Opening the cabinet door

As people understand your word, it brings light to their lives. Your word makes even simple people wise. (Psalm 119:130)

Wisdom is the right use of knowledge. To know is not to be wise. Many men know a great deal, and are all the greater fools for it. There is no fool so great a fool as a knowing fool. But to know how to use knowledge is to have wisdom. (Charles Spurgeon)

I need light, especially when it is the darkest. In the middle of the day, I even need light in some of those 'recessed places' in my life. Not everything is evident to light until light comes into the place where it has been excluded from exploring. Some of us need a little 'exploring' by Light, don't we? I have often heard believers say they don't know what the Bible has to say - that it is a bit too hard to understand. In answer, I often ask what 'translation' they are using. It could just be that the 'understanding' of the Word is a little 'blunted' because we choose to read the Word of God from a translation that is too hard for us to understand. Most commonly, it is that we haven't asked God to open our eyes of understanding to what it is we are reading. Once we ask for understanding, we also need to ask for help in implementing what it is we are reading!

Light in our lives isn't just automatic. I have several good lights in the kitchen, but the recesses of that corner cabinet next to the stove are not reached by those lights. I still need the flashlight to see 'way back there' in the recesses. Some of us have 'corner cabinets' in our lives that get a 'glimpse' of light on occasion, but there needs to be some very specific 'light shining' done in order to uncover what has been masked and hidden away in the recesses of our heart and mind. It is the stuff in the 'recesses' that God often focuses on when we spend time in his Word, but unless we actually open the 'door' to the light he brings, it is as useless as the flashlight with a closed cabinet door! I am still not going to know what is hidden in the recesses of that cabinet if I keep the door tightly shut! Some of us have tightly shut those areas of our heart where we have secret sins, hard to break habits, and humiliating hurts. Don't be surprised when God actually asks you to open the 'cabinet door' so he can reveal them!

God wants us to do more than just 'know' the Word of God. Many will memorize portions of scripture, but what do they really mean to them? What life-change has occurred because those words have penetrated the recesses? As we have likely heard, we need to both here and do what the Word of God commands. James 1:25 reminds us, "But when you look into God’s perfect law that sets people free, pay attention to it. If you do what it says, you will have God’s blessing. Never just listen to his teaching and forget what you heard." Pray for wisdom, but don't expect it to be automatic. Sometimes we need to take steps of obedience in order to have the light reflected into those 'recesses'. I have to open the cabinet door to find the rolling pin way back there in the recesses. You and I might just have to open up a few unpleasant thoughts, memories, or habitual patterns to his review in order to find the root and be rid of it once and for all. Just sayin!

We've got the map

Love is kind and patient, never jealous, boastful, proud, or rude. Love isn’t selfish or quick tempered. It doesn’t keep a record of wrongs that others do. Love rejoices in the truth, but not in evil. Love is always supportive, loyal, hopeful, and trusting. Love never fails! (I Corinthians 13:4-8)

How well are we revealing God's love to those we live with and serve on a daily basis?  After all, there is no specific 'day' to focus on these character traits - it is just expected every single day of our lives!  For most of us, this thing called "love" is like one of those "match games" you see online these days where you have to align the right sequence of candies or jewels.  There are little hidden bears or objects behind those colorful squares - waiting to be uncovered - reliant upon your skill and reasoning.  If the hidden is to be uncovered, you must be very, very "calculated" in your moves.  Sometimes I think we approach loving each other in this same way - we make "calculated moves" hoping we will reveal what we are looking for, but making many a move which doesn't prove to uncover what it is we were imagining was underneath.  Yep, love requires some "skill", but it isn't as "calculated" as some may think! To truly understand love, we have to turn to the one who exemplified love in the first place - Christ Jesus himself.  

Love isn't so much about the "calculated risks" we take, but about the person we allow to shine through us as we respond to the movement around us.  In life, we move one way, but we don't always control what comes back our way. This is where we need the ability to be loving like we see repeatedly in examining the life of Christ.  He was consistently kind and patient - even when ridiculed, spat upon, and nailed to the cross.  He was not jealous of those who had more than he did, lived in better houses than his, or even had a bigger "church" than his!  He didn't get all uppity when he knew the answers to the problems at hand.  He also didn't push his way through or over others to get noticed.  

I don't want us to think love is just something which we just "happen" to get right on occasion. - Yep - there are some calculated risks we take - when we go out on the line for something we believe in or someone we care about.  Yep - there are some hidden things in relationship that give us challenge after challenge to attempt to uncover.  Yep - there are times when we will get to the point of thinking we will never get past the place where we find ourselves today.  But...we can take a lesson from the one who has taken the risks, is able to uncover the hidden, and who knows the way out of the difficult places.  Christ comes alongside to show us the way to love each other. He has already walked through everything we are facing today. How is it Christ can help us with this thing called "love" - he has already lived it out for us and left us a road map to follow in his Word!  Just sayin!

The two wings

Death and love are the two wings that bear the good man to heaven. (Michelangelo)

Michelangelo may have a portion of this 'going to heaven' thing correct, but I know the only death that really mattered was Christ's. The only thing that draws us all into his arms is his intense love for each of us. So, it is indeed a death and some pretty amazing love that bears us to heaven...but...none of us are 'good men' or 'good women' without Christ. So, even the goodness of mankind is reliant upon the love of God!

“This is how much God loved the world: He gave his Son, his one and only Son. And this is why: so that no one need be destroyed; by believing in him, anyone can have a whole and lasting life. God didn’t go to all the trouble of sending his Son merely to point an accusing finger, telling the world how bad it was. He came to help, to put the world right again. Anyone who trusts in him is acquitted; anyone who refuses to trust him has long since been under the death sentence without knowing it. (John 3:16-18)

God didn't send Christ to earth just to have him experience all the things we experience in our lifetime, but it certainly made the connection a little more 'real' to some of us, didn't it? God didn't reach out to a hurting and mixed-up group of sinners just out of curiosity - as an experiment in human nature designed to see how we'd respond to his intense love. God knew his love would be a little foreign to us - because we don't actually fully understand love without conditions. 

The good news is that he came. He lived his life on this earth, making that earthly connection with us, and now he sits at the right hand of his heavenly Father, carefully drawing each and every one of us into his loving arms. Can we resist his love? You betcha! Have we probably done that on occasion? Likely so, but hopefully we don't do it too often, or for too long. Is his love drawing us closer to our heavenly home? Yes, and as we feel his arms bear us up each day, we are drawn closer and closer into his presence. We may not need to experience death to experience life. Just sayin!

Well of Life

The mouth of a good person is a deep, life-giving well, but the mouth of the wicked is a dark cave of abuse. (Proverbs 10:11)

Words matter, don't they? When was the last time someone spoke encouraging words into your life and you just felt like they had inflated an emotional "flat tire" inside you? Words can build up, or they can tear down - the course of our conversation is important to consider each and every time we open our mouths. Yet, how many of us actually consider our words BEFORE we allow them to come forth? If you are like me, hindsight is really great, but foresight as it comes to my words is not always that 'clear'!

