Out of Darkness

There are those who are saved by His grace when they are very young. There are those who are saved later in life. It seems that those who are saved very young, (so young that you don't exactly remember when), have a less-than-dramatic testimony.

It seems that ones that have wallowed in darkness longer have a more compelling story of the change from darkness to light to present to others when they were found by Him. It also appears that many of them make up for the lost time while some of us who were saved very young move along in our Christian walk rather slowly.

Pondering this for years has gotten me nowhere. However, I finally put two and two together the other day: My mom had always commented that I cried a lot when I was an infant and toddler. Add that to a very early memory of lying in my crib with the plastic, (60's style), butterfly mobile hanging above with a sense of great despair. I didn't know it was a sense of despair at the time, but I remember how it felt because that deep memory is still in my mind after all these years. Now, I can now properly label it.

Of course I was in despair. I was in darkness - just as much as someone who is in darkness at 25 or 72 years old and unaware of or unwilling to follow the way to eternal life. After seeing my own kids born again at an early age, I have concluded that the so-called "age of accountability" can start as early as 3 1/2 years old. Before that, we are certainly in deep darkness, even despair. Thank God that He just as dramatically saved me from that horrible pit of darkness at about age 4 as He did anyone who has been much older! Sure enough, (strangely enough), I can remember that darkness. He must have given me that memory on purpose and only now, I realize why.

Well Sung

I found the old CD with "Another Time and Another Place" on it and remembered that the song stirred my heart. It has been many years since I heard the song. Now I remember what was so good about it:

"... I'm waiting for another time and another place

Where ALL MY HOPES AND DREAMS WILL BE CAPTURED WITH ONE LOOK AT JESUS' FACE"

There sure is a lot of talk about hope along with pursuing and living your dream(s) these days. It's not something to pursue if you know the Lord as your Savior. It's a sure thing to wait for.

Overcoming the Small Things

One day, one of those "impressions" came along. One of those thoughts that come to mind that are really God talking to you about something. I had noticed that I am always concerned about the the big things that I am anticipating, but quite relaxed about the small things that I think I have under control. I pray about those big things, but not the little things. They are easy.

Nothing is under control. The small things are not automatically under control, even if you've done it easily thousands of times.

Then, we were studying the book of Joshua and there it was. That little settlement called Ai. They didn't bother to check with the Lord about it. They even decided not to send a very large force to overcome and conquer it. This would be a walk in the park - nobody had any fear or doubt that this wouldn't be easy.

Oops.

“I laid me down and slept; I awaked; for the LORD sustained me.” Psalm 3:5

I'm Sorry

My little sister, (in the Lord), knocks on my door. She was involved in something that I didn't ever blame her for, but it put me in an uncomfortable position. I go to the door and she is crying. She apologizes and my heart is overwhelmed with love for her.

It's such a heart-touching event that I can't help but think about it for a long while.

I have to conclude that the Lord Jesus' heart must overflow with love; He must be deeply touched by our admission of guilt and loving - even tearful - apology. If it's that good, and it must be that or better, we should be mindful to do it more often. I'm sure there is no shortage of offenses to confess to Him in sorrow.

3 Parts

"And may the God of peace Himself sanctify you through and through [separate you from profane things, make you pure and wholly consecrated to God]; and may your spirit and soul and body be preserved sound and complete [and found] blameless at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ (the Messiah)." 1 Thess. 4:23

God is One, yet three parts. Father, Son, Holy Spirit.
An egg is one, yet three parts. Shell, albumen, yolk.
The human being is one, yet three parts. Spirit, soul, body.

The physical condition of the body CERTAINLY has an effect on the whole being. Imbalance in the physical body contributes to thoughts or behavior that manifest the natural darkness of the flesh rather than the goodness of the indwelling Spirit. Disease and infection in the physical body suffering the abuse of the world affects the human spirit and soul because the human being is one.

All of this to say that the food that the world offers contributes HEAVILY to the suffering of the physical body. God made food whole and un-processed. In our pride, we like to think we can make things better, including food. "Better" means processing, refining, genetic engineering and more.

We have:
Fats that are better than butter
Sweeteners that are better than natural raw sugar, honey or maple syrup
Refined enriched flour that is better than whole grain and is "the standard"
Pasteurized milk that is better than raw
Water that is enhanced with fluoride for better health
White rice that cooks faster and chews faster without the chewy germ
Oatmeal with bran rolled out that cooks faster
Salt that is kiln-dried so it is no longer hygroscopic and comes out of the shaker easily

As a result:
Hydrogenated fats cause more damage than butter.
Refined sugar contributes heavily to disease and artificial sweeteners damage the mind.
Refined flour is worse than refined sugar and harms the digestive tract.
Pasteurized milk is too acidic and needs to be enriched, (if you can't drink it raw it's actually better not to drink it)
Fluoride is highly toxic, (you should go to the water plant and see the precautions that have to be taken in fluoridation chemical room)
White rice - see refined flour
Instant Oatmeal - heading toward refined flour
How come sun dried sea salt doesn't exhibit the antagonistic attack on cells that kiln dried table salt has?

