Being Thankful

COMMENTS

There are so many things to be thankful for—all the time.  To me, Thanksgiving is one of our country’s best holidays!  However, with all the focus on Christmas these days, Thanksgiving has almost become a “non-holiday”.  Let’s forget about Christmas shopping and decorations for a little while and just be thankful to our God—most of all for who He is, but also for all He’s done.  He is worthy of our praise!!!

NOTES

As I was being “thankful” this morning, God brought this song to my mind.  It’s a simple song, an old song—easily overlooked—but pay attention to the words.  This is my Thanksgiving offering to Him:

“Praise God from Whom all blessings flow;

Praise Him, all creatures here below;

Praise Him above, ye heavenly host;

Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.”

--Thomas Ken, Awake, My Soul, and With the Sun, 1674

Lord, I praise you!

Hope In An Evil World

COMMENTS

This world is evil.  Things happen that shouldn’t happen.  Wickedness, dysfunction, and unkindness seem to be rampant.  It weighs on my heart, a burden that is too heavy to bear.  I know—evil is always here; but sometimes, it hits in an unexpected manner or from many different directions and reminds me once again:  This world is evil.

NOTES

Then, God speaks to me—again, the Always-Faithful One—and He reminds me that He has provided for me, even in this circumstance:

“His divine power has given us everything we need for life and godliness through our knowledge of Him who called us by His own glory and goodness.  Through these He has given us His very great and precious promises, so that through them you may participate in the divine nature and escape the corruption in the world caused by evil desires.”  (2 Peter 1:3-4)

This is such a rich passage—complicated yet simple.  God, in His power, glory, and goodness, provided a way for me to ESCAPE the corruption in the world. 

Escape.  The word implies captivity.  Evil desires imprison us.  Sometimes, we’re the one doing the hurting.  Sometimes, we’re the one who’s hurt—either directly or because someone we care about has been hurt.  It’s an easy thing for us to focus on the hurt we feel.  Unfortunately, it’s just as easy for us to excuse the hurt we cause.  Either way, the consequences of those evil desires play havoc with our lives and with our world.

Yet, God doesn’t leave us in that helpless and hopeless state.  Rather than dwelling on the sentiments expressed in the previous paragraph, I go back to the one before that.  GOD, IN HIS POWER, GLORY, AND GOODNESS, PROVIDED A WAY FOR ME TO ESCAPE THE CORRUPTION IN THE WORLD!  As I know Him more and more, as I respond to His call, and as I receive and witness the fulfillment of His promises, I "participate in [His} divine nature and escape the corruption in the world”.  My own evil desires are replaced with the desire to be like Him, and the pain I experience as a result of the evil desires of others is covered with His healing oil. 

I wish I could tell you that I only have to do that once, but that would be a lie.  Just as a physical injury takes time to heal, these spiritual and emotional injuries usually take time.  Just as I repeatedly bandage a physical injury until it heals, I must repeatedly apply the 2 Peter 1:3-4 bandage to these wounds. 

We can hold on to the hope of His eternal kingdom, a kingdom of love and peace.  But while we’re still on this earth, He doesn’t leave us in despair.  As Daniel in the lion’s den, we can have hope and peace, even as Satan roars around us.  All this happens as we look past the circumstances and focus on HIM.

When I do that, the burden eases; and I am at peace.

Who Am I...Really?

COMMENTS

Human beings are pretty complex.  Different people can meet the same person under different circumstances and come away with completely different ideas about what he or she is really like.  Even when the same two people are interacting, sometimes one (or both) of them will be “different” than they usually are.  I’m talking about what we would consider basic personality traits—kind, mean, considerate, selfish, grumpy, etc.  It made me ask the question that would ultimately come to anyone’s mind:  Who am I…really? 

NOTES

I was thinking of a couple of people that I met and interacted with for a while.  One had some personality traits that could be—I hate to say it—annoying.  That one was a bit “high maintenance”.  The other was undemanding and, in general, easier to deal with.  That’s what you noticed at first glance; but when their circumstances were stressful, what you saw was different.  In that place, the high-maintenance one was unselfish and loving.  The easy-going one was actually difficult and, at times, unkind.

Who were they, really?  Do stress and age and difficulty change who we are?  Or do they reveal who we are?  Do we mask the “real” person with the opposite—the “who we want to be”—until stress takes over?  Or are we actually both persons?  If I am, indeed, both, how do I ensure that the desirable one is the one revealed in my old age or in those difficult times?  The thought is frightening.  I want to be loving, kind, considerate, and unselfish.  Will I be that?  Or will I be demanding and self-absorbed?