God's intent is for our mouths to be deep, life-giving wells - that doesn't leave much room for the frivolous words, much less the hurtful, demeaning, critical, or angry ones, does it? Don't get me wrong - not every word we speak needs to begin with "God this..." or "God that..." - but our words should not create wounds. That said, there are times our word will ring 'true' in a person's ears, but they will have 'hurt emotions'. Why is that? The words might have brought some form of conviction into another's life without you even knowing it.

We aren't in the business of bringing conviction, but when we speak from a life-giving well, there will be times when the words just 'strike center' in someone's life. They will sting a bit, but they won't leave a gaping wound. They will actually bring the relationship closer and create a sense of awareness of the love within the relationship. I have had my closest friend speak something to me, revealing to me just how selfish or prideful my behavior may have been, but that didn't tear down the relationship. It revealed to me how much the relationship matters and that my behavior needed some adjustment.

Truth often convicts - truth in love doesn't tear down - it creates a platform from which growth may occur. Words matter - but always let them be framed in love, not hatred, anger, or arrogant pride. When we learn to consider our words, asking the Holy Spirit to act as a guardian of those words, we are less like to speak from a 'bitter well' and more likely to speak from a 'well of life'. Just sayin!

Prod me a little - it is okay!

The words of the wise prod us to live well. They’re like nails hammered home, holding life together. They are given by God, the one Shepherd. (Ecclesiastes 12:11)

A water pitcher has a spout that is designed to pour out the contents it holds in a "funnel-like" stream that hits the spot we aim the spout toward (hopefully a glass or container). Someone you know pours into your life - who 'hits the spot' almost all the time for you? Go ahead - really think about those in your circle who actually "pour into" your life and 'hit the spot'. You are likely to discover there are a lot more who have the "spout" turned toward them - not you! They take from you, expecting you to pour into their lives, without any thought of ever pouring into yours. If you are as fortunate as I have been, there is always some individual who seems to be able to pour into my life just when I need it. I have often shared with you some things a friend said that sparked some introspection on my part. Without even knowing, the friend "poured into" my life - words of life, words of conviction, and even words of hope. The faithfulness of my friend's "pouring out" is a continual blessing to me. What do the words of a faithful friend do in our lives? They "prod" us to live well, hold life together, and are really words from God, just spoken with a human voice.

When something is "prodded", it is being "awakened" or "aroused" to do something. As a kid, I used to travel through the desert surrounding my home, looking for holes and burrows. It was my greatest joy to "prod" by putting something within those holes and find there was actually life in them! I was overjoyed to see a small critter scamper out and look at me with their big eyes, wondering who had just awakened them from their slumber, pulling them from their cool place. Sometimes we need a little "prodding" to get out of some spiritual, emotional, or physical "slumber". It is often the faithfulness of a friend's words, sometimes encouraging, other times a little convicting, that causes us to arouse from our place of complacency. Nails hammered home - the work of the carpenter. The purpose of the nail is to "hold something together". It is a fastener, is it not? The words of a wise friend actually may be a little "sharp" at times, huh? Just like the nail has a sharp point, a friend's words may seem a little sharp at times. Ever try driving a dull nail into wood? It just doesn't cut a path to its destination all that well! The dullness of the nail cannot drive past the resistance of the wood. No matter how much "hammering" is done, the nail just cannot get past the point of resistance. Just as there is a purpose in the nail having two sides - pointed and flat - the words of a wise friend have two sides. One side cuts through the resistance of our selfish pride and the other is available to be continually "tapped" by the Master Carpenter (Jesus)!

Nails hold things together - an apt illustration of the wisdom of a friend, spoken into our lives at the right moment. When we waiver, drift off-course, or are just in a slump better known as a "pity party", the words of a faithful friend can actually "bring together" the pieces of our life in an ordered fashion. They not only "pull together" the individual pieces, but they "hold" them together. If you have ever made anything with wood, you will realize the importance of this concept. You cannot just put this end of wood to the next, nail them together and expect them to hold up under the pressures exerted upon them! There is some sense of order in bringing the pieces together and "where" the nails are driven. A faithful friend actually sees the order in which the pieces are fit together and is able to know exactly "where" and "when" the wood is readied for the nail to be driven. When driven home, the "firmness" produced is awesomely strong! A faithful friend - who can find one?

In looking for a faithful friend, do you scout for a person who is willing to be the "nail-driver" God calls them to be? My friend often sees my blog and says, "I provided another object lesson for you". The words sparked a little thought on my part, because she was faithful to speak those words, and the Lord did the rest. When you are surrounded by the wise, the pieces come together in your life. When fools speak into your life, the pieces just make a mighty mess of a woodpile! Woodpiles are only good for gathering creepy-crawly creatures like spiders, ants, and termites. All are pretty messy and destructive. The spiders spin their webs to catch the unsuspecting. The ants invade like an army, so small so as to go undetected until their numbers amass to insurmountable amounts! The termites just eat away, undermining the integrity of the structure. I don't know about you, but I want the "wood" of my life to be put together well, free of any invading forces, trap-setting, or crippling influences. Just sayin!

Never more than

 For whoever wants to save their life will lose it, but whoever loses their life for me will find it. (Matthew 16:25)

What do you really "want" today? I have to ask myself this from time to time because I forget quickly what it is I am working toward or attempting to see accomplished in my life. I get off-track soon enough and you know what that means - - - a whole lot of back-tracking. If you have ever left a room in search of something you needed, then midway stopped short totally forgetting whatever it was that you set out to find, you know how back-tracking can sometimes actually show you where you got off-course and re-establish your goal. Sometimes we just need to take those steps back in order to take the right steps forward.

Whoever wants - I think this means if we 'set out' and somehow get distracted along the way, there is a way back. There is always a way forward, even when we don't think there is any hope of ever getting back on track. It may not be all that hard to find our way back, either! We sort of attempt to do all the work of coming back to 'right-standing' with God, don't we? It is like we expect he won't be happy with us for having left the track we were on with him and therefore we must have to convince him we are sincere this time! If we lose our lives, we find them. It is at the end of loss that we find life!

Let that one sink in a bit, my friends. At the end we find the beginning. We don't lose anything really - it is all there waiting for us just as though we never got lost along the way! As long as what we 'lose' is our self-righteousness and self-interest, we are going to find his righteousness and become enthralled in the things that mean the most to him. As you may have realized already - to grow one needs to actually allow a little death. Death indicates loss, doesn't it? We may not want to admit it, but when we allow some of the weights that have burdened us for so long be shed, we become immensely free and are transformed.

Want to see God's best in your lives? Lay down you life. Want to get freshness in life - don't be afraid to take the steps back into his graces. Allow death to occur - as uncomfortable as that may sound - it is essential. The way we think our lives should have 'played out' may not be the way they actually did, but that doesn't have to be the place where we live forever. The journey doesn't always look like the destination - sometimes we take a different journey and find we are now in quite a different destination than we planned. Whenever we trade the pleasures of the moment for the enjoyment of eternity, we will always be disappointed 

Today, there might be some need to lay down the destination in order to figure out where we were headed and what it was we were seeking to find in the first place. We want to quit when it is hard and we cannot figure out where it is we got off course. God says it is time to commit even when we don't see how God is going to work within our lives. Don't jump out of his grace - stay there, my friends. As you lay down that burden, allowing death to be a place of rebirth, you won't be disappointed. Just sayin!