The world, it's food and it's ways have nothing to offer except self-destruction.

The Impossible Weight

Things change when you find out someone you love has slipped into a sin. Especially someone in the family, someone you consider part of the family or someone you feel responsible for. An oppressive weight settles on you, presumably because of your care for and connection to that individual.

An oppressive weight it is. The dark feelings haunt as you understand that you are no better. Maybe you've been down that road yourself and know the end result(s). If you dwell on it, it becomes too oppressive to handle any more.

It certainly helps to remember that the Lord Jesus Christ handled not just one sin like that, but the entire crushing lot of them from absolutely everyone over billions of lifetimes and more to come.

"Hero" is too small of a word. Strongman of the Universe would be better as long as it acknowledges His deity. Understanding what He did for everyone in bearing the oppressive weight of all sin is absolutely beyond comprehension. Only an inifinitely powerful God could do it.

"They shall come and shall declare His righteousness to a people yet to be born--that He has done it [that it is finished]!" Psalm 22:31

Either Delight or Grief

What did you think about this-or-that?
What kind of day are you having?
What do you think about such-and-such?
What do you think about what so-and-so did?

Many questions can be answered with a non-commital answer: "I don't know", "OK, I suppose", "I hadn't thought much about it", "it doesn't matter to me."

It occured to me that God's thoughts and answers don't work that way. He is either delighted with us or we are greiving Him. There IS NO IN-BETWEEN. We're so mired in an attitude of luke-warmness and a world that so readily accomodates it, that we don't relate very well to God's views. We "create" our own perception of God based on our flawed thinking. The only cure is for us to read His Word and to desire the work of His Spirit in us.

Death. Scary?

"Unbelief shudders at the Jordan which still rolls between us and the goodly land, but let us rest assured that we have already experienced more ills than death at its worst can cause us."

This quote from Charles Spurgeon's daily reading is an undeniable truth that really hits home. How often have our circumstances, or even more appropriately, our perception of our circumstances tortured us physically and emotionally? We have done more harm to ourselves with anxiety. People and circumstances have done more to torment us than the opening of the doorway to the presence of Christ.

This isn't some agreement with the new love of self-destruction that is now the popular "culture of death": (Truly scary because it is a sure gateway to the second death). This is the rock-solid way to life that the believer-in-Christ can stand firmly on.

The Evil and the Good

"That ye may be the children of your Father which is in heaven: for He maketh his sun to rise on the evil and on the good, and sendeth rain on the just and on the unjust."

My Buddhist friend was describing his experience to me. He was very late for the airport and was riding with one of the salesmen with our company. Our salesman, Roy, told him not to worry, he'd be fine. Obviously, that would not be the case. Roy drove like a maniac and got him there just in time and the Buddhist friend made it on the plane, breathing a sigh of relief that he had survived the ride and gotten there on time after all.

My first thought was that God took care of his immediate, pressing need whether he believed in Him or not.

This world has plenty of terror, horror and darkness, but God still gives good gifts and grace to everyone. You can scare people about hell with it's unquenchable fire and torment, but the real torment will be a total absence of love, happiness, life-giving light, (living) water, and gifts of grace from the One who provided them every second of every day on earth - even though you never thought of Him, acknowledged Him or even cared.

The Perfect Father

I enjoy the comfort and restful peace brought by the fact that my children are also truly children of the Father. Though I am certainly defective as a father to my children, they have a perfect Father that MORE than makes up for my shortcomings, defects, sins, poor example and lack of godly wisdom in parenting.

So, have I failed as a parent, (how often do you hear that said?): YES.

Will He ever fail? NO.

Comforting...

Until Now the Lord has Helped Us

I walk past the TV. The kids are watching a movie. The story is at a point where almost all are in despair because of the profoundly dark circumstances. As I walk past, one character says to the other, (the other being the rightful king who is walking in the world as rejected, but is leading a faithful few in their mission), "You have led us through this far, it was wrong of me to lose hope, forgive me".

Well, that caught me unprepared. I wasn't expecting to hear such a valid quote line from walking past while a movie was playing. I have to remind myself daily: Hitherto hath the Lord helped us. Since He doesn't change, He's not going to stop either. Almost daily, something dark and unconquerable presents itself. It's certainly wrong of me to lose hope. It's a sin.

