabbath?'" (Mk 2:23-24).

Jesus and his disciples were disregarding one and maybe two of their rules.  I can't say for sure they were walking more than 1,000 ft but the context of "going through the grain fields" seems to indicate they were.  But, when they took the picked the heads of grain, they were harvesting, according to the rules.  And if they rolled the heads to release the chaff before eating, they were winnowing.  They were working on the Sabbath, according to the religious leaders.

After giving them a history lesson on how King David and his men ate the consecrated bread when they were hungry, Jesus said to them, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mk 2:27).  In other words, God made the Sabbath to provide a time of rest and devotion, not a time of restriction and denial.  Man was not made to observe the Sabbath, the Sabbath was made to serve man.  And, their rules enslaved man instead of enriching him as God intended.

As we interpret God's Word and decide how to apply it, one sure step in the process is to consider how God intended it to benefit man.  If our rule only binds and restricts us, we probably should take another look, for the Bible plainly says, "It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery" (Gal 5:1).  Jus' Say'n.

Sick Folk

When you begin to look closely at a church, you start noticing that the people who make it up are not quite as righteous as you might have thought.  You find that they have attitudes, that they don't always have the best motives, that many of them lack abundant faith, that they look suspiciously human, that some are downright hypocrites.

When you begin to look closely at a church, chances are you are going to be disappointed with much of what you see.  You are going to be disappointed with how many are in need of change, with how many need an infusion of faith, with how many are so infected with worldly thinking, with how many are spiritually sick folk, in need of healing.

You begin to wonder, "Are these people really called by Jesus?"  These people look so much like what I see in society around me, can they really be the Church?  Can these emotionally, spiritually, financially, relationally sick people really be who Jesus had in mind calling together to establish kingdom?

The religious leaders and the Pharisees wondered the same thing when they saw Jesus socializing "with tax collectors and sinners" (Mk 2:16) and questioned the disciples on his fellowship choices. Jesus, on hearing what they said, did not dispute their qualification of the crowd he ate with, instead he said, “It is not the healthy who need a doctor, but the sick. I have not come to call the righteous, but sinners" (17).

The church is not meant to be a gathering place of the religiously elite, a sort of spiritual social club.  The church is rather to be a hospital for the spiritually sick and the religiously in-firmed, a place where they can come for help, a place where wounds are bound and sick folk are invited to seek healing.  All of us, by the way, are in need of healing, "No one is righteous, not even one" (Rom 3:10).  I may be further along in the healing process, but I am not healed.  Neither are you.

The answer to our infirmities is not to withdraw from other sick people in some sort of spiritual isolation room, separating ourselves from those who are obviously more sick then we, but rather to  engage with each other, openly talk about our weaknesses and our spiritual brokenness, "Confessing our sins to each other and praying for each other so that we might be healed" (Js 5:16a)

Oh, by the way, those directed to pray for each other so they might be healed are promised that "the prayers of a righteous man are powerful and effective" (16b).  The righteous?  Aren't the sick confessing and praying for each other?  Who are the righteous?  The righteous ones are the sick folk who know they are sick and seek healing from the Lord.  We aren't perfect, just forgiven.

The sick folk are us.  We all stand in need of healing.  We all "sin and fall short of the glory of God" (Rom 6:23).  We all need to be praying for one another so that we might be overcoming our sin condition by the grace of God, who assigns us righteousness based on His Son's perfection, not ours.  Jus' Say'n.

Unbelieving Belief

A certain man's son was demon possessed and often went into fits of seizure.  The disciples tried to heal him but were unable.  When Jesus came on the scene, the boy's father recounted the disciples' failed attempts and then said, "'But if you can do anything, take pity on us and help us. [to which Jesus replied] 'If you can?  Everything is possible for one who believes.'Immediately the boy’s father exclaimed, 'I do believe; help me overcome my unbelief!'" (Mk 922-24).

Sound familiar?  Not necessarily the text but the dichotomy of faith - that in between place we so often stand, believing and doubting at the same time.  We believe God is and that he is able to do anything but we doubt that he really will.  Perhaps you have prayed like a certain woman asked God to remove a dead tree from her back yard.  The next morning, looking out her back window, seeing the tree, exclaimed, "Still there, just like I thought!"