Let it be recorded

I may never write a book, but I am able to write a blog. A friend once asked me to write a book. The idea of having to put into words my life experiences almost intimidated me, not to mention the stories I have heard about getting a book edited and published. When I began to really think about it, I came to the realization we are all writing a book of sorts. We might call it the "book of decision" because each day is really a 'record' of the decisions we have made throughout that day. Each action we take is somehow "writing the next chapter" of our lives. Our response to today's events go a long way in determining the events of tomorrow, don't they? The events of one "chapter" open up many other chapters of victory or tragedy, gain or loss, celebration or grief for many more days to come. The same is true of our obedience - although it seems to us as less likely to affect as many or to be as profoundly impactful, each 'obedient choice' turns the page to another and another and another. 

And then the People of Israel were back at it again, doing what was evil in God's sight. God put them under the domination of the Philistines for forty years. At that time there was a man named Manoah from Zorah from the tribe of Dan. His wife was barren and childless. The angel of God appeared to her and told her, "I know that you are barren and childless, but you're going to become pregnant and bear a son. But take much care: Drink no wine or beer; eat nothing ritually unclean. You are, in fact, pregnant right now, carrying a son. No razor will touch his head—the boy will be God's Nazirite from the moment of his birth. He will launch the deliverance from Philistine oppression." (Judges 13:1-5 MSG)

Two groups are set before us today. The first is the People of Israel. The "chapter" they were writing was one of "being back at it again" - doing what was evil in God's sight - "pages" of their 'book of life' being filled with all manner of disobedience. Seems like a familiar chapter, does it not? We all can see ups and downs in the lives of the many people God brought out of Egypt - a people redeemed from slavery, but who so easily embrace the things God clearly told them to stay away from in the first place. Moments of close attention to the decisions which would be recorded in their "book" as moments of obedience, followed by moments of inattention which lent themselves to being recorded as "chapters" of disobedience, self-will, and significant compromise. When we see the 'page turn', we see a "new chapter" dawning for the nation - through the actions of one mother and father. Manoah and his wife would be instrumental in changing the course of a nation - by their simple and trusting obedience. As this couple were going about their normal routine, an angel of the Lord appears to them. No trumpets sounded announcing his arrival, or even revealing his identity. He just came in a simple way, almost unnoticed because of his "ordinary" appearance. I wonder how many chapters in our own lives have been opened in just such a manner? God coming to us in an "ordinary manner" - almost unnoticed for the significance of what he brings as that page begins to turn.

The woman was barren - unable to bare children. A tragedy by all accounts in the community in which she lived and worshiped. In fact, others may have looked upon her and made the assumption she was somehow not in right standing with God since she had not been blessed with any gift of life from her womb. Others may have been writing the "chapter of rejection" or "pages of judgment" in her book. God was going to change all this by one simple action of "opening" a new chapter for them! The angel announces they will have a son. They had a part to play - begin to nurture him well, even while he was in the womb, take great care of this blessing.  After he was born, they were to raise him as a devotee of God (a Nazarite). Indeed, a new chapter was dawning - simply by the actions of that one moment. Manoah and his wife were observed spending some time questioning the angel, wondering how this boy should be raised, trying to wrap their heads around it all. Still not recognizing this individual as an angel from God, they ask for his name. I wonder how many chapters of our book have been opened by God without us recognizing who was actually doing the "writing" upon our pages? Isn't it just like us to attempt to wrap our heads around 'stuff' so great like this and find ourselves more muddled than we were before any words began to be recorded upon the page?

At the very end of this chapter, we see the words, "The woman gave birth to a son. They named him Samson. The boy grew and God blessed him. The Spirit of God began working in him..." The boy grew and God blessed him. A new chapter was indeed being written for the nation of Israel. If you know anything at all about Samson, you know his life and actions were instrumental in delivering the nation from the hands of the Philistines - tremendously powerful, huge armies, mighty warriors. He was raised to be a "deliverer" for the entire nation. His life was to be dedicated to this purpose and each "chapter" written reveals the actions which God used to accomplish his purpose. I wonder how many chapters of our lives will be found to add up to a story of God's grace and actions within us which he uses for his glory? Probably more than we think, but what an awesome 'book' this will be! Don't discount the small decisions of today. They begin to write the pages of tomorrow in multiplied ways! Let God write upon your "page" today - it will be the beginning of a great chapter for tomorrow! Just sayin!

Scrap Pile Growing?

A life spent making mistakes is not only more honorable, but more useful than a life spent doing nothing. (George Bernard Shaw)

How are you doing on that 'mistake' count? I could fill journals! Mistakes are a part of life - good or bad judgment is the only thing that contributes to mistake making - right timing combined with bad judgment can make for an equally messed up outcome. There are lots and lots of checks and balances that are in play every day to keep us from 'messing up', but you and I both know we don't always follow the rules or maintain a perfect balance! Mistakes aren't always bad, though. Yes, they can be costly, but the 'expense' of making a mistake is actually one way of saying we just had an investment made into our 'learning'!

For a good man may fall seven times and get back up again, but the wicked will stumble around and fall into misfortune. (Proverbs 24:17)

Scripture doesn't tell us a good man won't fall (fail) - it reminds us of the power within us that helps us get back up again and again. For those of us that fall pretty often, let me just lay it all out there. We fall down, God helps us get back up, we fall down again, and he still helps us get back up. God never tires of helping us up, but he would get pretty tired of us just plain quitting! Sometimes we think we will just fail again, so we quit instead of being subject to failure ever again. I am learning woodworking skills and I have a large pile of wood 'mistakes' that have been both time-consuming and costly. Have I given up? Nope! Why? I want to master this!

We need to have that "I want to master this" kind of attitude toward those things we label as mistakes or failures. Our mistakes don't master us - we master them, but that requires us getting back up and doing it over and over again until we get it right. Let me be clear here - God doesn't celebrate our mistakes, but he doesn't leave us to wallow in them, either. He reaches out his hand, helps us back up, dusts us off, and then helps us take the first steps toward 'mastering' whatever it is all over again. Why? He understands the power of grace. He has done more than just provide the 'means' by which we can have grace, he provides the constant learning that comes each time grace is extended.

A good man falls - not once - but repeatedly. Don't overlook those words because they will give you encouragement if you let them. We will fall. We have the choice as to whether we will get back up again, though. We can wallow or we can rise. What you choose to do with each mistake is really going to determine the outcome of the mistake. I choose to make mine learning opportunities. Yes, I have lots of 'scrap' in the woodpile, but I can always find a project to make from the 'scrap'! God has a way of turning our 'scrap' into something beautiful. So, why not trust him to help you up and get you started on the right path again? Just askin?

