Danger! Danger Will Robinson!

"I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do."    Romans 7:15


     We all do things that we rather wish we hadn't.  I don't think we really want to do bad things.  We kind of just do them.   Usually we had good intentions but then things just went wrong.  If we could always do what was right, we would not need the guidance and direction provided by the Holy Spirit.   
      I think that my personal image of the Holy Spirit is kind of like the robot from the old television series "Lost in Space."   I didn't see the movie so if there was a robot in it, I'm not talking about that one.  Remember the famous line that the robot used to say at some point during each and every episode.... "Danger! Danger Will Robinson!"  The robot was like the voice that informed Will that danger / trouble was nearby and allowed him the opportunity to avoid the said danger /trouble.   Funny thing is.... it was Dr. Smith's robot.   I don't ever remember the robot saying "Danger! Danger! Dr. Smith"  the robot only ever warned Will about the danger.    
       Now I am not trying to say that the Holy Spirit only warns one of us... that would not be true at all.   But if we are willing to listen to that still small voice inside of us, the Holy Spirit uses it to warn us of the dangers / troubles around us.  We all get ourselves into binds.  It's human nature.  We can't avoid it.  We try.   But we often do (as Paul said) "that which we hate to do".   We need that reigning in, that awareness that the Holy Spirit gives us when we have done something wrong.   
        Thinking about the television series "Lost in Space" vs the movie.  I really liked the show.  I skipped the movie.  I have found that the remakes are often not nearly as good as the original.   Don't you think that is true in life.   We are made in God's image.  God is perfect, He is great, unimaginably awesome, and yet here we are.... we are surely not perfect.  We are nowhere near as good as God is.... kind of like we are the remake... I'm only saying...
It's got to make you wonder...
       Dear Lord,  thanks for providing direction, guidance, and conscience.  Thanks for filling us with Your Spirit and being there to let us know that we screwed up, and for not just dumping us when we do.  Thanks for the little warning signs that you give us daily as we break from that which we should be doing.   And please help us to stay on course, to keep on the path... to do Your will and not our own....Thanks.

Are You Doubting Thomas Thomas?

"He replied, "If you have faith as small as a mustard seed, you can say to this mulberry tree, 'Be uprooted and planted in the sea,' and it will obey you."    Luke 17:6


     I was thinking about the guy referred to as "Doubting Thomas".   The bible says that when the Disciples told Thomas of their visit by the resurrected Christ, he did not believe it possible.  The bible says that Thomas insisted that he would not believe it to be true until he had seen Christ's wounds himself.   Soon Jesus visited Thomas and showed his scars.  Thomas saw them and then believed.   
     Jesus had scars.  Those scars are what made the difference to Thomas.  Being given new life did not remove Jesus' scars.  The scars remained so that the one who needed to actually "see" them could see them and believe.   Jesus said that it would be much better to have believed without having to see, but He still shows Thomas the scars so that he would believe.
    We are not so very different.   Each of us bear scars.  All very different, but yet all somewhat the same.  I have mentioned the song many times that goes "There's no such thing as perfect people, there's no such thing as a perfect life..."  We all have scars.   Things from our past that God has healed but that we will always carry with us.   God uses the pains from our past to make a difference in the lives of those whom we know.  It might be family or friends who see the difference that God makes in your life... or it may be like what happened in my life.   
     At one point I was struggling with "faith".   All I could see were my failures, and I didn't really believe that God was powerful enough to fix it.  Or that He would even want to "fix" someone as hosed as I was.   A friend called one day and said "Hey I want to talk you".  I went to see them.   This friend and I sat outside for hours one evening.  She talked.  I listened.  She told me how God had worked in her life.  She told me of the problems that she had faced.  They were pretty bad problems.  She told me how she clung to her belief that God could repair the problems.  That God could put her life back in order.   And She told me that it took a while.  She told me how God worked a little bit at a time to rebuild relationships and to rebuild lives.   I had always seen how things were now.  I had never ever thought that it hadn't always been like that....   She showed me her scars.   I was like doubting Thomas.  I had to see the scars to believe.   But having seen the scars I knew that God was indeed more powerful than I had imagined.  And much more capable than I had given Him credit for.   And I turned to Him and asked for help, this time believing that it was possible.  This time with a "mustard seed of faith".  I think you know where it went from there... 
     We all have scars.  We will always have scars.  We might not like them, but we need to be open to sharing our scars with others.   Not all the time.  But as God leads us to...  to help others to know that God CAN heal our wounds.   To help a "Doubting Thomas" to believe.  it's got to make you wonder...
      Dear Lord,  Thanks for how You have control.  Thanks for how You heal our wounds.  Thanks for allowing us to belong to You.  Thanks for taking the time to allow us to grow in our faith.   Thanks for providing living examples of Your healing grace.   Thank you for my friend who's faith is strong.  And for guiding her to the knowledge that sharing her scars with me would help to build my faith.   And most of all, thanks for continuing to love us even though we sometimes have episodes where we lose sight of how totally awesome and powerful You really are.  Please help us to listen to You and to do Your will.