Really?  Her doubt laced prayer wasn't answered?  Imagine that.  Better yet, listen to the Lord's warning about that: "But when you ask, you must believe and not doubt....That person should not expect to receive anything from the Lord" (Js 1:6-7).  Do we not often find ourselves in that same position?  We pray for someone to live and then set about to make funeral preparations.  We ask God to keep our old jalopy running until we can afford another one and then trade it in upside down, making payments that break the bank.  We pray for rain but grab an umbrella on the way out.

Is it just me?  Am I the only one who turns things over to God and then tries to micro-manage the outcome?  Is is just my faith that needs a "shot in the arm?"  No, to one degree or another, we all share this "dis - ease."  But do we have to accept that weakness of spirit?  Can we not ask in faith and step out trusting the Father to grant our request, even when it is not yet evident how he will answer?

Can we not say no to the paralysis of doubt and yes to the launching pad of faith, even though we struggle with fully embracing God's power and participation in our lives?  Can we not also ask, "Lord I do believe; help me with my unbelief?"  Can we not admit our weakness while leaning in for strength?  Yes we can!  We can take our unbelieving belief, lay it openly at our Father's feet and like the boy's dad in the story above, God can bless our exercise of a weak faith.

If you think about it, how do you address weak muscles?  Do you wait until they are strong enough before you begin to use them?  Do you wait until your legs are back to 100% before you trust them enough to attempt walking on them?  NO!  We use them, testing them, trying them, building them up to the point where we freely use them.  Faith too must be exercised.  We must take our unbelieving belief and begin to exercise it so that it might grow to an unstoppable faith that fears not but trusts fully in God's power to save.  Jus' Say'n.

Questions

It is interesting to listen in on a conversation, where both parties are trying hard to get their points across but are hardly tyring to listen to the other.  Over speak, wherein each try to talk over the other as they try to continue advancing their ideas without having to consider what the other has to say, is a fairly common phenomenon.

At the end of a presentation by someone who is an expert on the subject, when questions are solicited, even though you know everyone did not get everything being said - silence, no one ventures to ask for illumination.  And then one hand goes up, not to truly ask a question but to demonstrate his/her knowledge on the subject queries, "Dont you think that...?"

In an effort not to appear foolish or ignorant, we often insure that we remain ignorant by our foolish reluctance to ask questions.  In stark contrast, Jesus, of whom the Bible says "grew in wisdom and stature, and in favor with God and man" (Lk 2:52), when left behind at the temple, was later found "sitting among the teachers, listening to them and asking them questions" (Lk 2:42).

Here we have 12 year-old, God incarnate Jesus, the source of wisdom and knowledge, asking questions.  Of course, in human form, he needed to grow and develop, but how many almost-thirteen year-old are in to asking questions?  Do you remember when your kids were becoming teens?  Do you remember when you were that age?  We knew so much more than our parents at that age, what could anyone over 30 have to share with us?

But Jesus, who actually was developing well beyond his years, knew enough to ask questions and quietly listen to his elders.  When he was questioned by them, because he did listen and learn, "Everyone who heard him was amazed at his understanding and his answers" (Lk 2:47).

When I began my journey of formal religious and theological education, I was quick to answer when a professor asked a question.  I had all the answers.  By the time I was working   on my doctorate, I had discovered that I had almost no answers and was eager to ask questions.  At the completion of my formal studies, I walked away with more questions than I had answers.  I had finally learned enough to know how little I actually knew.

I'm not saying that I go dumber (more ignorant) as I advanced in my studies.  What I am saying is that I learned to sit dumber (less talkative) as I listened to what was being said and asked question at the end of lectures to insure I had a grasp of what was being shared in order to pursue further study on the subject.

If couples actually asked questions and then listened closely to the answer instead of formulating a rebuttal, their would be so much less divorce.  If politicians would come to the table, ready to hear the other side before coming to a decision, they would have so much more bi-partisan bills moving forward.  If church members asked questions, listened intently for the answer before adding to the discussion, like our Lord Jesus, would grow in wisdom and stature.

