Monthly Archives: May 2016

FIGHTING THE GOOD FIGHT

“But if you are careful to obey him, following all my instructions, then I will be an enemy to your enemies, and I will oppose those who oppose you” (Exodus 23:22).

This past week I watched the National Spelling Bee which is held annually in Washington, D. C. near Memorial Day weekend. The event is for youth younger than fourteen and those who have not yet completed the eighth grade. What is interesting about the competition is that many of the contestants know each other because they may have participated in a prior year or have a sibling who did so. Because of their familiarity, they often find themselves cheering each other on. In an interview with one of the finalists, she explained that they don’t view the challenge as a threat coming from the other participants but from the word they are given to spell.  In this way, it is “the dictionary who becomes the enemy.” Ultimately they learn a valuable lesson that enemies are sometimes of our own making, embracing: “When people’s lives please the LORD, even their enemies are at peace with them” (Proverbs 16:7).

In warfare we often find that yesterday’s enemies are today’s allies. Nearly seventy-one years after an atomic bomb fell from the skies onto the city of Hiroshima bringing an end to World War II, an American President placed a wreath at the Peace Memorial of that city.  President Obama credited the United States and Japan for forging “not only an alliance but a friendship.”  Relationships are formed in the strangest ways between people whose countries were once adversaries. I recently heard a story of an American man whose mother delivered him in a German bomb shelter while aircraft from the allied forces flew overhead targeting his homeland.  Many decades later he became friends with a local businessman in small town America who flew in one of those bombers. On the occasion that he introduced this friend – he shared the story of his birth and concluded with the tag line, “Thanks for missing.”  It was no doubt meant to be, for: “Though I am surrounded by troubles, you will protect me from the anger of my enemies. You reach out your hand, and the power of your right hand saves me” (Psalm 138:7).

As we celebrate this Memorial Day weekend, it’s easy for the meaning of the holiday to lose the significance when we open the backyard pool or invite friends and relatives over to share a meal prepared on the grill.  This unofficial beginning of summer is more than just a three-day weekend.  Memorial Day is a solemn day of remembrance for all those who have given their lives serving in the American armed forces. The holiday, originally known as Decoration Day, started after the Civil War to honor the Union and Confederate dead. Even in that war, opposing ideologies positioned friend against friend and sometimes brother against brother. For all those who have sacrificed for our country, Henry Ward Beecher wrote, “They hover as a cloud of witnesses above this Nation.”

For we who choose to journey with Christ, we must also be aware of the enemy at work in our own lives. Most Biblical scholars agree that there are three. The first of these is the world itself. The Apostle John has written: “Do not love this world nor the things it offers you, for when you love the world, you do not have the love of the Father in you” (1 John 2:15). The world is our outer enemy, but we have an inward one as well which evolves from our own sinful nature. Paul said. “I find then the principle that evil is present in me, the one who wants to do good. For I joyfully concur with the law of God in the inner man, but I see a different law in the members of my body, waging war against the law of my mind and making me a prisoner of the law of sin which is in my members” (Romans 7:22-23). The third and last of these is the shrewd Devil himself, perhaps our greatest foe. “So humble yourselves before God. Resist the devil, and he will flee from you” (James 4:7). In this way it is clear that we are challenged in our own war, just like those who marched onto the field of battle. Therefore, “Fight the good fight for the true faith. Hold tightly to the eternal life to which God has called you, which you have confessed so well before many witnesses” (1 Timothy 6:12). Who can argue that it’s not a battle worth fighting!

REFLECTION: How do you feel about the statement once made by General George S. Patton – “It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather we should thank God that such men lived.”

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., JUNE 4, 2016.  COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

ONE WHO PRAYED US THROUGH

“I urge you, brothers and sisters, by our Lord Jesus Christ and by the love of the Spirit, to join me in my struggle by praying to God for me.” (Romans 15:30)

I had prayed for her many months before I ever met her. Julie had seen more serious moments in her life than most of her peers in their early teens. Over the past year she had recovered from the removal of her pancreas at a major medical center for children. Her aunt had told me about the procedure and asked me to pray for her niece. Knowing at the time that this surgical procedure was uncommon, I was honored to be introduced to her when she came to my town to visit her grandparents. While she was there, I was astounded to hear her play several classical piano pieces. Now quite a number of years later, I found myself in attendance at her grandfather’s funeral. I had continued all that time to keep Julie on my prayer list, knowing that complications could have easily developed. I asked her aunt how she was doing. As it turned out Julie was well, still playing the piano, and in college. While she was unable to be present at the funeral, the aunt introduced me to her sister (Julie’s mom) reminding her that I had been “one of those who prayed us through” that touch-and-go period that now seemed like yesterday.