They say that the real you is exposed when you’re at the end of your rope.  I’m starting to believe that, if I’m different in those circumstances, it’s not the “real” me that’s revealed but the “other” me.  The fallen me is that demanding and self-absorbed person; but the redeemed me is like Him:  loving, kind, considerate, and unselfish.

The question is not “Who am I, really?”  The question is whether I will, in the power of the Spirit, exhibit the identity I have in Him.  If I will do that, I need not fear showing who I am.

Does It Matter What I Believe?

COMMENTS

What do I believe?  Is it even important and, in the long run, does it really matter?  The answer is both yes and no.

NOTES

Those questions came to me this morning as I was praising God the Creator, the Maker of everything that exists.  My thoughts went to the debate over creation.  There are those who believe that the earth and everything in it was created in a literal six days.  There are those who believe that all of this was created by a big bang.  There are those who have different opinions that range somewhere between the two extremes.

For me, and this will horrify those who are more scientific and more intelligent than I, the exact “how” of creation doesn’t matter.  The bottom line for me is that GOD did the creating.  Did He do it in a literal six days?  Great.  Did each of those “days” in Genesis represent an age or some period of time?  Great.  Genesis 1 tells us, “And God said….”  Did God speak, and His voice create a “big bang”?  (I can believe that God’s voice could have that effect!)  Great.  My belief that God is the Only and Ultimate Creator is unshakeable.  Nothing that science can prove can shake that belief.  Because to me, it doesn’t matter HOW He did it; it only matters THAT He did it.

(And to rest the minds of those who are horrified, I do believe that God created man, CREATED him, not evolved him!)

So, as I pondered these things this morning, my mind went to the questions asked in the Comments section above:  does it matter what I believe?

Yes, what I believe matters to me and, really, to those who are influenced by me.  It is important that my life and words are truth and not deception.

No, what I believe doesn’t change reality.  Truth is truth, whether I believe it or not.

Somehow, I find that comforting.  Truth is truth.  I cannot in any way change it.  Truth is a solid, unshakeable foundation.  My commission, then, is to search for it, to find it, and to believe it.  That’s what matters.  And where do I search?  Truth is not a thing or a concept.  Truth is a person.  God is Truth.  I find truth when I find Him.

Enlightened Hope

COMMENTS

How’s everything going in your life right now?  Is it “smooth sailing”?  I know some folks who are in “rough seas”.  Close relationships are strained; and as a result, the skies are dark and the waters stormy.  I’ve prayed a lot for them—and like everyone in my shoes, I wish I could do something tangible to help.

NOTES

Then, God speaks.  He gives direction to my prayers and tells me to speak hope into those lives.  Hope—that sometimes elusive element that completely changes one’s perspective.

“I pray that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which He has called you, the riches of His glorious inheritance in His holy people.”  --Ephesians 1:18

When we’re in a dark place in our lives, there can be no better prayer than the one that pleads for enlightenment.  Satan inhabits the darkness, but darkness cannot exist in the presence of the Holy One, for He IS light!  And what does that Light reveal?  According to this verse, it reveals hope!  Whatever the darkness, His child is not stuck there because God’s light brings hope—hope for reconciliation, hope for healing, hope for an answer to the problem, hope, hope, hope!

The words following Paul’s statement about hope are very interesting.  The way I read it (once again, I remind you that I’m no theologian), hope is a golden nugget; it is a “glorious inheritance” to us, His holy people.  It is, indeed, a glorious thing to be able to have hope in the midst of a dark world or dark circumstances.  With hope, we are not left to drown in the stormy seas, for our Lord throws us a life raft.  All we have to do is trust Him and climb aboard.  He will take us to that quiet place where joy and peace and hope prevail.

As we experience the hope our Lord gives, we feel encouraged; and we are strengthened:

“but those who hope in the Lord will renew their strength.  They will soar on wings like eagles; they will run and not grow weary, they will walk and not be faint.”  --Isaiah 40:31

Finally, even though hope makes us feel better, there is an even higher purpose—God’s glory revealed to those around us:

“But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord.  Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have.”  --1 Peter 3:15

This verse assumes two things:  that you HAVE hope and that it SHOWS in your life and conversation.

Hope—a gift from God, an inheritance for His people, a source of encouragement and strength, and a beacon to those lost in a dark world!