Any questions?  Jus' Ask'n.

Seeing Everything

When someone sees something that is incredible, amazing, shocking or beyond the pale, so to speak, it is common to hear them say, "Now I've seen everything!"  Of course, they haven't seen everything, their ability to accept what they have seen has simply been stretched to the limits of credulity.

There are some exceptions, however.  God, for instance, has seen everything: "Nothing in all creation is hidden from God's sight. Everything is uncovered and laid bare before the eyes of him to whom we must give account" (Heb 4:13).  That would be something that we should keep in mind the next time we're about to do something thinking, "No one will ever know."

Of course, you're not surprised to hear that God has seen everything, that should go without saying that the Creator of all things has seen everything.  But there is another, a regular Joe like you or me, referred to in the Bible as simply, "a man named Simeon."  This nondescript individual, incredible as it may seem, actually saw everything.

And when he did, finally see everything, said what many have said, tongue in cheek, when they have witnessed something really awesome, "Now I can die happy."  He didn't say it in exactly those words and he wasn't overstating his case employing hyperbole.  He did see everything and he could now die happy: “Sovereign Lord, as you have promised, you may now dismiss your servant in peace. For my eyes have seen your salvation, which you have prepared in the sight of all nations" (Lk 2:29-31).

Simeon was there when Mary and Joseph presented the baby Jesus at the temple.  His eyes bore witness to what the Spirit had promised him and that for which all of creation had been waiting, the Coming Christ, God incarnate.  Simeon saw the One "Through [whom] all things were made; without [whom] nothing was made that has been made" (Jn 1:3).  Simeon saw everything.

The Bible is very clear that in seeing and accepting Jesus we have everything, while refusing to do so leaves us with nothing for he is "the way, the truth and the life [and] no one comes to the Father without [him]" (Jn 14:6).

Have you seen Jesus?  Have you accepted him?  Jus' Ask'n.

Leaving Room For Mystery

I am a left-brain, linear thinking, 1-2-3, abc, Missouri show me, kind of guy.  Theologically, I was molded from the 19th Century Restoration Movement, which is often referred to as Campbellism after the leading thinker of the movement, Mr Left Brain himself, Alexander Campbell, who was famous for his capacity to logically work through difficult texts and systematically present biblical doctrine and theology.

I have spent my entire adult life seeking to be a thorough-going biblicist, who "correctly handles the Word of Truth" (2 Tim 2:15).  My religious and theological training extends through college, graduate school and seminary, earning enough degrees to become a thermometer.  My left brain went on an  educational journey of a lifetime.

For a time, I knew everything.  I was the answer man.  If you had a question, I probably had an answer.  If I didn't, just give me a few day to search through my 1,000+ volume personal library and I would uncover the answer, deducing it with laser-focused, left-brain accuracy.  Yes indeed, I had all the answers - Not!

I had all the conclusions my doctoral training could conjure up, but, in actuality, I had only begun to scratch the surface of biblical, divine truth.  The problem with me or anyone fully knowing and understanding divine truth is  “...my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,” declares the Lord. “As the heavens are higher than the earth, so are my ways higher than your ways and my thoughts than your thoughts" (Is 55:8-9).

God's thoughts and his ways are a mystery to be revealed to us, not simply by study alone but require revelation: "The person without the Spirit...cannot understand them because they are discerned only through the Spirit" (1 Cor 2:14).  Despite our best academic efforts, "The secret things belong to the Lord our God, but the things revealed belong to us..." (Deut 29:29).

So, I don't and won't fully understand the nature of God.  I don't understand why everything is the way it is or even what way everything is.  There are some things that I accept just because God said it.  Somethings I don't understand at all.  Sometimes, I just scratch my head and to pursue the topic further just makes my brain hurt.  Some things are just a mystery.  And that is OK for God is not one I am capable of fully deciphering.  I have no choice but to leave room in my theological and religious constructs for the mystery of the Almighty.  Jus' Say'n.

No Way? Yahweh!