Enclosing God

"You can't put God in a box."

I've heard that ever since going to a Christian college in the early 80's. Yet, we do that quite often. How often do we think, or hear someone say, "God can't use that, it's the wrong kind of _____ or it's associated with ______, so it won't further His glory or His Gospel."

But - He does. You find out later that someone came to the Lord for salvation because of it. Yes, it's ugly, weak even to us and certainly worse than "filthy rags" to Him; but He makes all things new. He gives beauty for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of praise for the spirit of heaviness; that they might be called trees of righteousness, the planting of the LORD, that he might be glorified.

Some of us, (maybe it's a "guy" thing), love to repair and restore things. It's tremendously satisfying. Just think what a master repairman and restorer God is, when you see what He has to work with. This is one of those mind-boggling things that we will better understand when we are re-made like Christ.

Time to Cling

"Jesus said to her, Do not cling to Me [do not hold Me], for I have not yet ascended to the Father. But go to My brethren and tell them, I am ascending to My Father and your Father, and to My God and your God." John 20:17

Jesus HAS ascended to the Father. So IT IS TIME to cling to Him.

Why Wouldn't He?

A believer was marvelling over the lovingkindness of God. She was understandably feeling the difference between herself and a righteous, holy God that would still stoop so low to pick her up, create a clean heart in her and present her before Himself; faultless. She asked,
Why would He...?" She was really saying, "Look not upon me, because I am black..." SS 1:6

Why wouldn't He? He says this about her, (and all of us who believe): "Thou art all fair, my love; there is no spot in thee." SS 4:7

To those who don't believe in Him, He greatly desires to say it to you too.

Hard Work

"Hard work will always pay off," they say. That's probably a reaction to the tendency for people to generally be slackers. While it's somewhat true, the saying falls short of the application that it is intended to improve.

Over many years, I've noticed that my attempts at hard-work-through-self-effort rarely pay off. The big successes in my job have "dropped into my lap" as gifts from God. I have had to pick up the gift and be responsible with it while depending on Him. The compliments come in, "good job Steve, we appreciate your hard work." I say, "It was the Lord helping me." They say, "You have to give yourself more credit."

"There's no returning to a life of ease
Life in a world that brings you to your knees
Wielding a weapon with a mighty hand
Draped in the banner of another land"

It's the ceaseless hard work for the Lord that pays off. He directs the hard work. We might have to encourage ourselves in Him so that our hands don't hang down and our knees grow feeble. The work that results in a paycheck for us is entirely in His hands. He gives success because He is good and we need to not only feed our family, but give to others and to Him.

Lyrics above by K. Livgren, (Brother Kerry Livgren suffered a stroke last month. Pray for a swift sure recovery for the glory of Christ and salvation of more souls).

The Big Event

Revelation 11:15 is about as exciting to the heart of the Bride of Christ as any verse in the Bible can possibly be: "The kingdoms of this world are become the kingdoms of our Lord, and of His Christ; and He shall reign for ever and ever."

The One who wandered this world as one rejected was the true King of Kings. All of us who love Him and His appearing, and grow tired of the continual treachery of the world, get a good dose of excitement from this verse. We will be with Him and reign with Him. He will set everything straight. He will sing over us with joy. We will be in His presence forever.

Ta-Dah!

Cast your burden on the Lord [releasing the weight of it] and He will sustain you; He will never allow the [consistently] righteous to be moved (made to slip, fall, or fail). Psalm 55:22

Casting the whole of your care [all your anxieties, all your worries, all your concerns, once and for all] on Him, for He cares for you affectionately and cares about you watchfully. 1 Peter 5:7

The cure for anxiety is in the Old Testament and is repeated in the New Testament in case you missed it. It doesn't matter if your burden is from uncontrollable surrounding circumstances, internal circumstances or just plain self-generated; the cure still applies 100%.

Ta-Dah! for us who can live it, Tuh-Duh! for some of us who can't get it through our heads and into our hearts on a daily basis.

Setting up Distinctions

In the last days (in the end time) there will be scoffers [who seek to gratify their own unholy desires], following after their own ungodly passions. It is these who are [agitators] setting up distinctions and causing divisions--merely sensual [creatures, carnal, worldly-minded people], devoid of the [Holy] Spirit and destitute of any higher spiritual life.

It doesn't take a scoffer to "set up distinctions". They, also most accurately called agitators in the Amplified Version above, influence us and cause us to do the same. This verse really jumped out at me after hearing a sister-in-the-Lord come to the conclusion that her brothers and sisters in Christ are against her because she is of a different skin color. She has set up distinctions to her own misery.

