Monthly Archives: April 2015

NOT MY DAY

“This is the day the LORD has made. We will rejoice and be glad in it.” (Psalm 118:24)

We’ve all had them. Days, that is, when nothing seems to be going right. Things aren’t working the way they are supposed to. Times when we feel we should go back to bed, because we certainly must have crawled out on the wrong side this morning.  When this occurs, it’s not unusual to hear the phrase – “Today’s just not my day.”  In saying so, we often muddle through what remains of it, just hoping that tomorrow will be better and run a little smoother. If we’re fortunate enough to pick up our Bible on a day like that, we would be very blessed to receive comfort from the words of Paul which he spoke to the church at Corinth. “So we do not lose heart. Though our outer self is wasting away, our inner self is being renewed day by day” (2 Cor. 4:16).

Corrie ten Boom, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp, came to understand the value of each day as she learned to trust and serve God. She became a well-known author of faith who said, “This is what the past is for! Every experience God gives us, every person He puts in our lives is the perfect preparation for the future that only He can see.”  On April 19, 1995 – 168 people died when a bomb was set off at the Alfred P. Murrah building in Oklahoma City. Decades later, a mother of one of the victims stated that she has learned to make the most of each new day because you never know what tomorrow might bring.  At times like this when we hear of a tragedy that others must endure, we would do well to pause and simply thank our Heavenly Father for whatever kind of day we might be having. It’s actually rather scriptural when you think about it. “Do not boast about tomorrow, for you do not know what a day may bring” (Proverbs 27:1)

On April 15, 2015, it was just a normal day for 29 year-old Jason Warnock of Idaho. He was doing what he did most days, driving to work, when he saw debris near the road.  He looked up to see a SUV suspended on the edge of a cliff, being held in place only by a chain-link fence. It hadn’t been a very good day for 23-year-old Michael Sitko who crashed this vehicle, at least not until Warnock parked his car and pulled Sitko out to safety. Warnock, unidentified at the time, chatted briefly with the victim, waited for the arrival of emergency personnel, and casually left the scene to go to work.  Police later stated that the SUV may have been intentionally crashed, and the only thing that saved the driver was the fence and the unknown hero. Warnock, who later came forward, thought differently: “I think maybe God put me here at the right time.”

Years ago, I heard the late Robert H. Schuller say these words at the end of one of his Hour of Power services: “Lord, lead me to the person you wish to touch through my life as I serve you this day.” I try to remember to close my devotions each morning with that thought. For I have come to realize that, “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness” (Lamentations 3:22-23). Our life is by no means an accident. We are here for God’s intended purpose, and we have a limited amount of time.  Scripture is clear that “A person’s days are determined; you have decreed the number of his months and have set limits he cannot exceed” (Job 14:5).

So when you feel yourself saying, “Today is not my day” – you’re absolutely correct. Instead, we learn to understand that every day is His, a gift from God. On those days when it might seem like you don’t have a purpose, recognize that you are allowing life circumstances to define rather than trusting God to lead. When our priorities become smothered by the stuff of life, we will not be open to God’s prodding spirit. As the psalmist said, “Teach us to number our days that we may gain a heart of wisdom” (Psalm 90:12). Even though we will certainly become busy with our daily challenges, each day also provides a chance for us to serve and love Him more. We simply have to watch and listen for His call.

REFLECTION:  In what ways are you presently living for God? How is God glorified when you are following the purpose He intends for your life? How can you make time each morning to ask the question, “Lord, what are you leading me to do this day?”

(MY NEXT WEEKLY DEVOTION WILL BE UPLOADED ON SAT., MAY 2, 2015.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE REMINDED OF THE FREE WEEKLY POSTINGS, SEND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO: LookUpwrd@aol.com  YOUR ADDRESS WILL NOT BE SHARED)

BECAUSE I SAID SO

Then Jesus said, “Did I not tell you that if you believe, you will see the glory of God?”   (John 11:40)

A young boy looks at his father and asks the usual series of ‘why’ questions.  Finally running out of answers, the dad becomes somewhat exasperated by trying to satisfy his son with a response. So he simply bends down, gives the child a hug to let him know he cares, and then looks at him firmly and says, “Because I said so. That’s why.”  As we mature, it does not become any easier. We continue to question the decisions of our parents, the authority of our teachers, the thinking of our bosses, and the trust of our spouse. And when it comes to matters of faith, we try to apply the same logic to God that we learn in our science and math classes. We suddenly realize that two plus two doesn’t always equal four.

The question becomes – if one of Jesus very own disciples doubted, can we be expected to be any different? “So the other disciples told him, ‘We have seen the Lord!’ But he said to them, ‘Unless I see the nail marks in his hands and put my finger where the nails were, and put my hand into his side, I will not believe’” (John 20:25).  This follower became known as the ‘Doubting Thomas Disciple’ and there is at least a little bit of him in each of us.  We believe in Jesus, but we’re not sure about all those Bible stories.  You know the ones – Jonah and the whale, David and Goliath, the parting of the Red Sea, the raising of Lazarus after he had been dead for three days.  The list could go on and on. But God has given us the gift of faith so that we can take what’s unseen and make it part of who we are. In response to His Thomas: “Then Jesus told him, ‘Because you have seen me, you have believed; blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed’” (John 20:29).