His LOVE is life

What do the words, "Your love is life to me," mean to you when you hear them? They are the words of a song I frequently sing at church, but I wonder if we really pay attention to the words we sing. Indulge me for a moment while I share just some of those words with you this morning:

Your love is life to me

My truest longing my deepest need

Without it one moment I don't know where I'd be

Your love is life to me

Breath for my body, light for my eyes

All that I need you daily provide

Deep in my being, more than my blood

My very existence depends on your love

Your love is life to me - - - did you stop for a moment to 'think upon' just how much God's love has provided in your life? When someone is the thing you believe fulfills your deepest needs, you don't want to be separated from the person for even one moment, do you? Your whole life rotates around that person! Without God's love, where would you be today? I know my 'story' would be much different! The path I was on was not a good one. I didn't feel good about myself at all and every action I pursued revealed how insecure, unfulfilled, and desperately lonely I was inside. I was broken, deeply fearful, and could see no way out of the bottomless pit I was in. I can truly say, "My very existence depends upon your love," because without God's love reaching into that pit, it would have become my grave!

Jesus said, “The one who loves Me will obey My teaching. My Father will love him. We will come to him and live with him." (John 14:23)

Breath for my body, light for my eyes. When life seems darkest, God gives light. Where breath seems to be stolen away, God breathes new life. More than our very blood - our very existence depends upon him. If you are in healthcare, you understand some of the very important things blood does within our body. Truth be told, we proclaim the wonders of the brain and even the heart, but we forget about all the 'work' done in the blood. It is the carrier system for all our cells need and then it is the transporter of all things that we need to rid ourselves of in the end. It carries oxygen, nutrients, and then it transports all the waste of our cell's energy to the liver and kidneys so it can be removed from our bodies. All that garbage would just slow us down, making us lethargic and unclear in our thoughts. If the blood doesn't do its work, our brains would not work well!

Our very existence depends upon HIS blood - our very existence depends on his LOVE. His blood was the greatest expression of his love and is the very thing that removed all the 'garbage' out of our lives. If you stop to think about it, God's love gives and gives - just like our blood does within our bodies. His love brings what we need, but it also takes away all that we no longer need to be within us. Obey his teaching and begin to see how the mess of your life will begin to find a new purpose. Why is that? His love changes us - it brings balance in our lives. His love is life to us. Depend upon his love - depend upon his life. Just sayin!

Who, not what

"Aah...this is the GOOD life!" We are perhaps kicking back on the beach, enjoying the rays, listening to the palm fronds rattling in the wind, and then we utter these words of absolute contentment! The next thing you know, a gust of wind blows away your umbrella, a happy-go-lucky child throws sand on you, and the sun drifts behind the clouds! What happened to your "contentment" in that moment? Ummm....honestly....it was no longer the "good life"! The days of good old conversation and peaceful repose with an aging parent turn into helping them make daily decisions, take their showers, and ensuring their safety at every turn. Yep, the 'good life' is kind of missed in those moments, isn't it? There are lots of things that change our 'good life' concept - from sudden gusts of wind to changing needs of those around us. When the 'good life' morphs, are we ready?

Even though a person sins and gets by with it hundreds of times throughout a long life, I'm still convinced that the good life is reserved for the person who fears God, who lives reverently in his presence, and that the evil person will not experience a "good" life. No matter how many days he lives, they'll all be as flat and colorless as a shadow—because he doesn't fear God. (Ecclesiastes 8:12-13)

Our impression of what a "good life" really is can oftentimes be the issue, not the 'events' of life itself. We get our focus a little misdirected at times - giving us a warped perception of reality. You see, the wind was always there, the clouds were passing over as we uttered those words of contentment, and the child had been working on that sand castle for hours! The parent was aging all along, getting weaker each day, and hidden disease was always at work. We just failed to see what was right before our eyes! Perception often determines reality in our minds! A lifestyle of sin is easily observed when it is pitted against a lifestyle of reverence for God. The "good life" is really based on something entirely different than we often imagine. In fact, rarely do I hear anyone describe the good life as serving God first, being less focused on self, and being an obedient steward of the grace God has given in their life! Yet, it is not what we "get by with" in life that makes life great - it is in the fact that we get "nearer" to God that makes it truly great! In fact, a life without God is "colorless as a shadow" and "flat"!

It takes the sun to cast a shadow! The more "face-on" you are to the sun, the longer your shadow. Let me make this clear - the more face-on you are to the Son of God (Jesus), the longer the shadow his grace will cast in your life! You begin to reflect his greatness in your life! It takes the light to realize the "color" in our world. In the darkness, color is really meaningless. You can be standing smack-dab in the middle of a room filled with vividly painted walls, richly adorned furnishings in dynamic colors of the rainbow, but without the light in the room, those colors mean nothing! It takes the "Light of Life" (Christ) to fill our days with color. We may "think" we get by with stuff (not always good stuff either), perhaps hundred of times, but nothing escapes God's view. Even though we don't "get caught" in our sin, he knows it is still there. There is nothing we can hide from him. Want color and light in your life - get honest with God and then enjoy the Son-shine! Don't let the stuff that is right there in front of your eyes to escape your view, or your appreciation! The good life is more about 'who' is in our lives, not 'what' is in it! Just sayin!

Road - Truth - Life

The road often reveals the journey, does it not? Along the way, we make discoveries - some major, others less, but all have significance regardless of big or little. In the end, we hope to have a look back and make the determination we have lived well - life has been a little up and down at times, but it has been a great life nonetheless. When Jesus told his disciples he was the road, the truth, and the life, he wasn't waxing poetic. He was describing what it means to embrace a life lived in the safety and provision of walking with him.

Jesus said, “I am the Road, also the Truth, also the Life. No one gets to the Father apart from me. If you really knew me, you would know my Father as well. From now on, you do know him. You’ve even seen him!” John 14:6 MSG

When he describes himself as the Road, he isn't just saying he is 'a way', but 'the' way. There are lots of roads to take in life, but none is quite as significant for us to traverse as the Road which leads us right into the very throne room of God, Most High! Along any road, there can be many a chance to deviate from that course - exits along the way that lead us who knows where. Sometimes we choose to take a road not well-marked, seldom explored by others, and kind of scary to traverse because of all the 'unknowns'. That isn't the road Jesus describes when he calls himself the Road. His way is straight, well-marked, and leads us into places of safety and provision.

As we travel any distance in this lifetime, we come across all manner of things touting themselves as truth. I have bought into a few of those 'truths' only to find out I got suckered into believing something that was only a partial truth! With Jesus, it is total truth - he is not sugar coating it, nor is he making claims he cannot back up with all manner of action. Truth may not always be popular, but it doesn't change the fact it is true. When we think about truth, we might call to mind something or someone we have a hard time trusting. Why is it we think of what we cannot trust when we think about truth? I think it is because we recognize the extreme contrast between something that is trustworthy and that which betrays our trust each and every time!

Jesus won't betray our trust. In fact, he makes it hard not to trust him because of how trustworthy he is in all aspects of our lives. Even those who have experienced significant tragedy know they can trust God with the outcome. It may not have been a pleasant outcome, but in the end, they stand just as strong in their trust in God as they did before the tragic outcome. How is that possible? I think it is possible because Jesus never abandons them - somehow they felt his presence, saw his hand, knew his care, felt his touch. Maybe the outcome wasn't as they would have hoped, but he remained steadfast in his attendance over their journey, and they walked it out together. Trust isn't always about getting the outcome we desire, but it is about us knowing we were on the right path with the most trustworthy companion in that journey! Just sayin!