We marginalize the agitators, (racial and otherwise), because they are so intellectually, morally and spiritually bankrupt, but their influence, as it turns out, is not marginal. They don't just play with the emotions of the weak-minded. They corrupt everyone within earshot. Not even members of the Body of Christ are exempt since they obviously have an evil influence on us.

Building the Tower of Destruction

The tower of destruction can be described as follows:

At the top there is a turret to propel verbal destruction in all directions: Insults or comments that belittle, discouraging words, impatient passionate statements that come out as anger and various other targeting comments that are either misunderstood or considered punitive.

The structure underneath the turret contains the stairs on which you climb to get to the top and the protective walls. This structure is built out of the desire to change whatever is wrong with our brethren immediately; because we are "right", and can't handle the corruption, (perceived or otherwise), in them anymore. As we lose patience and continue to push for results, we climb the stairs quickly and reach the top where strife, divisions, distinctions, misunderstandings and destruction start taking place as a direct result of firing destruction from the turret.

The foundation is pure pride and it goes deep into the ground to give the tower solid footing. When the pride is replaced with humility, the tower crumbles along with all of the foul material that made it; material lacking the grace and love of Christ.

High Honor

A high form of encouragement, compliment, honor or one of the kindest things you can say about someone is that they are revealing Christ to others.

Just think how many times someone has lifted your heart to where it needs to be with some unprompted expression of love or kindness. Some give a small or mind-boggling amount of money at just the right time to just the right need and others don't even have to do anything except show up. Yet both, (and others "in-between"), are revealing Christ. I'll never forget a young couple with small children showing up 1/2 hour late for a one-hour meeting. My thinking would have been, "why not just stay home if you are going to be that late?" What courage in HIM and what desire to be with HIM when He said He would be in the midst! They revealed Christ to everyone who was encouraged to see them walk in the door.

So, if you don't have any resources to give, if you don't even have the practical, physical or mental resources inside to encourage with a gift, a helping hand or fitly spoken word, just show up. Busy yourself with revealing Christ to your audience of thousands.

"In the arena with an audience of thousands
Clad in the armor of an army yet unseen
Raging a battle in the emptiness of night
with all your might (til' it's done)"

Poetry excerpt from K. Livgren

Murphy's Law

The dog in the picture is Murphy. Just before he moved, Hannah got a picture of him.

When spring came and that little tree sprouted leaves, Murphy suddenly became obsessed about it. All summer long, he'd go to the tree, bark, jump, hold on with his teeth and drop from it till he was limping and parched. We made fun of him and talked about how his mind just wasn't right.

There never was anything in the tree. We picked him up so he could see from a higher point of view, and it didn't make any difference. You could say he was getting good exercise, but the truth was, he was just wearing his body out while wearing the bark off the tree and the grass off of the ground. Self-destructive behavior.

We do that. Our minds aren't right. We keep thinking there's something that the world has for us and keep grasping for it. When we do, we're just wearing ourselves out, wearing out those around us and being self-destructive.

Christ Revealed

I've been struggling with the words to express the ways of some very dear brethren for a while: Even wanting to give thanks for one of them publicly to the Lord, (because one of them is leaving*), but not knowing how to express it without getting tangled up in words.

You see, there are those that are very dear to us, yet not part of our biological family. There is a closeness there that is difficult to explain. Then, I realize that the closeness has to do with a practical working out of these verses:

"Living as becomes you] with complete lowliness of mind (humility) and meekness (unselfishness, gentleness, mildness), with patience, bearing with one another and making allowances because you love one another." Eph. 4:2 Amp.

"And become useful and helpful and kind to one another, tenderhearted (compassionate, understanding, loving-hearted), forgiving one another [readily and freely], as God in Christ forgave you." Eph. 4:32 Amp.

(Isn't that cool - how Ephesians 4 is "bookended" by those two verses?)

"Bear (endure, carry) one another's burdens and troublesome moral faults, and in this way fulfill and observe perfectly the law of Christ (the Messiah) and complete what is lacking [in your obedience to it]." Galatians 6:2 Amp.

The practical working out of these verses comes from the ability of these dear ones to show forth the love of Christ to others, (me in particular). I have gained a very special and deeper first-hand knowledge of the love of Christ because it has been so vividly portrayed in a very practical way by these brethren. What an encouragement! There's no substitute for the Lord. There's no substitute for the Lord's people.

How do you say all of that clearly and briefly - without rambling on, like I have been doing above? There it was, last night, in a hymn: "...Christ revealed in saints below."