I remember at one point in my life listening to a pastor speak about the miracle of the loaves and the fishes (Matthew 14:15-21; Mark 6:41; Luke 9:16-17). All of the scripture accounts indicate that the thousands of followers ate from a small number of fish and a few loaves of bread and were satisfied. This pastor gave several explanations as to how the hunger of the multitudes may have been fulfilled, giving little if any credence to the fact that the food may have been sufficiently multiplied to actually feed those present. What bothered me about his rationalizations was that they left very little room for God to be God. The problem with mankind is that we have come to expect methodical proof for everything we deem to be real.  We try to define God in terms of our own human understanding. We get lost in being able to do so, because He cannot be defined in ways that we are able to comprehend. “‘For my thoughts are not your thoughts, neither are your ways my ways,’ declares the Lord” (Isaiah 55:8).

We come to realize somewhere along the Journey that we don’t have to obtain the answer to all the questions we might ask – at least not in this lifetime.  Meanwhile as our Heavenly Father deals with our insecurities, doubts, and fears – He remains patient, telling us: “Do not let your heart be troubled; believe in God, believe also in Me. In My Father’s house are many dwelling places; if it were not so, I would have told you; for I go to prepare a place for you” (John 14:2).  For me – when I think of the vastness of our universe and my understanding of who God is, I am reminded of the words in the song popularized in the 1960’s by Mahalia Jackson and Elvis Presley:

“Who made the flowers to bloom in the spring
Who made the song for the robins to sing
And who hung the moon and the stars in the sky
Somebody bigger than you and I…”

If that ‘Somebody Bigger” is the God I have grown to love, then He can say to me anytime, “Because I Said So.” I can accept this answer with a childlike faith (Mark 10:14-15). C. S. Lewis put it this way: “I believe in Christianity as I believe that the sun has risen: not only because I see it, but because by it I see everything else.” And if not now, someday when “we shall see face to face” (1 Cor. 13:12).

REFLECTION:  How prepared are you to defend your belief in God?  How can you positively respond to others who are expressing doubts about their faith? How can you be less of a Doubting Thomas?

(MY NEXT WEEKLY DEVOTION WILL BE UPLOADED ON SAT., APRIL 25, 2015.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE REMINDED OF THE FREE WEEKLY POSTINGS, SEND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO: LookUpwrd@aol.com  YOUR ADDRESS WILL NOT BE SHARED)

HOLIER THAN THOU . . . AND LAST

“So the last will be first, and the first will be last.” (Matthew 20:16)

This is one of my favorite times of the year.  Not only is the earth coming to new life, it is the beginning of baseball season.  It’s that time when all of the teams are pretty much equal in the standings which will ultimately determine who makes the division playoffs and have a chance to go on to the World Series.  But at the start of the new season, the win-loss record doesn’t mean all that much at least for a while. A team that wins a few and loses a few can easily end up near the top of the heap, if other teams in the same division are losing more than they are winning. However, it doesn’t take long until a disproportionate number of losses will propel any team in first place to descend to last place rather quickly.

It’s interesting how often we refer to rankings or placement.  For years, the Nielsen ratings have measured audience share for TV programs, helping to determine where advertisers might get the biggest bang for their buck. The famous Gallup poll samples public opinion, one of the most well-known being the approval rating of the current President.  These days as we make purchases online, we can often limit our decision by reviewing the ratings a product has received from others who have already registered their level of satisfaction.  It’s true even in our personal interactions. A month or so ago, I saw a lady who I heard had been having health problems and told her that she was on my prayer list.  She replied, “Well I’m still having a few issues, so would you mind moving me to the top of that list?”

The disciples of Jesus once got into a disagreement about who was the greatest of the twelve.  “But Jesus, knowing what they were thinking in their heart, took a child and stood him by His side, and said to them, ‘Whoever receives this child in My name receives Me, and whoever receives Me receives Him who sent Me; for the one who is least among all of you, this is the one who is great’ “ (Luke 9:47-48). Later He shares the parable of the workers in the vineyard (Matthew 20) whose owner pays the same amount to all of his workers regardless of when they were hired. Jesus essentially responds that all who toil the field for the master are treated alike, regardless of how long they serve. The point of the lesson was that no matter how long or how hard a Believer works for God’s purposes during his lifetime, the reward of eternal life will be the same for all.

We too must ask the question if there are not times when we tend to see ourselves better than others, perhaps a little higher on the scale because we believe we have worked harder and performed better.  We know there are issues in our family, but we are confident that ours is nothing like the neighbor’s down the street. We casually slip into the pew at church, look across the aisle, and assure ourselves that while we are a sinner for sure – our sins aren’t nearly as bad as theirs. I once saw a sign that read – “Jesus loves you, but I’m His favorite.” That ‘holier than thou’ attitude can get us into trouble, and we can very quickly get pulled down on our knees in the realization that we shouldn’t judge someone just because they sin differently than us. Jesus asked, “Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye?” (Matthew 7:3).