Are You Wealthy?

"Command those who are rich in this present world not to be arrogant nor to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life."  1 Timothy 6:17-19


     Are you wealthy?  This years tax season is coming to an end.  As usual I waited until the very last moment possible to file, because I never seem to have much money come tax time and I am always afraid I will owe.   So yes, I was contemplating the depth of my funds.   But then God just spoke to me...  He told me that I don't need to worry about the depth of my funds because I just needed to trust that He will provide.  He also showed me that I actually have more than enough of what I need.   And He showed me what "wealth" really is... and guess what... I am wealthy.
       Wealth is not necessarily related to money or possessions.   Wealth is however, directly related to what we have, more specifically to what we have been given.    Wealth is a gift from God.   Wealth is whatever God has blessed you with that you can use to help others.  It can be a skill, a talent, or a trade.  It can be compassion, or understanding, or an ability to teach.  It can be the ability to care about others.  Wealth is what God gave you that allows you to hold someones hand as they go through a hard time, or to let you know to send out a card to someone to let them know that you were thinking about them.  Wealth is also the talent to be able to cook a good meal for someone who needs it, or the skill to repair a roof, or fix a car.   Wealth is when God allows you the time and the opportunity to be there for others when they need your help.  Of course it is also when you have some belongings or possessions that you find can better serve someone else.
         We always knew that money couldn't buy happiness.   Even classic stories like the Christmas Classic  "A Christmas Carol" really spell that out pretty clearly.  That story was about a rich old man who was living a miserable life, it goes on to show how he finds that his poorly treated employee is enjoying real joy.  The employee, who really has a hard time making ends meet, is living much happier life than the employer is.   That happiness can't be bought.  
         If as the saying goes "Jesus is all I need", and "The joy of the Lord is mine"  then wow! I have that!  Too cool.   I also have many things that the Lord has blessed me with.  Talents and skills that I am able to use to help others.   I couldn't do it without God's blessing.   And I am so very thankful for the talents that my friends use to bless me.   See it's a community of people whom have each been given different gifts.  And all of these gifts come together to help all us to have all that we need.  How could we ask for more?   It's got to make you wonder...
         Dear Lord, thanks for all You have done for me, for all you have given me.  And thanks for allowing me to use what You have given me for others.  And thanks for how You allow others to do do the same.   Please help us all to be more thankful for all You do.   And please continue to show us how we can better serve You by serving Yours.

Heaven and Earth

"Rejoice, and be exceeding glad: for great is your reward in heaven:..."    Matt. 5:12


     Did you ever feel like your life is just a parade of problems that seem to come one after another with no end in sight.   It can seem overwhelming at times.   Kind of like the old saying "hit them while they're down".   But didn't you notice that somewhere in amongst all of that badness, if you can keep your focus on God, He will show you something that makes it all a little easier to bear.   
       I know that I often have difficulty with the concept of rejoicing and being exceedingly glad. I try to be, but I am just not too good at it.  I often get overwhelmed by what is going on around me, and it takes a concerted effort to calm down and move my eyes back to where they should have been in the first place.   On God.  When I can do that, when I can give the worries of the world to Him who can actually handle them, only then I can then feel any relief.  
       In the bible it says that life will be hard.  It also says that if we give our problems to God, we won't need to worry about them.  He will handle them.  He will provide.  I think we would all like to be in a place where everything was happy and nice and good.  And we will be there someday.  That is what makes heaven so cool.  Heaven is the place where all will be right.  We will be with God.  No worries.  No problems.  No sadness. No pain.  
       I learned at a young age that everything has a price.  You must pay your dues no matter what you are involved in.   When you start a new job, you start at the bottom and work your way up.  When you go to school you start in Kindergarden and work your way up.  If you join a fraternity in college you start as a probee and work your way up.  Heaven is a little different in that we can't work our way in... but we have to endure the problems of the world before we can enter Heaven.    If we had no problems in our lives, what would make Heaven seem so enticing....   
       Jesus came to Earth and lived as a man.  He endured the same types of problems that you and I face.  Different people, different times... but still pretty much the same.  But.... eventually he actually had to suffer more than you and I do....  and He did it without complaint.  He kept His eyes on His Father.   He turned to God and said "Your will not mine."   Jesus did the grunt work... He served others... no matter who they were...   He did not grumble and complain, He sucked it up and did what he had to do.... And it was good.
       Dear Lord,  please help me to keep my eyes focused on You.  Please let there be a constant reminder of all that You have done for me.  Don't let that leave the forefront of my mind.   And help me to not complain about the little things.  Let me remember how Jesus lived and died.  And let me be glad for the opportunity to walk in his shadow.  To do Your will, and not my own.  And help me to keep in mind that our reward is not here on earth but in Heaven with You. And let me rejoice.  Thanks much.