The act of praying for others is known as intercessory prayer. Both the Old and New Testaments contain wonderful examples. Daniel petitioned God on behalf of his people in a lengthy prayer found in the ninth chapter of the book he authored. Acknowledging their sinfulness, he stated: “We do not make requests of you because we are righteous, but because of your great mercy” (Daniel 9:18). The apostle Paul prayed for the people he served. To the church at Ephesus, he wrote that he remembers them in his prayers asking that God “may give you the Spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better” (Ephesians 1:17). In the midst of His greatest trial, Jesus prayed passionately for His disciples and for us. “I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me” (John 17:20-21). True intercessory prayer pursues God and results in His glorification, not our own.

One must ask the question if even those who claim to be Christians would pray more for others, what a better place this world might become.  Instead we grow to be self-absorbed in our digital communications and realize that the simple answers we may find there are not the life-affirming substance that soothes the soul.  If you have an iPhone, you have no doubt been introduced to Siri. More than a mechanical response common to some computer programs, it is derived from actual human voice recordings in many languages, both male and female.  Siri will retrieve the latest game score for you or show you the best route home. Want tomorrow’s weather forecast or curious where the market closed today, just ask Siri. A promotion of the personal assistant says, “Talk to Siri as you would to a friend.” We will soon discover that there are many times our new found friend responds with the statement, “I don’t understand what you are asking.” Our One true friend, God, always hears and understands our heart-felt petitions.

Mother Teresa once said that “Prayer is not asking. Prayer is putting oneself in the hands of God, at His disposition, and listening to His voice in the depth of our hearts.”  Just as the Holy Spirit enters our hearts and intercedes for us in accordance with God’s will, we are to intercede for one another.  Intercessory prayer reflects God’s own character of outgoing love and mercy. Praying for others helps us to think beyond ourselves and to mature in compassion. Paul exhorts us “that supplications, prayers, intercessions, and giving of thanks be made for all men, for kings and all who are in authority, that we may lead a quiet and peaceable life in all godliness and reverence” (1 Timothy 2:1-2). What a wonderful privilege we have in being able to come boldly before the throne of the Almighty with our prayers and requests and be humbled when someone says that we are “one of those who prayed us through.”

REFLECTION: Can you recall a time that you prayed for someone else and your prayers made a difference in their life? Has anyone ever thanked you for prayers on their behalf? If those prayers were answered, did you consider it a privilege and remember to give the credit to God? Who needs your prayers today?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., MAY 28, 2016.  COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

AND YOU LOOKED AFTER ME

“Share each other’s burdens, and in this way obey the law of Christ.” (Galatians 6:2)

Several years ago, two 8-month-old stray puppies from Philadelphia received their fifteen minutes of fame. Given the names Jeffrey and Jermaine, it was instantly noticed when they were rescued that the two were inseparable. The dogs are brothers, but the perfectly seeing Jermaine served as a guide dog for Jeffrey who was noted to be blind in both eyes. Thanks to his brother, he was able to get around safely. When they were discovered wandering around the streets of the city, they were frightened but Jermaine did everything possible to stay close to Jeffrey to let him know that he was there. The story of the devoted canine and his dependent sibling remind us that even animals are capable of expressing comfort and support for someone who is less fortunate and in need.

A friend recently recalled two instances where showing support proved to be most appreciated.  In both cases, it was just a simple “thinking of you” that seemed to mean so much to the recipients. In the first situation, she was unsure how to reach out to a former colleague whose husband she had heard had been diagnosed with cancer. As Easter neared, it seemed like an appropriate time to just send a note. Days later, she received a phone call from the wife indicating how much her expression of thoughts and prayers had meant. In the second case, she sent a card to an old neighbor who had just entered a personal care facility. Again an unassuming expression of concern and the words, “If you would like a visit – please give me a call.”  Days later, she was contacted by a third party that her friend had been admitted to a hospital and was asking that she respond with a visit.  Two insignificant acts which required little time and effort on her part were each received with deep gratitude.

In the Old Testament, it is written that Job became afflicted by Satan “with painful sores from the soles of his feet to the top of his head” because he would not sin and curse God (Job 2:7-10).  “Now when Job’s three friends heard of all this adversity that had come upon him, they came each one from his own place . . . and they made an appointment together to come to sympathize with him and comfort him. When they lifted up their eyes at a distance and did not recognize him, they raised their voices and wept. And each of them tore his robe and they threw dust over their heads toward the sky. Then they sat down on the ground with him for seven days and seven nights with no one speaking a word to him, for they saw that his pain was very great” (Job 2:11-13). Likewise, when Jesus told His parable of ‘The Sheep and the Goats’ – He used an analogy to describe how His Heavenly Father will separate those who are His (the sheep) from the unfaithful (the goats). Jesus said that one of the ways the righteous would be known was “when I was sick, and you looked after Me” (Matthew 25:36).