Living - Dying - or somewhere in between?

There are days when we just don't think we have much purpose in whatever journey it is we are called to undertake, but let me be the first to assure you nothing could be further from the truth! Whatever it is we are called to do, we are to do it with intent, commitment, and love. Jesus had one of those days when it seemed like he was just 'on his way' from one place to another. He found himself coming into Bethany, a town a had frequented on many occasions. It was kind of common place for him to 'cycle' through Bethany on his travels. He even had friends there. One very special event had transpired there that made Bethany a notorious place - Lazarus had been raised from the dead. Not just the dead, but the smelly, not so inviting tomb. Already wrapped in burial clothes and scented with the herbs of burial, he laid there for three days prior to his coming forth from death. His unmarried sisters were grief-stricken at the loss of their brother - their male head of the home - the one who would have been their provider.

Six days before Passover, Jesus entered Bethany where Lazarus, so recently raised from the dead, was living. (John 12:1)

No words are recorded for us by accident. They aren't in the Bible just to give the story some sense of "plot" or to "add character" to the passage. They are each there by intention - the record of this account of 'entering in' is there because God wanted us to see something in it. Therefore, when we see the words, "Jesus entered into Bethany where Lazarus, SO RECENTLY RAISED FROM THE DEAD, WAS LIVING," we need to pause to notice what that really says. Bethany is noteworthy now for this miracle, but it also had a rich heritage. As a small town about 1.5 miles outside of Jerusalem, it was best known prior to this miracle for being a city with an "almshouse" - a place for the collection that would be distributed among the poor and sick in the region. Bethany was also a town that catered to the needs of the sick. It was kind of like a place to go when one was not doing well physically or financially. One other event in this town got people riled up - the dinner Jesus had in the home of Simon the Leper. As a town that welcomed lepers, it would have been considered an "unclean" place for most of the religious crowd to gather.

Lazarus lived there with his two sisters. It was a town populated by many peoples from various regions. It was notable as the last in a row of cities just prior to entering Jerusalem. Many pilgrimages were taken each year into Jerusalem from all over the land of Israel - in honor of Jehovah and for the purpose of the keeping of the feasts he had established. Many would pass through this region of Bethany on their journey elsewhere. As was the custom of the day, Lazarus and his two sisters, Mary and Martha, would have opened their doors to many as they sojourned there for a rest prior to entering into the holy city.

The most important thing we might recount about Bethany is that Lazarus, once dead, is now living! So recently raised from the dead - now living. What a wondrous statement of fact! What a tremendous message of hope! In fact, if we really look at this, we can ask several questions that might give us insight into why this simple opening statement was penned for us. What is the purpose of resurrection? We might say it is to give evidence that God exists, that his power is over everything and everyone that would attempt to destroy his people. We might also recount that it the purpose of resurrection was to manifest his grace and to display his glory. What is the evidence of resurrection? It is the opposite of the death - life. There is a shift from one state of being into another. The tomb is empty, the grave-clothes have no further purpose, and even the stench of death no longer exists.

 
What is the outcome of resurrection? A changed life. No longer the same - Lazarus was transformed by the miracle of his resurrection. We are also transformed by the miracle of our resurrection. Don't get too literal here on me - I know you were not raised from a crude tomb, wrapped in grave-clothes, and sprinkled with herbs of burial. Yet, you were raised to newness of life in Christ. The outcome is the shedding of all that is old - the "putting on" of all that is new. The evidence is that the old no longer has a purpose in our life - we are living a new life - no longer to be associated with the trappings of the old life. Lazarus, who was one dead, was now living - not bound by the past, but freed for the present. 

That is the result (outcome) of resurrection. We sometimes attempt to "live" still bound by the grave-clothes of our past. Not only is this impractical (as they bind us pretty tightly), but they reek of the past sinful lives we were living before Christ. They carry the evidence of the old life into the present. The work of resurrection for Lazarus was complete when he put on the fresh clothes and took dinner with Jesus. He "put off" the thing that had him bound, and "put on" that which gave him freedom. If we are walking around within the bonds of the "tomb", we exhibit the evidence of the hopelessness of the tomb in our lives. If we are freed from the tomb, why would we want the "tomb-clothes" as our garments any longer? Just sayin!

Do you 'own' it, or do you 'experience' it?

I find there are just some individuals you cannot reason with - no matter what 'tact' you take, you will always be challenged by their arguments to the contrary. The fool just won't accept correction, much less be open to change. Those of us who have spent time attempting to change the mindset of the fool will be the first to admit there just isn't any argument we can present that will budge them from their own belief that they are correct in their way of thinking about things. In fact, they'd just as soon argue their foolish beliefs than to budge from them. Argue as they might, their beliefs are still not correct, but it will take the work of one greater than us to convince them otherwise!

If you reason with an arrogant cynic, you’ll get slapped in the face; confront bad behavior and get a kick in the shins. So don’t waste your time on a scoffer; all you’ll get for your pains is abuse. But if you correct those who care about life, that’s different—they’ll love you for it! Save your breath for the wise—they’ll be wiser for it; tell good people what you know—they’ll profit from it. Skilled living gets its start in the Fear-of-God, insight into life from knowing a Holy God. It’s through me, Lady Wisdom, that your life deepens, and the years of your life ripen. Live wisely and wisdom will permeate your life; mock life and life will mock you. (Proverbs 9:10 MSG)

The opposite is true of the one on the path of light. Although all our beliefs and values may not 'perfectly' align with the Word of God yet, we are on that pathway to discovering the folly in our wrong beliefs! The wise aren't going to argue their unwise beliefs for long - they will eventually see there is another side to the story that needs to be considered and embraced. The wise will forsake their wrong beliefs - sometimes not without a little battle to get to that point - but they will eventually realize just how wrong they have been. When that times comes, laying aside the wrong belief isn't hard because the wise want to embrace truth.

Truth sets us free - but we have to want truth in our lives. We can wear any amount of 'armor' we desire to protect us from truth, but truth will always be penetrate that armor! We don't 'escape truth' as it is everywhere around us in all of God's creation. There is but one God - creator of all that exists. There is but one way into truth and light - through the Son of God - Christ himself. Nothing else will penetrate the armor of our foolish beliefs quite like the truth of God and the light of his Spirit. The moment we are touched by truth, we are changed. The fool is won over by our arguments of faith, but through a life revealing truth at every turn.

Depth in our lives isn't a matter of age - it is a matter of being immersed. The one 'in the pool' is much wetter than the one who knows there is a pool in the backyard! Immerse yourself in the light of Christ and your life will be deeper than ever before. Immerse yourself in the illusion owning a pool makes you a swimmer in the pool and you will be no more than a fool who owns a pool! We can have access to light, but if we never immerse our hearts, minds, and spirits in that light, we are never going to learn the benefits of that light. It is one thing to 'own' or 'have' some truth - it is quite another thing for truth to become the thing that influences all your actions. Just sayin!