There was a cartoon of Jesus talking to his disciples, telling them of their Divine calling to which they replied, "No way!"  And then Jesus responded, "Yahweh!"  While I don't usually like jokes involving Jesus or the Father, this one is really spot on theologically.  The disciples incredulous, "This can't be done!" is being me with Jesus' affirmation, "Yes in God it can!"  Luke 18:27, "Jesus replied, 'What is impossible with man is possible with God.'"

I was reading from Luke 1 this morning, where Zechariah the priest was being informed by the angel Gabriel that his wife, Elizabeth, would have a son and Zechariah's incredulous response was, “How can I be sure of this? I am an old man and my wife is well along in years" (vs. 18).  The angel's response was definitive: “I am Gabriel. I stand in the presence of God, and I have been sent to speak to you and to tell you this good news" (vs. 19).

How can I be sure?  God said it!  And as the Lord himself says, "...my word that goes out from my mouth: It will not return to me empty, but will accomplish what I desire and achieve the purpose for which I sent it" (Isa 55:11).  There us to be a bumper sticker that read, "God said it, I believe it, that settles it."  I would shorten that slogan to simply, "God said, that settles it."  As we see with Zechariah, it doesn't matter if we believe it or not, God's affirmations are firm and will happen.

So, when God promises, "But seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Mt 6:33),  why do you "...worry about your life, what you will eat or drink; or about your body, what you will wear. (vs. 25)?  Why don't you relax about tomorrow and rejoice in the comfort of God's promises?

As you look at your circumstances, you may be saying to yourself, "This is impossible, there is no way I can do this!"  And you may be right about your ability.  With you there may be no way, but then there is Yahweh!  With God, impossible is not a barrier.  The only barrier to his blessings in your life is your unwillingness or inability to "believe and receive" for "...whatever you ask for in prayer, believe that you have received it, and it will be yours" (Mk 11:24).

No way?  Not even close!  Yahweh?  Absolutely!  Jus' Say'n.

Doing The Math

We had our weekend all planned out.  We were going to lower our new portable shed by 6 inches, build a ramp for our motorcycles and wire the out building with receptacles and a light.  With these things completed we could then move our bikes to the shed and finally get my car into our garage.

It was a perfect plan, except for one thing, we didn't do the math.  We decided how big a ramp we wanted and what we wanted wired inside the shed, went to Lowes with our card that had a credit on  it to cover the costs of materials, which we purchased and returned ready to tackle the job.

With the help of a friend who knew how to build a ramp, we decided to get the ramp out of the way first.  However, the first leg of our journey to completing the the shed project, was the last leg we were standing on at the end of the weekend when we collapsed in defeat.  The ramp, which had been laid out by our friend and brought to a point that we could finish it on our own, ran into a snag or two (including burning the motor out of a table saw) but was completed to the dimensions we had decided would be adequate.  Again, however, we didn't do the math.

With the ramp complete, we were ready to take our bikes inside.  Tandie suggested I take mine in first since I she hadn't taken a bike up a ramp in a while, so off I went.  It was smooth sailing until I high-centered on the entrance way due to fact that - What?  Right, I didn't do the math.  Due to the length of my wheel base and the distance of the lowest part of my frame to thee ground, it seemed our ramp was probably about two feet too short to allow clearance.  It was a loud and sudden stop inside the doorway.

The ironic thing about this is that my wife, Tandie, is taking college algebra and knows how to figure slope ratios to allow the needed clearance.  Of course, it would have helped if I had asked her to do the math before I jumped in to build the ramp.  It would have helped if I had spent some time praying and thinking about it before tackling it as I might have been reminded of my Lord's warning to do the math in Luke 14:28, “Suppose one of you wants to build a tower. Won't you first sit down and estimate the cost to see if you have enough money to complete it?

Of course, He wasn't talking about ramps and slopes in particular, he was using an analogy warning us to add up the cost of commitment required to be His disciple before taking that step - do the math. Ha I applied his analogy to my project, I could have spared us a weekend on a project that came to such a disappointing end.  Now, as we do the math, it is looking like it might be be more cost effective to hire someone who  does this kind of thing for a living than spend another weekend tearing up the one we built and trying to build another one.