The Apostle Paul counseled that we might have empathy to enter into other people’s sorrow and comfort them.  To the church at Corinth, he wrote: “Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies and God of all comfort, who comforts us in all our affliction, so that we may be able to comfort those who are in any affliction, with the comfort with which we ourselves are comforted by God. For as we share abundantly in Christ’s sufferings, so through Christ we share abundantly in comfort too” (2 Corinthians 1:3-5). The requirement is that we take action with the same love and mercy for others that God has shown us. I know a gentleman who visited a friend of his in a nursing home nearly every day for six months. When asked about the dedication he had shown to his friend, he frankly replied that when he was once in the same situation (again for months), that very friend only missed coming to see him two days. In his book When the Darkness Will Not Lift, author and theologian John Piper writes: “For most people who are passing through the dark night of the soul, the turnaround will come because God brings unwavering lovers of Christ into their lives who do not give up on them.” Thanks be to God and to all those whom He sends in our direction to look after us.

REFLECTION:  Romans 12:13 says, “When God’s people are in need, be ready to help them. Always be eager to practice hospitality.” How have you demonstrated your willingness to look after others?  In what ways might you be able to search for opportunities to share the comfort you have received?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., MAY 21, 2016.  COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.

MOM AND THE KITCHEN TABLE

“And let us consider how to stir up one another to love and good works, not neglecting to meet together, as is the habit of some, but encouraging one another, and all the more as you see the Day drawing near.” (Hebrews 10:24-25)

When I invite a group of friends for dinner, I usually give them an arrival time that is about 30 minutes ahead of the planned meal serving. This often sets me up for a second invitation – “Please get out of my kitchen.”  I usually say it more diplomatically, but on occasion I’m sure those were my exact words.  What happens is that when my guests arrive, they inevitably end up gathering there as I am trying to put the final touches on the meal.  Maybe it’s the smell of the food, or possibly because they just want to chat with the host . . . but there is something about that kitchen which tends to attract people. In fact, one of my usual invitees insists that after dinner we need to stay gathered around the table for good conversation. That dining table has ended up being so much more than a flat surface for serving food.

An inviting place to be sure, the old kitchen table has provided an area where families often gather to connect for many activities. It’s a welcoming space, because it’s a great place to simply be with Mom. It’s where younger children gather to play games and older ones congregate to do their homework under her watchful eye. When warm cookies come out of the oven, you may just get a sampling with a glass of cold milk.  If one of the ladies from the neighborhood stops by, undoubtedly it is there where she will serve a cup of steeped tea or fresh brewed coffee. Mom did a lot of informal counseling around that kitchen table. With her heart, love of family, and faith in God – it was better than a psychiatrist’s couch to dissect the lessons of life.

Credited with the founding of the evangelical movement known as Methodism, John Wesley confirmed that his mother was the person who had influenced him the most. Spending time with a different one of her young children each evening of the week, Wesley is said to have once written to her as an adult, “Oh, Mother, what I’d give for a Thursday evening.” He obviously would have embraced the Old Testament writing: “My son, observe the commandment of your father and do not forsake the teaching of your mother; Bind them continually on your heart; Tie them around your neck” (Proverbs 6:20-21). A true Mother hangs with us through thick and thin as did Mary, the mother of Jesus, who stood at the base of the cross to be a witness of His crucifixion (John 19:25). American author and historian Washington Irving once wrote – “A mother is the truest friend we have, when trials, heavy and sudden, fall upon us; when adversity takes the place of prosperity; when friends who rejoice with us in our sunshine, desert us when troubles thicken around us, still will she cling to us, and endeavor by her kind precepts and counsels to dissipate the clouds of darkness, and cause peace to return to our hearts.”

If you were fortunate to have a good mom, you will undoubtedly count her as one of the greatest treasures of your life. Growing up, I remember my own listening to Paul Harvey on the radio each day. He was talking about her and others like her when he spoke these words: “And on the 6th day, God looked down on Adam in his planned paradise and said, ‘I need a nurturer.’ So God made a mother. God said, ‘I need someone who feels deeply and loves fiercely, whose tears flow just as abundantly as their laughter, whose heart is as warm as their ability to guide and set limits is strong. I need someone whose influence on those that they nurture is eternal.’ So God made a mother.” My mother would have never asked me to leave her kitchen. She was always happiest when I played at her feet and created clutter on her table which she could help sort out. The table might not always have been set perfectly, but the loving embrace which surrounded it was always served with perfection.

REFLECTION:  In what was has your mother influenced your life and through you, the lives of future generations? If you are not a mother or were not blessed with a mother as described above, are there ways in which you might be able to create this sort of loving persona for younger persons you encounter along your Journey?

A NEW LOOKUP  DEVOTION IS UPLOADED EACH WEEK. THE NEXT WEEKLY POSTING WILL BE ON SAT., MAY 14, 2016.  COMMENTS ARE WELCOMED.