A well dug well

Deep wells are necessary here in Arizona because anything near the surface actually dries up pretty quickly unless it is fed from a very deep and refreshing source. The tendency to water only the surface of our ground actually doesn't promote deeper root systems, but a more superficial rooting. The trees, shrubs, and grasses with only these superficial roots often don't make it for the long haul of summer because they have nothing to draw from when the intensity of heat comes. We want to have deep wells to draw from, as we will face many a circumstance in life that turns the heat up more than a little in our lives.

Knowing what is right is like deep water in the heart; a wise person draws from the well within.
(Proverbs 20:5)

There is a tendency to "over-think" things today. We "work" a solution until it is what some call "fool-proof" and then we might take the steps to put it into action. The problem is that none of us is really all that what we work is sometimes 'proof' we are still a little bit foolish. I find that I am more spontaneous than 'over-working' a solution at times - I like to try something before the idea has a chance to grow mold! Most of the time when I act quickly, I come out all right. There are more than a few occasions though where that spontaneity resulted in the occasional flop, supporting the idea that it wasn't a "fool-proof" plan.

There is a time for planning and I definitely know not every half-baked idea is a good one! I am no fool, although I act the fool on occasion. There is a well that lies deep within that we each can draw from when we need an immediate solution to a problem life deals us - but a well must be found before it can become our source. Whenever we take the steps to do exactly what God has reminded us to do in his Word, we are creating a deeper well to draw from. What are those steps? Glad you asked!

First, we must hide his word in our hearts. That is more than just memorizing chapter and verse. It is allowing the word of God to get deep into the core of our being - through study, meditation, and application of the word. When we need to call upon the lessons we have learned, they will be there as guiding influences. Then we must allow the Holy Spirit to take up residence in our lives. We are given the gift of the Holy Spirit at the point of our saying 'yes' to Jesus in our lives. There is a very distinctive act - a point in time - when we invite him to truly "fill us" to overflowing with his presence. At that point, there is a definite "infilling" of our lives with the power to live for Jesus.
We also must engage with the Holy Spirit to see the fruits produced within that only he has the power to bring forth. Fruit such as affection for others that stems from an attitude that is not simply focused on what WE can get out of the relationship, but is committed to being a blessing in the lives of others. The fruit of the Spirit is evidence of the work of Christ in our lives - evidence of a deep well.

When a believer allows these things to occur, there is a well of "wealth" to draw from when the time arises. We look upon that person and call him "wise" because his every action seems to be "well-planned". In fact, you are probably just witnessing the person living life with lots of "dips into the well" of faith. They have frequented the "well of life" (Jesus) and now they have a "reliable well" to draw from when life hands them challenging moments. Wells require some work, though. They must first be dug in a place where there is hope for the flow of water. That is why we "dig into" Jesus. Then they must be dug deep because the waters that come from deeper down are purer and much more refreshing. They must be accessed - no well serves its purpose if it is just there for "wishing"! Become a "well-digger" today - you will be amazed how many times you will "tap into" the refreshing, reviving, and rejuvenation of the "well of life". Just diggin!

A little here, a little there

I recently paid to have my trees trimmed by a professional tree trimming company in the valley. They had never been properly trimmed in the 24 years I have lived in this house, so they were way overdue. I could have attempted to 'make do' with my minimal reach and tools, but they were really needing a professional's touch. While it was a hefty price to pay, the results were astronomical! The dead branches, wayward growth, and excess weight is all gone now. The trees look remarkably healthier, although they are 'scrawnier' and not totally full right now. When the wind storms came just a week or so after they were pruned, I had hardly any fallen branches or dead leaves in the yard. In fact, I think the damage others suffered with the storms bypassed my house because the trees were trimmed in such a way that supported the wind going through rather than pushing against the trees and ripping at their branches. It is amazing what the right tools, in the hands of the right person, can do to complete a task in the correct manner!

"I am the Real Vine and my Father is the Farmer. He cuts off every branch of me that doesn't bear grapes. And every branch that is grape-bearing he prunes back so it will bear even more. You are already pruned back by the message I have spoken." (John 15:1-3)

Why does a tree or vine need to be pruned? Doesn't it hurt it? Won't it die if we do all that cutting? I remember watching Dad take out the pruning sheers, oiling them a little, sharpening the blades, and then cutting the bushes, vines and trees until they barely resembled what they were. In the end, they looked "naked" - cut back almost to the point of what I considered to be "death" - much like the trees when the tree experts had finished with them. What some of us do not understand is that proper pruning produces even more growth and prolongs the life of the tree or bush. In fact, an un-pruned tree can actually be a hazard - branches breaking off in windstorms or causing damage to roofs and surrounding structures as they sway and are pushed upon by the wind. In our yards, we want things that enhance the beauty of the yard, so the purpose of pruning is to keep things "in shape" so that they contribute enhancing effects to the landscape. In the orchard, pruning has a significantly different purpose - it is designed to get more fruit, earlier fruit, and healthier fruit.

Pruning is usually done during the dormant season - when the tree or bush has less sap flowing, leaves are not consuming all the life-flow of that sap, and the health or lack of health of the branches becomes very evident. The right tool produces the right cut. Use the wrong tool and you may splinter off the branch, leaving a ragged cut that is neither beautiful, nor conducive to further growth the next season. In fact, "where" you cut the branch is just as important as the tool you use to do the cutting. How high up you cut the branches also determines the health of the trunk, because too much sunlight against the bark of the tree trunk can require the tree to demand much more water. You always cut near the "collar" of the branch - where it joins in with the branch you want to have remain. Why? It produces a better cut that ends the life of that pruned branch and focuses the growth potential on the branch that remains. You go to where a large branch "V" occurs and cut it off at the "V" - leaving no indication that the branch existed except for evidence of the "cut". This forms the tree into the shape you desire, allowing overlapping branches to be trimmed away and exposing the remaining branch to the needed sun. Sometimes a tree needs to be 'topped'. For those of you that don't know what it is to "top" a tree or bush, it is the arbitrary cutting to do nothing more than shape the tree/bush. There is no care in where the cuts occur. What ends up happening is that the tree or bush sends off many more shoots from that area, increasing the wildness of the growth instead of stopping growth in that area.

God never prunes us for the sake of just "pruning" - he always has an intention in mind - healthy growth, staying some wayward growth in our lives, and/or the production of fruit. He uses the best technique for the "pruning" in order to accomplish the desired results - if it is to stop us in our tracks before we become too "wild" in our growth, then he even does that. God is concerned with the end result - not just with the appearance of health. He wants to see solid growth, productive lives, and healthy relationships. To that end, he prunes. He always uses the appropriate instrument to get the desired result of his pruning. Sometimes it is a saw, producing a more noticeable "cut" in our lives - other times, it is the sheers, just barely cutting away a small sucker or a branch that is not looking as healthy. We have a great "gardener" in Jesus. We can trust him with his "pruning" techniques and the exact timing of his work. He is skilled at what he does and he understands what each "pruning cut" will produce. We can embrace the pruning if we trust the one doing the pruning! Just sayin!