Is Blood Really Thicker Than Water?

     "But now, this is what the LORD says - he who created you, O Jacob, he who formed you, O Israel:  "Fear not, for I have redeemed you; I have summoned you by name; you are mine.  When you pass through the waters, I will be with you; and when you pass through the rivers, they will not sweep over you. When you walk through the fire, you will not be burned; the flames will not set you ablaze."  Isaiah 43:1-2

        How many of you have heard the saying "when all is said and done you'll always have your family?" What do you think of that?  Is it true.... Is blood really thicker than water?  I am not so sure....  I grew up thinking that my family was the only disfunctional family in the world and that everyone elses family was like Ozzy and Harriet's family.   Yeah right!!!   Now I know better.   I think that just about alll families are disfunctional.  Probably even yours...  I'm thinking that the saying might actually be correct, but not in the sense that  you might think...
        My blood family is not gonna be there for me.  I know that.  They have as much as said it, and they have demonstrated it many times throughout the years.  But the way I see it now.  That's ok.   I have another family that I know I can count on.  My God family.   God is the father.   He created us. He summoned us. He called us by name. He knows every intimate detail of each of our lives. He knows that are far from perfect. The bible tells us that God will always be with us. That He will never abandon us.
           I heard Charles Stanley on television the other night.  One of those God things where you walk into the house turn on the TV and God has set the channel to something you need to see ( you know it was Him, because you weren't even watching that channel when you were home earlier...).  Anyway I walked in turned on the television and there was Charles Stanley talking to me about a subject that I have written about in this blog several times over the past few weeks.   He was talking about friends.   Charles was saying that while we know lots of people, folks from our neighborhood, our jobs, our church, we only call a few of them "friend".   And of those whom we call "friend" there are even fewer with whom we share intimate details of our lives.  The closest of the close... the true friends.   They are like family.  These are the folks who will stand with us through thick and thin.  Who will be there when others will abandon us.   Or will they...
           My Pastor spoke at church today about how the Disciples abandoned Jesus when the times got really hard.   Afraid for their own safety they denied knowing Christ.   They were Jesus' closest friends.  He said it would happen, they didn't believe it, but then in hindsight they saw that He had called it correctly.   During those trying times Jesus had one true friend who did not forsake Him.  That was His Father in Heaven.   God.   God was all He had.  God was all He needed.   If this is true for Jesus, could we expect more?  
           Getting back to Charles Stanley.  He said something that many of you have heard or even said many times.   Our friends,  even the closest of friends are going to hurt us sometime.  They won't be there when we feel like we need for them to be there.   They might even outright abandon us.   We can't allow ourselves to be angry with them.  This is when God's forgiveness comes in.   Jesus did not get angry because the disciples abandoned Him in His darkest hours.   He came back to them 3 days later and showed them love and forgiveness.   Our friends might leave us.   But if we have real relationships, they will come back, hey they might not have even realized we felt like we needed them.   We should welcome them with open arms.   As if nothing had happened at all.   Because we too will hurt them someday.  It's going to happen.  That's a given.  What we need to keep in mind is that we have God.  He is there with us all of the time.  He never leaves us, even when we don't realize He is still there.  Nothing can separate us from the love of Christ.  It's got to make you wonder....
     Dear Lord,  Please help my friends and I to strengthen our relationships with You.  That we might really know you're there when we need you.  Help us to turn to You first, and to let You minister to our needs.  We know that You might choose to use those around us to do Your bidding, but then again You might just want to handle it Yourself.  Help us to not hold it against our friends when it looks like they aren't there for us when we feel that they should be. And help us to not kick ourselves when we are not able to be there for our friends and help us to remember that You are there for our friends too.  And help us to remember that You might just have wanted to take care of the problem Yourself...