*Für Elise

Waste-NOT-ness is Next to Godliness

I've seen others being beat over the head with this, (see Title), and I have taken some heat for it as well: "Wanton waste brings woeful want, why are you intentially wasting the _____ ?" Or; "I never spent a dime on _____, but look at brother _____! He doesn't even have a job and has to depend on others for his finances. Look at him blow money on _____!"

I certainly understand that point of view, (except when it's directed at me - of course). After all, I'm not independently wealthy, and don't know how I'd make it without finding some spending shortcuts. But, I keep seeing the Lord take care of things like this without shaking his finger in someone's face, or talking behind their back. He usually just takes care of the needed supply regardless of someone's "lack of responsibility". Years go by and there is no change in the behavior and no "hard lessons" from the Lord. Could it be that we have the wrong point of view yet again? Could it be that our thoughts are not His thoughts?

Isn't it noble not to waste resources and pinch pennies as much as possible; especially when it comes to the Lord's things? Well, all things ARE the Lord's things. Yes, if we waste, there is a price to pay. But emphasis on pinching pennies might just result in something else to be proud of.

We all have a good dose of ignorance. Could we, or someone else be ignorant of some of the best money-saving schemes? Wouldn't God provide anyway if we are?

Then, there's raising kids:

• Lights left on all night
• Studying the refrigerator contents for long periods of time with no result
• Leaving the milk out of the 'fridge all day
• Leaving the water hose on
• Breaking things etc.

I've never heard the kids talk down other kids for wasting something, and they waste a lot. Maybe they remember that they do the same thing, or maybe they have faith that God will help them regardless, because He is good. Maybe that is what is missing here.

Burning the Works

What will it be like at the Judgement Seat of Christ? Our works will be presented and tested with fire. I can't help but believe that each of us will stand individually with the presentation of our works. Part of the structure of our works will look good and some will look suspiciously flammable. Someone will set fire to it and all of it will flame up rather dramatically, including the stuff that looked good. What a bonfire it will be! Truly disappointing. After the fire dies down and we stand there looking out from under our singed eyebrows, creased with disappointment, we'll probably see a beautiful, golden inner structure; still standing. We'll say, "I didn't do THAT!" and we will be right. We will stand there in open-mouthed astonishment at what the Lord was able to accomplish through us in ways that we were not even aware of.

Romance

We watched "The Passion of the Christ" by Mel Gibson. This movie has come under criticism for adding some extra drama, under-representing the hours of darkness when Christ underwent the agony of becoming sin for us, and several other complaints. One of the biggest complaints I heard is the explicit depiction of the physical abuse and torment that He submitted Himself to. Yes, it was brutal and seemed to be too much. However, as the weeks go by, I realize that I was, and continue to be, touched very deeply. It was, after all, a very powerful tool to bring more understanding of the reality of why He came in the form of man; as well as man's, (our), natural brutality toward Him. The reality of the following devotional really came alive because I watched the movie. In fact, it completes whatever the movie left unfinished:

"I am married unto you." — Jeremiah 3:14

"Christ Jesus is joined unto His people in marriage-union. In love He espoused His Church as a chaste virgin, long before she fell under the yoke of bondage. Full of burning affection He toiled, like Jacob for Rachel, until the whole of her purchase-money had been paid, and now, having sought her by His Spirit, and brought her to know and love Him, He awaits the glorious hour when their mutual bliss shall be consummated at the marriage-supper of the Lamb. Not yet hath the glorious Bridegroom presented His betrothed, perfected and complete, before the Majesty of heaven; not yet hath she actually entered upon the enjoyment of her dignities as His wife and queen: she is as yet a wanderer in a world of woe, a dweller in the tents of Kedar; but she is even now the bride, the spouse of Jesus, dear to His heart, precious in His sight, written on His hands, and united with His person. On earth He exercises towards her all the affectionate offices of Husband. He makes rich provision for her wants, pays all her debts, allows her to assume His name, and to share in all His wealth. Nor will He ever act otherwise to her. The word divorce He will never mention, for "He hateth putting away." Death must sever the conjugal tie between the most loving mortals, but it cannot divide the links of this immortal marriage. In heaven they marry not, but are as the angels of God; yet there is this one marvellous exception to the rule, for in Heaven Christ and His Church shall celebrate their joyous nuptials. This affinity as it is more lasting, so is it more near than earthly wedlock. Let the love of husband be never so pure and fervent, it is but a faint picture of the flame which burns in the heart of Jesus. Passing all human union is that mystical cleaving unto the Church, for which Christ left His Father, and became one flesh with her."

Charles Spurgeon, Morning Reading, (July 22)