Be a life-flow

We church-goers hear the phrase, "Be a doer of the Word." Do we really understand what this statement means? Putting the Word of God into action in our lives is really more demanding than we often imagine - sometimes it is one of the most daunting tasks we can undertake. Learning the Word of God is one thing, actually doing what it says is quite another. Most of us do a very adequate job at 'learning' the Word of God, but I'd be the first to admit - the 'doing' of it is sometimes a little lacking!

Hear, O Israel: The LORD our God, the LORD is one.  Love the LORD your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength.  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. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads.  Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates. (Deuteronomy 6:4-9)

Here we find a reminder about the God we serve - the one who is unchangeable in his promises, righteous inside and out - the God of divine compassion who places man under a moral obligation to be righteous - to learn to do what it is we have come to learn. So, how do we get to the place that God looks at us as righteous? It begins with our belief in the finished work of the Cross of Christ - the blood shed as a substitution - a sacrifice for us, making atonement for our sins, certainly not his. Over the course of the rest of our lives, we move from the place of being "saved" into a continual walk of having that righteousness that was imputed (credited) to us at the point of salvation worked out in our daily choices.

Imputed really means to be counted as bringing our account into full payment - in other words, no debt is owing for our sins any longer as that debt was completely paid in full by Christ. God reminds us of some interesting things about how this daily walk progresses. First, he tells us to love the Lord our God with all our hearts. This type of love is a devotion that is based on a kinship experience - there are strong personal ties to the one we are loving. God brings us from a place of alienation into a place of closeness - in turn, we are adopted into his family, experiencing all the privileges of "kin". We are to cherish God - experiencing a repeatedly expanding desire for him.

We are to love him with our whole heart - our whole personality, including our intellect and emotions. We need to stop here and remember that love is more than a state of mind - there is a ton of emotional investment behind it. It may begin with emotion, get stalled a while until the mind catches up, then the mind gets reignited again with fresh emotion. The important thing is that it is growing and that it involves our whole being - every part of our character, feelings, inclinations involved in the pursuit of God. To the heart, he adds that we are to love him with our entire soul - "entire" means "all". The soul is that which we think of as animating us - it makes us different from every other creature roaming this earth. It is our moral and emotional nature - that which gives us that sense of conscience. Love that is animated is indeed evident to all who look upon it. There is an evidence of that love manifest deep within our soul.

If that is not enough, God asks us to love him with all our strength - with our total capacity. Nothing held back! There is to be an honest intensity, a potency, and a power in our daily walk with God. When we go through "dry seasons" it usually means this is missing from our walk and we wonder if we are really still "connected" with our God. We feel "dry" - vitality is missing in our spiritual walk. The reason God asks for us to give our total capacity is that he wants us to be filled to (and even over) capacity - with his love, grace, peace, truth, etc. When we hold nothing back, he is free to hold nothing back in filling us with these good things - allowing them to overflow so others get a sense of his goodness, as well. The instruction goes on to say that we are to impress them upon our lives, tie them to ourselves, bind them so they cannot be broken, and write them down so we remember them well. God wants his Word to be in constant contact with our innermost character, affecting every inclination we have. His words gives support to every choice we make. 

The Word is designed to influence us, but it is also meant to transfer or transmit to us that which will mark us as Christ's. When we tie the Word to our hands, we are using the Word as a restraining power, or an influence, that affects everything we set our hands to do. The Word is a symbol (a visible sign) that is manifest through the hands. Binding the Word to our foreheads can be likened to causing our thoughts to be confined to, restrained or restricted to that which is honoring, worthy, and holy. This will make our minds firm and settled - experiencing peace in our thought life. The Word of God is to be written ALL OVER our lives - in our speech, our actions, every impulse we respond to. It affects our entire being, directing our entire course of action. In turn, we become a channel for the life flow of God. This is what it means to be a "doer" - become a life-flow of God's grace today! Just sayin!

Misery loves company

All praise to the God and Father of our Master, Jesus the Messiah! Father of all mercy! God of all healing counsel! He comes alongside us when we go through hard times, and before you know it, he brings us alongside someone else who is going through hard times so that we can be there for that person just as God was there for us. We have plenty of hard times that come from following the Messiah, but no more so than the good times of his healing comfort—we get a full measure of that, too. (2 Corinthians 1:3-4 MSG)

We probably all have heard that old English proverb, "Misery loves company", but does it really 'love it'? Back some time ago, I came across some research attempting to see if people who spend a good deal of time together actually influence the 'moods' of the other individual. They attempted to see if one depressed individual in the relationship did more to bring down the other individual, or if the opposite would be true and the other brought the depressed one up. It was a good study showing that only the severely depressed individual actually pulled the mood of the other downward. Normal emotional mood swings didn't play as much role in 'pulling the other guy down'. They were part of life and they were momentary mood swings that could easily be changed in the company of another. 

The study stopped short of actually proving the positive mood of one party in the relationship being able to actually impact the negative mood of the other - it just showed that we aren't always negatively impacted by the mood of another. I think we have all felt it from time to time though. We are feeling low and kind of dragging along through life somehow and one of our close friends comes alongside with a much more positive disposition in that moment and what happens? Most of the time, OUR mood begins to change, ever so slightly. I believe even a little while in the right company makes all the difference!

The 'God of all healing counsel' is just dying to display his goodness in our lives. He isn't about to abandon us to our worries and cares. In fact, he helps to actually 'strategically' bring others into our lives that will act as the counter-balance to our current emotional need. Alongside us, they find a way to help us heal, create a new enthusiasm for what lies ahead, or even just be a shoulder to lean on when we think we might want to abandon it all. God's healing counsel isn't always found by us getting into the Word of God, or in spending long moments of prayer sharing our miseries with him. Sometimes his healing counsel comes in us recognizing a need similar to our own in the life of another and then finding some way to be an encouragement to that other individual, even though we might have a need of our own. Somehow, in that moment of being what the other guy needs, we find healing for our own need!

While God will always remain our primary source for emotional strength and 'balance' in our lives, he does use others to help us walk out this daily struggle called 'life'. We don't have to go it alone and this is likely surprising news to some. I have met individuals who think they cannot ever ask for help, or ever be who they really are around others because they figure they have to shoulder life's burdens all on their own. Nothing could be further from God's plans for our lives for we are created to 'partner with each other' in this walk. Yes, it may be true that misery loves company - attracting 'birds of the feather' into the middle of your own muddle - but if we truly want to overcome our misery, we want to find ways to 'look outside' our misery and recognize the misery of another. Just sayin!

Deserts, Beaches, and Mountaintops

What makes the desert beautiful is that somewhere it hides a well.  