“Said the self-righteous preacher, ‘What, in your judgement, is the greatest sin in the world?’ ‘That of the person who sees other human beings as sinners,’ said the Master.” (Anthony de Mello). Bottom line, there is no first or last in the eyes of God – only we sinners who are far worse off than we think we are and get treated far better than we deserve through His saving grace.  Oh, and by the way – I saw that person again for whom I was praying, the one with the health problem. I asked how she was doing and told her I had moved her up on the prayer list as she had requested.  She looked at me, smiled and said – “You know, I bet that’s why I have been feeling a whole lot better.” I smiled back and assured her I was most certain that where she had been placed on my list had nothing to do with it whatsoever.

REFLECTION:  Do you sometimes see yourself higher on God’s list than others? Have you been guilty of comparing your personal sins against those of others? How can we improve our focus on the fact that every sin is destructive and could separate us from God were it not for his amazing grace?

(MY NEXT WEEKLY DEVOTION WILL BE UPLOADED ON SAT., APRIL 18, 2015.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE REMINDED OF THE FREE WEEKLY POSTINGS, SEND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO: LookUpwrd@aol.com  YOUR ADDRESS WILL NOT BE SHARED)

RISEN INDEED!

“My food,” said Jesus, “is to do the will of him who sent me and to finish his work”       (John 4:34).

An older friend of mine told me a story a while back about the time she went to her bank to transact some business.  Please understand that my friend worked most of her life at the bank where she continued to maintain her finances. However, she had now been retired for many years.  On one of her bank visits, she took some coinage that needed to be run through a sorter and wrapped.  When she told the teller what she wanted, the teller stated that it wasn’t something she was able to do for her. My spunky friend Dorothy stated that was all it took. She looked at the young lady and said, “Oh yes you will. Please close your window, and I will show you where and how to do it.”  What the teller did not know is that during her employment at this institution, Dorothy had at one time been the supervisor for all tellers. Dorothy told me that while she had been kind, she had also made up her mind that she expected the same customer service she would have once provided. Dorothy chuckled and indicated that when the transaction had been completed, she found the bank manager and self-reported.

More and more, I hear people using the phrase, “That’s not my job.”  Our society has become so specialized that people are either afraid or incapable of stepping beyond the boundaries.  I have frequently phoned one company or another for some kind of assistance, worked my way through a successive series of prompts, been placed on hold, and later told by the ‘live’ representative that they would have to transfer my call to another department. It can be very frustrating to finally get to a real person who may or may not be able to address your concern.  One would like to think that along our journey, we should be able to demonstrate and receive gracious acts of service in all walks of life. However in many situations we are discouraged from doing so, while the concept of public service becomes rejected rather than embraced. I wonder where we would be if on the way to Calvary Jesus had said, “You know, I’m not sure this whole dying thing is really in my job description.”

It is very clear that Jesus came to serve and not to be served. Ultimately, He came to sacrifice His life and said that those who chose to follow Him must “count the cost” of doing so. He once stated, “Any one of you who does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple” (Luke 14:33).  Jesus words should resonate with us, for there will be times we’ll wonder what we signed up for as we seek the will of God for our own life. Jesus himself struggled to bring His will in complete submission to His Father’s. In fact, “While Jesus was here on earth, he offered prayers and pleadings, with a loud cry and tears, to the one who could rescue him from death. And God heard his prayers because of his deep reverence for God” (Hebrews 5:7). Robert Law is quoted to have said: “Prayer is a mighty instrument, not for getting man’s will done in heaven, but for getting God’s will done in earth.”

When we hear Jesus foretelling His death prior to Good Friday (Mark 8:31), we can understand why His followers were puzzled. He said to them, “Whoever wants to be my disciple must deny themselves and take up their cross daily and follow me” (Luke 9:23).  After all – who of us would want to see that on a list of job description duties?  But as followers of Jesus – we will be asked over and over again to self-sacrifice, serve others rather than wait to be served, and to realize His will for our life until that day when He calls us Home.  As we celebrate the risen Christ on Easter Sunday, we are reminded of the joyous news that the death of Jesus was not in vain.  As the hymn says, “Because He lives . . . I can face tomorrow.” It is only when we stand with Peter and John at the empty tomb that we come to realize Jesus was called to do far more than we would have ever imagined. And when we hear the words “He has risen” – we can give full response with our own proclamation, “He has risen, indeed!”

REFLECTION:  Can you think of ways that you might better deny yourself in His service? Do you have a clear understanding that following the will of God is the only key to victory in your own struggles of life? Are you able to respond, filled with the assurance, that He has risen indeed?

(MY NEXT WEEKLY DEVOTION WILL BE UPLOADED ON SAT., APRIL 11, 2015.  IF YOU WOULD LIKE TO BE REMINDED OF THE FREE WEEKLY POSTINGS, SEND YOUR EMAIL ADDRESS TO: LookUpwrd@aol.com  YOUR ADDRESS WILL NOT BE SHARED)