Sorry Lord, you  warned me to do the math, had supplied me with an algebra-equipped mind but I failed to listen and do the math.  Oh, did I mention I am fighting the urge to jump in and try it again?  How does that even add up?  Will I multiply my losses with another run at it or divide my agony by hiring a professional?  WWJD?  Well, as a carpenter by trade and God of the universe, he would do it right.  What would he have me do?  I believe it would be to use the gifts he has given me, one of which is not ramp-building.  And don't even get me started on possibilities of angst if I were to try to wire this shed.

So, what's the takeaway?  Listen to Jesus.  Whatever you are about to do, take some time to prayerfully and carefully consider the cost.  Do the math before making a mess.  Jus' Say'n.

A Man Like Me

When Nehemiah, who had been given permission and provisions to rebuild the wall of Jerusalem by the king of Persia, had completed the task all but setting the massive gate, he was warned by Shemaiah to go with him and lock themselves in the Temple because men were coming by night to kill him.

His response was epic: "Should a man like me run away? Or should someone like me go into the temple to save his life? I will not go!” (Neh 6:11).  Nehemiah knew the entire time he was building the wall that his life was at risk.  He also knew that Shemaiah was not prophesying for the Lord but for the money he had been paid by Sandballat and Tobiah, who were dead set against the wall being completed.

Regardless of the threat and the traitorous acts of some within his ranks, Nehemiah would not be derailed because he had a one-track mind: The mind of God.  He knew that he was doing the work God had set in his heart and he would not stop the work, even at the threat of his life.  His personal safety was not to be compared with his sacred duty.

That's what he meant when he said, "Shall a man like me run away."  He was not commenting on his status or stature or strength but rather on his servant status before the Living God.  He was saying, in effect, "Shall a man serving God Almighty, turn away from that service and run for cover or safety at the threat of man?"

Should anyone, who is a child of God, doing the work of God turn back because others don't like what he/she is doing?  Should we, as Christians, back off doing what we know to be God's will because discouraging or threatening rebukes from others?  Should we allow our personal safety or financial security determine the degree of our commitment to God?

The answer is a firm and resounding no! “'My righteous one will live by faith. And I take no pleasure in the one who shrinks back.'  But we do not belong to those who shrink back and are destroyed, but to those who have faith and are saved" (Heb 10:38-39).  As Christians, we do not need to test the winds of public opinion or even the threat level to decide what course we should take, rather, we are to "seek first his kingdom and his righteousness, and all these things will be given to you as well" (Mt 6:33).  Jus' Say'n.

The Fathers Face

Too many years ago to remember, I came across the story of a young husband who lost his wife, leaving him with a small boy to raise on his own.  The night after his wife and the boy's mother was laid to rest, the little boy wanted to sleep with his father.

As they lay in the darkness, the child, unable to sleep asked, "Daddy?"  His father responded, "Yes son?"  "Daddy, is your face toward me?"  Through his tears, the young widower replied, "Yes son, my face is toward you.  Why do you ask?"  The reply he heard in the darkness was, "I think I will be OK as long as your face is toward me."

Do you remember those days when just knowing your parents were looking out for you, paying attention to what was going on around you, ready to step in and protect you or provide for your needs?  Do you remember how safe you felt, how worry free?

What if we knew that The Father's face was toward us, that he stood ready to protect and provide.  What if we knew that saw every hurt, heard every cry, knew every danger and was already working out our deliverance, already sending a blessing, already moving to act on our behalf?  What if we really believed that God's face was toward us?

Let me share some Good News: The Father's face is absolutely toward us!  "For the eyes of the Lord are on the righteous and his ears are attentive to their prayer, but the face of the Lord is against those who do evil" (1 Pet 3:12).  His eyes are watching over us and his ears are listening for our cries, ready to rush to our side, providing and protecting his children.

Of course, this isn't good news for those who do evil, who take advantage of the weak or ignore the needy.  God is fully aware of those individuals as well, only he turns his face away from them, allowing them to reap the evil they are sowing (Gal 6:7).

But for those of us who turn away from evil, seeking the Father's face, there grace and mercy and love abound - there the Father's face is toward us and his hands uphold us and he "will never leave us as orphans" (Jn 14:18) but always stand by us, watching over us.  Jus' Say'n.