(Antoine de Saint-Exupery)

We can rejoice, too, when we run into problems and trials, for we know that they are good for us—they help us learn to be patient. And patience develops strength of character in us and helps us trust God more each time we use it until finally our hope and faith are strong and steady. Then, when that happens, we are able to hold our heads high no matter what happens and know that all is well, for we know how dearly God loves us, and we feel this warm love everywhere within us because God has given us the Holy Spirit to fill our hearts with his love. (Romans 5:3-5)

I grew up in the desert of Arizona, very much before all the sprawling expanse of industry and growth took over much of the desert land around Phoenix. As a child, I'd spend hours and hours just poking sticks in holes to see what was in them, turning over rocks to see if I could find lizard eggs, and lazing under Palo Verde trees watching industrious ants go to and from from their nests. To me, the desert wasn't a thing to be feared, but a very exciting place to explore. Why? I didn't know anything else as well as I knew the desert! I thought the desert was beautiful and bountiful - not barren and something to be feared. Yes, the tall pines around the lakes were beautiful, but they weren't the place my family called "home". There are those who wouldn't think the desert offered much, but to me, it offered everything! 

Some will find the desert places in life a little less than desirable, because they are used to the mountaintops or the beaches. The beach is beautiful, bountiful with items to discover, and constantly changing. The mountaintops give great views and help us see the expanse before us, but there comes times of great snows and icy temps. Each offers something different - the point of discovery is when we begin to look beyond where we are and discover who we are in the place we presently find ourselves. Deep inside the dry wash created by monsoon rains of seasons past, I'd discover tiny toads that otherwise would not have been born. Out in the blazing hot of the noontime sun I'd observe the creatures of the wild slow their day's work to a crawl, resting up until the blazing of the sun lessened. 

The lessons we learn right where we are today are not to be dismissed as unimportant or unimpressive. What today's experiences provide for tomorrow's challenges cannot be underestimated. The key is in observing well what it is we find in our 'today experiences'. They may be desert-type experiences, but there are learnings galore, even from the barren places. They may be mountaintop observations, but there are lessons to be found by looking at the strength observed in giant trees surging to the sky from what appears to be nothing more than rocky crags. They could even be beach-side experiences, filled with all manner of living discovery in an ever-changing environment controlled not by your own making, but by the making of a 'tide' much greater than you.

There is hope in each experience, but it must be found not so much in the experience, as in the one who helps us enjoy and comprehend each experience. Just sayin!

1000 pieces and counting

2 Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins. 2 You used to live in sin, just like the rest of the world, obeying the devil—the commander of the powers in the unseen world. He is the spirit at work in the hearts of those who refuse to obey God. 3 All of us used to live that way, following the passionate desires and inclinations of our sinful nature. By our very nature we were subject to God’s anger, just like everyone else.  4 But God is so rich in mercy, and he loved us so much, 5 that even though we were dead because of our sins, he gave us life when he raised Christ from the dead. (It is only by God’s grace that you have been saved!) 6 For he raised us from the dead along with Christ and seated us with him in the heavenly realms because we are united with Christ Jesus. 7 So God can point to us in all future ages as examples of the incredible wealth of his grace and kindness toward us, as shown in all he has done for us who are united with Christ Jesus. (Ephesians 2:1-7 NLT)

It is a long passage this morning, but it is all good stuff! The stage is set with the words: "Once you were dead because of your disobedience and your many sins". Then the door opens to reveal the results of God's actions taken to counteract all our sinful actions. The most important thing within this passage is very easily "glossed over" - "You used to live..."  It doesn't say we continue to live, but that we used to live...past tense...a done deal. If we have been wondering if our walk with Jesus really "took hold" because we are continually struggling with some kind of sin or another, then let me just assure you - it did! It is no longer the spirit of the devil at work in our hearts - it is God's Spirit - and there is no greater power available to us to turn us away from sin than his indwelling Spirit.

I have spoken before about the power of that tiny word "but" - it cancels out everything that comes before it and focuses us squarely on what comes after. So, all that giving into sin and being ruled by our sinful desires, fueled by the enticements of the world, they are all behind us. Look at the passage again - we were raised - it is a finished work, my friends. Think for a moment about a jigsaw puzzle. On the outside of the box, what do you see? Isn't it an image of the finished work inside that box? Is the "stuff" inside the puzzle box a finished work? No - because there is a "fitting together" of the pieces which is required in order to have it resemble completely the image depicted on the outside of that box.

In much the same way, we are like puzzle pieces not yet fully fit together to resemble the image of Christ. The image is there, constantly reminding us of what it is that is being created each time a piece falls into place within our lives. As long as the pieces are moving into place, we are on the right track! They aren't all fit together yet, but they are sorted into "piles" much the same way we sort puzzle pieces into color or design before we go about trying to assemble them. The edges are important - because they form the framework in which we fit the pieces. There are some sections of the puzzle which are quite easily fit together - because the design is simple or the color is the only type of that sort in the whole puzzle.

In life, not all the pieces fit together as easy as some may. I think God gives us those "easy pieces" or sections of our life's puzzle that seem to "fit together" easily because he wants us to begin to see the resemblance we have to the image he sets before us - his Son. If I try to make the puzzle in the box resemble anything other than the image it is patterned after, the pieces don't fit. It is the same way with our life - the pieces fit best when they are held up to the pattern of Christ, then places into that pattern in just the right place at just the right time. We don't see how all these pieces of our life fit together - but thank God, we have a continual pattern before us to help guide us into that perfect fit! Just sayin!

Teach me...

Teach us to realize the brevity of life, so that we may grow in wisdom. (Psalm 90:12 NLT)

As a new year dawns upon us and we consider the many accomplishments, heartaches, and unfinished business from the previous, it is good to just stop for a moment to consider what it is we take from the past year and what should remain behind. We want to "take" the things we can count as lessons, but we don't want to clutter up this new year with the things best left behind, such as worries, envy, and bitterness. As we "grow in wisdom" we come to understand there a just some things best left in the past and better things we need to focus on in the present!

Benjamin Franklin said, "Lost time is never found again." It makes sense, because time is something like sand slipping through our fingers and just not really able to "remade" no matter how much we try. As we look back over 2016, let us not forget the things we really might see today as disappointments - time slipping through our fingers, business not really finished, but just not really in the cards for us either. We could spend countless hours recalling all those moments and trying to reconstruct them so as to "deal with them" in the present, but honestly, they aren't worth it!

One thing I don't want us to forget is any unfinished business as it relates to us revealing the love of God through our lives or pouring it into the life of another. As we stop to really consider the brevity of life, these are the only moments of "unfinished business" we need to focus on. You might have heard the saying by Samuel Richardson, "Love can draw an elephant through a keyhole," but we don't always remember where we put the key, do we? Some of us need reminders of the unfinished business of drawing through the keyhole into 2017 what will make all the difference in this year, while allowing all the things which need not come through that door in the past.

Brevity is more than a shortness of duration, it is also a conciseness by which a matter is settled. There are some things we need to be concise about, deal with, then move on. Those are the things we don't want to have lingering along for the ride into 2017. They are the things best left in the past. The best thing we might do is just declare them unfinished business, never to be finished, and allow the dust to settle on them. Some are our failures to resolve issues we thought we might be able to, others are things we undertook that we thought we could handle but which only cluttered up our lives with complexity we didn't need. Those which are relational in nature should be dealt with quickly, so as not to continue them into this new year. Those which are failures we just want to keep beating ourselves up about should be forgiven, left in the past, and then we should square ourselves with a new focus on the present. Just sayin!